rick-warren

Rick Warren's Man, Tony Blair Supports Homosexual Marriage

Thu, 16 Oct 2014 00:40:33 +0100

RICK WARREN’S MAN, TONY BLAIR, SUPPORTS HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE
The following is excerpted from(Friday Church News Notes, March 23, 2012, www.wayoflife.org, and posted on manifested by the light on 3/25/2012)
- Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a Roman Catholic, is supporting the British government’s plan to legalize homosexual “marriage” before 2015. The Independent newspaper reported on March 10 that Blair told friends that he “strongly supports the Prime Minister’s proposal.” Blair is pushing for a New Age global unity and world peace based on harmony among all religions. This is the man who was acclaimed by the Southern Baptist pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church. In March 2011 Warren and his congregation presented Blair with a peace prize. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).

Kingdom circle Heresy

Thu, 16 Oct 2014 00:42:08 +0100

KINGDOM CIRCLE HERESY the following is excerted from (Friday Church News Notes, March 23, 2012, www.wayoflife.org, and posted on manifested by the light 3/25/2012)
- The “kingdom circle” is a heresy that claims that followers of pagan religions can enter the kingdom of God directly without becoming “Christians.” It is taught using a series of circles representing the kingdom of God and various religions. (See “Why Is a Saddleback Pastor Teaching on Kingdom Circles?” Standupforthetruth.com, March 12, 2012.) According to kingdom circle theology a Muslim can become a believer in Jesus and yet remain a practicing Muslim. The “Jesus in the Quran” web site says: “Here’s what I try to say to every Muslim I meet: ‘I promise I will never ask you to become a Christian, and please don’t ask me to become a Muslim. But I also promise that I will do all that I can to help us both discover the true straight path into the Kingdom of God. And I believe that the true access to that Kingdom is through the sacrifice of Jesus the Messiah.” These Muslims call themselves followers of “Isa,” which is the Muslim name for Jesus. Yet the Muslim God is not the God revealed in Scripture and its Isa is not the Jesus of the Bible. Islam says God has no Son, that Jesus is not God and did not die on the cross for man’s sin. Islam teaches a gospel of works and denies that salvation is by God’s grace. It is impossible to remain any kind of Muslim while believing in the Biblical faith. The fact that this is heresy is entertained byChristianity Today and other “evangelicals” is evidence of evangelicalism’s apostasy and spiritual blindness.

Islam and the Bible God are one?

Thu, 16 Oct 2014 00:42:26 +0100

EVANGELICAL LEADERS SIGN STATEMENT PROCLAIMING GOD OF ISLAM AND GOD OF BIBLE AS “ONE GOD”
the following is excerpted from (Friday Church News Notes, June 24, 2011, www.wayoflife.org ) and posted on manifestedbythelight.com on 6/27/2011
- At a time when “evangelical conservative” John Piper has joined hands with Rick Warren in ministry and has proclaimed him theologically sound, we would remind our readers that Warren signed “A Christian Response to ‘A Common Word Between Us and You’” in November 2007. This document says that Muslims and Christians worship the same God and claims that “the future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians.” The statement says, “... we must engage in interfaith dialogue as those who seek each other’s good, for the one God unceasingly seeks our good” (http://www.yale.edu/faith/acw/acw.htm). It was signed by the two major evangelical church growth gurus in America, Rick Warren and Bill Hybels. In this act they joined hands with hundreds of other signatories, including Roman Catholics (e.g., “Father” Joseph Daoust, President of the Jesuit School of Theology Berkeley) and prominent theological modernists and emergents (e.g. Harvey Cox and Elizabeth Fiorenza of Harvard Divinity School, Tony Jones of Emergent Village, and Brian McLaren), and self-esteem guru Robert Schuller. Other “evangelicals” who signed this unscriptural document were Leith Anderson (President of the National Association of Evangelicals), Robert Cooley (President Emeritus, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary), Mike Edens (Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary), Timothy George (Beeson Divinity School at Samford University), Lynn Green (International Chairman of Youth With A Mission), Peter Kuzmic (Gordon-Conwell), David Neff (Editor in Chief Christianity Today), Roy Oksnevad (Institute of Strategic Evangelism at Wheaton College), Richard Mouw (President of Fuller Theological Seminary), Doug Pennoyer (Dean of the School of Intercultural Studies, Biola University), John Stott (Rector Emeritus of All Souls Church London), Michael Treneer (International President of The Navigators), Berten Waggoner (National Director of the Vineyard Churches), David Yonggi Cho (senior pastor Yoido Full Gospel Church Seoul), and Bruce Clemenger (President of The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada).

