In Marjorie Thompson's book Soul Feast she teaches principles that should be red flags to Christians.

• In chapter 7 (pp. 107++) she endorses the need for a "spiritual director" or a "spiritual guide." This concept sounds appropriate and helpful in her book but let's discern for a moment here...What does God's Word show us? Jesus is our mediator. We don't need anything or anyone else!! The idea of a "spiritual guide/helper/director" on the surface doesn't sound so dangerous but where could it possibly lead us? The "guide" is to listen to us, help us notice things, help us respond to God with greater freedom, points us to practical disciplines of spiritual growth, and makes us not dependent upon Christ or the Holy Spirit but on our "human guide." Where in God's Word does it say we need another human to be our guide? What if that human guide's "guide" is not trustworthy? What, specifically, grows them spiritually?
• On page 106, Ms. Thompson encourages the "art of self-examination" and she says "with practice, the examination of the consciousness teaches us how to discern the movements of the spirit in our heart," and she calls this "discernment the spirits." Let's think clearly here....as a Christian, are we supposed to look INWARD to OUR hearts? NO! What does God's Word say about OUR hearts? Jeremiah 17:9 says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Proverbs says for us to ask GOD to search our hearts, not OURSELVES!
• Then, she endorses St. John of the Cross (p. 124), a Christian "mystic" from the 1500s and a modern day contemplative. Should you trust that he is a good resource?
• Henry Nouwen wrote the forward to her book. Do you even know who he is and can you trust him blindly? He is a Dutch Catholic Priest and father of the contemplative movement. If you are not familiar with this movement, you could possibly be influenced by it and be unaware of its effects on your belief system.

It all started with a phone call from a dear friend. "Have you ever heard of this book?" my friend asked. "No," I said. She asked me to check it out. She had some concerns and asked for my opinion. A favorite pastime of mine is to do in-depth research on issues I am curious about or do not understand so that I can have a somewhat educated opinion. I call it "chasing rabbits." Christians call this practice "being a berean." Acts 17:11 says "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so."
I did do some research on the book but only spent about one or two minutes on the request. I phoned my friend back quickly and told her I didn't see anything too questionable, but did offer a statement or two of interest. Then, my friend said, "Look again and tell me what you find." Hmmm...that was very unusual for her to say. My curiosity was definitely peaked! Now I wanted to know more about "this book," the author, her beliefs, who endorsed her, and what it was that led my friend to call me! Immediately, I began my quest researching "the book." That research led me into many hours of reading other books, watching dvds and videos, listening to cds, combing over web sites and You Tube videos, etc. I was completely shocked at what I discovered! My head must have obviously been in the sand for at least a decade! "The book? What was the title of the book?" The book title Soul Feast, written by Marjorie Thompson.