Shepherd’s Conference is Streaming
The Shepherd’s Conference continues today at Grace Community Church. For all those who can’t be there, here’s the live stream.
Three posts about the ‘Young Messiah’ Movie
Amy Spreeman at Berean Research exposes several problems with the new movie, with these three posts.
Mysticism: Its Origin and Impact on Contemporary Christian Thought
Pastor Zachary Doffelt examines the resurgence of mysticism in evangelicalism, by tracing its roots. An important read.
Sometime in the past week I found this helpful summary of several false gospels prevalent today, at Growing4Life. Leslie, the author, presents each with a critique, but in an unusually loving tone. I appreciated her concern for the true believers caught up in false doctrine and her analysis. The only thing I would add is that the social justice gospel also has a faulty eschatology (the Bible does not support the idea of bringing the kingdom to Earth). Continue reading
Back in 2012, I wrote about the necessity of context to understand the Bible. The easiest way to be fleeced by bad teaching is when someone uses a part of a verse, or even a few Bible verses without regard for what the purpose of the passage is, its audience and proper application.
Context is key in everything. It can be awkward to join a conversation in the middle. Often things are confusing, hilarious or even inappropriate sounding when you’re missing the rest of the information.
Reading the Bible is no exception. In fact, given the great importance of rightly understanding and teaching the word of God context is even more crucial!
A verse I hear commonly misused is a part of Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God.” I think many believers have heard or been taught an improper meaning of this verse. This concerns me because it is often used by advocates of contemplative spirituality to support their promotion of the “discipline of silence.” A DVD program promoting this concept was even named “Be Still” after the supposed proof text. You can read Marcia Montenegro’s review of the DVD.
Keep reading my original post “Context, Context, Context” which examines the entire Psalm 46 and compares it to the way it is used to justify so-called spiritual disciplines which are in fact mysticism.
I’ve warned a little bit here about Richard Foster and his spiritual disciplines as well as the dangers of contemplative spirituality. That’s why I want to share this update about “spiritual formation” and how it could be impacting your children from Berit Kjos. Continue reading
I really appreciate what Joel has to say here. While I’m not especially familiar with the new calvinism movement, I am deeply troubled by the popularity of mysticism disguised as reliance of the Spirit.
Throughout much of church history there have, time and time again, arisen movements and behaviors within the Church, which many view as exceptionally pious. Our own day is no exception. Within camps of the new Calvinism movement, the popularity of this type of behavior seems to be on the increase, with no signs of letting up.
The main characteristic to which I am referring consists mainly in the reliance or guidance of the Holy Spirit apart from the Word of God, and specifically apart from the moral law of God. Separating the work, or seeking the guidance of the Spirit, apart from the Word of God is nothing new, and has been an error that has creeped into Christendom for centuries.
While many hold that such practice is merely a version of Christianity, they seem to not realize that, in actuality, it is a departure from it. One of the…
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A year ago today, I shared a message from The First Baptist Church of Johnson City, N.Y. in which the pastor apologized to his congregation and delivered one of the most thorough warnings about false teaching I’ve heard. It is a tremendous message. Continue reading
This headline just made my morning! From Lighthouse Trails Research: “Church Heading Toward Contemplative Turns Around After Seeing the Evidence.”
Someone from Texas wrote in to LHT to encourage them with the news of how their materials were able to prevent a church from going down the path into contemplative prayer (also known as the silence) and other mystical practices: Continue reading
I’m starting a new feature called the Don’t Miss List. I haven’t decided how often to have it, possibly weekly, perhaps on an as needed basis. Anyway, here are the things I’ve found this week that I recommend you don’t miss! Continue reading
Brannon Howse and Justin Peters discuss the extremely popular book Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young in this podcast from Worldview Weekend. I highlight recommend checking it out, particularly if you disagreed with my review of the book.
Lighthouse Trails Publishing had a new book warning on their research blog July 2 that I think is important to share, particularly due to the high-profile promoters of the author. From LT:
“Spiritual Disciplines Handbook” – Christian Organizations, Seminaries, and Ministry Leaders Incorporate This Mystical Primer into Christian Education Continue reading