Saddleback Easter Service

Thu, 16 Oct 2014 00:43:50 +0100

SADDLEBACK EASTER SERVICE FEATURES FLASH MOB DANCE
the following is excerpted from (Friday Church News Notes, May 6, 2011, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) and posted on manifestedbythelight.com on 05/09/2011
- The Easter service at Saddleback Church in California featured a flash mob resurrection dance performed by 150 dancers. The dance was sponsored by Up To Faith and was supported by Saddleback’s Creative Arts Ministry Director, Shawn King. Church members practiced twice a week for five weeks, and the event was video recorded by a team of six cameramen. King said, “I was really surprised about how fun the process was. Small groups did it together, and grandmas and grandchildren. It was a very bonding experience and so, even the process was worth it” (“So Cal Church Enters Worldwide Flash Mob Dance Scene,” AssistNews.net, April 24, 2011). Up to Faith is described as “a group of artists whose goal it is to see and make seen the invisible in the visible, eternity in time, and the heart of man.” Everything is doctrinally vague, allowing for a wide ecumenism. Consider the chorus to “Up to Faith Dance”: “When it’s up to faith, be the difference/ It’s not up to fate, go the distance/ Once upon a time, write the story/ People up to faith, hearts restoring/ What’s the word today, who will lead us/ Living Word today, only Jesus/ Coming back to home, tears to laughter/ Happy ending found here and after.” What’s that mean? It means whatever you want it to mean. The Roman Catholic, the Protestant, the Baptist, even the New Ager can find his own meaning here.

Rick Warren and His New Age Health Plan

Thu, 16 Oct 2014 00:44:22 +0100

The following additional warning is excerpted from “Emanuel Swedenborg’s Occultic Beliefs Influence Rick Warren’s Health Advisor” by John Lanagan, Lighthouse Trails, January 18, 2011. I would encourage you to read the entire report at http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog. The documentation for the quotes is available there. “With Dr. Mehmet Oz having been granted potential influence into the lives of thousands (potentially eventually millions) of Christians through Rick Warren’s Daniel Plan, it is important to consider Lisa Oz as well--because people who seek out Dr. Oz’s books will likely be exposed to his wife’s work also. The couple have worked together on projects and public appearances. ... In her book, Lisa Oz acknowledges, ‘After my parents, the most influential [teacher] by far was and is Emanuel Swedenborg, an eighteenth century scientist and theologian who saw the Bible as a divinely inspired metaphor. … His writings on the nature of God, humanity, and marriage not only shaped my views but ultimately shaped who I am. For this reason you will find his doctrine, widely and wildly interpreted, as the foundation for just about every chapter in this book.’ Lisa Oz is a Reiki master. This is an ancient system of occult energy, one that brings with it the risk of familiar spirits. [Lisa Oz states, ‘You can become a Reiki master in three weekends.’ Many people were exposed to Reiki for the first time when Dr. Oz featured it on his popular television show. In an interview, Mrs. Oz shared that she has used Reiki on her own children. ... In fact, consider this collective Reiki/meditative experience facilitated by Lisa Oz, which took place at a workshop she conducted along with her husband: ‘She followed with a couple of similar exercises, then finished with what for me was the day’s highlight: the hatsurei-ho meditation, this time for hundreds. The energy in that cavernous room at the Javits Convention Center shifted palpably as Mrs. Oz led the crowd through progressive relaxation, envisioning a golden light all around, drawing the light inside and then breathing it back out into the space around us, adding our own energy with each exhalation. There was no need to explain what Reiki was--EVERYONE FELT IT, EVEN WITHOUT TOUCH.” Lisa Oz then told the crowd, ‘Go in wellness, knowing you have brought light into the world.’ What is going on with Rick Warren? Does he believe he can bring in Oz, Hyman, and Amen, and simply share only their medical teachings? Stick to the brain, Daniel Amen. Just talk about the heart, Mehmet Oz. Is that what Pastor Warren intends? Because even if these doctors don’t say anything about meditation, or Reiki, their resources are still available to all who have seen and heard them at Saddleback. Exposure to these practices therefore seems certain, all from authors highly praised by Rick Warren.”

Rick Warren And John Piper

Thu, 16 Oct 2014 00:44:51 +0100

John Piper: Desiring Rick Warren

Posted by Ingrid Schlueter in New Spirituality, Purpose Driven, Religion on February 27th, 2011 | 63 Comments

Despite the countless and detailed warnings that have gone out over the last decade about Rick Warren and his distortion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, John Piper prepares to deliver his followers to the platform at Saddleback Church in an act of ultimate spiritual betrayal on April 29 and 30, 2011.

John Piper, perhaps more than anyone else who has been seduced by Dr. Warren through the years, is without excuse. Could there be a teacher more aware of what the Gospel actually is according to Scripture? Someone with a more thorough knowledge of the whole Counsel of God? Someone with more access to the best commentaries, the best theological instruction, the most devout and rigorous Bible teaching colleagues in the land? Yet he falls, and with him, takes innumerable sheep who will trust him to their own destruction.

Just weeks ago, Rick Warren introduced an unholy trinity of pagan teachers on the same platform at Saddleback as he unveiled his Daniel Plan. To an audience of physically and spiritually needy people he presented Dr. Oz, Dr. Amen, and Dr. Hyman, three men who are actively promoting things like Transcendental Meditation, and Sa Ta Na Ma meditation taken from Kundalini Yoga. These teachers have videos all over the Internet that instruct viewers on how to become healthy through New Age methods, like Dr. Oz, for example, who promotes men like Deepak Chopra on his TV show. In the linked video he shows viewers how to lose weight through occult meditation practices. He brought this spiritual program to Saddleback at the request of Rick Warren. It is the tip of the iceberg.

