QUOTE:
"Ken Wilson is senior pastor of Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor and serves on the national board of Vineyard, a Community of Churches. Before entering the pastorate, he worked in community mental health. Ken is the author of Jesus Brand Spirituality: He Wants His Religion Back (Thomas Nelson, 2008) and Mystically Wired: Exploring New Realms in Prayer (Thomas Nelson, May 2010)", and most recently A Letter To My Congregation.
Ken and Nancy hosted the early versions of what became Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor in their home back in 1975. You can reach Ken via email or by phone at 734 477-9135 x413.
SEE:
Mystically Wired Prayer Card App (Goes With Book)
Book Review: Mystically Wired by Ken Wilson
SEE: http://renewedmess.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/book-review-mystically-wired-by-ken-wilson/; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
Mystically Wired by Ken Wilson claims to be “a practical guide to cooperating with your brain’s innate capacities in order to experience a richer, fuller prayer life.” Wilson bases much of his doctrine of prayer on new discoveries by Andrew Newberg;
(SEE FOOTNOTE BELOW REVIEW) http://www.andrewnewberg.com/) et al that suggests that the brain is uniquely active during prayer and meditation. Based on these findings, Wilson attempts to show why contemplative prayer practices are affective and how anyone can begin such practices.
(SEE FOOTNOTE BELOW REVIEW) http://www.andrewnewberg.com/) et al that suggests that the brain is uniquely active during prayer and meditation. Based on these findings, Wilson attempts to show why contemplative prayer practices are affective and how anyone can begin such practices.
It is odd that Wilson advocates mysticism while dismissing the supernatural. In all fairness, Wilson denies being a mystic, yet he recounts a vision in which he met with Jesus in a cave and another prayer where the “presence” of his deceased father sat next to him. Wilson is attempting to dwindle all things spiritual to brain chemistry. In other words, he is defining the supernatural in terms of the natural. He claims that praying is essentially looking “inward.” This ought to be the first clue that Wilson’s prayers have very little to do with Christ.
Throughout the book, prayer is presented as a way to manipulate brain activity in order produce results. Thus, Christ is of no consequence to prayer. This may be very true regarding the scientific link between brain activity and certain meditative practices. It is also true of various drugs, exercise, and other activities. However, the Christian in prayer is not looking for chemistry. He or she is looking for communication with Almighty God. The “prayer” of this book is not that kind of communication.
Thomas Nelson publishers provided this book to me, free of charge, in exchange for a review. One question I am to address is, “Did the author convey biblical truth?” In fact, there is virtually no biblical foundation for Wilson’s doctrine of prayer. Though he does quote a few verses, they nothing more than weak proof-texts. The gospel is absent. The cross is reduced down to nothing more than a “desolate place” of prayer.
There are some that would say that people are afraid of new methods and are thus cautious concerning books like this one. Let me be clear. It is not the method, but the doctrine that is problematic here. If someone were looking for a book on prayer, they would be best to stick with the classics. May I suggest The works of E.M. Bounds on prayer? Or perhaps simply reflecting on what it means to have a life in Christ? Jesus Manifesto is a great resource for such meditation. Someone wanting a deeper prayer life need not be distracted by tricks of the imagination, but should seek to embrace a life in Christ. Mystically Wired adds nothing to such a life.
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ANDREW NEWBERG, "NEUROTHEOLOGIST"
FOOTNOTE & QUOTE ABOUT ANDREW NEWBERG FROM HIS WEBSITE:
"Dr. Andrew Newberg is a neuroscientist who studies the relationship between brain function and various mental states. He is a pioneer in the neurological study of religious and spiritual experiences, a field known as “neurotheology.” His research includes taking brain scans of people in prayer, meditation, rituals, and trance states, in an attempt to better understand the nature of religious and spiritual practices and attitudes."
