SDA
Leaders Recommend Attending Catholic Spiritual Formation
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Dear Ron, Are you familiar with the
Adventist Chaplain News Letter for July - September 2003? Here is
the cover page:
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And here is page 2:
There are eight pages to the letter
but the introduction by Martin Feldbush tells the tragic story of deception
and betrayal of Christ and The Three Angel's messages !
Martin tells us that he recommends
that we attend Catholic and other training institutions of Roman Catholic
Spiritual Formation. For those who do not know what "Spiritual
Formation" is ; it is the teachings of Ignatius Loyola the founder of
the Jesuit Order. The Jesuits were started in 1540 to destroy the
Protestant Reformation !
The Catholic Church believes that
God is in everything ! In the sticks and stones, in the trees and animals and
that we all have a spark of "divinity" in us making us all a part
of god. As you know that is the teachings of "pantheism" ,
"god in everything and therefore we are all a part of god" !
Remember: this was the
teachings of Kellogg in his book; "The Living Temple". The
Spirit of God warned us that Kellogg's teachings were the "ALPHA"
of "APOSTASY" and that the "OMEGA" would be of a more
startling nature".
Well now; is it not startling that
Martin Feldbush would write in the Adventist Chaplain News Letter that
Adventists should attend Roman Catholic training institutions and become
"Spiritual Directors" able to teach Roman Catholic Spiritual
Formation, which includes "Pantheism", as well as "hypnotism"
, chanting, repetitive prayer, praying to the dead, and other pagan
practices!
Is it not startling that the
Adventist News Network would report that many Adventist "leaders"
are recommending this be taught in Adventist churches and institutions around
the world ? Here is the ANN article.
ANN
Feature: Church, Congregations Increase Focus on "Spiritual
Formation"
Spiritual
formation is a topic being raised by many pastors and church leaders in a
growing number of Christian denominations.
February
3, 2004 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
Wendi Rogers/ANN
Jane Thayer
Roger Dudley
Spiritual formation
is a topic being raised by many pastors and church leaders in a growing number
of Christian denominations. It's no longer enough to just know doctrine and
facts--in today's hectic society people are searching for something deeper and
more meaningful, something that makes sense in their whirlwind lives.
For the
Seventh-day Adventist Church, a "wake-up call" was sounded after a
2002 survey showed that though doctrinal understanding was high, there were
several "areas of concern," including low involvement in daily prayer
and Bible study, active Christian witness to the community, and participation
in community service (see ANN October 9, 2002).
These concerns
can be linked to how the church rates in the area of spiritual formation, which
has been defined by one Adventist Church pastor as "the process of
becoming a mature Christian disciple of God." Another person describes it
as "whatever you do to specifically nourish your relationship with
God."
Today this
subject is receiving serious emphasis in Adventist institutions, as well as in
local congregations. Though the church doesn't have an accredited educational
program dealing with spiritual formation at any of its theological schools,
it's seeing this subject become more common in today's modern, seeking world.
Spiritual
formation is not a new idea or concept, and "a lot of Protestants are in
the same boat--we are rediscovering it," says Dr. Jon Dybdahl, president
of Walla Walla College, an Adventist institution in Washington State. And, he
adds, the Adventist Church has some work to do.
"Traditionally
the Adventist Church has emphasized intellectual truth and accepting certain
facts and ideas about God," Dybdahl says. "At least in many places it
has not talked so much about the importance of directly experiencing God. The
difference is between knowing about God and knowing God. Sometimes what we
teach people is knowing about God ... That's part of the nature of things. It's
much easier to communicate a fact than it is to wield people to
experience."
Pastor Martin
Feldbush, associate director for Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries whose work
brings him in contact with leaders of several other denominations, says that
the Adventist Church is not alone in its quest for deeper spiritual formation
among members. "A lot of churches out there are struggling with the same
issues as we are. We're not in isolation as though there's something wrong with
us. I think churches particularly that are conservative in their orientation
and take their mission very seriously, and I believe we should do all of that,
may have a tendency to stress the 'doing' as opposed to the 'being' and the
formation."