Rick Warren’s involvement with the pluralistic and religious unity goals of the Tony Blair foundation are well documented. Tony Blair is a pro-abortion Roman Catholic convert who is also a proponent of a developing world spirituality. He asked Rick Warren to join him in the uniting of world religions through his foundation and Rick Warren signed on. Warren is welcoming Mr. Blair to the same Platform where John Piper’s Desiring God Conference will be held in April. Warren is awarding Mr. Blair, a biblical apostate and enemy of the cross of Jesus Christ, with a prize for his efforts for world peace. This is not a plot device in some low budget end-times movie. This is reality, and John Piper is now fully on board Warren’s train.

There is no need to recount the assaults on Scripture that Mr. Warren has engaged in over the course of his Purpose-Driven career. Entire books have been written on the subject. What is abundantly clear is that those who willfully join arms with him in his spiritual agenda for the world are equally guilty. Those pastors and teachers who knowingly deliver their sheep to the spiritual slaughterhouse at Saddleback are Judas goats. It does not matter what accomplishments such pastors and teachers have achieved in their ministries of the past. What matters is what they have done with their part of the ministry entrusted to them now.

Judas also had a part in Christ’s ministry for three years, and he betrayed Christ at the last. (See Acts 1:16-19 for the summary.) He sold out for 30 pieces of silver. John Piper has sold out the true Gospel for the embrace of the world’s leading evangelical name. He desired Rick Warren more than he desired God, and he is now helping Warren usher in the ultimate global spiritual rebellion.

The seduction of John Piper is a cautionary story for all of us. None of us are too biblically sound, too studied, to ready with an answer to have immunity to the spiritual seduction that has been unleashed on the planet. If John Piper can fall, we can also fall. The spiritual battle being waged on those who are faithful to Jesus Christ is growing worse by the day. Ask anyone in ministry about that. We need the full armor of God, and we need to be in unceasing prayer that God would keep us steadfast in the faith. Our Captain will be here soon. Let’s be ready.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

~Ephesians 6:12

THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE Part 2

Thu, 16 Oct 2014 00:45:43 +0100

THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE Part 2

WARREN PROMOTES EVERY STRANGE BIBLE VERSION Part 2

In The Purpose Driven Life, Warren uses 15 different Bible versions, including two Roman Catholic ones (The New American Bible and the New Jerusalem Bible). His favorites are the “dynamic equivalency” versions such as the Living Bible, the New Living Bible, Today’s English Version, the Contemporary English Version, and The Message. The latter seems to be his most favorite.

As a result, it is often impossible to know exactly what Scripture he is quoting because it is so strangely paraphrased and wildly inaccurate.

On page 70, Warren quotes Hebrews 11:7 from The Message.

“By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he was told ... As a result, Noah became intimate with God.”

In the dependable King James Bible, this verse says:

“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”

We can see that The Message adds to and takes away from the Word of God in an amazing manner. It adds the bit about Noah building a ship in the middle of dry land. It omits the fact that Noah moved with fear. It changes “became heir of the righteousness which is by faith” to “became intimate with God.”

On page 20 of The Purpose Driven Life, Warren quotes 1 Corinthians 2:7 from The Message:

“God’s wisdom ... goes deep into the interior of his purposes ... It’s not the latest message, but more like the oldest--what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us.”

In the King James Bible, this says:

“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory.”

It is obvious that The Message is not a translation in any sense of the word; it is a presumption. It is not God’s thoughts but man’s. It is almost childish, not because it is simple but because it is ridiculous.

Warren claims to have quoted more than 1,000 Scriptures in The Purpose Driven Life, but most of the quotations are similar to the previous examples and have no right to be called Scripture.

When I visited a service at Saddleback Church in 2003, I observed that only a few people were carrying Bibles into the auditorium. The reason became clear when I saw the multiplicity of versions that were used in the preaching. It would be impossible to follow along in one’s Bible. The result is that the people do not bring their own Bibles and do not therefore carefully test the preaching. How could they, when any biblical statement they would attempt to examine has dozens of contradictory variations in various versions?

WARREN SLIGHTS SCRIPTURAL BAPTISM

The Purpose Driven Life has a page and a half dealing with baptism, but there is not a word about the mode, which is one of the most important aspects. Warren leaves the reader with the impression that pouring, sprinkling, or immersion is equally acceptable. Obviously, it would offend many readers if he were to present a truly Scriptural position on baptism as a burial in water, but what else would a true Bible believer and a true Baptist do?

WARREN CLAIMS THAT GOD LOVES ALL KINDS OF MUSIC

In chapter 8 of The Purpose Driven Life, Warren becomes a prophet, saying:

“God loves all kinds of music because he invented it all--fast and slow, loud and soft, old and new. You probably don’t like it all, but God does! ... Christians often disagree over the style of music used in worship, passionately defending their preferred style as the most biblical or God-honoring. But there is no biblical style! ... God likes variety and enjoys it all. There is no such thing as ‘Christian’ music; there are only Christian lyrics. It is the words that make a song sacred, not the tune. There are no spiritual tunes” (pp. 65, 66).

This idea that music is neutral and that any music can be used in the service of the Lord has opened the door for the world to come into the churches as few other things.

