CHRISTIAN & MISSIONARY ALLIANCE EXPOSED FOR PROMOTING/PRACTICING CONTEMPLATIVE MYSTICISM & SPIRITUAL FORMATION

Letter to the Editor: Lighthouse Trails Has Exaggerated Condition of Christian Missionary Alliance

REFUTED

SEE: http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/newsletters/2015/newsletter20150824.htm; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
Dear Editors at Lighthouse Trails:
I stumbled onto your website while looking for a video from this year’s Alliance Council featuring John Stumbo. In your writings, you largely promote the idea the C&MA is espousing the emergent church, contemplative prayer, spiritual formation blather.
I have never, ever heard this in my church. EVER. So, for you to paint the C&MA with such a wide brush is sensationalistic, to say the least. Perhaps occasionally a misled pastor will go down that road. Such a pastor needs to be brought into line, in my opinion. The colleges that “teach” these courses—are they teaching them to promote them, or are they teaching these classes in a effort to enlighten students as to the evils that can weave their way into ministry? You don’t say which in your writings which I find, again, sensationalistic.
Never once have I heard or read anything from John Stumbo promoting any of this emergent church ‘trend’.
Defend yourself. I’ll be waiting for a reply.
SN
Dear SN:
We wish we were being sensationalistic and exaggerating the issue. Unfortunately (and sadly), Christian and Missionary Alliance (and most other evangelical denominations) have been embracing contemplative prayer, Spiritual Formation, and the emerging “new” spirituality for quite some time, and we see no signs of this letting up. A few denominations are just dabbling in it, but most, including C&MA, are well immersed as Lighthouse Trails has been documenting for over 13 years. Does this mean that every church in each of these denominations is involved in this? No, and Lighthouse Trails has always maintained that. But in virtually every case where a denomination is moving in this direction, there is evidence that it is existent in upper leadership. A case in point is C&MA. Just visit the main C&MA website, search through their magazine archives, books they are selling, and so forth, and you will find numerous contemplative/emergent references, such as an article written by the late (d. 2011) C&MA Senior Pastor from Salem, Oregon Donald Bubna titled “The Journey” where Bubna states:

To learn from others on the spiritual journey, I have discovered and devoured the writings of Henri Nouwen, Philip Yancey and Thomas Merton on the issue of full surrender to the deeper life.

Nouwen and Merton were both interspiritual Catholic mystics. Yancey is an evangelical contemplative advocate. Bubna was not an “occasional” example of a C&MA pastor who has had such persuasions. And in fact, the Salem C&MA church has been a contemplative influence for many years on Alliance members.
Another example: In a 2013 C&MA magazine article titled “The Lord’s Dream,” the author explains how a C&MA church in Philadelphia, PA is in close relationship with emergent author Shane Claiborne’s church, and on at least one occasion, Claiborne spoke at the C&MA church, filling in for the pastor one Sunday. Claiborne was mentored by and resonates with emergent leader Tony Campolo.
And a third example, Richard Bush, superintendent of the New England District of the U.S. C&MA, wrote an article titled “Transformed,” in which he favorably quotes heavy-weight contemplative leader Ruth Haley Barton. Barton was trained at the New Age sympathizing interspiritual Shalem Prayer Institute in Washington, DC, and she has an organization that teaches thousands of pastors contemplative practices and Spiritual Formation. Clearly, Bush resonates with Barton for him to use her as an example of Christians being “transformed.”
One last example, at the 2013 C&MA Council conference, one of the seminars was presented by a woman who  taught the class in the contemplative practice of “lectio divina.”
These examples are coming from C&MA leadership. With 500,000 members in 2000 churches, the C&MA is a strong force within evangelical Christianity, and if they end up in the wrong place, they’ll be taking a lot of people with them.
In reference to your comment about C&MA president John Stumbo, Lighthouse Trails has only mentioned him inone article and that was one this past summer where we stated that Stumbo will be sharing a platform with New Age sympathizer Leonard Sweet at the Christian Missionary Alliance Mahaffey Family Camp. Please refer to that article for information about the beliefs of Leonard Sweet. Incidentally, John Stumbo was the senior pastor of Salem Missionary Alliance prior to becoming C&MA president. During those years, Salem C&MA was promoting contemplative spirituality (in fact, Ray Yungen talks about this church in his book A Time of Departing).
Listed below are several articles (which all have documentation) regarding Christian & Missionary Alliance that we have posted over the years. Please take the time to study this information, and in so doing, you will see that C&MA has indeed gone down the contemplative/emergent path. As for the college situation, after 13 years of tracking the evangelical colleges and seminaries, over 90% of them are now promoting this same path, and we have documented this time and again as well.  As a matter of fact, we have learned that all C&MA colleges and seminaries are promoting this.
While we acknowledge that it is difficult to hear these things about one’s own denomination, for the sake of truth, we hope Christians reading Lighthouse Trails material will take it to heart, do their homework, and see if these things we say are not true.
C&MA Research Articles:
The Christian and Missionary Alliance Hooks Up with the IAHR (International Association of Healing Rooms)
Letter to the Editor: Christian & Missionary Alliance (Canada) Promoting Interspiritual, Panentheist Monk, Basil Pennington
Christian Missionary Alliance (CMA) Mahaffey Family Camp Brings in New Age Sympathizer Leonard Sweet as Camp Speaker
Christian & Missionary Alliance Rob Reimer Loses His Way in “Pathways to the King:” A Review
Letter to the Editor: Saddened by Christian & Missionary Alliance and Ambrose University Continuing Plunge into Contemplative
Letter to the Editor: Christian & Missionary Alliance OK With Ruth Haley Barton and Other Contemplatives
Alliance Theological Seminary Dean Ron Walborn Recommends NAR Bill Johnson (and more!) for Pastors
COLLEGE ALERT: CMA Simpson University Students Seek Contemplative Chapel Experience
Ambrose University (CMA & Nazarene) Full Speed into Contemplative/Emergent
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RELEVANT ARTICLES:
https://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/christian-missionary-alliance-students-taught-to-listen-to-god-contemplative-style/

