Steven W. Smith has a small group study, done church wide, circulating right now. It leads people straight into contemplative prayer and maybe more. First of all, the account of Lazarus is completely misused. I have provided links for your non-enjoyment and research.
http://www.faith-life.org/Worship/Sermons/tabid/51067/Default.aspx
This sermon outright takes the congregation through imagery and contemplative prayer.
You can download the first chapter here:
http://lazaruslife.com/book.htm
And here is a sample of the study:
http://www.davidccook.com/catalog/resources/samples/106183.pdf
Steven W. Smith’s “other” ministry:
This page has Steve Smith speaking about the Lazarus Life. I know you can get a clue there are big problems, but he holds back where he is going. I feel this tactic is used in contemplative circles all over the place. Hiding the agenda is what it’s about. Then you have the people in life groups, small groups, whatever, and it’s harder to leave because of group think and also the love you develop for your friends. So they cannot be up front. I am sad that people don’t listen to the warnings, we took years to see it. This man speaking at our former church though got me to start searching and that’s how I eventually found out about Dallas Willard (our former church pastors read Willard’s work and promoted him) and learned a lot from sights like Apprising Ministries, Slice, Lane’s Blog, TeamPyro, and Lighthouse Trails.
I am a C...I am a CH...I am a CHRISTIAN 