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THE CATHOLIC CONTEMPLATIVE MYSTICAL "DIVINE HOURS" AT VINEYARD CHURCH, ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN:
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Pastor Says Reference of Sodom and Gomorrah to Defend Fight Against LGBT Community Is ‘Gross Misuse of Scripture’;
EXCERPT: "The 62-year-old preacher claims that God gave him a message three years ago in which He told him to change his views on same gender relationships and to share this information with his congregation. He adds that, previous to this information from God, he had been firmly opposed to the gay community."
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Minister Claims He Received ‘Strong Nudge
from Jesus’ to Announce Support for Homosexuality:
SEE:
EXCERPT:
"Last month, Wilson released A Letter to my Congregation: An Evangelical Pastor’s Path to Embracing People who are Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Into the Company of Jesus. He told the Detroit Free Press that while he “take[s] the Bible very seriously,” he does not believe that it prohibits sexual relations between those of the same gender."
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Ken's Theological Influences:
SEE: http://annarborvineyard.org/about/staff/99; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes; bold type is ours for emphasis:
"I grew up in the Episcopal church of the 1950's in Detroit, when Detroit was the bustling, growing, Motor City place to be. I absorbed the Apostles' & Nicene Creeds-Ten Commandments-Lord's Prayer catechism of that church. During the sermons I read through the Thirty Nine Articles with a sense of complete confusion as to their meaning or relevance to my life. The articles were for the most part answering questions I wasn't asking.
In early adolescence I switched gears theologically, under the influence of Ayn Rand whose novel, The Fountainhead, led me to a declared atheism, which lasted through high school.
Fresh out of high school, newly married and a father-too-young, I had long conversations with Brian Martin, a friend from high school days. He was part of what was simply called the Northwest Fellowship, an expression of the growing "Jesus movement" in Detroit. The primary teacher of that group of young people was Haskell Stone, a Jewish believer who came from an Orthodox Jewish family. Haskell had a unique take on faith because of his Jewish identity. He didn't fit easily into the existing theological or ecclesiastical categories. He was also one of the best teachers of the Bible I have ever heard or ever will.
Haskell Stone went to Fuller Theological Seminary where he studied under George Eldon Ladd. Ladd was influenced by Oscar Cullmann, who emphasized the importance of the kingdom of God as the central theme of Scripture tying together the Old and New Testaments, culminating in the teaching and ministry of Jesus in the gospels.
My earliest adult Christianity, in other words, was delivered and received with the assumption that the gospels were the primary teaching document of the church. Paul was to be read in light of Jesus, the final word, not Jesus in light of Paul.
Haskell Stone worked closely with Dick Bieber, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Southwest Detroit. Dick was shaped by the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Karl Barth, Oswald Chambers, and of course, the ever-present C.S. Lewis. Bieber was also influenced (quietly) by the neo-Pentecostal movement. (It was Dick who prayed with my comatose father in an intensive care unit, when my father woke up to say hello to Dick.) Dick's primary theological theme was discipleship--radical discipleship to Jesus. Like Bonhoeffer, he spoke often about the dangers of "cheap grace." A Christian was first and foremost a disciple of Jesus called to "pick up his cross daily" to follow wherever Jesus might lead.
Moving to Ann Arbor to attend the University of Michigan, I came into contact with a Pentecostal grad student from South India, named Joseph Arthungal. Joseph and Lilly took my wife Nancy and me under their wing and loved on us. We needed it, alone with each other and our newborn in a new town. Joseph came from the Ceylon Pentecostal Mission--a form of indigenous Indian Pentecostalism that was strict, to say the least. (The pastors of the Ceylon Pentecostal Mission lived "as brother and sister," that is celibate, with their wives!) I took Joseph's theology with a grain of salt, but was powerfully influenced by his love of Scripture, his concern to share the gospel with others, and his Eastern devotion to prayer. Joseph introduced me to the biography of Sadhu Sundar Sing, a Hindu Sikh who became a holy man following Jesus of Nazareth.