https://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/christian-missionary-alliance-and-focus-on-the-family-canada-leading-christians-across-the-contemplative-bridge/

http://suspiciousberean.blogspot.ca/2012/05/ambrose-university-college-hires-jesuit.html
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"To Hear, To Contemplate, To Act"

SEE: https://ambrose.edu/news_and_events/hear-contemplate-act;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

A stilled, receptive spirit may prove elusive in the bustle of an academic semester, but during the annual Fall Spiritual Emphasis Days, that is exactly what planners hoped to foster. With the theme Listening to God, the flurry of activity on the Ambrose campus ground to a standstill as students, faculty and staff took a break from classes to come together as a community for two days. From workshops to worship to facilitated mealtime conversations, corporate, small group and individual activities gave rich context to campus opportunities for acts of service. Rev. Steve Kerr, an alumnus of Ambrose University College, pushed even further the theme of Listening to God while serving as this year’s keynote speaker. Kerr is the lead pastor of Gateway Church in Caledonia, Ontario.

New Campus Pastor Dr. Gordon Grieve explains the felt need for contemplation among a student population. “Students are incredibly busy. The majority of Ambrose students are commuters. Many students are juggling studies, jobs, relationships. It is so easy for the life of the spirit to be crowded out by multiple demands. I know I speak with the planning team when I say that our prayer has been that students discover the delight of communing with Christ – not only during scheduled “quiet times’ but also throughout the day. As Steve emphasized, every human being has a profound thirst that God intends to be satisfied in a relationship with Himself.”

Rev. Kerr presented his keynote addresses in such a way as to make “contemplation” and “stillness” anything but sleepy. “He brought many things to the table. He was able to engage everyone from the get-go, demonstrating a deep grasp of the full scope of God’s revelation in Scripture and making it interesting and relevant. His humor and transparency kept listeners interested and responsive.”

While Rev. Kerr preached during plenary sessions about Listening to God, Ambrose faculty and staff facilitated further opportunities for learning, reflection and growth. Students were invited to participate in a diverse array of workshops, like “Centering Prayer: A Pathway to Experiencing God’s Presence,” taught by Dr. Miriam Charter. Students learned that “Centering Prayer is a gift to us from the Desert Fathers who sought a way to deepen their relationship with the living Christ. It is “listening” prayer that may become for the serious pilgrim a pathway for receiving and experiencing the gift of God’s Presence.”

Additional workshops included “Hear the Divine Voice…Make the Right Choice,” by Dr. Charles Nienkirchen, “Hearing God through Nature: A Walk Through the Ambrose Aspen Stand,” by Wally Rude, “Making (Some) Sense of the Pain: Hearing God in Times of Difficulty and Suffering,”  by Dr. Gordon Smith, “Lectio Divina” (Divine Reading) with Kevin Cawthra, “Going Global? A Conversation about Discerning God's call to Serve Internationally,” and “Hearing the Voice of Jesus through Imaging,” with Joy Ulrich.