But why is
there a need for spiritual formation? If people are part of a religious
organization, shouldn't they already be at a certain level of spiritual
formation?
John Jenson,
pastor of the 150-member South Bay Adventist Church in Torrance, California,
says, "There's a need for spiritual formation with the [Adventist] Church
because we have been so doctrinally oriented that people might be able to quote
some or all of the 27 fundamental beliefs [of the church], and may have
neglected having daily devotions that day or week or month." He explains
that there's an overload of knowledge and information, but how to translate
that into meaningful instruction and "marching orders" for daily
living is key.
Jenson says
that without spiritual formation, a person would be "spiritually
uncivilized." It "is the process by which they can go from being a
spiritual infant to spiritual maturity ... Developing the potential that God's
put within you."
Dybdahl adds
that people need to "Begin to recognize that knowledge without life
experience can be dead. [They need to] recognize how crucial it is to people's
lives [and] how much the younger generation values experience."
Dr. Jane
Thayer, assistant professor of Religious Education and coordinator of the
Religious Education Program at Andrews University, adds, "We have a big
blank when it comes to taking care of people once they have accepted the Lord
... I think what people need to know is 'how do you live the life.' Spiritual
formation or discipleship needs to show how you live like Christ."
Nikolaus
Satelmajer, from the church's Ministerial Association responsible for
continuing education for Adventist clergy, believes there's now a shift from
emphasis on doctrine to more emphasis on spiritual formation within the
Adventist Church. He also says that, "We're finding a serious lack of
knowledge of our people [church founders], our doctrines ... I think we have
de-emphasized them." Satelmajer says this is true particularly with the
younger generation, and the cause of any spiritual formation growth stunt is
not because of a focus on doctrine.
Though it's not
a concept that's easy to grasp for an organization as a whole, spiritual
formation is something each individual member can work on, Feldbush says.
"When you think about it as an individual, we're so used to gearing our
spiritual experience on the 'wow' moments--the ones [in which] we can see the
great things happening, whether it's personally or organizationally. It's easy
to see God's movement in those times. Real spiritual formation is a process of
growing more and more in tune to discernment of God's voice as well as more and
more tuned to discernment of God's moving in my life, in the ordinary of life,
as well as even in the difficult times of life. That's where real spiritual
formation, or at least the value of spiritual formation, is seen."
Spiritual formation
is not about what one does, but what the motivations behind one's actions are.
Dr. Roger Dudley, professor emeritus of Christian Ministry and director of the
Institute of Church Ministry at Andrews University Theological Seminary, and
the 2002 survey coordinator, says there are stages of moral development.
"A person who studies the Bible every day because he'll be lost if he
doesn't has a low level of moral development; or a person who pays tithes and
offerings because he expects an extra blessing. Higher levels would be a
different level of motivation."
"That
overemphasis on doing to the detriment of being and particularly the detriment
of being in the spirit and being in Christ as the very formational and foundational
experience of the individual member and the church itself, I think that's one
of the big challenges," says Feldbush. He adds that the three strategic
values of the church--unity, growth and quality of life--adopted in 2002,
demonstrate personal spiritual growth.
Spiritual
formation takes on several forms: "There are disciplines of devotion,
meditation, prayer, listening and so on," Feldbush explains. "It's a
discipline which can be heeded through the assistance of a person who is
trained in helping people grow in these ways." But, he says, it's mostly
"growing more and more tuned to God's movement in my life here and
now." And, he says, spiritual formation is not something that happens
overnight.
"We [as a
church] think that spiritual formation comes through socialization. But we need
to be intentional (((the word intentional is a favorite Catholic
word))) about it," says Thayer.
"The culture we live in is so pervasive that the models there are more
persistent and prevalent than the little models we have just in terms of the
time we've spent." Thayer refers to a need for showing others how to live
like Christ in the real world.
Dudley adds
that if more members are encouraged to study and pray more and are able and
willing to share their faith, there may be spiritual development for the church
as a whole. "Spiritual development is something that happens with
individuals."
