Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry is nothing of the sort. It’s a sham. Just a way Bethel Church leaders have devised to get their hooks into people, especially undiscerning young people. If you’re unfamiliar with Bethel Church in Redding CA, the senior pastor is the notorious “Apostle” Bill Johnson. For reasons that will become clear, Bethel’s considered […]
A new report says Calvary Chapel Senior Pastor Brian Brodersen is an active promoter of contemplative mysticism. Last November Brodersen led the Calvary Chapel split, quit his leadership position at the Calvary Chapel Association, and announced he is establishing a new Calvary Chapel Global Network. Today a new EmergentWatch news article reports that Brodersen is […]
In this piece, Elizabeth Prata of The End Time answers these questions. Romantic eroticism is the term she uses to describe the way in which some professing Christian women describe an encounter they supposedly had with God. Beth Moore claims she had an experience with God where she felt as if He was enfolding her; […]
Pam Frost informs us of the influence Eastern mysticism has had on the modern Church, thanks largely to high-profile Protestant’s affinity for the teaching of Roman Catholic mystic monks such as Thomas Merton, Basil Pennington, William Menninger and Thomas Keating. The Desert Fathers, as they are called, embraced the beliefs of Neoplatonism (Frost explains this […]
Roger Oakland of Understand the Times International says that Calvary Chapel has a new found connection with Bill Hybels, one of the architects of the seeker-sensitive movement. Oakland wonders how big of an impact this union will have. There’s a program Willow Creek implemented by Bill Hybels’ son-in-law Aaron Niequist called The Practice that Oakland sees as “the epitome […]
By Zachary Doppelt Verax Institute Within Evangelical Christianity there has been a resurging interest in the writings of the mystics and their intuitive approach to God. This has been noticeable with the growing interest in authors such as Richard Foster, Henri Nouwen and Thomas Merton, as well as the leadership of such scholars such as […]
The first time I heard the term lectio divina I thought it was from the Harry Potter books, probably a spell cast by Harry to render an enemy helpless. But, no, as it so happens it’s Latin for “sacred reading” and we’re urged to practice it as we read our Bible and pray. Not surprisingly, lectio […]
A Catholic priest and a New Ager walk into Willow Creek… No, it’s not a joke waiting for a punchline. It’s an experiment called The Practice, and it’s the brainchild of Pastor Bill Hybels’ son-in-law, Aaron Niequist. Niequist is also the Worship Pastor at Willow Creek Community Church, and he calls a Jesuit priest his […]
One of the most pervasive of all the Contemplative, er, Contemptible Prayers, is a little practice called Lectio Divina. It comes to us via the ancients of the Catholic monks, and no longer sneaks in the back door of our churches – it marches down the center aisle and sits in the front pew. On […]
Remember when Pastor Rick Warren posted a tutorial on Centering Prayer on his Pastor’s Toolbox website, encouraging thousands of pastors to teach their congregants to go into the silence? No? That’s probably because he yanked it down after biblically sound Christians sounded the alarm bells in his comments section. (Good thing there’s screen capture.) Now […]