Labyrinths: What's the Deal?

How many of you have heard of using a labyrinth in a church setting? This is a practice that seems to be gaining popularity in current evangelical circles. Youth Specialties (a very popular evangelical resource center), promotes this practice at their conventions and on their website. From the description below, this practice seems to be very humanistic if not downright pagan. I found the following list at this website.

Labyrinths Top Ten List

10. It is a Right Brain task involving creativity and imagery. There is no logic or maze trickery.

9. You can experience an ancient archetype symbolic of wholeness and life's journey. The seven circuits symbolize the variety of parts that make up the whole human.

8. Allows you to be a part of human history...people all over the world have been walking these patterns for over 3,500 years.

7. When the labyrinth is an outside one, it is a wonderful opportunit to connect with nature and Mother Earth, allowing you to realize how sacred & precious everything is.

6. It is a walking meditation promoting relaxation, deeper breathing & release of stress.

5. Mysteriously works with the chakra system and chi meridians used by Chinese acupuncturist throughout ages for healing and balancing the organs & body.

4. It is a way to get in touch with the inner self; the self that knows you best.

3. Gives you the opportunity to express your personal needs to yourself.

2. Gives you the opportunity to listen and search for your own answers. To be self-dependent, self-responsible and connected to your inner source.

1. It is a gift of self-care you give to yourself and share with others.

I'm sure David Letterman would be very impressed with such a great top ten list. I mean after all, isn't this the way every Christian lives out their walk with the Lord every day?

I am aware that this practice has been in use in the Catholic church for a very long time. It's exact beginnings are unknown. The practice goes back at least 3500 years, and has been used in Asian, European, and North Amereican cultures in times past.

Tim Challies is much more adept at putting into words how I feel about this. Here is a link to his blog with a much more articulate explanation of the percieved problems with labyrinths, as well as a great discussion following his post.

And We Want Mood Lighting In Church?

The following is an excerpt from the current issue of The Voice of the Martyrs.

Cuban Crazy Man: Brother "Pedro"


Liberated by Christ from a life of crime, "Pedro" (not his real name) began street preaching and witnessing in the parks of Cuba. This is illegal. He began passing out tracts and sharing about new life in Christ. Cubans are so thirsty to hear about God they woud even kneel with Pedro in public and pray.
The Cuban police put Pedro in jain, but then he continued to preach to the prisoners and to his jailers. He told them: "You keep me from talking about Someone who has transformed my life. You know who I was; a delinquent who was always in prison, but Christ has freed me. How could I not tell what He has done for me? And if you have brought me here to this jail, it is because you also need Jesus."
Since the jailers could not shut Pedro up, they let him go back into the street, telling him not to preach publicly. But he did not obey them and continued to preach.
The Cuban communist government, realizing the emptiness of atheism is not enough to combat Christianity, has built statues of idols and images relating to witchcraft at the entrances of towns. This dark religion is called "Santeria." Witches who live in the area are supported by the government under the guise of "national culture." In the city of Holguin, Pedro Preached about the worthlessness of these statues, sharing about the Living God. Later Pedro left Holguin on a train and began preaching illegally in other cities.
In the city of Villa Clara, he was thrown in jail. The police called back to the police station in Holguin, Pedro's former jail. The authorities in Holguin warned them, "This guy caused us more damage inside jail than out in freedom because he wouldn't stop preaching!"
Pedro continually gives out Christian tracts. His favorite locations are police stations. He goes in to talk to them about Christ. Some of these policemen later come to him and secretly ask for a Bible, telling him they need what he is talking about. Nothing stops Pedro They call him crazy.
There are now 10,000 illegal house churches in Cuba. Christian workers like Pedro have found a new freedom. A freedom no government can grant or deny.

*end excerpt*

If you want more information on what people like Pedro are doing about spreading the gospel boldly under conditions that would cause most of us to curl up in a ball and cry for mommy, then click here.

Pastors Should Read Their Bible Again!

I ran across a rather alarming poll that Tower to Truth Ministries had in a recent newsletter. It makes me wonder what direction the church is going. The survey consists of 7,441 mainline protestant ministers on three major questions.
QUESTION: Do you accept Jesus' physical resurrection as a fact?
51% of Methodist pastors said NO
35% of Episcopalian preists said NO
33% of American Baptist pastors said NO
30% of Presbyterian pastors said NO
13% of American Lutheran pastors said NO
QUESTION: Do you believe the virgin birth of Jesus?
60% of Methodist pastors said NO
49% of Presbyterian pastors said NO
44% of Episcopalian priests said NO
34% of American Baptist pastors said NO
19% of American Lutheran pastors said NO
QUESTION: Do you believe the Scriptures are the inerrant word of God in faith, history and secular matters?
95% of Episcopalians priests said NO
87% of Methodist pastors said NO
67% of American Baptist pastors said NO
77% of American Lutheran pastors said NO
"My people have been lost sheep, Their SHEPHERDS have led them astray"- Jeremiah 50:6. "If the blind leads the blind both will fall into a ditch"- Matthew 15:14.