It is important to recognize that most professing Christians that promote Contemplative Spirituality do not mention the role of the Holy Spirit.  Some of the major ones do not even know what His role is.  They either never had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, have limited His work in their lives, or have rejected Him somewhere along the path to paganism.  They are promoting spirituality by another means.  However, the quintessence of spirituality is complete and superabundant in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.   

The Holy Spirit has never led anyone to practice Contemplative Prayer.  To do so would be to abdicate Himself of His position, to insinuate that He is unable to provide enough spirituality for us, and that that His ability to guide us is insufficient.  No true Christian in the Bible or in Christian history has ever implied that the Holy Spirit was insufficient to meet ones spiritual needs.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is essential to every true Christian.  Whether one believes that the fullness of the Holy Spirit is achieved at the point of re-birth, or by a separate event, no one can be saved without the Holy Spirit.  He is the key factor in being born again. 

Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-8 NKJV)

There is no godly spirituality without Him.  If He dwells within, there is no need for any other source of spirituality.  He is the true spiritual guide that leads us into all truth.  Any other spiritual source or spirit guide is not of God, but of the enemy of God and of all righteousness.

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. (John 16:13 NKJV)

When Jesus Christ came to earth, even though He was previously in the form of and equal with God, He took on the form of a servant.  The Apostle Paul lays this out clearly in his letter to the church at Philippi. 

⁵ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, ⁷ but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. ⁹ Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11NKJV)

I do not know of a passage of Scripture that more clearly debunks the bizarre notion of a Christ Consciousness.  However, increasing numbers of professing Christians are succumbing to the idea as they read books, attend seminars and conferences, watch video, and engage in Contemplative Prayer that is being promoted by New Age mystics posing as Christians.  They call themselves Emergent Christians.  However, a Christians truly emerges when God calls him or her out of darkness and into His marvelous light.  The so-called Emergent ones are actually heading back into the darkness, if in fact they have ever emerged from the light.

A key phrase in Philippians 2 is found in the 5^th verse, “Let this mind be in you…”  There is no mention of Contemplative Prayer here.  One must simply humble him or herself, and become obedient to God to the fullest extent.  The Contemplative mystics cannot harmonize this verse with what they promote.  They believe that one must sit in yoga position, place ones hands in salutation to the sun, and by counting ones breaths while chanting a mantra, enter an altered state of consciousness.  At that point they claim to reach a higher level of spirituality.  Their New Age counterparts claim that they are partaking of the Christ Consciousness.  Professing Christian and Contemplative mystic, Richard Foster, declares that one cannot obtain a necessary degree of spirituality without Contemplative Prayer.  Other ones, such as Ruth Haley Barton, set themselves up as Spiritual Directors (gurus), insisting that no one can possible achieved this degree of spirituality without their help.  By believing that one can reach a greater degree of spirituality by such unbiblical means, they reject the Holy Spirit who is the epitome of spirituality.  Obviously, the mind they are pursuing is not the mind of Christ. 

 Aligning themselves with the New Age practitioners and promoters of Contemplative Spirituality, they cannot avoid the same heretical conclusions.  One such conclusion is that the false notion that God’s son, Jesus, was the first one to partake of the Christ Consciousness that we all have the opportunity to partake of.  God’s word declares otherwise.  However, Jesus did not come to be a Christ or a King; He was born the Christ, the only and true Messiah, and the King of kings and Lord of lords.  He did not spend His time on earth attempting to ascend to higher levels of spirituality.  He was born as the embodiment of true spirituality.  The day He was born, wise men came to worship Him. Simeon, a godly and devout men, saw him as a child and declared that He was the Lord’s Christ (Luke 2:25-32).  Obviously, there was not Contemplative Prayer involved in attaining this title.

 What is actually occurring in Christianity is an attempt to humanize Christ and God, make them equal with individuals that claim to have risen above their fellow Christians by means of Contemplative Spirituality.  The spirituality that they are experiencing is actually from the realm of darkness.  In fact, New Age/Emergent leaders are actually promoting and practicing witchcraft.  It is witchcraft because it calls on means other than God to conjure up spirits and produce the supernatural.  The result is not only the submission of one’s soul to the satanic realm, but also to distract and defocus people from God to whom all power belongs.              

