Someone or Something Out There Has a Purpose for Rick Warren’s life All right.
It Just Isn’t God! Short Excerpt from Warren’s interview With Larry King (below) Rick Warren says Both the Old and New Testaments are filled with many examples of God choosing to reveal himself to man according to our needs and that Jesus Himself won people over by starting with their felt needs. He also says that The New Testament is the greatest church-growth book ever written... that we should apply Jesus’ methodology. So how did Jesus and other Biblical figures do with seeker friendly methods? Actually if one takes the trouble to read the Bible.. they were all total failures according to modern standards. “Find me anywhere in the Scriptures where the church gathers as Christians for the purpose of watering down the Gospel message and getting people to come into their church congregation. The church gathered for training and edification of believers, then they went out with the message of sin and salvation so people could get right with God before they could even begin to think about whatever purpose God had for their lives. First things first. That is the consistent model in every single time in the book of Acts where the Gospel is preached. In all 14 times the Gospel is preached where we have detail of what they said, there is not a single occasion where anyone was invited to have a relationship with God. There is not a single occasion where anyone is told that if they become Christians their life will get better, they will have more purpose, and everything will fall together. There is not a single occasion where the Apostles said that God loves them. The word love appears nowhere in the book of Acts. Now, is the love of God manifest there? Sure. But it is not the central message. It isn’t what leads to salvation. It is not what the Gospel is all about. The love of God is manifest in the efforts that He took to rescue a fallen human race. That’s the measure of His love. But the message is about fallen human beings, about sin and righteousness and judgment, and that Jesus came to restore man to their Savior against whom they have persistently rebelled. That’s the message that saves”. (Greg Koukl. What’s Wrong with Being Seeker-Centered? Emphasis Added) Also See Seeker Friendly, Church Growth Failures in The Bible
Warren’s Strange Bedfellows Rick Warren’s Strange Bedfellows
From his mentor Peter Drucker, to his signing up New Age promoter Ken Blanchard to help ‘train soldiers for Christ, to his involvement with the John Templeton Foundation’s world-wide Power of Purpose essay.. to his recent trip to Syria and invitation to Barack Obama to speak at Saddleback ... Rick Warren does not seem to be at all particular whom he associates with or what their beliefs happen to be..
Purpose Driven Life The Purpose-Driven Life I
Today, Rick Warren's purpose-driven philosophy is the latest craze. But it, like all the others, is not a move of God. It is a move of man which like all the others, incorporates human wisdom with Scripture (or poor facsimiles of Scripture) in an attempt to achieve a hybrid Christianity that appeals to the ego. It may seem very scriptural (if one accepts the polluted Bible versions Warren uses); it may seem very godly. But with all the truth it presents come many worldly concepts that run counter to God's Word. The Purpose-Driven Life II
An evaluation of Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose-Driven Life, focusing almost entirely on his use, or rather misuse, of Scripture. Warren is misrepresents Scripture over 40 times as well as peppering his book with extra-biblical psychological theories and other earthly pieces of wisdom, disguised as biblical principles? Overall he says many good things, and even in the sections where Scripture is abused he often says the right thing but uses wrong Scripture to support it. Forty Days: Take A Closer Look
The first session of the tape on “living with purpose” ended with Warren leading people in a prayer. In the prayer he asked them to “open their life” to the “Lord.” He then congratulated people for praying with him and welcomed them into “the family of God.” He had failed to mention in the presentation that people are sinners in need of a Savior and that God sent His Son, Jesus, to shed His blood at Calvary, who then rose again! he did not mention any of these concepts during the presentation, the prayer, or the follow-up comments! On the contrary, there was great excitement that a large number of people had “prayed the prayer!” Pyromarketing and The Purpose Driven Life
The Purpose Driven Life is a runaway bestseller. In truth, it is in a category all its own. It is closing in on 25 million copies sold and will eclipse this number soon enough. Incredibly enough, it is selling better now than when it first released. Where most titles sell quickly at first and then the sales slow, this book gained sales momentum for over a year following its release. So how does a book, especially a book written by a professed Christian and dealing with Christian topics become such a wild bestseller? Allow me to introduce you to Pyromarketing.
