Apprising Ministries continues walking the point in what is truly appears to me to be a spiritual version of the Vietnam War. Let’s get this straight; if your evanjellyfish leaders in the church visible had any spiritual backbone at all, there’d be no need for ministries like mine.

However, these women in men’s pants—terrified of their own spiritual shadows—don’t; therefore, the Lord has opened up a new mission field of online apologetics and discernment. God never leaves His remnant in a given generation without a witness; and so, here we are.

Those with ears that hear know we are in a time of growing spiritual darkness; while the spiritually obtuse think the visible church is in a time of bringing about God’s dream for the world. Yeah, the deceived think we’re to follow noted that pop philosopher Rodney King.

Meet the new mission of the church: The broad road of all getting along as we sing that classic 1969 worship anthem of the Chambers Brothers, Love, Peace & Happiness:

Against this backdrop I remind you about a well known compromised pastor by the name of Peter Scazzero, who joins pathetic Protholics in defecating upon the blood of the Reformers. I’ve also told you that Purpose Driven Pope Rick Warren has actually long been up to spiritual monk-ee business.

The fact is, for years now Warren’s been pushing the door open for corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM) ala Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster—and his spiritual twin Dallas Willard—to slither right into pretending to be Protestant mainstream evangelicalism.

You say, “Ok, Terry Tate of discernment; but what’s this got to do with Peter Scazzero?” Well, I’ll tell you. Warren is the one who gave the then little known Scazzero a bigger forum when he featured the CSM guru at Warren’s inaugural Radicalis conference at Saddleback Church in February of 2010.

It also showcased Seeker Driven Prophet-Pastor Perry Noble, along with Kerry Shook, Andy Stanley and New Calvinist Mark Driscoll. Now with Peter Scazzero also training pastors for the Willow Creek Association, it means he has the blessing of two of the biggest voices in the Church Growth Movement.

Scazzero’s shtick is CSM along with psycho-babble for a kind of soft Dr. Phil version of the Christian faith. In Tim Keller And Contemplative Spirituality I told you this New Calvinist mentor has Scazzero under Community Formation of his Small Group Ministries at Redeemer Presbyterian Church’s website.

Tis true. One of the “Recommended Resources” is The Emotionally Healthy Church (EMC) by this leading teacher of spurious CSM:

(Online source)

Dr. Keller then tells us in his endorsement within EMC itself:

Rather odd recommendation considering Scazzero’s EMC, which teaches CSM as part of those “practical ways” even comes with an endorsement on its back cover by New Apostolic Reformation and IHOP spiritual wingnut Mike Bickle. Well, here’s yet some more fruit Scazzero’s sissified CSM produces.

This from Peter Scazzero himself as he tweets the other day:

(Online source)

As we follow that link we come to Scazzero’s Facebook page below:

(Online source)

If you don’t know, Living Spiritual Teacher and Roman Catholic monk Thomas Keating is a leading instructor of  Contemplative/Centering Prayer (CCP); CCP “silence” forms the crown jewel of this new spirituality of CSM, and is itself a form of meditation in an altered state of conscious.

Here’s a taste of Keating’s rotten fruit:

Now we come to the tweet below last night from Peter Scazzero:

(Online source)

Before I show you where that link goes, let me remind you that in Peter Scazzero Bringing Rome Home To His Church I told you he’s founder and senior pastor of New Life Fellowship Church:

(Online source)

And, consistent with others involved with CSM Scazzero also has no problem serving with a rebel against the Word of God like Jacqueline Snape as his Assistant Executive Pastrix:

(Online source)

This is how Snape appeared last year at this time when I originally exposed this; her title has since been changed to Elder-in-Residence. The fact remains however, Peter Scazzero is also using his pastorate to lead people right back into Romish spiritual bondage, of which, the Protestant Reformation freed them.

Returning to the last tweet above, I’m about to show you now just how far gone Scazzero is in his delusions of CSM as it takes us over to his post The Challenge of Deepening Rhythms with God. The title tells you we’re into mysticism; the Bible says nothing about any deepening rhythms we need to find.

Scazzero begins with a quote from an apostate Roman Catholic mystic known as Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179); a woman who was:

invested with the habit [a nun] of St. Benedict and made her [Roman Catholic] religious profession…[and she had] great love for the [Roman Catholic] Church and its interests…(Online source) 

A theme quite common with these Roman Catholic mystics: great love for the apostate Roman Catholic Church. Remind me again, as one God mercifully led out of the RCC, why would I want to adopt spiritual practices that will lead me into a great love for an organization that condemned the Gospel?

Why would we want to become what we’re watching Peter Scazzero become. He tells us he “came out” of his “13 week Sabbatical” and believed he had “three very clear invitations from God.” They were “to deepen/broaden my prayer life, to write, and to feed His sheep both at NLF and beyond.”

One thing is sure: God did not tell him to be teaching all of this spiritual skubalon counter to the proper Christian spirituality of sola Scriptura. Scazzero goes on about how a few weeks after returning to his work activities he was back into “old habits” and feeling he was “challenged and besieged.”

Next Scazzero tells us that he hit a stretch of “one and half days” where it seemed to him he was just too busy. And then, sounding more like CSM guru Thomas Keating than anything even remotely resenbling a Christian pastor, Scazzero first says he believed he needed to “reboot” his life.

Then he completely derails:

(Online source)

Notice in point number 2 he speaks of the “interior silence” of the transcendental meditation of CCP taught by CSM gurus—and that’s exactly what they are—like Thomas Keating. Scazzero’s wasting his time reading those journals in Point 5 because God didn’t teach him to practice “wordless prayer” of CCP.

Jesus already told us we should use spoken words in prayer — And he said to them, “When you pray, say” (Luke 11:2). Yet again, in point 6 we have the CSM practice of Lectio Divina; because for “the monk and nun, lectio and contemplation, Centering Prayer, are all part of one reality. ^[1]

In closing this, for now, you may recall the other day I showed you that Rick Warren Ministry Recommends Mantra Centering Prayer. Now this really doesn’t come as much of a surprise considering what I showed you above: Rick Warren has already lent his considerable credibility to Scazzero.

Rick Warren, among the most influential pastors in the SBC—the largest Protestant body in the United States—wanted to expose his thousands of followers to Scazzero’s CSM. Now keep in mind his CSM shtick is used in training leaders within Willow Creek Association, another very influential evangelical group.

Then you’ve also seen that Scazzero’s CSM is being used as Community Formation at the church of Gospel Coalition Council Member Tim Keller’s Reformed church as well. You need to realize that people like Scazzero, Warren, and Tim Keller are already playing a part in creating scores of pathetic Protholics.

You know, there’s been a lot of talk about so-called “angry bloggers” who supposedly shouldn’t be covering issues like this. So here’s a suggestion; if those who’re in more influential positions would quit complaining about them, stop shooting fish in a barrel and confront this lunacy, there’d be less of them.

________________________________________________________________________________
End notes:

Back to note 1 — M.Basil Pennington, Lectio Divina: Renewing the Ancient Practice of Praying the Scriptures [New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1998] , ix. emphasis mine.

See also:

RICHARD FOSTER, T.D. JAKES, AND YOUR BRAIN ON MYSTICISM

GOSPEL COALITION COUNCIL MEMBER TIM KELLER AND CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER

BETH MOORE PRAISES BROTHER LAWRENCE AND OBSCURES THE REFORMATION