 After realizing the depth and span of Contemplative Spirituality in Christianity, many concerned Christians have asked how it could occur.  It began when a plethora of heresies invaded and were assimilated in Christianity over several decades.   As a result, the invasion of Contemplative Spirituality was relatively easy.  New Age Contemplative Mystics masquerading as Christians did not find Christianity armed with truth and knowledge as a result of devotion to and intimacy with God.  Instead, they found a Christianity wallowing in selfishness, addicted to religious bondage, whose leaders are drunk on avarice and power.  They did not find a strong and stable Christianity, but one with many open belief systems and broken down defenses.  It was a Christianity prepared by heresies for the great and final deception and subsequent apostasy. 

 One of the major heresies that set up Christianity for this invasion of New Age mysticism is the so-called Word of Faith Movement.  For decades they have present the idea of God as a supernatural, nervous, doting, servant, jumping into action the instant we speak a word of faith.  The WoF teaches that God can be manipulated, even controlled by His words.  They promote the idea that God gave us a mystical quality (faith) that allows us to speak objects into existence, to command money to come to us, and thus to live a life of luxury in perfect health and comfort. They misinterpret Matthew 28:18 to mean that all power in heaven and earth has been given to them instead of Christ.  The heretical conclusion is that God willingly abdicated His Lordship and made them lords over Him.  He gave them the power to command Him, and thus became their servant.

 Another factor is the lack of resistance from Christian leaders on all levels.  Of the number of knowledgeable individuals that remain today, the majority has no motivation to resist.  Their income and position depends on the broken church.  Should they cry out against the invasion, they would be ostracized and excommunicated.  Many of them have never held a secular job.  The prospect of providing an income by secular work, of not having a title, a building to preach in, and the other benefits offered by the broken church, is terrifying to them.   So they fret, present feeble complaints, and hope things improve for the better.  Of course, decadence in Christianity never improved in the past because of timid people making timid protests.  The church in China and other nations have paid with their lives, with loss of limbs and other torture, with years in filthy prisons, to resist the invasion of evil.  Most American ministers will not offer one bold statement of protest when the church is being flooded and captured by the witchcraft of New Age mystics.  What a contrast!

 Of course, the ones who choose passivity instead of opposition glibly rest their case on the old tired adage of accentuating the positives.  I had to work in a house once where that philosophy was obviously the rule.  I had to navigate from room to room by narrow trails that wound through a large and continuous pile of dirty clothing.  By observation, I realized the family frequently bought new clothes.  When they were too dirty to wear, they threw them on the pile. The carpeted path was matted with dirt and other unknown debris.  The kitchen sink was piled so high with dishes, pots, pans, skillets, and etc. that it could not be used.  The family had resorted to eating fast food rather than to clean the kitchen and cook a meal.  Fast food sacks and boxes were piled everywhere.  A quarter inch of grease coated the kitchen floor.  Roaches and other vermin were plentiful.  However, they seemed to be positive and happy.  As long as they could make it to the bathrooms, bedrooms, and had the area in front of the TV cleared, they were content to live in squalor.  During the week I worked the insurance claim on their house, it became obvious that they accentuated the positive while the negatives accentuated by reason of neglect and irresponsibility.  Obviously, negatives cannot be removed by simply ignoring them.  Even an antelope knows to run when a lion is spotted.    

 Let me be perfectly honest here.  There has always been a great cost of true Christianity in times of apostasy.   Consequentially, it will cost individuals that oppose this present invasion of evil into Christianity.  However, true Christians believe that their lives are not their own, that they were bought with a price having been redeemed by the blood of Christ.  Therefore, they choose to obey Him unquestioningly no matter what the cost.  True Christians also believe that they are God’s servants, not vice versa.  When evil arrives at the door, no matter how well it is dressed, or how many people are willing to let it in, a true Christian will stand against it unashamed and unafraid no matter what the cost.  It is time for true Christians to lift up God’s standard, to speak the truth with boldness, and to oppose this massive and devastating invasion of evil.  When our example, Christ Jesus, was on this earth, He opposed the evil that had bound and oppressed the masses.  He was obedient unto death.  Are we truly followers of Him when we are not even willing to pay by comparison the price of much smaller inconveniences?

When I wrote to George Wood, General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, concerning the AoG invite of Ruth Haley Barton to speak at the General Council, I did not expect a response.  When I received his response I was shocked at some of the answers to my questions.  Dr. Wood’s response is posted on Truthkeepers Facebook page for everyone to read and analyze.  Some of the AoG leadership questioned the authenticity of Dr. Wood’s response.  In fact, I sent a copy of the original email (that included the official seal of the AoG) to one source to deter such an accusation.  I understand why they did not want to believe the authenticity of Wood’s email.  It included very troubling statements that indicate Dr. Wood may no longer be qualified to lead the AoG.  Let me explain.