After a few years in Ann Arbor, Nancy and I became involved with an ecumenical charismatic community that was one of the early centers of the worldwide Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Most of the members of this charismatic community were Roman Catholic or mainline Protestants (Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, etc.) with a smattering of Eastern Orthodox and Coptic Christians. Like many of the charismatic movements of the 1970's this group went overboard in many areas, but has long since regained it's bearings. Lay leaders like Ralph Martin and Stephen Clark were trained in philosophy, well read in catholic theology, and willing to learn from Pentecostals and Evangelicals to shape the catholic charismatic renewal. It was a kind of semi-monastic lay community of nearly 1500 adults who maintained their connection to established churches.
The church that eventually became our home church, Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor was started by Mark Kinzer, high school friend and fellow Jesus freak who was profoundly influenced by Haskell Stone, being like Haskell, a Jewish believer in Jesus. I quickly became a kind of co-founding leader of this informal fellowship, along with Mark Kinzer and Prentice Tipton who has since become a Roman Catholic priest. Kinzer is now a leader in Messianic Judaism. (Yes, we're hoping one day to go to a bar together where we might tell the bartender a joke about the priest, the rabbi, and the minister.)
Eventually this home church grew and became one of four churches related to each other in an ecumenical covenant. They included a Roman Catholic non-territorial parish, a Lutheran congregation (now Missouri Synod) and a Presbyterian church (now part of the Evangelical Covenant Church.) Our church was called, "the Free Church Fellowship" as we were neither Catholic, Reformed, or Lutheran, identifying rather with the radical reformers of the Anabaptist tradition. We were more or less making it up as we went along. Again you see the theological lean toward greater emphasis on the gospels, a characteristic of the Anabaptist movement, centered as it was on the Sermon on the Mount as the Christian Manifesto.
During my years as a leader of "the Free Church Fellowship" I engaged in ecumenical dialog in the form of monthly study groups with the ordained clergy of the other churches involved in this ecumenical arrangement. We considered the various approaches to Scripture, tradition, sacraments, justification, sanctification, etc., in these various traditions. It was quite an education.
Because the Catholic charismatic renewal was such a powerful movement in the Catholic Church, I met several bishops, catholic theologians, and even a Cardinal or two. The personal preacher to Pope John Paul II, now Cardinal Cordes, prayed a special "ecumenical blessing" over me; I hope it took.
In time, as the ecumenical arrangement dissolved, Mark Kinzer went on to found Zera Avraham, a congregation within Messsianic Judaism, and I became the primary leader of the church, which eventually was adopted into the association of Vineyard churches, led at the time by John Wimber, now deceased. It was a kind of theological homecoming because Wimber was a popularizer of the theology of George Eldon Ladd. Wimber was an adjunct faculty at the Fuller Theological Seminary, where Ladd taught.
Since becoming involved in Vineyard, I have been shaped by the writings of Dallas Willard, Jonathan Edwards, and most importantly N.T. Wright, the Anglican Jesus scholar, whose work I view as in the trajectory of the theology of Ladd, with its emphasis on the kingdom of God and the centrality of the gospels as the primary teaching documents of the church.
Being an autodidact (with some graduate work at Ashland Theological Seminary, which I will never, alas, complete) I've been fairly free to roam where the Spirit and circumstance and my interests and relational connections have led me. This is why I'm a little outside of the American evangelical box, though I consider myself evangelical, properly understood. (But, like many evangelicals, I'd like to define that for myself!)
Beyond this, I have a kind of insatiable curiosity. I'm old enough to realize that the authorities aren't quite as together as they appear to be. I've been through enough of the spiritual discipline of disillusionment (a profound one in the late 1980 and early 1990's) to know that humility is the hardest of virtues and the most fleeting. I don't mind poking and prodding at things, believing the substantial and enduring things can take it.
