[ By Paul Proctor I walked through the doors of the First Baptist Church in the spring of 1995 after having been somewhat of a prodigal son for roughly 10 years. I had recently rededicated my life to Christ and wanted to once again be a part of a loving church family. As I entered … [Read more…]
An August 8, 2018 Christianity Today article titled Willow Creek Elders and Pastor Heather Larson Resign over Bill Hybels chronicles events that led to Willow Creek founder Bill Hybels’ resignation from the megachurch due to numerous women having come forth with accusations of years of sexual misconduct and abuse by Hybels. Because of the lackadaisical … [Read more…]
By Manya Brachear Pashman Chicago Tribune The lead teaching pastor of Willow Creek Community Church announced his resignation from the South Barrington megachurch Sunday, saying he could no longer serve there with integrity. . . . Carter also said he did not agree with the way elders had handled the first reports by the Chicago … [Read more…]
This week, two items on the Internet were brought to our attention, both of which may seem to be unrelated to each other but in actuality have a connection that we find to be an eerie reminder of the days in which we live. The first item is a Tweet written earlier this week by … [Read more…]
Dear Lighthouse Trails: Our Christian churches are being strongly influenced by what I call Religious Correctness. It is similar to Political Correctness. If you question anything, you are told to sit down and shut up. Do not rock the boat. I am a former Roman Catholic who now knows and loves Jesus Christ. In Sunday … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: In view of our recent post on Albert Mohler who promoted the book The Benedictine Option (a book that encourages contemplative prayer practices), we are posting this article by Ray Yungen from his book A Time of Departing so readers who are unfamiliar with the contemplative prayer movement can gain better understanding. By Ray … [Read more…]
LTRJ Note: Some who read this article and other similar articles by Roger Oakland and LT accuse us of “lumping” all Calvary Chapels together saying they are all bad. We find this line of reasoning troubling. Lighthouse Trails historically has challenged many denominations (and the leaders within those groups), Calvary Chapel being one of them. … [Read more…]
By Roger Oakland Understand the Times, International There may still be people on UTT’s list who lack discernment and insist that Willow Creek theology is safe as mother’s milk and harmless to anyone and everyone. This commentary will be very short but also very important. It will help connect the dots. Please open the following … [Read more…]
For over a decade now, Lighthouse Trails editors have been concerned about the direction that the AWANA children’s club is heading. Today, in this report, we want to first give an overview of our past decade of reporting on AWANA, and then we want to share some new information that should concern every parent and … [Read more…]
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Isaiah 119:105) For nearly 14 years, Lighthouse Trails has been trying to warn Christian leaders and the body of Christ of the spiritual deception that has entered the church. While thousands of Christians have responded favorably to the work we do, … [Read more…]
By Roger Oakland Understand the Times, International Recently, I was informed about a conference held this week in Budapest, Hungary where Willow Creek senior pastor Bill Hybels taught leaders. According to comments posted on Phil Metzger’s Facebook page, the event was held at Calvary Chapel Golgota Budapest where Metzger is pastor. He is also the … [Read more…]
By Roger Oakland Understand the Times International The seeker-friendly model was the brainchild of Peter Drucker. The concept of finding out what a consumer would like in a church has been a very successful way to get people to come to a church. At least for a while! This consumer-friendly model worked as long as … [Read more…]
By Jim Fletcher Prophecy Matters Lynne Hybels is a woman of vast influence in the evangelical world. She and her husband, Bill, founded Willow Creek Community Church in 1975; today the Willow Creek Association (9,000 member churches worldwide) is one of the most influential groups in Christendom. Willow Creek’s annual “Leadership Summit” often hosts speakers … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: For a number of years, Lighthouse Trails has identified Andy Stanley as part of the emerging church and has considered him to be a bridger (bridging the gap between the emerging church and evangelical Christianity). This excellent book review by Gary Gilley shows an example of the (sometimes subtle) deception that occurs in … [Read more…]
To Lighthouse Trails: I just came across your site in search of some background information concerning the emergent church movement (which I was aware of, but had no idea of it’s size or that it was labeled as such). I was concerned about a particular speaker at Compassion Intl. and after finding the post at … [Read more…]