First, there is ample evidence of Ruth Haley Barton’s conversion to the heretical disciplines of eastern mysticism.  She has stated and written unequivocally that she had rejected what she terms as “Protestant traditions” because they had “failed her” in a time of crisis.  This includes prayer, God’s word, preaching, teaching, and apparently everything else that composes true Christianity.  In effect, Barton rejected Christianity and made an appointment with a psychologist, also a spiritual director (guru), at a Roman Catholic convent, the Loretto Center. 

“A few years ago, I began to recognize an inner chaos in my soul . . . No matter how much I prayed, read the Bible, and listened to good teaching, I could not calm the internal roar created by questions with no answers.” (Beyond Words: Experience God’s presence in silence and solitude.)

“I sought out a spiritual director, someone well versed in the ways of the soul … eventually this wise woman said to me, … “What you need is stillness and silence so that the sediment can settle and the water can become clear.’ … I decided to accept this invitation to move beyond my addiction to words.”

During her sessions with the Spiritual Director, she apparently converted to a division of Roman Catholicism that indulges in Contemplative Spirituality.  The headquarters for Barton’s Transforming Center is presently located at The Loretto Center.  In fact, the present Spiritual Director for the Loretto Center is also a spiritual Director for Barton’s Transforming Center.  Anyone visiting Barton’s Transforming Center for help will also be subjected to various pagan practices including the same heretical Contemplative/New Age heresy that Barton surrendered to.  That heresy is what she was invited to present at the General Council of the AoG.

Contemplative Spirituality is eastern mysticism that was first brought into the Roman Catholic Church by Trappist monks during the fourth century.  They borrowed it from the Sufi Muslims.  Contemplative Spirituality was again introduced to Roman Catholicism and to a great extent Protestantism, by another Trappist monk and priest, Thomas Merton.  Merton actually became a Buddhist and promoted Buddhism as the best form of spirituality suitable for Christians.  Merton was followed by Henri Nouwen, a Roman Catholic priest that, like Barton, struggled with spiritual turmoil including depression.  Nouwen became a practitioner of Contemplative Prayer and one of its most ardent promoters.

More than the spiritual arm of Roman Catholicism, Contemplative Spirituality is also the spiritual foundation of the New Age Movement.  Barton made no distinction between Roman Catholicism and The New Age Movement as she received training from both sources.  From the Loretto Center, Barton went to the Shalem Institute, a New Age center founded by an Episcopal priest, Tilden Edwards.  Edwards makes no secret about his relationship with paganism.  In fact, he declares that Contemplative Spirituality is the bridge between religions.  I tend to agree since every practitioner I am aware of appears to make no distinction between Christianity and paganism.  That is one of the most troubling aspects of individuals that indulge in Contemplative Prayer.     

George Wood implied that he indulges in Contemplative Prayer.  The symptoms of indulgence are evident in his responses to my questions.  First, he actually recommended that I read Barton’s book, “Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership”.  After reading the introduction, I was stunned that the leader of the AoG would recommend reading it.  It will become completely obvious to even a novice Christian after reading the introduction to Barton’s book that she is a flagrant heretic.  Dr. Wood may as well have recommended Anton LaVey’s “The Satanic Bible” as proof of his (LaVey’s) Christian validity (Yes, in my opinion it is that bizarre).  It begs the question of why Dr. Wood recommended Barton’s book as evidence of her Christianity and godliness when it clearly proves overwhelmingly otherwise.  The answer is because the practice of Contemplative Prayer accomplishes exactly what Tilden Edwards declared, namely that practioners no longer view distinctions between religions as obstacles.  Therefore, they do not distinguish between the deceptive and the true.  Pagan religions are belief systems that contain doctrines and practices antithetical to Christianity.  It is amazing that before engaging in Contemplative Prayer one would recognize the danger of belief systems diametrically opposing Christianity.  However, after engaging in CP, all alarm disappears and the same individual cannot understand why anyone would think it a dangerous practice.  Dr. Wood does not believe CP to be a dangerous practice.  He does not understand what all the hoopla is about.  He believes that Ruth Barton is a godly Christian woman.  However, if Dr. Wood believes that “Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership” is a spiritually healthy Christian book, then clearly he is unable or unwilling to discern the difference between the pagan belief system of Barton and the gospel according to the Assemblies of God.  Consequently, his ability to lead the Assemblies of God Movement must surely be in question.

