Climbing Everest

Climbing Mount Everest has always intrigued me. It has always been one of those things that I thought would be such an awesome experience. Given that it is such a monumental challenge, it must truly require such high levels of discipline, both mentally and physically. The amount of training that goes into preparing for such an adventure is truly not for the half-hearted, but only for those who are serious about taking on such a life changing experience.

After reading up on Everest it becomes very clear that no one can really climb it alone (although it has been done, it is very uncommon). Even for the most experienced climbers, Everest requires either an experienced guide or Sherpa. In order to reach the summit, it is essential that you put your full trust in your guide and take their advice as when it is safe to proceed to the summit. It is also very typical to climb with several fellow climbers, in order to maintain safety and to assure no one is left behind or goes off path.

When climbing Everest there are only two paths that one can take to reach the summit. What is amazing about these two trails to the summit is that these paths are extremely narrow - they can be as wide as only a foot in some areas. Guides will tell you never to venture off one of these paths. If one ventures off onto any side of these trails death is almost imminent. There have been many who have ventured off the summit trail and have died within only a few feet from it. It has been recorded that many climbers can plainly see the dead who litter the trail as they pass by. It is a gruesome reminder the need to keep ones eyes on the summit and their feet on the narrow path.

The summit path to Everett reminds me of the verse Jesus said regarding those who will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven:

Matthew 7:13-15 13"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14"For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it"

As a Christ follower we must always be conscience that the path we walk is a narrow one and there is little room that allows us to venture off of this path. Since the path is so narrow, it should become very apparent when we have ventured from it. But just as on Everest, we never climb alone. It is important that we listen to the fellowship of others and heed their warnings when one of us decides to either quit or stop moving along the path or when we have decided to put ourselves in mortal danger by electing to veer from this narrow trail.

The gospel message is much like the narrow path. Try to venture from it or change it a little, and your putting yourselves and possibly others in grave to serious danger. The Apostles speak often about the dangers of those who preach a "different path" or a "different gospel".



2Jn 1:9-11 Everyone who does not abide in the teaching of Christ but goes beyond it does not have God. The person who abides in the teaching of Christ has both the Father and the Son. (10) If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your home or even greet him, (11) for the one who greets him shares in his evil deeds.




AND

Jude 1: 4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

As Christ followers how do we know if we are on the right path? What is the marked difference between the wide path of the world versus the narrow path of Christ? Simple - Complete Obedience to God as a result of love and a life that is free from sin. Many claim that we can or must continue to sin in word thought and deed daily and deny man's moral ability to deny sin. To compound matters, some teach that one is "Eternally Secure" and yet can live a life of licentiousness and wickedness and yet still be a citizen of God's Kingdom. But these are distinct patterns of the wide-path and we know from the words of Jesus this path leads not to the "summit", but will lead to death and eternal punishment. Are you walking the narrow path of Jesus Christ? Are you walking according to the Word of God or the Gospel of Jesus? Or are you walking a path that allows you to continue in your sins and yet still be "Saved"? If your on this wide path my friend, turn back and seek the narrow path of Jesus! For the narrow path is the ONLY path that will allow you to reach the summit and reconcile you back to the Father.


2Ti 2:10-13 Therefore I endure all things for the chosens sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. (11) Faithful is the saying: For if we died with him, we shall also live with him: (12) if we endure, we shall also reign with him: if we shall deny him, he also will deny us: (13) if we are faithless, he abideth faithful; for he cannot deny himself.

Taking out the Trash!

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to watch a wonderful sermon by Gregory Boyd entitled "Taking Out the Trash". Greg raises up some very good points about problems with strict judicial atonement theories such as the Calvinist - Retributive Substitution Atonement Model.

The main issue any atonement theory must address is not only the removal of the penalty of sin, but more importantly it must reform the sinner from selfishness to loving God supremely (An essential to becoming a citizen of God's Kingdom or moral government). An atonement must pardon us of the "crimes" we have committed, but at the same time ascertain that the criminal (or sinner) has been truly reformed from the heart! To strictly forgive without reforming the heart would be like pardoning a criminal from prison and unleashing them back onto society to reek havoc upon the society. The Retributive Atonement model lacks this essential element as it simply addresses the strict judicial transaction and in no way reforms the sinners heart, but simply takes away the penalty and then "secures" them in their still sinful state.