Satelmajer
adds, "And within congregations as well. Spiritual formation is the
implementation of spiritual principles in my life and in my actions," he
says. "I think we're missing something. It's not just learning how to
'meditate'--spiritual formation is learning how to implement spiritual things
that I know or am learning or experiencing into my life and then into my everyday
life..."
The Adventist
world church created the International Board of Ministerial and Theological
Education (IBMTE) in September 2001, designed to provide overall guidance and
standards to the professional training of pastors, evangelists, theologians,
teachers, chaplains and other denominational employees involved in ministerial
and religious formation, or spiritual formation, in each of the church's 13
regions around the world. (((WARNING:
The General Conference voted in 2001 to teach Roman Catholic Spiritual
Formation in every Adventist church and institution around the world and they
are doing just that !)))
ANN World News
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ANN Staff:
Rajmund
Dabrowski, director; Ansel Oliver, assistant director; Taashi Rowe, editorial
coordinator; Elizabeth Lechleitner, editorial assistant; Natacha Moorooven,
proofreader. Portuguese translation by Azenilto Brito, Spanish translation by
Marcos Paseggi, Italian translation by Vincenzo Annunziata and Lina Ferrara and
French translations by Stephanie Elofer.
The General
Conference has in these two "official" papers of the organization
stated clearly that they now believe and teach Roman Catholic Spiritual
Formation!
John Harvey
Kellogg, wrote the book "The Living Temple" and said that "God
was in everything", the trees the flowers, the grass and in
man".
For a most wonderful
read of this crisis, open your Ellen White CD and type the words "Kellogg
pantheism" and read by browsing, read till you come to this statement:
"In the book Living Temple there is presented the alpha of deadly
heresies. The omega will follow, And will be received by those who are not
willing to heed the
warning God has
given. The Early Elmshaven Years Volume 5 1900-1905 , P. 305 . Also in: 1SM, p. 200.
Roman Catholic
Spiritual Formation; teaches; pantheism, hypnosis, self - hypnosis, heathen
meditation and forms of prayer, such as, repetitive prayer, silence, chanting,
communication with Catholic Saints and other beings in other realms and the
need of a Spiritual Director or mentor to guide you!
We are now in
the midst of the OMEGA APOSTASY, and which goes much farther than Kellogg
went. It is full blown SPIRITUALISM and
Roman Catholic Mysticism and is a fulfillment of the Scripture:
"some
shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and
doctrines of devils". 1 Timothy 4: 1
And The Holy
Spirit's Testimony that:
Special Testimony for Ministers and Workers.
-- No. 11 PG- 8
"Many will stand in our pulpits with
the torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled from the hellish torch of
Satan. If doubts and unbelief are cherished, the faithful ministers will be
Removed from the people who think they know So much. "If thou hadst
known," said Christ, "even thou, at least in this thy day, the things
which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes."
Martin
Feldbush, says we should attend Roman Catholic and other training institutions
that teach Spiritual Formation and train as Spiritual Directors. But, not only
does Martin Feldbush recommend that we do so, but The General Conference is now
teaching Spiritual Formation around the world and therefore has approved Martin's recommendation ! One of the places
he lists is Shalem. Here is the link:
Shalem, is
jointly operated by Roman Catholics and Buddhists.
Is it not
STARTLING that The General Conference
admits that it is teaching this "doctrine of devil's" invented by
Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuit Order !
The sole purpose of the Jesuit Order is to destroy Protestantism !
Since The
General Conference is teaching this Roman Catholic Mysticism, we must conclude
that The General Conference is also under the control of the Devil ! They have "changed leaders" as The Spirit
of God said they would do ! And of them it must also be said,
Hosea 13:9 "O Israel, thou hast destroyed
thyself.."
Dear Ron,
I have found this site wchich is explaining the deep pagan implications of this
so called "Spiritual Formation"!
http://www.tybro.com/html/words_of_power_healing.html?gclid=CNrMlfyRsJsCFUR_3godnF4eDA