In 2012, Lighthouse Trails posted the “50 Top Organizations With a Significant Role in Bringing Contemplative Spirituality to the Church.” We are reposting this list for those who may not have seen it then, and we have added 8 “runner ups” to the list (see bottom of post). From 12 years of research at Lighthouse … [Read more…]
Dear Lighthouse Trails: Can you recommend how to find a biblical teaching church that is not on the contemplative/emergent/Acts 29 path? My husband and I are feeling so unsettled about how these movement seem to be creeping in to all the churches in our area including the one that we are members at. Any suggestions … [Read more…]
by Kevin Reeves LTRP Note: The following article by Kevin Reeves describes the background of much of the Word-Faith, River movement, Latter Rain, IHOP, Joel’s Army, Apostles and Prophets movement, etc. taking place today. Mike Bickle, Rick Joyner, John Wimber, and many others rose out of the 1940s Latter Rain movement. Followers believe that the … [Read more…]
A Directory of Authors (Three NOT Recommended Lists) written and compiled by Chris Lawson is our newest Lighthouse Trails Print Booklet Tract. The Booklet Tract is 14 pages long and sells for $1.95 for single copies. Quantity discounts are as much as 50% off retail. Below is the content of the booklet. To order copies of A Directory of … [Read more…]
Dear Lighthouse Trails, I left my church of 43 years, because they were promoting books like Ruth Haley Barton’s “Solitude and Silence”; they had built a Labyrinth next to the Memorial garden where my parents ashes lay and were performing mystic rituals along with contemplative prayer and Spiritual Formation. Before I left my church, I … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: We first posted the following commentary in June 2010. We felt it was timely to post it again for those who have forgotten about it or for those who have not yet read it, especially in view of Jim Wallis’ SoJourner magazine’s endorsement of Brian McLaren’s new CANA Initiative, which we wrote about yesterday. … [Read more…]
To Lighthouse Trails: Our family is having a difficult time finding a church to attend due to a lot of the false doctrines that have been described on Lighthouse Trails. I know that your site has a lot of readers that are probably experiencing the same difficulty (and possibly feel like the only ones in … [Read more…]
By Roger Oakland Understand the Times For those who are not aware of the Catholic Church’s New Evangelization program, let me provide a brief overview. The Catholic Church plans to establish the kingdom of God on earth and win the world to the Catholic Jesus (i.e., the Eucharistic Christ). This will be accomplished when the … [Read more…]
Dear Lighthouse Trails: I would be so appreciative if you could help me. Our church is planning on having every adult Sunday school class do the John Ortberg Fully Devoted book. I researched him and found that he is tied to the spiritual formation movement. I researched his seminary education, churches he has pastored, and … [Read more…]
Lighthouse Trails first addressed concerns about the Women of Faith conferences in 2006. In an article, we stated: Women of Faith is a Christian franchise that has held conferences for over 3 million women since its inception in 1996. In 2000, Christian publisher Thomas Nelson bought the Women of Faith franchise and has a strong influence … [Read more…]
Lighthouse Trails has now added Cincinnati Christian University (and Cincinnati Christian Seminary) in Ohio to its list of Christian colleges that are promoting contemplative spirituality and Spiritual Formation. The school began in 1924 and was founded on the “Restoration Movement.” Wikipedia has an interesting description of the history of that movement here. On a website called … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: Below is a follow-up article to journalist Jim Fletcher’s previous article “Calvary Chapel Breached,” regarding the situation with North Coast Calvary Chapel’s recent invitation of a Palestinian activist. Just prior to the event, Calvary Chapel founder Chuck Smith made a public statement against the North Coast event. Also read our article, “Further Implications of Calvary Chapel North … [Read more…]
Yesterday, we posted an article titled “Calvary Chapel Breached” by journalist Jim Fletcher. The article focused on a Calvary Chapel church (North Coast) in California and its invitation of a Palestinian man named Sami Awad. Fletcher’s article showed the implications of this invitation by Calvary Chapel and how this indicates the further move toward apostasy in … [Read more…]
LTRP Update: After posting this article on Facebook, the question arose as to whether Sami Awad was actually going to be speaking at North Coast Calvary Chapel. To help alleviate any doubts, we are attaching a photo copy of North Coast’s webpage showing Awad’s appearance: click here. The event will be taking place on May 10th. … [Read more…]
Update Note: For some articles written about this issue that came out after the article below, click here. This August, in Orlando, Florida, the Assemblies of God USA will be presenting their General Council Conference, which takes place every two years. The title of this year’s event is “BELIEVE.” Scheduled to speak to “women in ministry” on … [Read more…]