To make his point Greg uses two wonderful analogies here - the "Truck Driver" and a simple bag of trash. The reality is God does not simply overlook our sinfulness, but he truly desires that we are transformed and we truly become a "new creature in Christ" whereby we are no longer walking according to the flesh, but according to God's Spirit. Again, this plays right into my analogy I provided a couple of weeks ago regarding the steak in the toilet - do you really want to eat any part of that steak? God desires that we have no part of sin as Kingdom citizens!



Although this is not the entire video sermon, you can see the sermon in its entirety here.

Pop Goes the World, Not the Church!

Recently my friend Dean Lusk mentioned on his blog a book that he is reading entitled book "Pop Goes the Church" by Tim Stevens. Although I have not personally read this book, I did by chance find a video on Youtube whereby a local news station interviews Tim about his book and his church (Tim is a pastor of a Church in Indianapolis). After watching this video it becomes clear what Tim's intent is regarding what changes need to be made to the church in order to spread the gospel further within our communities. His answer: - modernize the church to reflect the culture of the day so that it will be more appealing to the masses. This includes infusing TV, Movies and Music of our culture into sermons and worship services.

But it seems to me that Tim is sorely misguided in his attempts to increase or make the gospel more "popular". Jesus says specifically that as Christians the WORLD will hate us - in other words the Truth of the Gospel is NEVER popular (something that totally contradicts "POPular Culture")! As a matter of fact it rails against what the world decides is important - ourselves! Pop Culture is not what the church needs, what the world needs is the church! Want to increase our churches, stop preaching the soft serve sermons of self-improvement, but rather the gospel of repentance of sin, the gospel of the Cross of Christ!

When the modern day church feels it needs to resort to such worldly tactics what it really is saying is it reveal our lack of faith in the gospel. In addition, when we say "Sinners won't come if we don't have something in the church that appeals to them." then we slander the cross! Christ said "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." (John 12:32) The lifting up Christ spoke of was His crucifixion! Paul realized this in 1 Cor. 1:17-18,

"For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God."

Our faith is not in the wisdom, personality, or entertaining ability of men, but rather in the power of God. The bemoaning cry of those who justify worldly methods to win the lost makes it sound as if Christianity is desperate and that truth and the power of the Holy Spirit are insufficient to convert sinners. The gospel is an appeal to the conscience, not fleshly appetites. (2 Cor. 4:2). Sadly, the Church has had to resort to such activities because it has STOPPED preaching the Cross! Instead, its a happy feel good message of gooey selfishness! If we preach to man's conscience and not his flesh this will bring revival. (Revival is NOT about quantity, but rather the sincerity of men's heart and love for God).

Personally, I left the church several years ago for this very reason. When it was more important for the worship minister to breakout the disco ball and confetti canons for Easter Service, rather than preaching a message that will convict men's hearts and minds, it was time for me to go. We need to stop this insanity of thinking we need to improve our marketing tactics and get back to basics - Jesus hanging on a cross, suffering and dying for my personal sins. Reconciling me back to God through changing my heart and ultimate motivation for living.

Steak Anyone?

I am often amazed and even bewildered about the attitude some churches have taken about the definition of sin. In an age of easy-believisim, where Calvinism has so destroyed or damaged the biblical understanding of sin, we see its lasting impact on the church of today. Calvinist theology has led us to a misguided understanding that sin is no longer a moral freewill choice, but is rather a necessity of God’s providence. Sin is no longer our fault, but rather that of Adam’s or one’s parents. Sin is no longer rebellion against God's goodness, but is just a part of our DNA or physicality.

Ultimately, these ideas of theology and understanding do have consequences. One example in my own life is several years ago I once had a local minister tell me that she sinned everyday in word thought and deed. According to her, everyday she would literally get up and commit acts of sin. This was because she had bought into the myth that sin was somehow imputed to her through her parents, as a direct result of their "Sin Nature". Therefore, she had relegated herself to believing she could not help but to sin everyday of her life. Instead of realizing that sin was a moral choice, her theology had equated that sin was something physical and not moral. Sadly, this concept of sin had so infiltrated her thinking that she had accepted it as truth. I still to this day wonder how many more people she has influenced with this misconception of sin. Again, ideas do have consequences!