Faculty and staff members also hosted lunch discussions while other faculty and staff members served the students lunch; this parallel current of service was crafted to flow organically from the explorations of the interior life. An Operation 5:16 project offered students the option to engage in a community clean-up. More horticulturally-inclined students were invited to help plant bulbs in the “1000 Yellow Daffodils” project with a goal to “bring some spring joy to the Ambrose community as well as to our Springborough Community neighbours.” Handmade thank-you cards were delivered to the neighbouring Springborough Professional Building, and a table was set up for students to utilize materials for crafting encouragement cards.

Dr. Grieve celebrates the widespread campus involvement. “The strong attendance of students and their high level of engagement throughout the two days was very gratifying to the planning team. After all, while attendance was certainly encouraged, it was voluntary!”

Planners hope that the themes of listening, centering and service fleshed out during the Spiritual Emphasis Days will bear fruit throughout the rest of the school year.

For more information contact:

Pastor Gordon Grieve
Campus Chaplain
Email: ggrieve@ambrose.edu
Tel: 403.410.2000





Posted on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 8:13pm

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THE CHRISTIAN AND MISSIONARY ALLIANCE EMBRACES CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY 

AND CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM

SEE: http://www.proveritate.org/blog/the-christian-and-missionary-

alliance-embraces-contemplative-spirituality-and-christian-mysticism;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research 
purposes:
Introduction



The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) is an evangelical denomination founded 

in 1887 by A. B. Simpson. Born out of Pentecostalism, the deeper life movement, 

and the divine healing movement, the C&MA has roots in 

Christian mysticism and contemplative Christianity.

[1] A.B. Simpson wrote, “There is, in the deepest centre of the soul, a chamber of 

peace where God dwells, and where, if we will only enter in and hush every 

other sound, we can hear His still, small voice.”[2] This is mysticism by its very definition.

According to mysticism, truth comes from within and can be 

discovered by disengaging the mind and clearing the mind of conscious 

thought. John MacArthur gives the following explanation of mysticism:

Mysticism is a system of belief that attempts to perceive spiritual reality apart from objective, verifiable facts. It seeks truth through feelings, intuition, and other internal senses. Objective data is usually discounted, so mysticism derives its authority from within. Spontaneous feeling becomes more significant than objective fact. Intuition outweighs reason. An internal awareness supersedes external reality.[3]

Scripture on the other hand teaches that truth does not come from within but is external, 

objective, and unchanging and is found in the Word of God (John 17:17). In the Christian worldview, truth is not discovered by emptying one’s self of conscious thought but rather 

by engaging the mind in the careful study of God’s revealed Word.

The C&MA and Mysticism

Rev. David John Smith, currently the pastor of Rose Hill Alliance Church in Minnesota, 

writes that “God can and does speak to us in multi-level methods as we open 

up all the vents of our soul to listen.”[4] He goes on to list thirty ways in 

which God supposedly speaks to believers, including mental pictures, 

imagination, visions, and even journaling conversations with God.[5] 

All of these mystical practices are unorthodox and unbiblical—even 

anti-biblical—and are being embraced by the C&MA as a denomination.



In recent years, the C&MA has exhibited a disturbing trend back to its roots in 

contemplative Christianity and mysticism, also integrating elements of the heretical 

emerging church movement, new-age spirituality, and postmodernism. 

Seminaries affiliated with the C&MA are openly and actively 

promoting mystical practices and contemplative and emergent spirituality. 

The Lighthouse Trails Research Blog listed the C&MA as one of the top 50 organizations with a significant role in bringing contemplative Christianity 

to the church. Also included on this list were such organizations and 

denominations as Mike Bickle’s International House of Prayer, the 

Emergent Village, and the highly liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in 

America and Presbyterian Church (USA). As defined by the 

Lighthouse Trails Research Project,

Contemplative Spirituality [is a] belief system that uses ancient mystical practices to induce altered states of consciousness (the silence) and is rooted in mysticism and the occult but often wrapped in Christian terminology. The premise of contemplative spirituality is pantheistic (God is all) and panentheistic (God is in all). Common terms used for this movement are “spiritual formation,” “the silence,” “the stillness,” “ancient-wisdom,” “spiritual disciplines,” and many others.

Contemplative Prayer

One of the mystical doctrines being embraced by the C&MA is contemplative prayer. 

Contemplative prayer, also known as soaking prayer and centering prayer, is the 

unbiblical and mystical practice of emptying one’s mind of conscious thought 

and turning to one’s inner self to find the presence of God.

