Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:35-36 (ESV) 

Probably the command from our Lord that is the most difficult for us to obey is found in Luke 6:35 (above). That is, it is hard or difficult if we are full of pride and are self-focused. However, as the master vinedresser prunes us as we abide in the True Vine and the refiner burns away the fleshly dross from us in the refiner’s fire, we will be humbled as we surrender to the potter, as the clay should. This humbling is what is required for Christlikeness to become manifest in and through us. Why? If we are being driven by pride then we will be self-focused and operate as if we are the center of our universe. However, humble believers, those who are maturing, are those who have given that up as something that hinders their walk with the Lord. Maturing believers see the things of this world, the very things the world runs after, as nothing but dung in comparison to what they have in Christ. He becomes their all-in-all. Their love for Him spills over into all parts of their lives and for the Saviour’s sake they love their enemies and are merciful to all just as He was and is. Our Lord demonstrates the epitome of this as He was crucified. View article →

From porkies to whoppers: over time lies may desensitise brain to dishonesty

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

According to The Guardian, a new study indicates that even telling a white lie can desensitize the brain to dishonesty and that lying “gradually feels more comfortable over time.”

PinocchioAmerican fraudster Frank Abagnale, played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the filmCatch Me If You Can, started out swindling his father out of small change for date money and ended up impersonating an airline pilot, despite the admission that he “couldn’t fly a kite”.

Now scientists have uncovered an explanation for why telling a few porkies has the tendency to spiral out of control. The study suggests that telling small, insignificant lies desensitises the brain to dishonesty, meaning that lying gradually feels more comfortable over time.

View article →

Ed Stetzer Honors NAR Heretic, Neo-Montanist and Church Growth Charlatan C. Peter Wagner’s Passing

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

From Berean Research:

peter_wagnerC. Peter Wagner, the man who helped revive the Latter Rain cult of the 1950’s and later dubbed it the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), died last week.  Being that Wagner was the Grand Poobah of the NAR, this is a huge loss for this growing movement.  In a piece I wrote entitled Religious Right uniting with Religious Renegades I brought to light that Wagner was the NAR founder.  Wagner was not happy about that and sent AN URGENT MESSAGE FROM PETER to his mailing list categorically denying that he was the ring leader founder. He wrote:

The NAR is not an organization. No one can join or carry a card. It has no leader. I have been called the “founder,” but this is not the case. One reason I might be seen as an “intellectual godfather” is that I might have been the first to observe the movement, give a name to it, and describe its characteristics as I saw them.

When he died, Charisma News penned a piece saying that Wagner had “passed into glory.”  Richard Haas couldn’t disagree more so he voiced his view of the man over at Pulpit & Pen, as he felt the truth wasn’t being reported. In his piece he asked, “Is it harsh or judgmental to say that C. Peter Wagner has not passed into glory as Charisma News, and others would lead us to believe?”  No, says Haas, “it is not judgmental or insensitive to speak the truth.”

View article →

Obama Administration Confirms Double-Digit Premium Hikes

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

NewsMax reports that Obamacare premiums soar:

obamacarePremiums will go up sharply next year under President Barack Obama’s health care law, and many consumers will be down to just one insurer, the administration confirmed Monday. That will stoke another “Obamacare” controversy days before a presidential election.

Before taxpayer-provided subsidies, premiums for a midlevel benchmark plan will increase an average of 25 percent across the 39 states served by the federally run online market, according to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services. Some states will see much bigger jumps, others less.

View article →

A case of a disingenuous Christian

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.” (Acts 8:18-23 NASB)

In these times of the “Compromised Church” with very little knowledge of historical Christianity and what makes up what is truly Orthodox, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised when I’m called a heretic and false teacher for teaching Reformation Theology and then revealing that my view of eschatology is (gasp) not dispensational/pre-millennialism. I have been told more than a few times that I could not possibly be a genuine brother and hold to the view of eschatology that I espouse or that I am a Calvinist, et cetera. What is it that makes one a genuine Christian rather than a disingenuous believer? Let’s take a look at a New Testament example. View article →

Christian Bakery Loses Appeal over “Gay Cake” Discrimination Conviction

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

Breitbart reports:

bert-and-ernie

Sesame Street Muppets Bert & Ernie

The Christian owners of Ashers Baking Company have lost their appeal to overturn a conviction which found them guilty of discrimination for refusing to make a cake bearing a slogan which promoted gay marriage. The Court of Appeal in Belfast upheld the previous judgement, filed last year, which found that the company had discriminated against local gay rights activist Gareth Lee by failing to provide a cake bearing a picture of Bert and Ernie with the slogan “support gay marriage”. The initial judgement ordered them to pay £500 in compensation to Mr. Lee.

