Welcome to the New (Contemplative) Christianity – Breath In . . . Breath Out

“If you are someone who is aware of the dangers and the true panentheistic, interspiritual nature of contemplative prayer, you have probably noticed that contemplative spirituality has moved from its infancy stage in the church to what appears to becoming the norm.” 

(Lighthouse Trails)  The acceptance of contemplative prayer has hit an all-time high in the church. And is it any wonder? Christian media, Christian publishers, pastors, mission societies, Bible societies, authors, radio hosts, youth leaders, women’s group leaders, and Christian ministry leaders are all promoting it more than ever. …

The video below that was posted on Charisma Magazine’s website on September 10th is yet another example of how Christian media (Charisma being one of the most popular Christian magazines today) is doing their part to get masses of Christians  involved with contemplative prayer (remember our recent article on YWAM’s goal to get all YWAMer’s doing contemplative prayer).

The Charisma article titled “The Ancient Spiritual Prayer Today’s Church Fails to Practice” states: “[Pastor] Shigematsu offers an easy step-by-step guide on how to do contemplative prayer in this video.”

The pastor who is featured on this video is Pastor Ken Shigematsu. Shigematsu is the author of God in My Everything: How an Ancient Rhythm Helps Busy People Enjoy God (2013) and Survival Guide for the Soul (2018, foreword by Ann Voskamp). In what he calls a “spiritual ecosystem,” Shigematsu provides a who’s who of New Age sympathizers and Catholic mystics in God in My Everything, that includes Thomas Merton, Evelyn Underhill, Kathleen Norris, Marva Dawn, Basil Pennington, Richard Rohr, Gerald May, Dorothy Bass, Parker Palmer, Joan Chittister and many of the usual evangelical/Protestant suspects such as Dallas Willard, Eugene Peterson, Richard Foster, Ruth Haley Barton, and Gary Thomas. In that book, Shigematsu makes no apologies for encouraging Christians to practice various meditation exercises to help calm the mind.   View article →

Research:

Contemplative Prayer

New Age Movement