After several years of researching the spread of contemplative spirituality into evangelical churches and seminaries, I was at a loss as to how to get a warning message out to Christians who were getting involved in it. Most alarming and troubling was how youth groups and Bible colleges were walking the prayer labyrinth and being mentored in centering/contemplative prayer. A common thread through all this was that the recommended reading for many of these students included St. Teresa of Avila’s writings. After attending several Bible conferences and hearing experts like Ray Yungen and Roger Oakland explain the dangers of this ancient spirituality, and noticing that mostly gray haired people were in attendance, I wondered how this message could be brought to the younger generation who were not likely to delve into a heavily documented book exposing the emerging church or the contemplative movement. At the time, there was a best selling book out there which so many Christians were reading and saying how it totally changed their view of God, and even their lives – but it was completely unbiblical. I observed that fiction can be an extremely powerful method of teaching, and so I asked the Lord if he would give me a fictional story that told the truth. I spent a lot of time seeking the Lord and praying about it. Then one morning while I was buttering my toast, the story came to me, and I quickly wrote it out in a matter of weeks.
2.Is this something you have encountered personally?
Yes. I became aware of this spirituality when I was exposed to it through an evangelical church I was attending at the time. I became involved in contemplative prayer, centering prayer, and journaling, under the direction of my church leaders, one of whom was my Spiritual Director. But there were constant warning bells, and as I looked into these new practices I was being taught, the Lord led me into contact with Lighthouse Trails Research, where I was simply stunned when I discovered why the Holy Spirit had been urging me to come out of this false teaching.
3. How can other Christians learn (and warn) about Contemplative Spirituality?
First of all, I believe that the reason so many well meaning Christians are slipping into a contemplative coma is that they do not know or study their Bibles. The best way to recognize a counterfeit is to know the original very well. The counterfeit Jesus of contemplative spiritual formation will eventually lead you to universalism (all paths lead to God). Those who are becoming involved in CP, or who know those who are, need to seek the Lord in prayer, first of all, and secondly, there are lots of ministries who have excellent documented research in the form of articles, DVD’s and books on this subject. Lighthouse Trails comes to mind. When warning others, it’s very important to pray for them, as this is a very strong spiritual deception, and as you know, a good deception is always very close to the real thing, and may even contain truth. It can be very difficult to convince those involved that they are being deceived. Only the Lord can open their eyes to the truth.
4. Will there be a sequel?
There is possibly a sequel in the works. It completely depends on the Lord’s enabling.
5. Was this a difficult book to write?
The most difficult part was researching. I had to get to know Teresa if I was to write about her, and that required a lot of reading, taking notes, condensing and gathering of information, and putting it together in an interesting way. That was the hard part. The rest of the story, characters, and plots seemed to flow out effortlessly. However, having never written a book before, I learned that a major part of writing is the rewriting, and during the editing process, many things were changed and added. I learned later that you are supposed to have an outline or plan, and character descriptions, before you write. Closer to the publishing deadline there was a lot of unexpected work, but I loved doing it. In spite of some last minute changes, the story stayed 100% true to the original idea that popped into my head that morning as I was buttering my toast.
Endnotes:
1. http://mywordlikefire.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/most-significant-book-of-2009/
2. Jim Fletcher, WorldNetDaily http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=121090
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