The owners, Daniel and Amy MacArthur, said that they were happy to serve Mr. Lee, but felt unable to make a cake endorsing a message they did not agree with. They, therefore, argued that they had not discriminated against Mr. Lee, but had merely declined to support his cause.

View article →

Vasectomy Parties Are the New Trend for Couples Going “Child-Free”

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

Vasectomy parties are like baby showers except couples celebrate the babies that will never be.  According to PJMedia:

Daily Mail recently highlighted a new trend in the world of fertility: vasectomy parties to celebrate the decision of a couple to remain childless. 

baby-not-welcomeThe cost of having children is deterring a growing number of couples from expanding the family unit. Vasectomies, once a source of shame, are now being celebrated openly by couples adamant about living childless lives… More couples these days want to avoid parenthood and embrace life without children.

 

View article →

Reported Cases of Sexually-Transmitted Diseases Reaches Record High

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , ,

gay-agenda-4Wintery Knight (WK) has a story by CNN’s Jacqueline Howard entitled “STD Rates Reach Record High in United States.” In her article, Howard addresses an annual study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a liberal government organization. In their piece, WN offers a more conservative perspective regarding this ongoing problem. As you can see by the headline, the CDC paints a bleak picture for the LGBTQ community, and for good reason.  For example, the CDC reveals that “Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men made up an estimated 2% of the population but 55% of people living with HIV in the United States in 2013. If current diagnosis rates continue, 1 in 6 gay and bisexual men will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime, including 1 in 2 black/African American gay and bisexual men, 1 in 4 Hispanic/Latino gay and bisexual men, and 1 in 11 white gay and bisexual men.”

According to WK, the government solution to this alarming situation is for taxpayers to continue coughing up money to pay medical bills for irresponsible men.

View article →

Students “Appalled” by Catholic University’s Decision to Forbid Pro-Life Poster

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

Christian News Network reports:

unborn-lives-matter

Photo credit: Twitter

The largest Catholic university in the U.S. prevented an on-campus organization from displaying a pro-life poster, suggesting that the message was “provocative” and “hurtful.”

DePaul University is a private university in Chicago, founded in 1898. Although the university celebrates its “Catholic character” in its mission statement and seeks to foster the Catholic faith on campus, the school is being criticized for refusing to allow an organization to display a pro-life poster.

Earlier this month, the DePaul College Republicans requested permission to display on campus a poster bearing the phrase “Unborn Lives Matter.” Campus officials declined their request, saying the pro-life sign would have to be redesigned before it could be displayed.

View article →

Saving faith is a gift from God

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching
15 When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. 17 When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.  (Luke 2:15-20 NASB)

Human faith is not the same thing as Genuine (saving) faith, which is a gift from God. The former is based in Human reason and intellect. The latter is supernatural. What passes for faith in many professing believer’s “Christianity” is a belief based in who preaches to or teaches them. This is not Genuine faith because it is not a belief in the Word or in God through the Word. These are “believers” who will eventually fall away. Some may last a lifetime, but as soon as the fires of tribulation come upon them they slide into apostasy because their faith is not of the substance that endures. View article →

Called Into Fellowship

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙

God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:9

fellowshipThis is the key verse of First Corinthians. The rest of the letter revolves around it. It is a statement that God had called them to a very important relationship, and that this is the reason for all of the problems in the church. They had not understood the implications of their calling, and the relationship they personally had with Jesus himself. Instead, beginning with the very next verse, the apostle has to deal with divisions, scandals, lawsuits, immorality, drunkenness and quarreling. It is very clear that, despite the fullness of provision which they had received, they were experiencing a great failure in the church. They had all this ability to do all these mighty things in the Spirit, but not much was happening out in the city. Instead of making an impact on Corinth, Corinth was making an impact on the church. All these ugly attitudes and actions that were going on every day out in the city were beginning to infiltrate into the church, and instead of the church changing the city, the city was changing the church.