Though the Bible nowhere says nor even hints that God loves all kinds of music, we are to believe that he does because Rick Warren says so. His only evidence for this outrageous statement is his reasoning that since God “invented it all” he must like it all. Yet, where is the evidence that God invented all music? Are you telling me that the devil and sinful men are not involved in the field of music? That is a ridiculous thought, seeing that the devil is called “the god of this world” and music is one of the most powerful influences among men. Sinful men have used music since Cain’s children built the first society apart from God and made musical instruments to satisfy their carnal pleasures (Genesis 4:16-21).

Styles of music are not neutral. Rock musicians have testified that they play their particular style of rhythm for the very reason that it is lascivious. Frank Zappa said: “Rock music is sex. The big beat matches the body’s rhythms” (Life, June 28, 1968). Gene Simmons says, “That’s what rock is all about--sex with a 100 megaton bomb, the beat!” (Entertainment Tonight, ABC, Dec. 10, 1987).

Note that they are not talking merely about rock music’s lyrics and associations but also about its RHYTHM, the thumping back beat! These men of the world believe there is such a thing as a sexy rhythmic pattern. Rapper Missy Elliot’s album, “Miss E ... So Addictive,” was described by as “a seductive cocktail of quirky rhythms and hypnotic beats.”

Why do these secular rockers describe their heavily syncopated rock rhythms as sexy, seductive, and hypnotic? They are saying that music is not neutral and that the heavy rock & roll backbeat that can be heard on any Sunday at Saddleback Church is sensual and licentious and that is exactly why they, secular rockers, love it.

As for the idea that there is no biblical style of music, we could not disagree more fervently. The Bible tells us exactly what type of music to sing in our churches, as follows: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19).

Spiritual songs are not the same as unspiritual or sensual or worldly, hymns are not the same as rock music, melody is not the same as raucous repetition. Spiritual is something that is set apart from the world unto a holy God; something that is different in character than the things of the world. The Bible gives plain instruction about the Christian’s affiliation with worldly things, and any music that draws the child of God into fellowship with the world is to be rejected (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-16). The Bible forbids the Christian to be conformed to the world (Romans 12:2). Yet the Contemporary Christian Music that Rick Warren uses in his church is nothing if not conformed to the world’s musical styles.

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).

“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:11).

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:15-17).

(For more about this subject see the book Contemporary Christian Music under the Spotlight and the video presentation Distinguishing between Sacred and Contemporary Styles of Music, available from Way of Life Literature, http://wayoflife.org.)

WARREN PROMOTES AN UNSCRIPTURAL JUDGE NOT PHILOSOPHY

The Purpose Driven Life contains extensive documentation of Rick Warren’s dangerous and unscriptural “judge not” ecumenical philosophy.

On page 164, Warren says:

“God warns us over and over not to criticize, compare, or judge each other. ... Whenever I judge another believer, four things instantly happen: I lose fellowship with God, I expose my own pride, I set myself to be judged by God, and I harm the fellowship of the church.”

In typical New Evangelical fashion Warren makes no distinction between judging hypocritically (which is forbidden in Matthew 7) or judging on the basis of personal preference in matters not taught in Scripture (which is forbidden in Romans 14) and judging on the basis of the Bible (which is required by God).

The child of God has an obligation to judge everything by God’s Word. The believers at Corinth were rebuked because they were careless in this regard and were tolerant of false teachers (2 Corinthians 11:1-4). The Bereans, on the other hand, were commended because they carefully tested everything by Scripture (Acts 17:11). The Bible says “... he that is spiritual judgeth all things” (1 Cor. 2:15) and Jesus taught that we should “judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24). We are to judge preaching (1 Cor. 14:29) and sin in the churches (1 Cor. 5). We are to try the spirits (1 John 4:1).

To test preachers and their message carefully by God’s Word is not a matter of pride, but of wisdom and spirituality and obedience.

On page 34 of The Purpose Driven Life, Warren says:

“God won’t ask about your religious background or doctrinal views. The only thing that will matter is, did you accept what Jesus did for you and did you learn to love and trust him?”

If this is true, why does the Bible say so very much about doctrine and why did the apostles call for doctrinal purity on every hand? Paul instructed Timothy to allow “no other doctrine” (1 Timothy 1:3). That is the very strictest stance on doctrinal purity, and it is precisely the stance we find throughout the apostolic writings. Rick Warren has a lot to answer for, because millions of people are basing their lives upon his teaching rather than upon the pure Word of God.

If God is unconcerned about doctrine, why did the apostles spend so much time warning about false doctrines and doctrines of devils? See, for example, 2 Corinthians 11:1-4; Galatians 1:6-12; Philippians 3:18-21; Colossians 2:8; 1 Timothy 4:1-5; 1 Timothy 6:20-21; 2 Timothy 4:1-4; 2 Peter 2; Jude 3-23.

Rick Warren requires his church members to sign a covenant promising to protect the unity of the church (The Purpose Driven Life, p. 167). This is a dangerous and unscriptural covenant. The child of God is not instructed to submit to a church or to its leaders blindly and at any cost. We are commanded to “prove all things” (1 Thess. 5:21), and all things means all things. The Bereans are commended and called noble because they “searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11). No preacher or church is above being tested by God’s Word. The Bible says, “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge” (1 Cor. 14:29). Preaching is to be carefully judged by God’s Word. The pastor has God-given authority (Heb. 13:17), but it is not unquestionable authority and it is not his own authority; he is not a shepherd over his own flock; he is an undershepherd over God’s and he will give an account to the Great Shepherd (1 Peter 5:1-4). The pastor’s authority is not in his own word; it is in God’s Word (Heb. 13:7); and if he strays from the Word of God he has no authority over God’s people and he should not be followed. Blind loyalty to a church is popery and it is a gross heresy.

