Understanding
the Times Ministry
of Roger Oakland from Canada - Travels and speaks around the world
Proclaiming
the Gospel "Valuable information for those desiring to reach family
and friends who have been blinded from the truth of the Gospel
by Catholic Traditions" (Mike Gendron's web site)
"Pope
John Paul has urged people to take to prayer, especially a contemplative
type of prayer ..." [Catholic
News Service 2002] "Pick
out a word or two. Tell your children to sit quietly and repeat
the word in their heads—not thinking about the word,just
repeating it." From
Everyday Catholic 2001
According
to now deceased Benedictine monk, John Main we should:
Find a quiet place ... Sit with the back in an upright position
... Breathe regularly and become aware of the movement of the
breath in and out of the body. Gently repeat your mantra or
prayer-word silently and within.Some
Catholic priests have written books that mix Catholicism with
ancient pagan religions or modern New Age paganism. —Mary
Ann Collins, Mixing Paganism with Christianity
EUCHARIST
IN THE EMERGING CHURCH by Roger Oakland
One of the common beliefs circulating
amongst the supporters of the Emergent Church is a concept called
"Vintage Christianity". According to this view, experiences
effective in attracting Christians to come to church in the
past should be reintroduced today in order to attract the postmodern
generation who are hungry for experience. Dan Kimball, author
of the book The Emerging Church: Vintage Christianity for New
Generation is one of the key proponents of this idea. He firmly
believes that worship must play an important role to attract
post-moderns into Christianity. In a section of his book subtitled
"Truly worshipping in a worship gathering," he writes:
We
should be returning to a no-holds-barred approach to worship
and teaching so that when we gather, there is no doubt we
are in the presence of God. I believe that both believers
and unbelievers in our emerging culture are hungry for this.
It isn't about clever apologetics or careful exegetical
and expository preaching or great worship bands. ... Emerging
generations are hungry to experience God in worship. Rob
Redman, author of The Great Worship Awakening: Singing a New
Song in the Postmodern Church agrees with Kimball. He has
noted that churches that provide a liturgical vintage form
of worship are attracting the postmodern generation. He writes:
Liturgical churches, particularly Episcopalian, Roman Catholic,
and Eastern Orthodox, report increasing interest in traditional
liturgical worship among young adults. Redman notes that as
the result of this renewed interest in liturgical worship,
a "worship awakening" is now underway and Protestant worship
services are beginning to incorporate liturgical worship practices.
He states:
A
common approach to the worship awakening among Protestant
churches is to create a blended service combining older
and newer liturgical elements and musical styles. Click
here to read this entire article.
Contemplative Spirituality: A belief system that
uses ancient mystical practices to induce altered states of consciousness
(the silence) and is rooted in mysticism and the occult but often wrapped
in Christian terminology. The premise of contemplative spirituality
is pantheistic (God is all) and panentheistic (God is in all). Common
terms used for this movement are "spiritual formation," "the
silence," "the stillness," "ancient-wisdom,"
"spiritual disciplines," and many others.
"Nor
is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name [Jesus
Christ] under heaven
given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4: 12