This reminds me of Peter Marshall’s very vivid description of contemporary Christians. He says, Christians are like deep-sea divers encased in suits designed for many fathoms deep, marching bravely forth to pull plugs out of bathtubs! What was wrong was the Corinthians lack of understanding of what it meant to have Jesus Christ living among them. The major struggle of most churches is right at this point. They have lost the sense that Jesus is among them, that they have an individual relationship to the Lord of glory himself. They no longer live their lives in the awareness and the excitement that they are partners with Christ in everything they do. When that begins to fade from the Christian consciousness, all these troubles that the Corinthians were experiencing begin to crowd in. This letter is written to call them back to an awareness of what it means to have fellowship with Christ.   View article →

NAR Pioneer and Chief Theologian C. Peter Wagner Dies

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , , ,

According to Spirit of Error, Arch-heretic C. Peter Wagner has died:

peter_wagnerC. Peter Wagner, one of the most influential leaders in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), died Friday at age 86. Many people who are part of the global NAR movement have been deeply influenced by Wagner without knowing it. In short, he did the heavy lifting theologically for the movement.

Wagner was a professor of church growth at Fuller Theological Seminary, where he taught for 30 years (1971 to 2001). He first coined the term “New Apostolic Reformation” to refer to the growing number of churches in the 1990s that started to accept the idea of present-day apostles. He wrote six books on the topic of apostles. He was the presiding leader over the International Coalition of Apostolic Leadersduring its formative years, from 2001 to 2010.   View article →

Discover why C. Peter Wagner was considered a dangerous man in The Rotten Fruit of the NAR.

For more on the the New Apostolic Reformation/Dominionism, check out Berean Research’s White Paper here.

 

Risk of “Mass Exodus” of Doctors from Medicare

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙

LifeZette reports:

doctor-medicareIn what may be the most significant modification to Medicare since the program began in 1966, on Oct. 15, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final rule for implementing the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). It dramatically changes how Medicare pays doctors for their services.

Does it really matter how doctors get paid? Yes — the success or failure of the new payment system will profoundly influence the future of the U.S. health care system. And while the goals of MACRA are laudable, its implementation carries a number of unknowns and the potential for unintended consequences — for patients and doctors alike.

View article →

The Missing Elements of Modern Worship

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

worship-musicPopular blogger, author and pastor Tim Challies wonders: “If a worship service includes no prayer and no Bible reading, can we even recognize it as Christian worship?”

The question you need to ask yourself is, does the church you attend follow the Bible’s instruction on the way church is to be conducted?  Is the service you attend man-centered, or does it truly glorify God? After visiting many churches over the years, Challies says that the answer to these questions is No!  So, what exactly is missing in modern worship? Well, for one thing some church services lack, of all things, prayer. There are other important elements that are missing as well.  Find out what they are.

View article →

 

ExxonMobil Fights the Abusive Behavior of Democrat Attorney Generals’ Climate Inquisition

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ ,

Hans von Spakovsky of The Daily Signal reveals how our government is attempting to criminalize scientific dissent and punish anyone who dares question the validity of alleged climate change:

A frame-filling portrait of a male polar bear (Ursus maritimus) jumping in the pack ice. The young male, probably due to a mix of curiosity and hunger, got really close to our ship - less than 20 meters. Svalbard, Norway.

ExxonMobil is fighting back against New York’s Democrat attorney general who is demanding decades-worth of documents about the company’s position on global warming and climate change.

On Oct. 17, ExxonMobil asked a federal judge in Texas, Ed Kinkeade, to stop the abusive behavior of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman by tossing out the subpoena that Schneiderman served on Exxon as part of its investigation of the company for supposedly lying to the public about catastrophic, man-induced climate change.

This is part of the effort of state AGs like Schneiderman to criminalize scientific dissent and punish heretics who question the validity of this unproven theory.

Exxon had already filed a lawsuit in federal court to stop a similar investigation being waged by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, also a Democrat.  Exxon’s Oct. 17 motion asked the same federal court to allow it to amend its original complaint to add Schneiderman to its lawsuit.

View article →

Nearly 13,000 Fully Developed Babies Aborted Each Year

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

According to Breitbart:

Baby kickingThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says nearly 13,000 fully developed babies who could survive outside the womb are aborted annually. And – contrary to the false claims made by Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during Wednesday evening’s debate – few, if any, of those abortions occurred because of the “life and health of the mother” or “something terrible” being discovered about the pregnancy.