I'm not a voracious reader, but I'm always reading something--usually a few books at a time. I enjoy reading science, because so few of my fellow evangelicals do and because I find it fascinating and invigorating. Facts are God's native language and I try to listen to them. All truth is God's truth and it's the one thing we shouldn't be frightened to learn, even it presents us with
previously undiscovered contradictions. Some of the best theology comes from wrestling with truths that don't seem to fit together. If we're not wrestling with truths that don't seem to jive, I suspect it's because we're not curious or honest enough.
I enjoy reading up on evolutionary biology. It's the primary narrative of modern science and it irks me that so many of my fellow evangelicals seem to be frightened by it and understand so little of it. It's challenged my faith, but only in the process of deepening it. Reading about the new physics--I know enough to know I don't understand it--and biology and environmental science and the rest has been one of the highlights of my faith in the past ten years. I'm currently working my way through some low level cognitive science. The nature of personhood and consciousness is the concern of the Trinitarian Christian and I want to be in on the action. I'm hoping to become better read in the field of human sexuality one of these days. I'm praying for a long life, because I love my wife and kids and there is so much to learn and so little time.
One last thing: it's often assumed that I'm well read in that new Christian genre called "emergent" or "emerging." It turns out that I'm not. I'm friends with Phyllis Tickle and love her writing, but she was at it long before the emergent genre hit the scene."
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SEE: http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=12263; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
LTRP Note: One of the things, among many, that we found interesting about the information below that was sent to us from a LT reader is that Donald Postema (Ken Wilson’s spiritual director) was part of the Snowmass Conferences. Some of our readers may recall us recently talking about the Snowmass Conferences in an article regarding Moody Radio, Concerns Grow as Moody Presses Forward Down Contemplative Path.
To Lighthouse Trails:
I have read Ken Wilson’s book and also did some background work on Ken’s ‘spiritual director,’ Donald Postema, whom he references in the book (p. xiii) [as his spiritual director]. Below is
what I found. The attached documents are even more revealing; going into background where Postema attends the Snowmass Conference. Feel free to use it as you see fit. I wish to remain anonymous.
what I found. The attached documents are even more revealing; going into background where Postema attends the Snowmass Conference. Feel free to use it as you see fit. I wish to remain anonymous.
Documentation on Ken Wilson’s “spiritual director,” Don Postema, sent from LT reader:
Rev. Donald Postema
Caring about Other People of Faith
The 21 st century has brought an unprecedented awareness and encounter of people from differing faith traditions. This has produced a volatile threat to world peace. It is also one of the biggest challenges Christians face today. Perhaps it is also a divine gift and opportunity. Can we acquire caring and respectful attitudes toward other religions that could be a ferment for peace throughout the world? Rev. Postema has been pondering these and other questions during his many years of interfaith dialogue and campus ministry. He will share insights gleaned from his personal biblical, theological and spiritual journey. We will be invited to explore how we can become caring agents of hospitality, reconciliation and peace in our personal lives and in the world.
The 21 st century has brought an unprecedented awareness and encounter of people from differing faith traditions. This has produced a volatile threat to world peace. It is also one of the biggest challenges Christians face today. Perhaps it is also a divine gift and opportunity. Can we acquire caring and respectful attitudes toward other religions that could be a ferment for peace throughout the world? Rev. Postema has been pondering these and other questions during his many years of interfaith dialogue and campus ministry. He will share insights gleaned from his personal biblical, theological and spiritual journey. We will be invited to explore how we can become caring agents of hospitality, reconciliation and peace in our personal lives and in the world.