Warren even claims that “conflict is usually a sign that the focus has shifted to less important things” (p. 162).

If this were true, then the apostles and preachers in the early churches were side tracked much of the time, because they were frequently involved in doctrinal conflicts. Paul was involved in such conflicts almost continually. Many of his epistles contain lengthy sections in which he takes a stand against false teachers. In his epistles to his fellow preacher Timothy, Paul repeatedly warned about false teachers by name (1 Tim. 1:19-20; 2 Tim. 1:15; 2:17-18; 4:12, 14).

Paul taught Timothy to have respect unto all doctrine and not only to the “cardinal truths.” At the conclusion to the first epistle to Timothy Paul said:

“I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickenth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Timothy 6-13-14).

Observe that Timothy was instructed to keep the doctrine he had been taught in this epistle “without spot.” That refers to the details. The theme of first Timothy is church truth. Paul said, “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). The epistle contains instruction on matters such as prayer and the woman’s spiritual ministry (1 Timothy 2), the qualifications of pastors and deacons (1 Timothy 3), avoiding doctrines of devils (1 Timothy 4), the care of widows (1 Timothy 5), and the ordination and discipline of elders (1 Timothy 6). That type of doctrine is considered “peripheral” and “secondary” by evangelicals today, but Paul taught Timothy to have respect unto such doctrine and to keep it without spot.

WARREN PROMOTES HERETICS

In keeping with his unscriptural judge not philosophy, Warren uncritically quotes from a wide variety of theological heretics, especially Roman Catholics such as Mother Teresa, Henri Nouwen, Brother Lawrence (Carmelite monk), John Main (Benedictine monk who believes that Christ “is not limited to Jesus of Nazareth, but remains among us in the monastic leaders, the sick, the guest, the poor”), Madame Guyon (a Roman Catholic who taught that prayer is not from the mind and does not involve thinking), and John of the Cross (who believed the mountains and forests are God).

Warren does not warn his readers that these are dangerous false teachers who held to a false gospel.

Mother Teresa and Henri Nouwen, who are quoted at least four times in The Purpose Driven Life, believed that men can be saved apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ. When Mother Teresa died, her longtime friend and biographer Naveen Chawla said that he once asked her bluntly, “Do you convert?” She replied, “Of course I convert. I convert you to be a better Hindu or a better Muslim or a better Protestant. Once you’ve found God, it’s up to you to decide how to worship him” (“Mother Teresa Touched other Faiths,” Associated Press, Sept. 7, 1997). Henri Nouwen said, “Today I personally believe that while Jesus came to open the door to God’s house, all human beings can walk through that door, whether they know about Jesus or not. Today I see it as my call to help every person claim his or her own way to God” (Henri Nouwen,Sabbatical Journey, p. 51).

Why does Rick Warren continually and non-critically promote heretics? The Bible asks, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3).

WARREN’S SHALLOW ENCAPSULATIONS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT FAITH

On every hand, Rick Warren presents his own shallow encapsulations as the true essence of biblical Christianity. For example, in chapter 39 he lists “God’s five purposes for your life.” They are (1) Love God with all your heart, (2) Love your neighbor as yourself, (3) Go and make disciples, (4) Baptize them into [a church], and (5) Teach them to do all things.

There is nothing in these “five purposes” about holiness, contending for the faith, separation from the world, separation from false teaching, reproving sin and error, and many other things that are emphasized in the New Testament Scriptures. Obviously, Warren’s five purposes for life do not equal the sum total of God’s.

My friends, we don’t need some misguided man’s abbreviated form of Christianity; we need the “whole counsel of God” as found in the Scriptures (Acts 20:27). The Bible as a whole, not a few select parts thereof, is the sole and sufficient authority for faith and practice. The Lord Jesus Christ instructed the churches to teach “all things” rather than a few things (Mat. 28:19-20).

Beware of “The Purpose Driven Life.” It is not faithful to Scripture, and if followed it will lead you away from God’s will.

THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE PART 1

Thu, 16 Oct 2014 00:56:00 +0100

A REVIEW OF RICK WARREN’S “THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE” Part 1

Mar/10/08 14:08

A REVIEW OF RICK WARREN’S “THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE”

Updated and enlarged March 10, 2008 (first published April 3, 2007) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

The book “The Purpose Drive Life” by Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in southern California has sold more than 18 million copies.

Saddleback is associated with the Southern Baptist Convention, but Warren’s “Purpose Driven” philosophy has spread to most denominations.

Called by Christianity Today “America’s most influential pastor,” Warren’s influence is vast. It reaches into every sphere of Christianity in our day, from Catholicism to Mormonism to liberal Protestantism to evangelicalism to fundamentalist Bible and Baptist churches.

Many independent Baptist churches are being influenced by Warren’s teaching. For example, Warren conducted a Purpose Driven Super-Conference in October 2003 at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia (Falwell affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Baptist Bible Fellowship). Simultaneously, Warren’s 40 Days of Purpose campaign was shown by telecast in more than 4,000 churches, including independence Baptist.