I am so grieved by how often I hear pastors say that man is unable to change their hearts from sinfulness to benevolence. But what then did our Savior mean by when he stated “The Truth Shall set you Free”. Clearly the “Truth” has an impact on a persons desire to stop sinning. Knowledge as we discover is one of the most powerful tools God uses to change men’s hearts and ultimately stop them from being rebellious sinners.

It seems in this day and age, churches are more apt to believing some 1,500 year old Augustinian myth than simply reading the scriptures and applying a little bit of common sense or reasoning. Today, the church has seemingly replaced common sense and sound biblical interpretation for that of bad theology and non-sense. How often does one read a churches Statement of Faith to see the definition of sin as a result of mans "fallen" or "Sin Nature", rather than simply describing what sin really is and that is a moral choice to willfully disobey that which is known to be right or good.

One of the most powerful analogies of this very topic is from my good friend Scott Taylor. Scott presents a wonderful analogy of the power of God’s truth and how it can impact a persons desire to stop sinning:

Let say one afternoon you’re very hungry and you’ve decide that your craving a great big juicy steak. As a matter of fact, your hunger is starting to get the best of you and you’re famished. All day long you have thought about sinking your teeth into a nice juicy New York Strip! So you decide that you and your family are going to go uptown for an evening out at a local steak house.

As you arrive, you’re immediately seated at a nice table and the waiter comes over and takes your order. There is no need to even look at the menu as you know what you desire – a NY Strip prepared Medium Rare! A few minutes go by and out of the corner of your eye, you catch a glimpse of what appears to be the chef taking several steaks to the men’s restroom. At first you can’t believe what you’re seeing but as you inspect closer it is indeed the head chef taking several succulent steaks on a large metal tray to the men’s restroom. Immediately, you motion for the waiter to come to your table as you inquire as to what you have just witnessed. The waiter responds that he has no idea what you’re talking about and assures you that everything is alright. However, your interest is peaked by this time and you head straight to the men’s restroom to investigate further.

Upon entering the restroom you see the head chef taking a steak and wiping it on the inside of one of the toilets. He takes all four steaks one at a time and uses them as he would a toilet bowel brush! When you inquire as to what he is he doing with those steaks, he simply responds that he is preparing them for your table! You're astounded that a reputable restuarant would do such a thing! Now the question that bears asking is would you continue to eat at this establishment or would you sit down and enjoy the steak dinner you have been hungering for all day?

Sin is much like this analogy. Yes, on one hand our flesh deeply desires to taste and eat that succulent steak. As a matter of fact we have hungered and yearned for it for several days and finally we have the opportunity to fulfill our hunger pains. However, we now have KNOWLEDGE of the truth of how this steak was being prepared. One simply must make an intelligent decision here: Do I simply ignore the filth that has been placed upon my steak and fulfill my bodily desires or do I accept and act upon my recent new found knowledge that by eating this steak I could be causing some serious intestinal damage and end up harming myself and possibly others!?

If we listen to how the church is defining sin these days, it simply says that our desires out weigh the power of God’s Truth and that ultimately we end up having to eat the filthy steak from time to time! Regardless of how hard we try, the toilet bowel ridden steak will end up getting you in the end (no pun intended here!). Sin is a choice! The question we must be willing to ask ourselves is just how hungry are you? Are you willing to eat just a little bit of the steak? Are you seeking to find a part of the steak that was contaminated and to cut around it? Or would you rather override the desires of your flesh with the knowledge of the Truth and having nothing to do with the steak! Truth my friends is a powerful thing if we heed its call!

God desires that we live a life that is free of the filth and contamination of sin! Sin is a choice. As Matthew 6 states:

Mat 6:24-25 No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (25) Therefore I say unto you, be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment?

Clearly, God is more concerned about our souls than our temporal bodies. So if eating a contaminated steak is cause for concern, is not then sin an even bigger concern? I hope that from this simple analogy I have shown that knowledge of God’s Truth is certainly a powerful motivator (if not the best motivator of all!). If one allows God’s Truth to transform their hearts and minds, then one can overcome sin and live in submission to our God in Heaven!

Say What?!