In late 2011, the CDC published a report that observed 1.3 percent of abortions were performed at 21 weeks gestation and later.

“With nearly one million abortions annually in the U.S., abortionists are killing close to 13,000 children every year who are often fully developed and can survive outside the womb,” Lila Rose, president of Live Action, notes. “While the abortion industry claims that late-term abortions are an insignificant number of abortions and they’re only done because of a disability the baby has or to protect the life of the mother, the evidence says just the opposite.”

View article →

Clinton at Al Smith Dinner: “In Order to Achieve Salvation, We Need Both Faith and Good Works”

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , , ,

Christian News Network reports:

Hillary ClintonDuring Thursday night’s Al Smith charity dinner in New York City, which featured speeches from both presidential candidates, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton told those gathered that she shares a belief with Roman Catholics that to “achieve salvation,” a person must have “both faith and good works.”

“I am not Catholic. I’m a Methodist. But one of the things we share is a belief that in order to achieve salvation, we need both faith and good works,” Clinton told those gathered.

View article →

The Spirit is who makes alive while the flesh does not profit anything

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

63 τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστιν τὸ ζῳοποιοῦν, ἡ σὰρξ οὐκ ὠφελεῖ οὐδέν· τὰ ῥήματα ἃ ἐγὼ λελάληκα ὑμῖν πνεῦμά ἐστιν καὶ ζωή ἐστιν. John 6:63 (NA28)

63 The Spirit is who makes alive while the flesh does not profit anything. The words which I have spoken to you are Spirit and are life. John 6:63 (translated from the NA28 Greek text)

A study of 2 Kings 12-16 is horrifying to read. Why? The rampant apostasy in both the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern King of Judah was beyond reproach. King Ahaz of Judah actually sacrificed his own son(s) to idols. I am sure things were just as bad, if not worse, in the Northern Kingdom. However, are any better in our time. In today’s study we will look at John Chapter 6 and see that apostasy in our Lord’s time was little different than we are encountering in our day. Many who know me well say that I seem to enjoy teaching from John’s Gospel and his epistles and Revelation than from any other parts of the Bible.  I don’t know about that, but the Apostle John is someone I can identify with very well. I have been accused by those same people who who enjoy analyzing me so much of not being able to compromise at all. I have no grey areas. Things are either right or wrong. I agree with that assessment to a point and I see the same sort of view of non-compromising adherence to the truth with the Apostle John. However, let us not forget that what he wrote for us in God’s Word is that very thing. We are reading the inspired Word of God and in John 6, the very words of our Lord are, for the most part, in response to His critics who were in the darkness of unbelief. Don’t we have the same thing going on in our time? View article →

Media Have “Selective Memory” When It Comes to Democrats Accepting Election Results

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , , ,

Breitbart reports:

reminderPat Caddell told Breitbart News Daily SiriusXM host Alex Marlow on Thursday, “Selective memory is exactly the point” when it comes to the mainstream media’s reaction to Republican nominee Donald Trump suggesting he would wait and see before accepting the election results on November 8. “All he said was, ‘I’ll wait and see what the results are,’ which is a reasonable position, I suppose,” said Caddell, also pointing out that Democrats challenged the results of the presidential elections in 2000 and 2004.

Hillary Clinton and Al Gore were still claiming Al Gore won the 2000 election as recently as last week in Florida on the stump together:

View article →

The Society of Biblical Literature Is Now Banning Christian Organizations

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

According to Erick Erickson of The Resurgent:

MarriageI keep saying that you will be made to care and yet again we have proof from inside purportedly academic religious organizations. In the name of diversity, the Society of Biblical Literature is banning InterVarsity Press from hosting a book stall its 2017 meeting. For those not familiar with InterVarsity Press, it is one of the premiere Christian academic publishers in the world, not just the United States.

What sin did InterVarsity Press commit to get itself banned from the Society of Biblical Literature? Nothing actually. It did nothing at all. Seriously.

InterVarsity Press is an organization associated with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (“IVCF”). Time magazine ran a report on IVCF stating that it was firing employees who did not hold orthodox Christian views on, you guessed it, marriage.

View article →

Calcium Supplements: Not Worth the Risk

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙

According to LifeZette, taking calcium supplements to prevent bone loss might be dangerous:

calcium-supplementsYour calcium supplement isn’t doing you any favors. After 10 years of medical research that employed more than 2,700 people, researchers at Johns Hopkins University have determined that calcium supplements actually increase the risk of heart attack.