Bruce Ryskamp, president of Zondervan, said, “The Purpose Driven Life is more than a bestseller; it’s become a movement.”

Over 12,000 churches from all 50 states in America and 19 countries have participated in Warren’s 40 Days of Purpose, which is drawn from the book. Over 60,000 pastors subscribe to Rick Warren’s Ministry Toolbox. He has provided materials and teaching to Christians in more than 117 countries on all seven continents.

Richard Bennett observes, “The movement is becoming a global empire.”

Rick Warren has been called “America’s pastor,” and it is for good reason. He is so shallow in his teaching, so positive in his approach, so slighting of repentance, so neglecting of unpopular doctrines such as hell and judgment and repentance, so tolerant of heresies, so enthusiastic of rock music, so soft-spoken on that nasty subject of worldliness, that apostate America can’t help but love him.

All of these characteristics are reflected in his best-selling book.

A FOUNDATIONAL ERROR IN WARREN’S BOOK IS THE EXTREME SHALLOWNESS AND INSUFFICIENCY OF HIS GOSPEL

In chapter 7, “The Reason for Everything,” Warren explains to his readers how they can become a Christian.

“If you are not sure you have done this, all you need to do is receive and believe. ... First, believe. Believe God loves you and made you for his purposes. Believe you’re not an accident. Believe you were made to last forever. Believe God has chosen you to have a relationship with Jesus, who died on the cross for you. Believe that no matter what you’ve done, God wants to forgive you. Second, receive. Receive his forgiveness for your sins. Receive his Spirit, who will give you the power to fulfill your life purpose. ... Wherever you are reading this, I invite you to bow your head and quietly whisper the prayer that will change your eternity. ‘Jesus, I believe in you and I receive you.’ Go ahead. If you sincerely meant that prayer, congratulations! Welcome to the family of God!” (The Purpose Driven Life, pp. 58, 59).

This is one of the most superficial “gospels” I have ever seen. There is nothing here that would offend or convict the Pope or a Mormon. It’s not the gospel that was preached in the book of Acts or Romans.

For one thing, there is no clear dealing with the sin issue. Warren’s book is intended for wide distribution in society at large, and it is not enough in such a context merely to mention the word sin. The average person in North America will admit that he is not perfect and that he is a “sinner” in some sense, but he also thinks of himself as a pretty good person. When he thinks of himself as a sinner, he does not mean what the Bible means, that he was shaped in iniquity and conceived in sin (Psa. 51:5), that his heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9) and full of evil (Ecc. 9:3), that he is unrighteous and unprofitable (Rom. 3:10-11), that in his flesh dwells no good thing (Rom. 7:18), and that his very righteousness is as filthy rags before a holy God (Isa. 64:6). Warren’s incredibly shallow approach allows any person who will admit that he is a sinner in any sense to pray a prayer and then think of himself as a genuine Christian, even though he might continue to deny what the Bible says about sin.

There are many other things we could expose in Warren’s gospel. There is nothing about God’s holiness and justice. There is no clear teaching on what Jesus did on the cross. There is nothing about the blood. Warren invites the reader to “believe on Jesus.” What Jesus? People today believe in all sorts of false christs, but Warren does not warn them of this nor does he take the time to identify the true Jesus of the Bible in any clear fashion and to distinguish Him from false ones. Just a vague “believe on Jesus” and presto you are ready to heaven.

And Warren completely ignores repentance. There is not a hint here that the sinner must repent of his sin and idolatry and false gospels. This is not the gospel that Paul preached. Paul summarized his message as follows: “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). Warren says that he believes in the Great Commission and he mentions it in passing in The Purpose Driven Life, but he ignores repentance, which is a part of the Great Commission. Christ gave the Great Commission in Luke 24:44-48 and He commanded that “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations.” Paul boldly preached repentance to the philosophers and idolaters in Athens, and if he were alive today, he would certainly preach repentance to the idolaters in America! Paul said that God “now commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30), and we can be sure that God hasn’t changed His mind.

WARREN TEACHES A SELF-ESTEEM THEOLOGY UNDER THE GUISE OF WORSHIP AND SERVICE

Though Warren professes that his teaching does not exalt man but rather exalts God and he claims that he does not teach a self-help program, in reality he teaches nothing less than a Robert Schuller-style Self-Esteem theology.

Notice the following statements:

“The moment you were born into the world, God was there as an unseen witness, smiling at your birth. ... It proves your worth. If you are that important to God, and he considers you valuable enough to keep you for eternity, what great significance could you have? ... Anything you do that brings pleasure to God is an act of worship ... You may be gifted at mechanics or mathematics or music or a thousand other skills. All these abilities can bring a smile to God’s face. ... You only bring him enjoyment by being you. Anytime you reject any part of yourself, you are rejecting God’s wisdom and sovereignty in creating you. ... God also gains pleasure in watching you enjoy his creation. ... When you are sleeping, God gazes at you with love, because you were his idea. He loves you as if you were the only person on earth” (pp. 61, 64, 74, 75).

