Some of you will remember that Apprising Ministries has been looking into the issue of the wide penetration of the neo-liberal cult of the Emergent Church and its core doctrine of Contemplative Spirituality into the Southern Baptist Convention. It is showing itself to be so widespread I created an SBC/Contemplative/Emergent category for it here at AM. For those who might not know these types of heretical spiritual practices culled from the antibiblical monastic traditions of the apostate Church of Rome slither into your fellowships under the guise of “Spiritual Formation.”

You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob. They are full of superstitions from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines and clasp hands with pagans. (Isaiah 2:6)

Spiritual Corruption In High Places

O yes, there is absolutely no question that monks and nuns in the Roman Catholic Church were heavily involved in this so-called “Christian: mysticism also known as Contemplative Prayer, which itself is actually transcendental meditation using Christian terms. And do you happen to remember where all that led and where it eventually got them? It led to such corruption spiritually that it would be a catalyst to cause a little thing called the Reformation. And in yet another egregious example of just how rampant this anti-Reformation rubbish I present to you, despite a redirect within the web links, this Spiritual Formation page from the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC).

Please keep in mind here that this is the official state convention from North Carolina for the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). There on the above Spiritual Formation page you can look around for yourself on this supposedly “Protestant” evangelical website at the issues and items of Contemplative Spirituality featured through BSCNC. For example here is the page that brings you to the BSCNC “SBC” Retreat Centers, also featuring their “Spiritual Formation Coach” Wendy Minton Edwards.

And this is the page for the BSCNC “Spiritual Formation Book Reviews.” There you will read a review of Spiritual Formation Reimagined: A Week In The Life Of An Experimental Church, by Emergent Church “Pastor” Doug Pagitt where we’re told it’s a “truly exciting look at spiritual formation.” This coming from BSCNC, an SBC affiliate, about a man that my friend Bob DeWaay–a real Pastor–debated and told me afterward: “I have never debated theology with someone who claimed to be a Christian that I had so little in common with.”

You may also wish to note glowing reviews of books by Roman Catholic “mystic” Madame Guyon, the late Emergent theologian Stan Grenz, Emergent and Contemplative author of the Message Eugene Peterson and amazingly enough even apostate Contemplative Roman Catholic priests, Spiritual Master M. Basil Pennington and Henri Nowen.

Walking The Labyrinth

And finally here’s the page for the November 2006 SpiritLines Newsletter and an article where Spiritual Formation Coach Wendy tells us, “I’ve had a growing interest in prayer labyrinths.” Now we need to keep in mind we are reading about this New Age practice on the BSCNC website, a supposedly Protestant evangelical SBC Christian group. Our Spiritual Formation Coach further informs us that, “Labyrinths have been in existence for 4,000 years and have been utilized by every major religion in the world.”

Next we read:

One prays as he/she walks the labyrinth. While one can certainly pray in any way he/she chooses, Patricia D. Brown offers the following suggestions in Paths to Prayer: Finding Your Own Way to the Presence of God, p. 252-253: Walk in prayer, Walk in focused reflection, Walk in silent reflection, Walk as a body prayer, or Walk in community. It is generally helpful to pause at the labyrinth entrance.

Quiet and focus yourself on God and God’s presence in your life. Release any worries and concerns that might hinder your focus on God. As you begin the inward journey of the labyrinth, continue to shed any distracting thoughts or images that come to you. Give thanks to God. Prepare to receive whatever the Lord chooses to reveal to you. Listen with your heart for insight, clarity, or illumination. Stay in the center as long as you feel the need or desire.

As you journey outward, be attentive to the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Give thanks to God for God’s presence, peace, and power. Upon completion of the labyrinth walk, pause for reflection upon the experience. For centuries Christians have found the labyrinth prayer experience to be an enriching and renewing prayer aid. That’s been my experience as well.

Spiritual Formation Coach Wendy even ends this piece by telling us where we can “learn more about labyrinths,” as well as also providing a link “to locate one in your area,…” And then with “warmest regards” our emerging Spiritual Director Guru Wendy tells us “SpiritLines has added this link to assist you in your prayer journey.”

Very very sad indeed. Is it really any wonder why the judgments of God are beginning to come upon what professes to be the Church of our Lord…