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the level of deception that many churches and church leaders have willfully fallen under in the past several years. Day after day my heart is burdened for revival and I am truly concerned for those that have fallen under this deception. After my recent post on "Center or Contemplative Prayer" I am aghast at what is occurring in most churches these days and the total disregard for Truth. This all seems very reminiscent of the Israelites and when they would intermingle pagan practices with that of the tabernacle. The end result was neither pleasing or honorable to God of such abominations.

What is occurring in the church with "Contemplative Prayer" is really no different than what we witness in the Old Testament. Paul specifically prohibits such activities on many occasions with the Gentile churches. To mix such pagan practices such as Hinduism or Buddhism with Christianity is really to defile the message and the power of the gospel.

Time after time I am amazed at how the church seems to think that they need to add something to the gospel message in order to somehow make it more powerful. Contemplative Prayer is really no different. Its the "Johnny-come-lately" of prayer methodology and is the "Next Big Thing" in evangelical circles. In recent decades, the church has lost faith in the power of the gospel to save humanity from sin and therefore have taken up the task of trying to dress it up in a new box and slap on a "New and Improved" slogan. We have truly forgotten that the gospel in of itself is what saves! Today, we have folks like Thomas Keating and Ruth Haley Barton as the great new marketers of Christian Spirituality! In reality they are nothing more than Charlatans!

Barton, Keating, Bell, and others have simply played into the hands of the Enemy. How so? Here is my take on all of this. One of Satan's biggest weapons within his arsenal of deceptive tactics is to get people not to live intelligently to the truth of scripture. In other words, I believe it is one of Satan's goals to get as many Christians not to think on the knowledge or wisdom of God's truth, and preventing that truth to transform their hearts. Rather, if he then can get them to focus on other things, say like Contemplative Prayer, they will ultimately focus on themselves or other things. This is why God detest when people bring in "other things" into their lives or churches that distract or take away our focus or attention from Him. To say our "thoughts" are the problem, is really to blame God with faulty design of the human mind and reasoning abilities. "Thoughts" in of themselves are not the enemy, but the condition of a person's heart! Did not God tell us to love HIM with all thy mind also? So to say that our "thoughts" are the problem when we pray is to say that God desires us to be nothing more than a mindless nitwit when we come to communicate to Him.

The thing is God has created us with a wonderfully created mind and ability to intellectualize. God truly desires that we continually focus our thoughts upon Him when we pray and throughout our day. God also desires conversation! How can he converse with us if our minds are empty or void or that we are chanting some "Sacred word" over and over again? Let me give you a true to life example to make my point:

Let's say you and I are going to have a conversation about airplanes and flying. Since I am a pilot and flight instructor, I know a little about flying and how airplanes work. So we meet up to have a discussion about the principles of flight and how they relate to an airplane. At the beginning of our conversation I immediately begin to chant "aileron, aileron, aileron, aileron, aileron" over and over again. I do this for let's say 10 minutes. After ten minutes or so are up I stop and I look over at you and ask you "So did I help you have a better understanding of flying?". I would imagine any sane or rational human being would immediately think I was some sort of fool or someone who is having some sort of mental episode.

Prayer is defined as communication between us and God. It is a time whereby we bring our petitions or thank fullness before God and God can at times speak to us through our time of prayer to Him. Logically this means there must exist a line or ability to communicate between the two parties. If we take the example I provide above, we can plainly see that if one of the two parties were communicating in a way that was mindless or in a way that was prohibitive to open communication, then lines of communication simply fail.

To maybe put it another way, let's say the tables are reversed and God communicates to US through the method of "Centering Prayer". Let's say during our quiet time God spoke to us but all He said was "Give, Give, Give, Give, Give, Give, Give Give, Give," over and over again. Now I would ask you, from this experience what exactly was God trying to communicate to you? Could you decipher from this repetitive chanting what He was asking of you? Could you discern intelligently that he wanted you to a) Give money to a missionary in India, (b) Give up Choclate Ice Cream for a year?.(c) Or was He simply asking you not to Give up on prayer for that lost family member? From this example we see the necessaity for good communications!