Researchers began feeling skeptical about the health benefits of the supplements after they realized the calcium wasn’t making it to the bones — and it wasn’t passing through the body, either. Instead, the supplements deposited calcium into the soft tissue of the body, such as the muscles and blood vessels.

View article →

Clinton Calls Trump’s Comments About Ripping Babies From the Womb “Scare Rhetoric”

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , , ,

CNSNews reports:

baby-in-womb-5Donald Trump during the third presidential debate on Wednesday night said partial-birth abortion was “terrible” and “not acceptable,” but Hillary Clinton called his description of babies being ripped from the womb in the ninth month of gestation “scare rhetoric.”

The right to abortion, partial-birth abortion, funding Planned Parenthood and the makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court featured prominently in the early stages of the debate in Las Vegas.

Clinton reiterated that her priorities when naming judges to the bench included the court not reversing Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in 1973.

View article →

Our Lord’s 4 witnesses to His deity

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

30 Οὐ δύναμαι ἐγὼ ποιεῖν ἀπʼ ἐμαυτοῦ οὐδέν· καθὼς ἀκούω κρίνω, καὶ ἡ κρίσις ἡ ἐμὴ δικαία ἐστίν, * ὅτι οὐ ζητῶ τὸ θέλημα τὸ ἐμὸν ἀλλὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πέμψαντός με. John 5:30 (NA28)

30 “I am not able to do from myself. As I hear I judge and my judgment is just because I do not seek my will but the will of the one who sent me.” John 5:30 (translated from the NA28 Greek text)

Our Lord Jesus Christ, as the Apostle John said in John 1:1-5, “Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν.  πάντα δι᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν. ὃ γέγονεν ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων·  καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν.”, and in v14, “Καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρός, πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας.”, translated as, “In the Beginning was the word and the Word was with God and God was the Word. This one was with God in the Beginning. All things came to be through him and without him not one thing came to be which came into being. In him was life and the life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not grasp it.” and in v14, “And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us and we gazed upon his glory, glory as of the only one from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Our Lord Jesus Christ, being God the Son, the second person in the Holy Trinity became flesh and “tabernacled” among us. The Gospel of John was written by the Apostle as a “witness” of our Lord’s incarnation and is without a doubt the most profound exposition of Jesus as both God and man. View article →

Is Mindfulness Christian?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

Many people have been led to believe that Mindfulness is a totally harmless prayer technique for “slowing down to a state of lucidity in order to enter into God’s presence.” Is it true that Mindfulness is harmless?  Should Christians practice what is clearly a Buddhist prayer technique?  Dr. Peter Jones of truthXchange answers these questions:

buddhism-and-christianityIn his article, “Is ‘Mindfulness’ Christian?,” (in Book Reviews, Life & Ministry16 October 7, 2016), Ian Paul, an Anglican minister, enthusiastically reviews the booklet written by fellow Anglican cleric, Tim Stead, Mindfulness and Prayer, in the grove spirituality series. Stead devotes his booklet and much of his ministry to normalizing for Christians the Buddhist technique of spirituality, namely Mindfulness. To his own question about the Christian nature of Mindfulness, Ian Paul enthusiastically answers, “yes.”

Rev. Paul assures us that the values of Mindfulness are found in the Bible. The deep thinking found in Mindfulness is exactly what the prodigal son does. He ‘comes to his senses.’ “Paying attention is simply a skill which needs practicing.” He assures us that we must not fear Mindfulness for it is now found in the mainstream clinical and psychological contexts–though to think such fields are neutral is surely a mistake. Finally we should, says Paul, “note how similar some of the techniques of Mindfulness are to those suggested by the great mystics who have explored contemplative forms of prayer. My own inspirations have been Teresa of Avila and the Eastern Orthodox Jesus Prayer tradition.” [Unfortunately it can be shown that those medieval mystics and their spiritual techniques were dangerously heretical, adopting a similar Buddistic form of contemplative spirituality, namely nondual neo-Platonism—so more is going on, but that is another, long story. …  Rev. Paul assures us that Mindfulness is a totally harmless technique for slowing down to a state of lucidity in order to enter into God’s presence in prayer.

View article →

Check out our Research Paper on Contemplative Prayer