Sunday, February 28, 2010

Fighting Contemplative Prayer

And [King Uzziah] made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. (2 Chronicles 26:15)



As Lighthouse Trails Ministries has grimly noted, 2009 was a year in which contemplative spirituality—essentially New Age meditation—made great inroads into the culture, and especially into the church.



A Canadian writer is fighting back. Castles in the Sand is Carolyn Greene’s intriguing novel about the invasion of contemplative spirituality into a traditional Christian college.



Greene is using fiction as a weapon, and while the book may not seem like one of the “great stones” hurled by King Uzziah’s soldiers, even a small stone, if guided by the Lord, can cause a giant to fall.



So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone… (1 Samuel 17: 50)


Castles in the Sand has been called a “fantastic effort,” great to learn more about the new-age teachings that have crept into churches today or to give it to someone that is already caught in its trap.”


Perhaps saints will take this small, smooth stone of a novel and aim it at the deceived—and at those who are targets for deception. What if this very entertaining book was prayerfully and strategically placed?



The stakes are high. Contemplative spirituality is almost certainly one of the underpinnings of the rising false church. Those who promote or approve of these “Christianized” meditative practices—men like Tony Campolo, Eugene Peterson, Peter Scazzero, and Rick Warren—are powerful and persuasive.



So, why did Carolyn Greene decide to fictionally fight the contemplative movement? Ironically, she observed the acceptance and celebration of the twisted theology of The Shack.



According to Greene, “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 could be a completely powerful method of teaching, and so I asked the Lord if He would give me a fictional story that told the truth.”



Then Greene noted, “I spent a lot of time seeking the Lord and praying about it. Then one morning “the story came to me, and I quickly wrote it out in a matter of weeks.”



Who knows what will happen when this small, hard stone of a novel is launched at those deceived by contemplative forces?



There is a very important prerequisite as we fight this thing. Greene cautions, “Without prayer we can do nothing.”

Greene’s interview, “Write unto the Lord: Interview with Castles in the Sand author

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