If we desire to KNOW God then we must be willing to place our thoughts specifically upon God. Not void out our minds altogether and conduct ourselves in some mindless paganistic mantra under the guise of Christianity! God desires to know our thoughts are upon Him and his ways! How does this occur? The Psalmist writes"

Psa 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts; (24) And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

Even David knew that the motivation of our HEART drives our thoughts. The issue here is not our thoughts, but what is driving or motivating those thoughts - OUR HEARTS! If your a person who is using contemplative prayer your a person who is really more about having an experience rather than changing your heart. You desire that God comes to YOU! Rather you humbling yourself and you COMING to GOD! Your more about the experiential and not the spiritual or the moral. Your about "Feeling" God rather than "Knowing" God! In the end "Centering Prayer" is not God Centered, but rather Man-Centered and is truly a "works" based form of spirituality! God is not at all interested in us coming to him with some vain repetitious prayer, but rather that we love Him with ALL of our HEART, ALL of they MIND and ALL thy Strength!

Off Center: The Danger of Centering Prayer

Its recently come to my attention that a new way of praying is sweeping across the pulpits of many of our churches. It seems that within the past year or so a practice that has not been seen or heard of since the 16th century is fast becoming all the rage in certain evangelical circles. In an age where it seems Christianity and other world religions are quickly blurring into one another, it is no surprise for many that this form of prayer is being quickly adopted into the modern day church.

Its called "Centering Prayer" or also known as "Contemplative Prayer". Its Latin term is called Lectio Divina, and was originally started by Catholic Mystics (ie. Madame Guyon, etc). If your unfamiliar with Christian or Catholic Mysticism it is essentially nothing new, but rather its simply Eastern Religion repackaged as being Christian. For example, many ancient mystics believed in repetitive chanting and solitude (monasticism) that would ultimately bring ones inner self literally into "Divine Union" or "at one with God", or as one mystic put it "being literally absorbed into God".

So just what is Centering or Contemplative Prayer? One proponent website had this to say: "Contemplative Prayer is the normal development of the grace of baptism and the regular practice of Lectio Divina. We may think of prayer as thoughts or feelings expressed in words. But this is only one expression. Contemplative Prayer is the opening of mind and heart - our whole being - to God, the Ultimate Mystery, beyond thoughts, words and emotions. We open our awareness to God whom we know by faith is within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than choosing - closer than consciousness itself. Contemplative Prayer is a process of interior purification leading, if we consent, to divine union." - The Method of Centering Prayer by Thomas Keating.

One must be very careful to closely examine what it is actually being said here. On the onset it sounds really good, I mean who doesn't want to get closer to God? The author here however has made sure to say all the right things. But if we take a deeper look it soon becomes obvious there is something else at work here.

First, note knowledge of truth has very little to do with one drawing closer to God, but rather "inner purification" is through an experience and not a revelation of truth.

Let's look a little further to see what form of prayer is being taught and just where does its spiritual roots take us?

First, it should be noted that with any movement, there is a founder or one who is responsible for bringing an idea or philosophy to the forefront. For Centering Prayer, it is Father Thomas Keating. Keating is a Trappist Monk who during the 70's began to explore other ways or methods of prayer. As with most monastic monks or monasteries, long periods of silence or solitude is commonly practiced. But Keating began to take some very unorthodox, or shall I say unbiblical approaches to seeking out this "higher" level of prayer. Here is what Keating says began to influence him during is "journey":

The historical roots of Centering Prayer reach back to St. Josephs Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts, where I was abbot from 1961 to 1981. This was during the time of the first wave of the renewal of religious life after the Second Vatican Council, where many questions were raised for the first time and interreligious dialogue was encouraged by the Holy See. Several of us at Spencer became acquainted with groups from other spiritual traditions who resided in our area. We invited several spiritual teachers from the Eastern religions as well as some ecumenically skilled Catholic theologians to visit and speak with us. Fr. Thomas Merton was still alive at this time and writing extensively about his researches and exchanges in interreligious dialogue. He was one of the most articulate pioneers from the Christian side in the dialogue among world religions.

In a similar spirit we entertained a Zen master who wished to visit our monastery. We invited him to speak to the community and later to give a sesshin (a week long intensive retreat). For nine years after that, he held sesshins once or twice a year at a nearby retreat house. During those years I had the privilege of making several sesshins with him. On the occasion of his first sesshin held in our monastery, he put on the Cistercian habit and ate with us in the refectory. We have a picture of him on his seventieth birthday eating a piece of cake while sitting in the half lotus position. [Spelling of sesshin in original]

We were also exposed to the Hindu tradition through Transcendental Meditation. Paul Marechal, a former monk of Holy Cross Abbey in Berryville, Virginia, A daughter monastery had become a TM teacher and offered to instruct us in the practice. Many in the community wanted to experience it.