Rev. Don Postema is an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church. He carries on a ministry of spiritual formation through retreats, conferences, teaching, writing and spiritual direction. He serves as a member of the adjunct faculty at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena , CA , in the area of Christian Spirituality. He has also taught at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA; Whitworth College, Spokane, WA; Mars Hill Graduate School, Seattle, WA. and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Rev. Postema is author of “Space for God: Study and Practice of Prayer and Spirituality” and a cassette tape and CD, “ Space for God in Words and Music.” Don also authored “Catch Your Breath: God’s Invitation to Sabbath Rest” . He has traveled widely as a retreat leader and conference speaker – including Gambia and Sierra Leone , West Africa; Canada ; Costa Rica ; Japan ; Malaysia ; and Mexico as well as many places in the U.S. He is a graduate of Calvin College and Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids , Michigan , and of the Vrije Universiteit van Amsterdam, the Netherlands . He has also studied at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley CA and at Yale Divinity School , New Haven , CT with Fr. Henri J.M.Nouwen. In 1997 Don retired after 34 years as pastor of Campus Chapel [campus ministry of the Christian Reformed Church at University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , Michigan ]. As a lecturer at the University of Michigan , he taught “World Religions,” and “Personality and Religious Development.” Source:http://www.careandkindness.org/2007/topics.htm#zakich
Donald Postema : I’m one of those who came to the Snowmass Conference by word of mouth. In 1988, I went on a sabbatical spiritual journey for seven months, visiting monasteries, retreat houses, Buddhist centers, and Hindu ashrams in the western part of the United States. But, before I left, a woman in Ann Arbor told me about Anada Ashram in California, and also sent them a copy of my book, Space for God. So I ended up visiting the ashram, and really got to know and appreciate Gayatri Devi and Sudha. Later I realized that they were probably checking me out too, to see whether Calvinist could be spiritual or contemplative enough to be a member of the Snowmass Conference. Toward the end of my stay, they invited me to the Snowmass gathering at Mount Holyoke that spring. Source: Miles-Yepez, Netanel (2011-04-12). The Common Heart: An Experience of Interreligious Dialogue (Kindle Locations 343-344). Lantern Books. Kindle Edition.
Donald Postema : In the group, we are encouraged and expected to represent our respective traditions as authentically as possible. This serves a couple of purposes: first, it gives the group a more realistic picture of where you are coming from, and secondly, it lets the “representative” know that he or she needn’t feel pressured to water anything down, to make it more palatable for the group. Source: Miles-Yepez, Netanel (2011-04-12). The Common Heart: An Experience of Interreligious Dialogue (Kindle Locations 381-383). Lantern Books. Kindle Edition.
Donald Postema : Yes, we like to say that our members are speaking from a tradition, not for a tradition. We try to be authentic, but no one is expected to speak for their particular tradition. We aren’t here giving presentations, we have to drop the roles to some degree, and just try to have a rich and honest sharing on a number of levels.Source: Miles-Yepez, Netanel (2011-04-12). The Common Heart: An Experience of Interreligious Dialogue (Kindle Locations 386-388). Lantern Books. Kindle Edition.
Donald Postema : I came in at the tail end of the Points of Agreement discussion, but for me the value in it was an expansion of language. We had to listen hard and discerningly as others spoke of the Ultimate in their own tradition’s language just so we could talk together and understand each other. We had to evolve a common language, and it was difficult not using precise words as they are understood in one’s own tradition. But as clear as they may be to folks “within the tradition,” they may completely mystify folks from other traditions; thus the need to listen and expand one’s vocabulary. Our purpose was not to weaken our convictions but to find ways to communicate better. Source: Miles-Yepez, Netanel (2011-04-12). The Common Heart: An Experience of Interreligious Dialogue (Kindle Locations 452-456). Lantern Books. Kindle Edition.
Donald Postema : I found that one way to really “know” someone’s spirituality is to share in that person’s rituals or worship. I have long had a real love for Gregorian chant and Catholic liturgy, so it was no surprise that attending Mass and other liturgies at St. Benedict’s Monastery gave me a unique insight into Father Thomas’s spiritual life. But I was surprised to find similarities between the Native American pipe ceremony and the Holy Communion of Christians. Source: Miles-Yepez, Netanel (2011-04-12). The Common Heart: An Experience of Interreligious Dialogue (Kindle Locations 712-715). Lantern Books. Kindle Edition.
