Fulcrum7 published an article on how Seventh-day Adventists have been embracing the Roman Catholic mysticism of Lectio Divina. [1] Unfortunately, it is not just our churches that are doing this. Leaders at AdventHealth University are also promoting these same spiritualistic practices. When Fulcrum7 published their article on the subject, I was actually completing this one that addresses how WholeLife Church, a Seventh-day Adventist Church, and AdventHealth University’s chaplain, Niesha Steinke, have also been promoting the same Eastern meditations.
Pictured above is a screenshot of the WholeLife Church website promoting Lectio Divina. [2] So what is “Lectio Divina” (Latin for “Divine Word”)? And why are our institutions and churches embracing this? First of all, Lectio Divina is a Roman Catholic spiritual exercise. It is closely related to Eastern meditation and attempts to connect with God or other spiritual beings (the Virgin Mary or the saints) through contemplation. They are trying to grasp the “Divine Word” through focus and reflection.
In order to even learn anything about Lectio Divina we have to turn to the Roman Catholic Catechism. The Vatican has published their catechism online and here is what paragraph #2708 says about Lectio Divina:
“Section #2708 – Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart, and strengthen our will to follow Christ. Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in Lectio Divina or the rosary. This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him.” [3]
So, according to Rome, Lactio Divina stems directly from their Catholic Catechism and WholeLife Church is promoting this to their members. WholeLife Church asks people to register to participate. If you click the “More Info” button, it will open a flyer for the event. At the end of the handout, we read the following about the people who will teach Lectio Divina. Remember, this is what the church has posted on their website:
“Facilitators: Niesha Steinke and Paige Hinton. Both are trained spiritual companions, graduates of a 3- year program in spiritual companionship offered by Audire, the Central Florida Foundation for Spiritual Direction.” [4]
Do you know who Niesha Steinke and Paige Hinton are? These are the “facilitators” teaching Lectio Divina in Seventh-day Adventist Churches. Niesha Steinke (right) is the Chaplain for AdventHealth University, a Seventh-day Adventist institution in Orlando, FL. [5] And Paige Hinton (left) is a 500-hour certified yoga teacher. [6] Notice Paige Hinton’s view about health, healing and spirituality:
“Yes, you can heal physical, emotional and spiritual distress through yoga. It’s about showing up and facing your struggles everyday on the mat. Consistency is the key. Every day we need to create time to nurture our souls and yoga is a divine way to explore who we really are.” [7]
This is the one who is teaching meditation in our churches to our members. And these two women, according to the flyer published by WholeLife Church, were trained at Audire, the Central Florida Foundation for Spiritual Direction. Who is this organization that is training Seventh-day Adventist chaplains? It is an ecumenical, spiritual, healing and meditation organization with Roman Catholic priests who teach in this institution.
Roman Catholic Priest Kent Walker (above) is the pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Community in St. Cloud, FL. He is a member of the teaching faculty of Audire, the Central Florida Foundation for Spiritual Direction. [8] There are also other professors who teach at Audire who graduated from Catholic institutions along with other spiritual gurus and ecumenists. And these are the Catholic masters who instruct our chaplains in Catholic mysticism to come and indoctrinate our members in spiritualistic exercises that border on spiritualism. How do we know this is spiritualism? Notice the following video:
In the video above, the Roman Catholic bishop says that he practices Lectio Divina and finds it very useful. But notice what it says at minute 2:09. He says that at the end, when it is time to end the Lectio Divina session, he says that you can pray an “Our Father” or a “Hail Mary” to “re-enter the world around us.” Re-entering the world?
These types of Eastern meditations (Hinduism, Buddhism and Yoga) are opening the door to demonic activity. They are mixing pagan spiritualism with Christianity. Instead of meditating on Buddha, they focus on Jesus or on some word or part of the Bible. Satan doesn’t care if you think about the Bible or meditate on Jesus. He just doesn’t want you to obey what the Scriptures say. God tells us to meditate on His word, but the purpose is so that we can obey it. We think of the Word of God so that we can change our ways and produce fruits of repentance.
“The angels of God attain unto no higher knowledge than to know the will of God; and it is their greatest delight to accomplish the perfect will of the heavenly Father. Fallen man has the privilege of becoming intelligent in regard to the will of God. While probationary time is granted us, we should put our faculties to the very highest use, that we may make of ourselves all that it is possible” (This Day with God, p, 175).
What is the highest knowledge that created beings can attain? To know the will of God and do it. Reading, memorizing and meditating on a word or part of a Bible verse is worthless without obedience to God’s will. Our focus should not be only on one part of the Bible, because man is supposed to live by “every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). And we are told that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).
Satan also quotes and uses Scripture. But he picks and chooses which parts of the Bible will suit his own purpose. This means that we too can deceive ourselves by meditating on only one aspect of God’s love while continuing to live in total violation of the clear teachings of His word.
