Reflections

For the past couple of days I have been reading up on something I heard about on the radio last month. I heard Crosstalk on the conservative Christian talk radio station VCY America. It was a two-day show about the supposed "dangers" of contemplative spirituality. The hostess, Ingrid Schlueter, and her guests talked about how supposedly major mainline denominations are getting involved with the New Age. They claim that various church leaders have ties to New Age gurus.

The guests represented ministries called Light House Trails Research and Eastern Regional Watch (abbreviated "LHTR" and "ERW" respectively by me). On August 11th I heard them claim that contemplation and breath prayers were akin to Eastern non-Christian forms of meditation. Breath prayers seem to be simply short, spontaneous prayers of gratitude and praise to God. I see contemplation as a way of thinking deeply on who God is and how to apply the truths of the Bible to one's life. I do not think it is a bad thing, as long as it stays rooted in the Bible and the Christian trinity. I looked up the their email addresses and sent the hosts an email asking why contemplation and breath prayers are wrong. I admit that the email I sent had some smart aleck questions about the "proper" way to approach God. I have yet to receive responses to the email. A few days ago I became bolder and left comments on the LHTR guestbook and Ingrid Schlueter's Slice of Laodicea blog (abbreviated SL by me). To her credit, Deborah Dombrowski of LHTR responded by email to my comment and offered to send me more information. Ingrid Schlueter replied to my comment at SL as well.

I found even more intrigue when I discovered there is a weblog called SLice Of LaODicEa CHUrch that protests and parodies Schlueter's SL blog. Ingrid Schlueter has criticized Richard Abanes, author of SLice Of LaODicEa CHUrch. The crux of the matter is Rick Warren's "The Purpose Driven Life" book and church model. Ingrid Schlueter and the owners of LHTR and ERW are vehemently against Rick Warren. The mere fact that "The Purpose Driven Life" teaches breath prayers is enough for these ministries to say that the technique is wrong. (See the LHTR glossary entry about it.) Richard Abanes was once on staff at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church. This effectively puts Schlueter and Abanes at odds with each other.

Richard Abanes wrote three illuminating articles on his personal website about Schlueter's public criticism of himself and all things "Purpose Driven," so to speak. They are "Ingrid Schlueter: Blogging Blunders and Radio Rhetoric," "Alternate Reality, VCY America, and Ingrid Schlueter," and "Schlueterology: What Is Truth?" These articles show that many of Schlueter's Crosstalk statements are factually wrong, and that she takes many "Purpose Driven" ideas out of context. The contrast between her analysis of "The Purple Haze Incident" mentioned in "Schlueterology: What is Truth" and the facts provided by Abanes are pretty darn funny.

Ingrid and her associates at Crosstalk seem inflexible toward people, namely Richard Abanes, who present the facts in context and correct the errors. They do not seem to tolerate people with opinions different from their own. This whole anti-Rick Warren topic smacks of legalism to me. For the record, I have not read "The Purpose Driven Life" and I do not pay attention to the anti-Rick Warren rhetoric. From what I have seen on the websites cited here those who are against Rick Warren have a very specific view of Evangelical Christian values and practices. They seem to think that one is a Christian only if one practices non-Purpose-Driven Christianity.

Unfortunately Ingrid Schlueter's SL blog and the LHTR website do not present their views of what is "correct" Evangelical practice. The ERW website does have pages of links to other ministries which may define those "correct" Evangelical practices. I haven't gone looking for their perspectives. It is too bad that these groups seem to think that Jesus Christ plus "doing church" their way equals salvation. Richard Abanes quotes "A Resolution Worth Keeping" by Jon Walker, vice president of communications with Pastors.com, a Saddleback Church website with examples of "Jesus plus" legalistic views. Jon Walker points to Jesus Christ only as the source of salvation. I am for that. I hope that Saddleback Church teaches that itself!

I very much need to regain my perspective on THE LORD. I basically wasted $1.47 in printing the 3 articles at the computer lab. Even getting this article written and sent via email to Blogger has been a production! Reading the pro and con websites make me a bit agitated. I find my heart getting critical toward the side I do not agree with. I also want to pursue the opinions on each side, which takes up a lot of time. I emailed Richard Abanes and commented about his blog and articles. He emailed me a link to his article clarifying breath prayers. He said that he's concerned about Ingrid Schlueter and prays for her. That is what I lose perspective on when I get tied up in these things! Time to regroup and start looking toward the Lord, maybe even while saying breath prayers!

Allison's Home!

I am very happy to find out that the little miracle girl Allison Voight is finally able to go home! Her parents and big brother must be thrilled! I have followed her story off and on ever since Erin K. emailed the link to her Caring Bridge journal her parents started for her. Allison was born with her trachea and esophagus joined into one big tube. She had several surgeries and quite a journey. She is still on a ventilator and has feeding tubes, but her insides have been reconstructed by her doctors. What a wonder!

I must admit I have not prayed for her consistantly, but I am sure God has used the prayers I did pray. Her guestbook is chock full of well wishes from friends and family around the nation! I remember seeing one guestbook entry that made me especially proud. Erin K. said that her daughter Elisa who is about 4 years old consistantly prayed for Allison. You see, I worked with Erin when she was pregnant with Elisa. Way to go, Elisa! I will pray for continued health for Allison also!

Music Music

I have been meaning to report on how last weekend I ran into some interesting music. The first was on Friday when I was on the way to work. I had gone to Starbucks for a bit and when I came out I saw that there was a string quartet across the street on the benches in front of the empty Pizza Hut store. They were college age guys all wearing t-shirts and shorts. I heard the last bit of "Eye of the Tiger," by Survivor which made me think of the Rocky movies. Not that I have watched any of them all the way through, but I think that song is in one of them! Later on this string quartet played "Stairway to Heaven" and "Enter Sandman" which both translate very well to strings.

Then on Saturday I went on a whim to the Overture Center because I thought there would be an open house and pipe organ recital. I didn't know for sure if there was a performance, but I was right. There were quite a few older people there and most of the hall was filled. I heard Gary Lewis, one of the music directors of Bethel Lutheran church, play several classical organ pieces. It was a different experience for me. I don't have a lot of exposure to classical church music. Gary Lewis explained what a "fugue" is, how one melody line is played over and over in different keys. He demonstrated by playing it in one key with one hand, then later with the other hand and then later with his feet! I didn't know there were so many pedals on the console for him to play the lowest notes with his feet, quite a lot of footwork! So I could follow the melody lines in the fugue pieces when they recurred, but otherwise I kind of got lost in all the harmony. When played loudly the organ sounded kind of harsh to my untrained ears! I have things to learn about classical music.

But all of this seems pretty pointless to talk about considering what happened to New Orleans. I sort of wanted to visit that city someday. It seems that I probably won't be able to for many many years. I feel for the people stuck in the Superdome. I'm praying for them!