Exposure to these traditions, as well as conversations with visitors to our monastery who had benefited from them, naturally raised many questions in my mind as I tried to harmonize the wisdom of the East with the contemplative tradition on Christianity that I had been studying and trying to practice for thirty years.

Keating goes on to say this about "Eastern religions" and how they can help Christians become "closer to God":

“We should not hesitate to take the fruit of the age old wisdom of the East and “capture” it for Christ. Indeed, those of us who are in ministry should make the necessary effort to acquaint ourselves with as many of these Eastern techniques as possible… Many Christians who take their prayer life seriously have been greatly helped by Yoga, Zen, TM and similar practices, especially where they have been initiated by reliable teachers and have a solidly developed Christian faith to find inner form and meaning to the resulting experiences”. (Thomas Keating and Basil Pennington, Finding Grace at the Center. pp. 5-6)

Any Christian who has an inkling of the Holy Spirit dwelling within them should immediately be alarmed by these types of statements. But just what does Centering Prayer involve? What does one do in order to obtain this "Centering" of oneself? Keating goes onto explain just what one must do to enter into this state of drawing closer to God:

"Choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to consent to God's presence and action within." (cf. Open Mind, Open Heart, chap. 5) The sacred word expresses our intention to be in God's presence and to yield to the divine action. The sacred word should be chosen during a brief period of prayer asking the Holy Spirit to inspire us with one that is especially suitable for us. Examples: Lord, Jesus, Abba, Father, Mother Other possibilities: Love, Peace, Shalom Having chosen a sacred word, we do not change it during the prayer period, for that would be to start thinking again. A simple inward gaze upon God may be more suitable for some persons than the sacred word. In this case, one consents to God's presence and action by turning inwardly toward God as if gazing upon him. The same guidelines apply to the sacred gaze as to the sacred word."

Keating goes on to explain further:

"Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your consent to God's presence and action within." By "sitting comfortably" is meant relatively comfortably; not so comfortably that we encourage sleep, but sitting comfortably enough to avoid thinking about the discomfort of our bodies during this time of prayer. Whatever sitting position we choose, we keep the back straight. If we fall asleep, we continue the prayer for a few minutes upon awakening if we can spare the time. Praying in this way after a main meal encourages drowsiness. Better to wait an hour at least before Centering Prayer. Praying in this way just before retiring may disturb one's sleep pattern. We close our eyes to let go of what is going on around and within us. We introduce the sacred word inwardly and as gently as laying a feather on a piece of absorbent cotton.

NOTE: This is no different than the practice of Transcendental Meditation whereby one chants a "Mantra" over and over or as in this case a "Sacred Word". The bible specifically warns believers not to pray repetitive prayers or senseless mumbling. When we look at how Jesus taught his disciples to pray was there any mention of "sacred words" or to enter themselves into a trance like state repeating the scriptures over and over again?

Of course many will say that Keating is at the extreme end of this movement and surely this has not reached the evangelical ranks. But as with many false doctrines and beliefs they are not satisfied until that have spoiled the entire well. Many mainstream Christian leaders have adopted this Eastern Religion into their Christian Leadership Trainings and even retreat centers.

For example, one well noted Christian author and teacher Ruth Haley Barton has become one of the leading experts on Evangelical Centering Prayer and has even opened up her own Christian Retreat Center, The Transforming Center, to teach countless other Christian Pastor and Worship Leaders this heresy. Barton is fast becoming one of the most renowned Contemplative Prayer "Guide" in recent years. On her website she notes the method of how one enters into a alter-state of solitude:

1.Choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to consent to God’s presence
and action within. [Examples: God, Jesus, Abba, Father, Mother, Mary, Amen. Other possibilities: Love, Peace, Mercy, Listen, Let Go, Silence, Stillness, Faith, Trust, Yes.]

2. Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your consent to God’s presence and action within.

3. When engaged with your thoughts*, return ever-so gently to the sacred word.

4. At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of
minutes. [ *Thoughts include body sensations, feelings, images, and reflections]

Again, the intent of Centering Prayer is to eventually reach the point where the person is not engaged in their thoughts as they arrive on their stream of consciousness. The point here is to have an "experience" and not a renewing of your mind with Truth as Paul speaks of whereby we are using our God-given abilities to reason and know the Truth through God's word,teachings, and Holy Spirit.

