Billy and Franklin Graham Join Emerging Church Leaders and The Shack Author at Catalyst Conference

Billy Graham, and
his son Franklin, will be speaking at the upcoming


Catalyst Conference on October 8-9. Possibly,
the father/son Grahams are not aware of the
teachings and the spirituality that the Catalyst
Conference represents. Unfortunately, Catalyst will
gain respect and audience by many trusting and
unaware admirers of the Grahams for including them
on their list of speakers.

One of this year’s speakers is Mark Batterson, lead
pastor of National Community Church in Washington
DC. Batterson joined emerging leader Erwin McManus
at McManus’ 2008 Awaken event, and he points readers
on his website to Eckhart Tolle, a New Age guru who
is currently being heralded by Oprah Winfrey.
Batterson says that Tolle’s book, Practicing the
Power of Now, is “instrumental in the way I think
about life.” His public

recommended reading list also includes several
other New Agers and mystics: Jack Canfield, New Age
mystic Daniel Goleman (The Meditative Mind),
mantra-meditation promoter Gary Thomas (Sacred
Marriage, Sacred Pathways), Leonard Sweet, Tony
Jones, Brian McLaren, and several others who fall in
the New Age and/or emerging/contemplative camp.

Another speaker at this year’s Catalyst is The Shack
author William Paul Young. As Lighthouse Trails has
indicated in

several articles, The Shack has New Age
implications that should concern discerning
believers. Billy and Franklin’s participation at
Catalyst will no doubt result in thousands of people
seeing that as a thumbs up for The Shack. Our most
recent article on The Shack,


“Update on The Shack: New Age Similarities,
Popularity Continues, and Calvary Chapel Gives
Official Statement,”
addresses where the book
refers to God as “the ground of all being” that
“dwells in, around, and through all
things–ultimately emerging as the real” (p. 112);
this is the ripe fruit of contemplative/emerging
spirituality. One can find this language and
definition of God in the writings of John Shelby
Spong and Marcus Borg, and the concept overflows
within the emerging camp. This description of God
does not mean that God upholds everything; it means
that God is the essence of all that exists (in other
words, He dwells in all humans and all creation –
read

A Time of Departing for more info).

Another speaker at Catalyst 2008 is emerging leader
Sally Morgenthaler. Morgenthaler wrote the foreword
for Dan Kimball’s emerging church book, Emerging
Worship , and she resonates deeply with
contemplative proponents like the late Robert
Webber. Her own book, Worship Evangelism, carries an
endorsement on the cover by New Age sympathizer
Leonard Sweet
as well as
C.Peter Wagner.
Morgenthaler is currently a “Visiting Professor” at
the very contemplative Christian school, George Fox
University, along with Dan Kimball and Leonard
Sweet.1
In her book, Worship Evangelism, she references
mystic Henri Nouwen as someone who can lead us into
God’s presence. Nouwen believed that Christian
leaders had to move from the “moral to the mystical”
in order to be effective (from In the Name of
Jesus).

Jim Collins is also one of the speakers at Catalyst
this year. He too resonates with
contemplative/emerging “theologies.” In our article,


“Willow Creek Leadership Summit Starts Today –
Speaker Promotes New Age,” Collins’ affinity
toward mystical spirituality is brought out. In
1982, Collins took Michael Ray’s course, “Creativity
in Business.” The course (and the book named after
the course) “takes much of its inspiration from
Eastern philosophy, mysticism and meditation
techniques” (from the book). In one section of the
book it talks about “your wisdom-keeper or spirit
guide-an inner person who can be with you in
life…. We meditate to unfold our inner being.” The
book also presents Tarot cards.

Collins was so inspired by Ray’s course in 1982 that
he wrote the foreword for Ray’s 2004 book, The
Highest Goal: The Secret That Sustains You in Every
Minute. Collins says the book is “the distillation
of years of accumulated wisdom from a great
teacher.” Collins says he discovered “the path to my
highest goal” by reading the book. What is this
highest goal that Michael Ray speaks of?
Realizing
the divinity within. And how is this realization
obtained? Through meditation. In the book, Ray tells
readers to “[p]ractice emptying your mind,” “[e]xperience
not thinking” and to “[m]editate regularly.” Other
quotes in the book include those of Eastern religion
gurus such as Ram Dass, Jiddu Krishnamurti, and
Swami Shantananda.

Catalyst has several other speakers who fall into
the same camp as the speakers mentioned above.
Clearly, participants at Catalyst will be introduced
to many who resonate with the non-biblical beliefs
of the emerging church and contemplative
spirituality. And with the two Graham’s names on the
ticket, many of these participants will come to the
event with open hearts and minds to all that is
taught and said.

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Read the
entire newsletter at Lighthouse Trails:

Other reports from
www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com:

The Emerging Network – From the Frying Pan into
the Fire

Bridging
the Gap Between Good and Evil

Donald
Miller, the Emerging Church, and the Democratic National
Convention

Bentley’s Revival Ending,
Dalai Lama & Rick Warren

The
Spirituality of Barak Obama and Rick Warren

Saddleback “Apologist” Threatens Web Host Company with Legal
Action

The New Age
Comes to the Girl Scouts of the USA

The Oneness Blessing – Pathway to Global Awakening

Brian McLaren Tour
Starts Soon |

Ken Blanchard Joins “The Secret” Team

Rick Warren
Teams Up with New Age Proponent Leonard Sweet

Al Gore and Tony
Campolo Address Baptist Organizations

Emergent Manifesto |

Deceptive
Roots of the Emerging Church

The
Re-Think Conference |
Deceptive
Roots of the Emerging Church

They Like Jesus,
But Not the Church |
Erwin
McManus

The Secret: A New
Era for Humankind

Yoga, Mysticism & Moody Bible Institute