“Love is dwelt upon as the chief attribute of God, but it is degraded to a weak sentimentalism making little distinction between good and evil. God’s justice, his denunciations of sin, the requirements of his holy law, are all kept out of sight. The people are taught to regard the Decalogue (moral law) as a dead letter. Pleasing, bewitching fables captivate the senses, and lead men to reject the Bible as the foundation of their faith. Christ is as verily denied as before; but Satan has so blinded the eyes of the people that the deception is not discerned” (Great Controversy, p. 558).
The Omega of Apostasy is making its way into Adventism through metaphysical worship, Eastern meditation and yoga masters teaching spiritualism in our Seventh-day Adventist institutions. Why can’t our people see this? Spiritualism under the cloak of sanctity is causing our people to “seek them with familiar spirits” (Isaiah 8:19, 20). Our unwillingness to love and embrace the truths of our historic faith is causing us to embrace “strong delusions” and “lies” (2 Thessalonians 2:10, 11).
“Those who oppose the teachings of Spiritualism are assailing, not men alone, but Satan and his angels. They have entered upon a contest against principalities and powers and wicked spirits in high places. Satan will not yield one inch of ground except as he is driven back by the power of heavenly messengers” (Great Controversy, p. 559).
This is exactly what we are faced with today. Satan will not go anywhere unless he is driven back. Tragically, no one is doing anything about it. This is causing Satan to have full access to our institutions. The wolf is in the chicken coop and we are making him feel comfortable. Evil accelerates, lies and deceptions abound, and Satan is using the Scriptures to pervert God’s truth. Why do we tolerate this?
God tells us that we must boldly meet the Omega of Apostasy with the truth of God’s word regardless of how it is received. We have the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy and we must use them. Whenever our faith is under attack, we must resist these efforts by proclaiming truth, by practicing truth and by exposing Satan and his errors. Notice God’s instructions:
“In the providence of God, the errors that have been coming in must be met … An authoritative voice cried out, ‘Meet it!’ There was not a moment’s hesitation. It was a time for instant action. The engineer put on full steam, and the man at the wheel steered the ship straight into the iceberg. With a crash she struck the ice. There was a fearful shock, and the iceberg broke into many pieces, falling with a noise like thunder to the deck. The passengers were violently shaken by the force of the collisions, but no lives were lost. The vessel was injured, but not beyond repair” (Selected Messages, Vol. 1, p. 205).
If God’s people were only willing to face apostasy openly and decisively, souls would be saved. Error would be “broken” and Satan would be rejected and driven back. But this is not happening. Satan and his delusions are being tolerated, embraced and in some cases encouraged as members are seduced into temptation.
Where are the leaders, the presidents at all levels and the gatekeepers of the church? Where are the ministry leaders and influential men? Are we so concerned about securing our own peace and prosperity that we dare not say anything? Why are their tongues tied, mouths closed and lips sealed? Is it because they care more about their speaking fees and camp meeting invitations than for the honor or God? Are we only concerned with the fleece and not the flock?
“Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue” John 12:42.
You see, many of our “chief rulers” today seem to only care more about job security, climbing the career ladder, safaris (mission trips), spiritual retreats, power, influence, speaking invitations, fundraisers and Mammon (money) more than the honor and glory of God.
“For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” John 12:43.
It is very easy to play it safe in this world. It is always more difficult to obey God’s command. When ancient Israel fell into grave apostasy, the Old Testament prophets had to work alone. Why? Because they feared God more than men, so that made them unpopular. And when the prophet delivered a message to the King with special instructions, the response was very typical of what seems to be on the minds of our leaders today:
“But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The LORD is able to give thee much more than this.” 2 Chronicles 25:9.
God sent a message, but the king was more concerned about his 100 talents of silver than what God said needed be done! Could this be the same reason why many fail in fulfilling their God-given duty? Are we afraid of being rejected, despised or ridiculed? Do we care more about what people might say or how they will respond?
What is going to happen when we have to stand before God? Will we have blood on our hands in that day for failing to admonish the people in this time of crisis? But you know, we won’t even have to wait that long. There is a judgment coming upon every unfaithful watchman even before they have to stand before God in the final judgment. What is going to happen when the plagues begin to fall if we fail to do our duty and address the growing apostasy in our church today?
“The people turned upon their ministers with bitter hate and reproached them, saying, ‘You have not warned us. You told us that all the world was to be converted, and cried, Peace, peace, to quiet every fear that was aroused. You have not told us of this hour; and those who warned us of it you declared to be fanatics and evil men, who would ruin us.’ But I saw that the ministers did not escape the wrath of God. Their suffering was tenfold greater than that of their people” (Early Writings, p. 282).
Sources
[3] http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p4s1c3a1.htm
[4] https://wholelife.church/media/2021/01/Bread-for-the-Journey-Flyer.pdf
[6] https://www.paigehinton.com/meet-paige
[7] https://www.paigehinton.com/yoga-with-paige
[8] https://audirespiritualdirection.org/faculty/
0
0
0