Ihop "partners" with Roman Catholics in conference: Mystics.

Keith Major is a former Protestant missionary, pastor, and IHOP-KC staff member who converted to Catholicism in 2009. Major was baptized in a Catholic church at age three, but his family began attending a Protestant church when he was eight years old. As a Protestant missionary, Major helped smuggle 100,000 Bibles into Russia. He served for years in Russia and Poland.

Describing his path to his 2009 conversion to Catholicism, Major stated that International House Of Prayer founder Mike Bickle encouraged him to learn about Catholic mystics. According to Major, “Being that the Director [Bickle] was a Catholic until he was twenty, he highly recommended people to read Catholic mystics, particularly Bernard of Clairvaux, John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Teresa of Lisieux, Francis de Sales, Catherine of Sienna…”

What was Bickle’s purpose in this? “He would just say if you want to know more about contemplative prayer, these are the people who have mastered it. But when you read it, spit out the bones,” said Major.

Unfortunately, contemplative prayer is really the same thing as Eastern or New Age meditation, only painted with Christian terminology. The goal is to enter the silence, which is accomplished by emptying the mind of all active thought. In this mental void, spiritual deception can and does occur. This contemplative (meditative) state potentially opens people to the influence of lying spirits.

And he said, Take heed that you be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draws near: go not therefore after them. (Luke 21:8)

Contemplative prayer is far removed from genuine biblical meditation, which occurs when the Word of God is read and pondered, ruminated upon, and where the mind remains active in thought.

The foundation of IHOP-KC teaching rests upon contemplative prayer. Mike Bickle wants the book, Fire Within, which celebrates the Catholic, contemplative teachings of John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila, “to be the manual for IHOP-KC.”

Bickle has taught contemplative prayer to his IHOP-KC flock, which he calls “communing prayer.”

Both IHOP and the Catholic Church look to Catholic mystics like John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila for spiritual truth. Such IHOP/Catholic contemplative commonality does much to explain IHOP’s “partnership” with the (Catholic) Steubenville Conferences at Onething 2012.

Ex-IHOP staff member Keith Major is now Marketing Coordinator at Franciscan University of Steubenville. There is still obviously a connection with International House Of Prayer. On Major’s blog is an announcement for “Catholic Track at IHOP’s Onething conference 2012.” [5]

The announcement states, “The International House Of Prayer is partnering with Steubenville Conferences in the first ever Catholic Track at Onething in the Kansas Convention Center this December 28-31. Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, Scott Hahn, Ralph Martin, Mike Bickle, Misty Edwards, Matt Maher, Audrey Assad and others will be sharing. Join with over 25,000 attendees as this year’s theme is Encountering Jesus and His Transforming Power through living out the Sermon on the Mount.”

By partnering with the Catholics in the Onething conference, IHOP-KC is sending a message to every young person in attendance that praying to Mary and the saints, believing in purgatory, even believing the Eucharist to be the literal body and blood of Christ, are not important differences.

But the most important issue is that of Salvation.

According to qotquestions.org, “The most crucial problem with the Roman Catholic Church is its belief that faith alone in Christ is not sufficient for salvation. The Bible clearly and consistently states that receiving Jesus Christ as Savior, by grace through faith, grants salvation (John 1:12, 3:16, 18, 36; Acts 16:31, Romans 10:9-10, 13; Ephesians 2:8-9) The Roman Catholic Church rejects this.

The official position of the Roman Catholic Church is that a person must believe in Jesus Christ AND be baptized AND receive the Eucharist along with the other sacraments AND obey the decrees of the Roman Catholic Church AND perform meritorious works AND not die with any mortal sins AND etc., etc., etc. Catholic divergence from the Bible on this most crucial of issues, salvation, means that yes,

Catholicism is a false religion. If a person believes what the Catholic Church officially teaches, he/she will not be saved. Any claim that works or rituals must be added to faith in order for salvation to be achieved is a claim that Jesus’ death was not sufficient to fully purchase our salvation.” (bold mine) click to read gotquestions.org article

One of the Catholic speakers is Ralph Martin. One of Martin’s books, The Fulfillment of All Desire, is about Catholic mystics. It was this contemplative book, read while fasting, that further influenced Major to become a Catholic. Ralph Martin’s endorsement of IHOP is on the IHOP-KC website.

The young IHOP people are so sincere, so hungry to draw closer to God. Yet they are being led by those who believe the way to God has been paved by Catholic, meditating mystics.

http://mywordlikefire.com/2012/11/08/ihop-kc-partners-with-catholics-for-onething-christian-conference-2012/

Greg can I get your input on this topic?

Greg can I get your input on this topic?

Dear Saints,

I want to publicly state a few things. Firstly to brotherTom personally because this has been mentioned many times that the forums here are not for exposing every false teaching or supposed false teaching or emphasis in the church and secondly the forums are not a personal pulpit for someone to exhibit a discernment ministry to post what they think is wrong with everyone else. We have seem little fruit come from such ministries. Leonard Ravenhill spoke against the weak condition of the church and many lacks but he did not emphasize his ministry categorizing and detailing by name what was wrong with everyone else. He was mature enough in Christ to leave that to the Lord Himself.

There is a time to speak against something as led of the Spirit yet on the forums here we ask that people do not take their liberties to slander and speak evil of brethren who are doing things they do not agree with. Though we do not endorse everything written on the forums and do allow freedom of brethren to share many things we do not want to condone or allow slander of ministries without measure. So BrotherTom and some other brothers who feel the need to speak in such ways all the time we can ask you to consider moving to a different forum to share these things.

The focus of the SermonIndex forums is to seek to Know God which is eternal life, to encourage each other in godliness and Christ-likeness and other wonderful parts of the Spiritual life in Christ.

Below is an article by the Berean Call that I do not fully agree with but they do tackle the issue of Tozer not being a Catholic (which should be obvious to most). The current evangelical church in my mind is so mentally engaged in their study of Christianity that they in many ways do not know how to "Spiritually" worship God nor to "wait" upon Him.

To wait in silence before the Lord is not an evil practice, this can be done by praying before with the right heart to ask God to speak to us. If we are always thinking and trying to speak to God we will never clearly heart God's direction and voice at times. So I think there should be a balance on this teaching and Tozer sought that in his personal life of being prostrate before God for hours without saying a word.

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Question: You have promoted books by A.W. Tozer, yet Tozer constantly quoted from Catholic mystics, and some have said that he even practiced "Lectio Divina." In view of your warnings regarding the Contemplative Movement, how could you offer his books, knowing of his practices?

Response: Tozer did not practice Lectio Divina , a method that many mystics and occultists have used to supposedly experience God. The exercise involves reading a Bible verse or phrase, often repeating it many times like a mantra, for the purpose of stimulating insights that transcend what might be gained from the normal reading and understanding of the Scriptures. Rather than understanding a passage based on the objective meaning of the words, the grammar of the verses, and the context, the words become devices for receiving personal, subjective revelation from God. Anyone who is familiar with the writings of Tozer knows that such a technique is completely foreign to what he taught throughout his lifetime. Nevertheless, that hasn't stopped some people from referring to him in order to support their promotion of mystical methods and teachings. John Armstrong, for example (who is general editor of Roman Catholicism: Evangelical Protestants Analyze What Unites and Divides Us , Moody Press, 1994), has stated that Tozer "listened to God and practiced lectio divina in his reading habits." The "Emerging Thought" blog, among other Emergent writers, has commented, "I am going to go through the book by Brother Lawrence called Practice of the Presence of God: The Best Rule of Holy Life . I already had someone on the leadership team comment (jokingly) about me teaching RCC stuff. Yet, I see that John Wesley and A. W. Tozer both recommended him."

To quote someone does not necessarily include recommending him. Yet, we would take issue with Tozer regarding some of the people he quotes. In chapter 3 of The Pursuit of God , "Removing the Veil," Tozer quotes Chinese sage, Lao-tze: "That is the first step, and as...Lao-tze has said, 'The journey of a thousand miles begins with a first step.'" Quoting this one point, which is hardly profound, is not "endorsing" Lao-Tze. One might wonder, however, where Tozer stood when one considers the Roman Catholics (Augustine, Nicholas of Cusa, Thomas á Kempis, Francis of Assisi, von Hugel, Bernard of Clairvaux, the poet William Blake, and hymn writer Frederick Faber, a convert to Catholicism) that he has quoted or referred to in his books. That's rather puzzling, since the gospel that Tozer preached and wrote about so well couldn't be more contrary to the gospel and dogmas of Catholicism, beliefs strictly held by those mentioned and most of whom were canonized as saints by the Church of Rome. TBC does not condone Tozer when he quotes those with whom we have serious theological disagreement (and with whom, we are sure, he would also disagree). Moreover, instances of such quotes are so few in his many, many volumes that it's clear they were in no way significant to his teaching.

Tozer himself recognized the confusion he generated by quoting those noted for their Roman Catholic mysticism. He wrote in his own defense, "Some of my friends good-humoredly — and some a little bit severely — have called me a 'mystic.' Well I'd like to say this about any mysticism I may suppose to have. If an archangel from heaven were to come, and were to start...telling me, teaching me, and giving me instruction, I'd ask him for the text. I'd say, 'Where's it say that in the Bible? I want to know.' And I would insist that it was according to the scriptures, because I do not believe in any extra-scriptural teachings, nor any anti-scriptural teachings, or any sub-scriptural teachings. I think we ought to put the emphasis where God puts it, and continue to put it there, and to expound the scriptures, and stay by the scriptures. I wouldn't — no matter if I saw a light above the light of the sun, I'd keep my mouth shut about it 'til I'd checked with Daniel and Revelation and the rest of the scriptures to see if it had any basis in truth....I don't believe in anything that is unscriptural or that is anti-scripture" (A.W. Tozer, "What Difference Does the Holy Spirit Make?")

Even so, some object that quoting Tozer to prove he wasn't a mystic ignored his advice to "get still to wait on God" with the "Bible outspread." To say that Tozer practiced lectio divina because of this statement is to be driven more by surmise than substance. The full paragraph reads: "It is important that we get still to wait on God. And it is best that we get alone, preferably with our Bible outspread before us. Then if we will, we may draw near to God and begin to hear Him speak to us in our hearts. I think for the average person the progression will be something like this: First a sound as of a Presence walking in the garden. Then a voice, more intelligible, but still far from clear. Then the happy moment when the Spirit begins to illuminate the Scriptures, and that which had been only a sound, or at best a voice, now becomes an intelligible word, warm and intimate and clear as the word of a dear friend. Then will come life and light, and best of all, ability to see and rest in and embrace Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord and All."

There is a vast difference between Tozer's teaching and lectio divina. The Lord tells us to "be still" at times. To "be still" is not to empty our minds, as in lectio divina. Reading Scripture without distraction, we trust the Lord to bring illumination, or "understanding." Though Tozer speaks of a "sound as of a Presence walking in the garden," he means that the Holy Spirit begins to bring understanding (1 Cor:2:11). "Then a voice," denotes better understanding of a formerly opaque Scripture. Tozer speaks of "an intelligible word" consistently throughout his writing. His focus remains "the Word." "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein" (Jos:1:8).

The Scriptures warn us to fully discern the truth of a matter. Discernment is more than suspicion. We are cautioned in the scriptures against "evil surmising" (1 Tm 6:4), which today might be called "evil suspicion." To establish Tozer as a "Catholic mystic" cannot be done objectively, without exaggeration, and with only selective use of evidence.

from: http://www.thebereancall.org/content/question-you-have-promoted-books-aw-tozer-yet-tozer-constantly-quoted-catholic-mystics

Personally, I thank God for the "immature" men who have the courage to pick the wolves from the flock like Brothertom has, in that same way that Paul, John, Jeremiah, etc did who also forgot to just "leave it to the Lord to straighten out".

But I suppose I'm immature as well to think that such precedents are actually as vital as the apostles made them out to be.