Further evidence that Dr. Wood may have lost his discernment due to Contemplative Prayer is found in his defense of the invite of Ruth Barton.  He stated that the women who invited her are “godly” women and that if I only knew them personally I would agree with his assessment.  Even a cursory examination of some of the individuals involved reveals quite the opposite.  Dr. Jody Detrick (head of the AoG Women’s group that invited Barton) was chosen to present the AoG response to Lighthouse Trails Research’s article exposing Barton.  In her response, she makes false statements, expressly regarding Contemplative Prayer.  

 Dr. Detrick states, “Conversely, Christian contemplative prayer is a biblical spiritual discipline.”  That is completely false.  Contemplative Prayer has always been a pagan practice.  There is no biblical basis for calling it Christian. 

Dr. Detrick wrote; “Some have inaccurately reported that Ruth Barton teaches the use of only three words as the sum of all prayer. This is a misrepresentation of her encouragement to find a simple, personal prayer to say to God when one is entering into a time of silence and listening in His presence.”  This is also false as anyone can discover for themselves by reading Barton’s articles and books. 

She declares that the “Christian” version of CP that Barton teaches is unlike the pagan version.  This is also completely false.  One only has to watch Barton’s YouTube presentation of CP and read her books to realize it is exactly as the pagan version. This is not a Christian practice that Satan copied, as Dr. Detrick insists, but a satanic practice that some individuals such as Barton are attempting to Christianize. 

Further, Dr. Detrick is a “Life Coach”, a profession that often employs questionable spiritual processes.  If she defends CP with falsehoods, I have to wonder if she practices it in her own life and in her profession.  Her husband, an ordained minister and leader with the AoG, is purportedly writing a book on Spiritual Formation. 

Spiritual Formation: A movement that has provided a platform and a channel through which contemplative prayer is entering the church. Find spiritual formation being used, and in nearly every case you will find contemplative spirituality. In fact, contemplative spirituality is the heartbeat of the spiritual formation movement. (Lighthouse Trails Research)

It is obvious to me that Dr. Wood believes in a different definition of godly than what God’s word declares.  Godliness, in the Bible (Greek; Eusebeia) is defined as; “reverence, respect, piety towards God.”  It is not about a good personality, intelligence, talent, or the charismatic ability to please or influence people.  It is about reverence, respect, and piety towards God.  Promoting Contemplative Prayer and defending it with duplicitous statements is not an expression of godliness.  It is complete disrespect for God, His word, and His Son who declared that none will come to the Father except through Him.  Christ is the High Priest of our profession of faith.  He ever intercedes to the Father for us.  Why do we need Contemplative Prayer, altered states of consciousness, and “wordless” prayer, when we have Christ?  In fact, there are no scriptures that state that we need anything remotely resembling Contemplative Prayer.

After our initial exchange, I sent Dr. Wood more information about Ruth Barton.  In response to that email, he decline to comment, effectively shutting the door to any further truth about Barton.  He had written that he was sure that “the blogs” would deal with the matter.  He uses the term “blogs” pejoratively, as if that discredits any truth that might be contained therein.  A blog is no different than an article written on paper.  Truth is not necessarily altered by the method through which it is presented.  I recommended Ray Yungen’s book, “A Time of Departing”, but he appeared disinterested in reading it.  One has to wonder by what means Dr. Wood prefers truth to arrive.  As one astute observer of human nature once said something to the effect, “If an individual chooses not to hear God through His word and His Holy Spirit, God most likely cannot speak to him through any other way or method.”  The rejection of love for truth is a deadly mistake in this final page of world history. 

The most ominous aspect of practicing CP is that the consequences are immediate.  In that sense it is like spiritual crack cocaine.  Once you use it, you are not only addicted, but you lose all apprehension about its dangers.  The individuals that you would never have associated with before ingesting CP become your bosom buddies afterward.  Further, ones philosophy changes and the sense of good and evil flies away on wings of innocence.  It cannot be overstated that Contemplative Prayer is a dangerous pagan practice.  It is not about simply being quiet before God.  Further, it is not “wordless” prayer, which is oxymoronic.  Contemplative Prayer is an individual effectively washing his or her own mind.  It is undoing the spiritual transformation that God accomplished at the point of new birth.  CP is not the path to greater spirituality in God, but the path to the sensual spirituality of Sufi Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and other diabolical practitioners of the dark arts.  It is the means to cross over the line between deception and delusion.  No one can cross that line except the ties to truth have been irrevocably loosened and undone.   No one wishes to cross it that has bound love for truth deep in his or her soul.