Contemplative 

prayer is being practiced and taught at official Alliance seminaries. Because 

all Alliance pastors are trained at one of these official schools, the false 

doctrines imparted to these students will eventually permeate the local 

churches affiliated with the denomination.

Ron Walborn, dean of Alliance 

Theological Seminary, endorsed a book by James P. Danaher entitled 

Contemplative Prayer: A Theology for the Twenty-First Century. Danaher 

is Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Nyack College, 

an official school of the C&MA. Incidentally, the postmodernist Franciscan 

Friar Richard Rohr also endorsed Danaher’s book. Rohr is an advocate of 

“alternative orthodoxy,” a supporter of homosexuality (even presiding over 

a lesbian “marriage”), and the author of The Naked Now: Learning to See 

as the Mystics See—a book that Danaher unapologetically taught to his class 

at Nyack College.



Postmodernism



Furthermore, James Danaher is also the author of the book Eyes That See, Ears That Hear: Perceiving Jesus in a Postmodern Context, intended for “Christians who are looking to 

understand Jesus in light of a postmodern perspective.” Richard Rohr also endorsed 

this book. The following is a telling quotation from the book’s description:

In his book, James Danaher successfully shows that a post-modern perspective, which questions the cultural, historical, and linguistic presuppositions involved in interpreting the Gospels, frees us to hear anew the culturally subversive, yet ultimately transformative message of Jesus’ Good News.

The author carefully uses postmodern insights to illustrate that what we see in the Gospels is largely a product of how we see, and how we see comes from our social constructs, not what we interpret to be God’s objective revelation.

Danaher has abandoned the crucial biblical concept of absolute truth and replaced it 

with the postmodern concept that truth is changing. This is the perspective being 

embraced and communicated by institutional centers affiliated with the C&MA and 

will continue to have a progressive impact on the denomination as the students 

trained at these institutions are installed as pastors in local churches.



Spiritual Formation



Moreover, official Alliance colleges and seminaries such as Nyack College, Ambrose 

University College, Toccoa Falls College, and Simpson University are all incorporating 

“Spiritual Formation” into their academic programs. While the term “Spiritual Formation” 

may sound harmless enough, it is essentially a cryptic word used by advocates 

of emergent and contemplative spirituality to infiltrate the unsuspecting 

church with their heresy.

The Lighthouse Trails Research Project states 

that Spiritual Formation is

[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 and its “pioneers” such as Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, and Henri Nouwen. Spiritual Formation is based on “spiritual disciplines” that can be practiced by people of any faith to make them more “Christ-like.” Rebirth through Jesus Christ and regeneration through the Holy Spirit are not essential. Rather it is a works-based “theology” that has strong roots in Roman Catholicism and ancient paganism.

Some of the stated goals for the Spiritual Formation program at the Alliance Theological 

Seminary are to increase awareness of “your personal spiritual reality” and to nurture a 

“continuing desire to grow beyond your current spiritual reality.” Again, while the 

reference to a “spiritual reality” may seem innocuous, the concept of spiritual 

reality is rooted in Eastern mystical religion. Mysticism teaches that spiritual 

reality is a transcendent metaphysical order that may be known by emptying 

one’s self of conscious thought and desires.



Conclusion



All of the elements of mysticism being introduced into the church are not Christian. 

Rather, they are an intrusion of false religion brought about through the 

subtlety of false teachers (1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Peter 2:1). Nowhere in Scripture 

do we find any type of warrant for the mystic beliefs and practices being 

adopted by the C&MA.

Christian mysticism is simply a contradiction in terms 

and is a heresy secretly being introduced into the church by false teachers 

(2 Peter 2:1). It is our duty to exercise discernment and to call out these false 

teachers and warn Christians of their presence (1 Tim. 1:3).

Related resources 

from Pro Veritate:


Cal Pierce, the NAR, ‘Healing Rooms,’ and the Christian and Missionary Alliance 
by Pro Veritate
Emerging Church
Christian Mysticism

© 2014 Pro Veritate. All Rights Reserved. 










References



[1] Smith, D. J. (1998, February 17). Listening Prayer: Listening to God for Life and 

Ministry. Retrieved August 17, 2014, from

https://online.ambrose.edu/alliancestudies/dsmith/djs_prayer.html
[2] 

Simpson, A. B. (1924). The Holy Spirit, Or, Power From On High. New York: 

The Christian Alliance Publishing Co., 160.
[3] MacArthur, John. (1993). 

Charismatic Chaos. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 35.
[4] Smith. 

Listening Prayer. Retrieved August 17, 2014, from https://online.ambrose.edu/alliancestudies/dsmith/djs_prayer.html
[5] Ibid.