Netanel Miles-Yepez: How about you, Don? Was ecumenism dealt with in Reformed Christianity? Donald Postema : Our tradition has a history of relating to plenty of other folks in the Reformed and Evangelical Christian traditions, but our official relations do not extend much beyond other Christian denominations, let alone to other world religions. To tell the truth, that attitude influenced me for a long time. However, working for thirty-four years on the campus of a major university convinced me that religious leaders had to work together if they were to have any influence at all on the university. Meeting and working together gradually broadened my acquaintance with other people of faith, and being part of the Snowmass Conference expanded and deepened my commitment to interfaith dialogue. Source: Miles-Yepez, Netanel (2011-04-12). The Common Heart: An Experience of Interreligious Dialogue (Kindle Locations 860-865). Lantern Books. Kindle Edition.
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TSUNAMI OF PRO-HOMOSEXUAL BOOKS FROM
“GAY CHRISTIANS” AND SUPPORTERS
SEE:
http://apprising.org/2014/05/05/tsunami-of-pro-homosexual-books-from-gay-christians-and-supporters/;
EXCERPTS:
One of the pro-homosexual proponents I mentioned above that I have talked to is Dr. Tony Jones, one third of the unholy Emergent Church trinity of apostates along with his friends, universalist Emergent Church pastor Doug Pagitt, and Living Spiritual Teacher and EC guru Brian McLaren. Jones is also a professor at Fuller Seminary.4
As you may know, Fuller is purports to be an evangelical institution.5 It’s about to get even worse than merely emergent Tony Jones pushing a pro-homosexual agenda, which he was very instrumental in doing as one of the first major voices to do so openly.6 Now consider Jones’ post Evangelical Pastor Turns Pro-Gay.
Just a little over a month ago he would introduce us to the pastor of a Vineyard megachurch who has now gone over to the dark side on this sin of sexual immorality. We’re not surpassed to find out that Ken Wilson, the pastor in question, is deeply immersed in corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism:
Tony Jones explains that :
Ken Wilson, [is] pastor of Vineyard Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan, [and] has just published a book entitled, A Letter to My Congregation, in which he explains his change of mind and heart on the issue of homosexuality. He may be the first active pastor of a large evangelical congregation to make such a switch. (source, bold his)
Jones then points us to an interview Wilson did with “David Crumm at Read the Spirit” (RtS). In Rob Bell Affirms Gay “Christians” & Brian McLaren is Really Happy about it I told you that it was nearly five years ago when I first talked to you about David Crumm and his RtS website in Is Rob Bell Evangelical?
RtS truly is an interspiritual black hole of heresy. Lord willing, another time we’ll look further into Ken Wilson since he isn’t the subject of this article. While I would not recommend the Vineyarddenomination, I brought this up because now we have moved the emerging arena right into the mainstream of evangelicalism.
In fact, Wilson’s turned A Letter to my Congregation (ALC) into a book on this subject, published by Crumm’s Read the Spirit publishing, and complete with an introduction from his friend Phyllis Tickle, the Empress of Emergent. Tickle calls Ken Wilson’s ALC:
One of the most exquisite, painful, candid, brilliant pieces of Christian midrash I’ve ever seen.7
This is how far afield Ken Wilson’s willing to go to advance an unbiblical homosexual agenda, and how close this all is moving toward your evangelical church. For your further edification on this coming same-sex storm, below I’ll leave you with the April 23rd version of Dr. James White’s Dividing Line program.
It’s taken from his blog post The Tsunami of Pro-Homosexual Books from “Gay Christians” and Their Supporters Plus Calls on Today’s Dividing Line. As I pointed out above, for years I’ve been covering this subject of a growing acceptance within Christendom of homosexuality being practiced by professing Christians.
So, I offer that this program is well worth your time:
VIDEO:
