Roll Over Menno

The Mennonite Church of USA is recommending centering prayer…

http://peace.mennolink.org/articles/prayerpractices.html
PRAYER PRACTICES FOR PEACEMAKERS
Lectio Divina, The Consciousness Examen and Centering Prayer
By the Mennonite Church USA

And have you heard about this one…

Catholics and Mennonites join together for centering prayer (PDF)
www.bridgefolk.net/texts/michiana2005sep18.pdf

Where did centering prayer originate?

“The 1960s did not penetrate very deeply into the small towns of the Quaboag Valley of central Massachusetts. Even so, Father Thomas Keating, the abbot of St. Joseph’s Abbey, couldn’t help noticing the attraction that the exotic religious practices of the East held for many young Roman Catholics. To him, as a Trappist monk, meditation was second nature. He invited the great Zen master Roshi Sasaki to lead retreats at the abbey. And surely, he thought, there must be a precedent within the church for making such simple but powerful spiritual techniques available to laypeople. His Trappist brother Father William Meninger found it in one day in 1974, in a dusty copy of a 14th-century guide to contemplative meditation, “The Cloud of Unknowing.” Drawing on that work, as well as the writings of the contemplatives Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Avila, the two monks began teaching a form of Christian meditation that grew into the worldwide phenomenon known as centering prayer. Twice a day for 20 minutes, practitioners find a quiet place to sit with their eyes closed and surrender their minds to God. In more than a dozen books and in speeches and retreats that have attracted tens of thousands, Keating has spread the word to a world of “hungry people, looking for a deeper relationship with God.” Read all of “In Search of the Spiritual”

More about Father Thomas Keating here:

http://lighthousetrailsresearch.com/keating.htm

In a historical moment this month, the Mennonites, on their way home to Rome, have gone to visit the Pope.

Read about it here:

Mennonites Hear Benedict XVI’s Call for Unity
Benedict XVI Meets With Christian Delegates
http://www.zenit.org/article-20792?l=english

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 19, 2007 “The Mennonite and Catholic search for the unity of the Lord’s disciples is important, says Benedict XVI. (…)”

And here:

Ecumenical Visit
Mennonites make historic first visit to the Vatican
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=10734

Vatican City, Oct 19, 2007 / 05:05 pm (CNA) “The Vatican witnessed an unprecedented event today as the Pope received the first delegation to ever come from the Mennonite World Conference.(…)”

Wasn’t there a song about that…

Over the river and through the woods
To Grandmother’s house we go…

ROM: HIGH

This month as Mennonite Brethren church members across Canada open their magazine from the Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, they will be reading once again about the promotion of contemplative spirituality for teens (in the Cross Currents section):

Spiritual Formation:
“By introducing young people to the rich experiences of the saints of old (the mystics, contemplatives, Desert Fathers) and contemporary authors such as Gary Thomas, teens can discover there are many ways to develop intimacy with Jesus, including spending time in nature, practicing solitude, or even being an activist.”
-Ropewalk: 7 strands for creating leaders

What is wrong with that? To begin with, Gary Thomas, in his book Sacred Pathways, lists different ways people can draw near to God through centering prayer:

“It is particularly difficult to describe this type of prayer in writing, as it is best taught in person. In general however, centering prayer works like this: Choose a word (Jesus or Father, for example) as a focus for contemplative prayer. Repeat the word silently in your mind for a set amount of time (say, twenty minutes) until your heart seems to be repeating the word by itself, just as naturally and involuntarily as breathing” Gary Thomas (p. 152 ATOD, 2nd ed.).

Ray Yungen also says in A Time of Departing that there’s no difference between this and Eastern-style meditation…

“In essence, Sacred Pathways is a manual for mantra meditation…” (p. 152 ATOD)

You can read more about Gary Thomas’ books HERE.

As for the saints of old, mystics, contemplatives, and Desert Fathers that the MB Herald article recommends to young people, these are all ancient roots of today’s so called enlightened spirituality. (See Christian Mystics of the Past.)