Purpose Driven Church The Purpose Driven Church I
In the purpose-driven church effective ministry is more about style than substance. Defining faithfulness, Warren states that it is necessary to conform the style of ministry to the needs of the people being ministered to. ‘Management Techniques’ have now been applied to God's churches as well as to communities and governments around the world. Since the new methods seemed to "work" equally well for churches as for corporations. The Purpose Driven Church II
Rick Warren’s approach to church growth stems from his philosophy: a man-centered pragmatism. From that faulty foundation arises a ridicule of the old fashioned, and a disdain for the fundamentalist/separatist. Like so many in our age, being intoxicated by the sweet aroma of worldly success, he has stooped to building a church ministry based on a market-study of the unregenerate, rather than a Bible-study from the appropriate Scriptures. God help us. Purpose Driven Church: A Book Review
Rick Warren states that church, in order to be successful, must target its audience, and then appeal to that audience. He even goes so far as to claim that Jesus targeted the audience of Israel in order to be effective, not to be exclusive"
Pragmatism is The Mother of Invention An Examination of Rick Warren’s Teaching on “Exponential Growth”
The video on exponential growth, presented by Warren, is one of the most shocking teachings I have ever seen emerge from a Southern Baptist. The Gospel According to Warren
To charge Warren with modification of the gospel is an ugly accusation, one that should not be made lightly. What is the evidence for such an indictment? It’s Your Choice
Amid all the lies, Rick is right about one thing: IT'S YOUR CHOICE. And, what a choice it is! You can believe what God says about you in His Word or you can "believe in yourself" as Warren and every other self-help motivational speaker advises us to do. But ask yourself this: When did God EVER say He believed in you and me? When did He EVER say we were “acceptable, lovable, valuable and capable?”
The Cringe Factor! Rick Warren, P.E.A.C.E. and Jimi Hendrix
On his church’s 25th anniversary, Rick Warren launched what he calls his Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan to “eradicate five giant problems that oppress billions of people” around the world with “five smooth stones” Assist news reported that before Pastor Warren spoke to the crowd at Angels Stadium, he broke into an impersonation of Jimi Hendrix singing his big hit song, Purple Haze with the help of his church’s band. You know what they say: “Impersonation is the sincerest form of flattery” You remember Jimi, don’t you? the occult led, drug laden guitarist who choked on his vomit after an apparent overdose of illegal drugs a few decades ago. Purpose-Driven Rapper Crosses the Line to Blasphemy.
Watch and weep for what has happened to the American church. The Purpose Driven Hostage
Ashley made an significant choice that day between the Word of God and the words of Warren. Like millions of others who keep Bibles around the house for a second opinion, she chose to read to her captor from Warren’s book instead of God's Word. The Gospel of Christ was not proclaimed, no one repented and no one was saved; at least not spiritually, which would have been a miracle indeed. According to the reports and interviews I’ve read, Smith and Nichols discussed a lot of heartwarming things in their lives but not Jesus Christ, the cross, His death, burial, resurrection, shed blood or redemptive plan for mankind. From what I can ascertain, their focus was, like Warren’s, on a Purpose Driven Life, not eternal life in Christ.
More A Visit to Saddleback Church
Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, pastored by Rick Warren, is one of the most influential churches in the world. Warren says, “This is a world class church making a world class impact.” He is right about the impact, but sadly that impact is not encouraging strict faithfulness to God’s Word.
Revival? What Revival??
Forgive me for not buying into the hype, folks. But every time I hear someone defend Rick Warren’s ministry based on the premise that it has cultivated a new revival, I ask myself this question: Revival? WHAT revival?!
Also See What is ‘love’ in the Bible (Agape) and How Did It Work? We tend to assume at once that "love" means what it does to us in modern times -- in this case, a mushy sentimentality that never says a harsh word and never steps on the toes of others. but conceptually, it is certainly possible to love one's enemies, and yet also attack them; and the same for one's disciples or allies
Rick Warren Interview on Larry King, March 26, 2005:
[Excerpt from CNN Transcript]
KING: You can, though, Rick, have a purpose-driven life and be an agnostic or an atheist, can't you? Still do good, still help others, still have purpose? WARREN: Absolutely, you can help other people. I believe that we were made for a purpose, and that purpose is really to know God and to serve God and to love God, and to serve other people by -- serve God by serving others. You know, you can't really serve God directly, Larry, not here on Earth. The only way you can serve God is by serving other people. KING: Since you believe in God, if an agnostic or an atheist is doing good, God appreciates it, according to you, right? WARREN: God wants us all to be loving to each other, there is no doubt about that. In fact, Jesus wouldn't have made any distinction between someone who was of a different background. The issue was, do they love him and do they have a purpose? Are they following his purpose? See, I believe that we were made by God and that we were made for God. And that until we understand that, life isn't going to make sense. Now, really when it comes to... [Source]
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