Finally, what is astounding in all of this is none of this is ever mentioned in scripture. But yet why is this no surprise. It seems many in this movement are forgetting one important element and that is knowledge of the truth. Jesus said "The Truth shall set you free" - not some altered state of mind or Transcendental Meditation. It would seem this is again another subversion from people knowing the gospel or knowing God truly with the mind God gave us. Jesus told the woman at the well that "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24). Again Jesus spoke against this very thing in the Gospel of Matthew whereby he says:

" But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him". (Matthew 6:6-8)

Again I truly believe that we are in desperate times friends, when pastors and ministers have traded the truth for a lie and light for darkness. It is my prayer and my hope that many will trun from this perversion of God's word and His Truth!

"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him." (2 Corinthians 11:3-4)

Feeling the Love or Knowing the Love?

Have you ever heard of the expression "Feeling the Love"? I immediately think of the Righteous Brother's song "I've Lost that Lovin Feelin". But I got to thinking about this the other day and how our culture, and yes even our churches, so often equate the term "Love" with a "feeling" or emotion. Sadly, I so often hear of how churches have somehow equated God's love with an emotion or a sensation of feeling.

For example, how often do you hear someone say "Oh how I felt the love of God today at the service" or "Wasn't it wonderful how we felt the love of God in the worship service!". I believe these expressions can be very misleading in the sense they equate "God's Love" solely on the basis of some feeling or some emotional experience. This reminds me of when I was a young teenager and whereby I had a "feeling of love" over some girl I had just met or had an interest in. This "Puppy Love" was by no means genuine love - as I was solely basing my affections or desires for this other individual strictly upon how they made me feel and not on the basis of the individuals character or personality.

We see from scripture that "God is Love" not on the basis of His emotional state, but rather God is loving and benevolent on the basis of his knowledge. God is love because in his infinite knowledge, He has determined love to be of the highest and greatest good in the moral universe. So in order for mankind to truly understand what genuine love is, we too must have knowledge of who God is - in character and personalty. It seems today however, that much of the "church experience" is just that - an experience. Many churches equate the "Love of God" on the basis of some emotional "touchy-feely" experience. If this is the case then sadly many truly do not have a genuine understanding of who God is, but rather how he makes them feel.

One can begin to quickly see the emphasis is not on God at all here, but on ME and how I am made to feel! This is truly dangerous and can often leave people disappointed or empty, especially when it comes to church or a worship experience. I personally have seen this at work at church we used to attend, where if for some reason the "worship experience" was not up to par or was a little lacking it was then equated that "God didn't show up". Ultimately this ended up requiring the worship minister to "amp it up" in order to the church members to "experience God". This is even more dangerous for the worship leader as it tends to lead the worship minister in believing they are the sole conduit to people in the church "experiencing" God. This always brings me to a question I would pose to most worship leaders and that would be "Why should anyone one worship God" or "What makes God worthy of worship?". Often their response is "Because He's God!". But this answer really comes up short - especially for someone who is a non-believer, as it gives the impression that we as Christians worship God solely on the basis of his power or abilities and nothing to do with who he IS! (As a side note when we look to scripture, this response is the same response pagan priest or ministers would often give as to why they were worshipping their idols or pagan gods).

Again, this is not to say emotions are a bad thing when we are worshipping God, but God has designed us that we are to be in control of our emotions and not to allow our emotions to control us! Emotions when used properly are always to linked to knowledge. My point in saying all of is this: What we seem to have a real lack of today in most churches is knowledge and understanding of who God truly is! Instead we have more of what I would call a "Concert Environment", whereby it is reminiscent of the rock concerts I used to attend in the 80's and early 90's. These venues were packed with people who were ready for an "experience" - lights, music, rhythm, pyrotechnics, confetti canons, etc. All instruments used to insight an emotional experience - and yet very little knowledge required. At the end of the "show" all you really had left was a ringing of the ears and a brief sense of excitement - the following morning you were still just as empty as the day before. It is my prayer that churches begin to understand and learn who God is and to have real knowledge of His character and then we will begin to truly experience the Love of God!

1 Cor 13:4-8 4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.