Here worship is turned on its head by making it as much about me as about God. I am so loveable and so important and so desirable to God that whatever I do brings God pleasure and therefore is worship. Wonderful me! The self-esteem theology is more about celebrating self than dying to self, even when it talks of dying to self! Warren says that if I reject any part of myself I am denying God’s sovereignty. What about sin and what it has done to “myself”?

Consider another statement from Warren’s popular book:

“If you want to know how much you matter to God, look at Christ with his arms outstretched on the cross, saying, ‘I love you this much! I’d rather die than live without you’” (p. 79).

Thus, the cross is sanctified by the self-esteem theology so that it is about me and how the Lord couldn’t live without me. Wonderful me!

Consider another statement:

“God is a lover and a liberator, and surrendering to him brings freedom, not bondage. When we completely surrender ourselves to Jesus, we discover that he is ... not a boss, but a brother...” (p. 79).

The self-esteem God is dedicated to liberating me. He is not a boss! He’s just a Big Buddy, a Powerful Pal.

Warren quotes from Olympic runner Eric Liddell. “To give up running would be to hold him in contempt.”

Thus, to deny what I am gifted at and what I like to do is to deny God. Isn’t it clever how that Warren has identified self will with God’s will so that they have become one and the same?

In fact, things I am gifted for and enjoy oftentimes come into conflict with God’s perfect will. God oftentimes calls upon an individual to give up even legitimate things for which he or she is highly gifted and qualified. Many men have given up such things when God called them to be a preacher or a missionary. Peter, James, and John gave up fishing. In the 1980s, I met a Chinese man in Singapore who was a brilliant chess champion. God had saved him and called him to preach and he was preparing himself in a Bible College. He told me how that for awhile he had written a column on chess for a newspaper for extra income toward his Bible training, but he discovered that it was not possible to keep the chess moves out of his mind when he was trying to study Scripture so he gave it up entirely, though he was highly gifted at it and enjoyed it. That is true dying to self.

Note the following quotes from chapters 30 and 31 of The Purpose Driven Life which deal with finding my place in God’s will:

“Listening to your heart. The Bible uses the term heart to describe the bundle of desires, hopes, interests, ambitions, dreams, and affections you have. Your heart represents the source of all your motivations--what you love to do and what you are about most. ... Don’t ignore your interests. Consider how they might be used for God’s glory. There is a reason that you love to do these things. ... How do you know when you are serving God from your heart? The first telltale sign is enthusiasm. When you are doing what you love to do, no one has to motivate you or challenge you or check up on you. ... The second characteristic of serving God from your heart is effectiveness. Whenever you do what God wired you to love to do, you get good at it. ... Figure out what you love to do--what God gave you a heart to do--and then do it for his glory. ... What I’m able to do, God wants me to do” (pp. 237, 238, 239, 243).

Note that Warren does not warn his readers that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). What a gross, inexcusable omission! While it is true that you can trust your desires to some small extent when you are a mature Christian and you are delighting in God and immersed in His Word and obeying Him (Psa. 37:4), how many of the readers of The Purpose Drive Life are in that condition? A great many of the millions of readers of this book are doubtless complete unbelievers or nominal Christians or novices or carnal, and to teach them that what they love to do is God’s will is frightful heresy. Many are professional sports fanatics, for example. Others are rock & roll fanatics. Others are fanatics about modern fashion trends. Are they fanatic about such things because that is the way that God made them? No, they are fanatic about such things because they are conformed to the world and walk in the way of sinners (Psalm 1:1; Romans 12:2).

There are many things that professing Christians are gifted for and effective at that are NOT God’s will!

Again, we see that when Rick Warren’s theology is examined carefully it is about self-fulfillment, but it is presented under the guise of worshipping and serving God.

Warren builds his self-esteem theology upon strange versions of the Bible. Consider an example:

“The Bible says, ‘Noah was a pleasure to the Lord.’ God said, ‘This guy brings me pleasure. He makes me smile” (The Purpose Driven Life, p. 69).

Warren is quoting Genesis 6:8 in the Living Bible. In fact, this verse should say, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” It has nothing to do with God getting pleasure from Noah. It has everything to do with Noah getting favor from the Lord! The Living Bible perverts this verse, turning it upon its very head. Nonetheless, since it fits Rick Warren’s theology he grabs hold of it and pretends that it is Scripture.

Consider another example of how Warren builds his self-esteem theology upon inaccurate versions of Scripture.

“The Bible says, ‘Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self’” (p. 19).

Here Warren quotes Matthew 16:25 in The Message. Actually, the verse should say, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”

WARREN SLIGHTS OVER HELL AND JUDGMENT AND THE FEAR OF GOD

The Lord Jesus Christ preached on hell frequently. There are nearly 100 references in Scripture to fearing the Lord, and God’s judgment is a never-ending theme of Scripture.

However, when it comes to Rick Warren, he does not mention God’s judgment, never urges his listeners to fear the Lord, and he makes only one passing reference to hell. This is on page 37, and in the same section, he quotes C.S. Lewis twice. Lewis believed that hell is a metaphor and a state of mind: “And every state of mind, left to itself, every shutting up of the creature within the dungeon of its own mind--is, in the end, Hell” (Lewis, The Great Divorce, p. 65).

Not only did the Lord Jesus Christ preach much on hell, but he also preached it hot and furious.

“And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched” (Jesus Christ, Mark 9:43-48).

