Letter to the Editor: “My Difficult Lonely Journey of Trying to Warn the Church of Apostasy and Apathy”
Letter to the Editor: “My Difficult Lonely Journey of Trying to Warn the Church of Apostasy and Apathy”
December 11, 2021 by Lighthouse Trails Editors
Dear Lighthouse Trails:
I live in Canada, north of Toronto, Ontario, and have kept track of your website for at least ten plus years now. I am not sure how I came across your site, but I had been reading books by the Berean Call, and they had books on the emerging church and such so maybe they had links to your site. I have bought a number of your books over the years.
As I was reading your email updates, I noticed the booklet on the origins of Lighthouse Trails and its timing as well. Your story mirrors our experience in so many ways. Having been saved in 1969 as a 19-year unchurched young man, I became involved with the Brethren assemblies which were at that time conservative evangelical. Some are still today, but many are dying out. Getting married and having children certainly changes your focus and as you point out, certain things began to change in the pulpits largely unnoticed by me. Eschatology and prophecy definitely took a back seat to newer leaders. I remember being encouraged to get involved with “Promise Keepers” as well, but I wasn’t keen on sharing my life with complete strangers so passed on that. It was only years later I found out they are ecumenical and have Catholic roots. I also remember the NIV becoming the best thing since sliced bread in the 70s, and over the years we have been swamped with a plethora of new improved versions. So trying to follow the preacher as he reads from ever-changing texts has become impossible. The music bands and all the camps: emphasis on raising up “young leaders.” Where have they disappeared to? Most have walked away from the church.
Around 2006, having moved north of Toronto, we started going to _____________, and we liked it there; even though Brethren do not traditionally have pastors, this one did. Anyways, as a bit of a speaker sometimes, I was asked to lead a home Bible study. The book I was to use was on prayer by a fellow I had never heard of named Richard Foster. The Chapel had also recently (prior to us joining the church) used Rick Warren’s book, A Purpose Driven Life. While reading Foster’s book, I was shocked by its content. It was speaking about Catholic mystics and popes in glowing terms and then about Ignatius of Loyola and his spiritual disciplines. Fortunately, the Internet was available, and I researched the author and the persons referred to like Merton and Henri Nouwen. Most of the elders of the church were in the Bible study I led, and they got an expose of the author and the book. Sadly, I don’t think most of them agreed with me or cared. Later, I got an earful for daring to research the author. There were and are still some in that church who care for the truth but many just want to be told pleasant words by which to live by preachers who take anecdotes from life and apply it to believers. Nice people, but prophecy is considered a dubious topic.
It was around that time that I began to have more time to read again and began reading books by Ray Yungen, David Cloud, and Dave Hunt among others. It really opened my eyes to the changes that had taken place in the church at large. I do believe the Lord put us in that church to act as a breakwater to the flood of emergent and ecumenical teachings. I believe we had some success for a while. Over the years as older ones died or moved away, Christians from the Middle East with an anti-Israel bias became more dominant and though not openly stated, I could feel a chill whenever I mentioned Israel. One Sunday a number of years ago, I mentioned how shameful it was that our city was flying the pride flag together with the Canadian flag. Afterward, a sister who had been there for many years came and rebuked me gently saying being gay wasn’t sin but an illness. In my mind, I thought, what Bible is she reading? How can so-called Christians sit and take the Lord’s supper and hear about how He died for our sin and rose from the dead, year after year, and yet be so clueless? Then came the Covid lockdown which our church, along with 99% of churches in Canada, embraced fully and still are locked down or restricted in many ways. So, after all these years, we felt we had come to the end of the road with our church home and are waiting on the Lord to open up another door.
After reading your beginnings, I was impressed how similar your experiences have been to ours when trying to confront the growing apostasy and the apathy of many believers toward these terrible doctrines of demons. I apologize for such a long letter. God bless you as you serve Him. Just to let you know Canada is not a Christian country and has not been for many decades. We are the canary in the coalmine for you in the States, so whatever you see up here is coming your way on a much larger scale.
Yours in Christ,
Allan
https://www.youtube.com/user/joiful77
Posted in: Churches in Crisis!, Contemplative Spirituality, Defending the Faith, Discernment, Ecumenism, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, Spiritual Deception Tagged: apostasy, Bible versions, brethren, Canada, churches in crisis, letter to the editor, purpose driven life, Richard Foster
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