POSTED BY MARSHA WEST ∙ MAY 2, 2017 ∙ IN NEWS ∙ CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY, SPIRITUAL FORMATION, AWANA ∙ BOOKMARK PERMALINK
Lighthouse Trails has
this lead in followed by a letter from someone who is concerned about the
direction AWANA has taken, i.e. getting youngsters involved in unbiblical Spiritual Formation:
Today, the church is “reaping the fruit” of nearly 40 years of Spiritual Formation influence (since Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline was released in 1978). Lighthouse Trails has warned its readers on a number of occasions about the direction AWANA children’s club is going with regard to contemplative spirituality (i.e., Spiritual Formation) (see links below). In the following letter to the editor, you can see that AWANA is now teaching children to “listen to God” (the goal in contemplative prayer).
We thought AWANA clubs was to teach
children the Word of God through memorization. Since when did they take it upon
themselves to teach children to listen to God voice? If
you have children or grandchildren who participate in AWANA, we strongly urge
you to examine all AWANA literature and teaching tools carefully as well as
discuss your concerns with your children’s AWANA leaders and make sure they
understand the dangers of contemplative spirituality.
The big
emphasis in today’s church is, “Hear God’s Voice!” It’s all
about feel-good and mystical experiences. What a tragedy the focus
isn’t on “Know God’s Word.”
Jesus said, “Sanctify them through thy
truth: thy word is truth” (John
17:17).