Coming back to the Cross Currents section of this same October issue of the MB Herald, readers will be encouraged to read three books by N. T. Wright in an article called Scholar with sway: N.T. Wright (here). One book in particular that this full page article recommends is Simply Christian, even though there are some troublesome problems with error in this book. For example, a Book Review of Simply Christian by 9Marks concludes:

“N.T. Wright’s Simply Christian is the product of a thoughtful, articulate scholar who is seeking to give the church a tool to communicate Christianity to an unbelieving world. But if the theological and apologetic vision of this book becomes the normative pattern for the church, the results will be grievous for the advance of Christ’s kingdom to the ends of the earth.”

For a further look into the theology of N. T. Wright, see here:

The New Perspective of N. T. Wright on the Doctrine of Justification
David H. Linden, an elder of Bethel URC in Calgary, AB Canada
http://www.grebeweb.com/linden/ntw_just_aug2.html

In conclusion, there are many good things in this issue of the MB Herald, however, if this magazine is indeed a reflection of MB values and theology, it is sadly becoming more apparent every month that error is continuing to creep into the Mennonite Conference.

ROM Index: HIGH

Did you know that this summer in Columbia, Mennonites and Catholics discovered common ground? In an article describing this event called Colombian Mennonites and Catholics connect through peacemaking, one Mennonite pastor said that we have to practice Jesus’ commandment to love one another, and that this dialogue allowed them to focus on a common mission as churches in Christ.

Do we have a ‘common mission’ with those who have different beliefs about Jesus Christ? And if we love one another, doesn’t that mean telling the truth to Catholics out of love? (See here.)

Yet truth gets the back seat as shown by peaceful efforts to toss out theological differences and ‘get to know eachother’, such as this one that is about to happen in a few days from now:

“Mennonites from ten countries are about to travel to Rome for continuing consultations on Mennonite-Catholic dialogue and peacemaking.”
-from Mennonites continue peace and dialogue exchange with Catholics
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/5890

Of course, this all fits in very nicely with the latest “understanding” between Islam and the Vatican. Here is a quote from “Call for Muslim-Christian Unity ‘Very Encouraging’, Says Vatican Interfaith Head”:

“Using quotations from the Bible and the Koran to support their message, the authors of the letter argued that the most fundamental tenets of Islam and Christianity are identical: love of one (and the same) God, and love of one’s neighbor.” -christianpost.com

(Sound familiar?)

It looks like the Mennonites are soon going to be part of one big happy interfaith family (one world religion?)…all in the name of peace.

ROM Index: on the rise

Today Roll Over Menno is wondering if the editors of the MB (Mennonite Brethren) Herald ever get embarrassed. The following is from an article in the MB Herald last May…

“Oprah gives God the glory for her gifts and calling: “The voices of the world told me I was poor, coloured, and female but God had another vision for me.”

…We cannot expect Oprah to tell people about salvation through Jesus’ death and resurrection. That’s the church’s job. But there is so much redemptive value in the kinds of stories she shares and the engaging way she shares them – redemptive value upon which the church can build. In fact, it would be a waste of God’s gift if we didn’t.”

You may read it on-line here:
The good news according to Oprah Winfrey
http://www.mbherald.com/45/07/culture.en.html

Are the Mennonites who published this not aware of the well known fact that the gospel of Oprah Winfrey says Jesus can’t be the only way to God?

Today if you tune in to Oprah’s show, you will see her promote this:

Oprah Show Today: “Silence is the Only True Religion”
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/index.php?p=823&more=1&c=1

After today, will these Mennonites still believe there is “redemptive value” in the gospel of Oprah?

ROM Index: Menno is too embarrassed to roll over this time around

>>>Here is an UPDATE: First it was The Secret. But the secret is out. Beginning January 1, 2008, in another blatant step towards publicizing her New Age affinities, Oprah will be broadcasting one lesson a day from Marianne Williamson’s A Course in Miracles on her radio show.