There is no a hint of this kind of preaching in Rick Warren’s woefully inadequate ministry.

If ever there were an hour in which the people of this world need to hear hell and judgment and the fear of God preached fiery hot and powerfully plain it is this present unbelieving, mocking, blasphemous, pleasure mad, self-loving, self-content, self-righteous age, but the popular preachers won’t touch it. It is too negative. Too damaging to self-esteem. Too dogmatic and intolerant. Too likely to offend and cut into the size of my audience.

Rick Warren's Dangerous Judge Not Ecumenism

Thu, 16 Oct 2014 00:58:18 +0100

Rick Warren's Dangerous Judge Not Ecumenism

Jan/20/11 08:53 Filed in: Rick Warren

Updated and enlarged January 20, 2011 (first published June 15, 2004) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life is a No. 1 bestseller in both Christian and secular markets. It has sold millions of copies and at least two million people have participated in “40 Days of Purpose” campaigns. Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life and his earlier The Purpose Driven Churchhad sold 26 million copies as of September 2005. In October 2003 and again in September 2004, Jerry Falwell (who is associated both with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Baptist Bible Fellowship) teamed up with Warren for Purpose-Driven “Super Conferences” with the goal of influencing 10,000 church leaders.

Warren is the senior pastor of Saddleback Community Church, a contemporary Southern Baptist mega-church in southern California. I attended a service in August 2003, and the “praise time” reminded me of a night club, with a longhaired “worship” leader, sensually attired women singers, pounding rock & roll, and swirling lights in the background.

EXCERPTS FROM “THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE”

Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life contains extensive documentation of his dangerous and unscriptural “judge not” ecumenical philosophy.

On page 164, Warren says, “God warns us over and over not to criticize, compare, or judge each other. ... Whenever I judge another believer, four things instantly happen: I lose fellowship with God, I expose my own pride, I set myself to be judged by God, and I harm the fellowship of the church.”

In typical New Evangelical fashion Warren makes no distinction between judging hypocritically (which is forbidden in Matthew 7) or judging on the basis of personal preference in matters not commanded in Scripture (which is forbidden in Romans 14) and judging on the basis of the Bible.

Actually, the child of God has an obligation to judge everything by God’s Word. The believers at Corinth were rebuked because they were careless in this regard and were tolerant of false teachers (2 Cor. 11:1-4). The Bereans, on the other hand, were commended because they carefully tested everything by the Scriptures (Acts 17:11). The Bible says “he that is spiritual judgeth all things” (1 Cor. 2:15) and Jesus taught that we should “judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24). We are to judge preaching (1 Cor. 14:29) and sin in the churches (1 Cor. 5). We are to try the spirits (1 John 4:1).

To test preachers and their message carefully by God’s Word is not a matter of pride, but wisdom and obedience.

On page 34 of The Purpose Driven Life, Warren says: “God won’t ask about your religious background or doctrinal views. The only thing that will matter is, did you accept what Jesus did for you and did you learn to love and trust him?”

If this is true, why does the Bible say so very much about doctrine and why did the apostles call for doctrinal purity on every hand? Paul instructed Timothy to allow “no other doctrine” (1 Timothy 1:3). That is the very strictest stance on doctrinal purity, and it is precisely the stance we find throughout the apostolic writings. Rick Warren has a lot to answer for, because millions of people are basing their lives upon his teaching rather than upon the pure Word of God.

If God is unconcerned about doctrine, why did the apostles spend so much time warning about false doctrines and doctrines of devils? See, for example, 2 Cor. 11:1-4; Gal. 1:6-12; Phil. 3:18-21; Col. 2:8; 1 Tim. 4:1-5; 1 Tim. 6:20-21; 2 Tim. 4:1-4; 2 Pet. 2.

Rick Warren requires his church members to sign a covenant that he or she promises to protect the unity of the church (The Purpose Driven Life, p. 167). This is dangerous and unscriptural covenant. The child of God is not instructed to submit to a church or to its leaders blindly and at any cost. We are commanded to “prove all things” (1 Thess. 5:21), and all things means all things. The Bereans are exalted because they “searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11). No preacher is above being tested by God’s Word. The Bible says, “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge” (1 Cor. 14:29). Preaching is to be carefully judged by God’s Word. The pastor has God-given authority (Heb. 13:17), but it is not unquestionable authority and it is not his own authority; he is not a shepherd over his own flock; he is an undershepherd over God’s and he will give an account to the Great Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:1-4). The pastor’s authority is not in his own word; it is in God’s Word (Heb. 13:7); and if he strays from the Word of God he has no authority over God’s people and he should not be followed. Blind loyalty to a church is Popery and it is a gross heresy.

Warren even claims that “conflict is usually a sign that the focus has shifted to less important things” (p. 162).

If this were true, then the apostles and preachers in the early churches were side tracked much of the time, because they were frequently involved in doctrinal conflicts. Paul was involved in such conflicts almost continually. Most of his epistles contain lengthy sections in which he takes a stand against false teachers. In his epistles to his fellow preacher Timothy, Paul repeatedly warned about false teachers by name (1 Tim. 1:19-20; 2 Tim. 1:15; 2:17-18; 4:12, 14).

PROMOTING HERETICS

In keeping with his unscriptural judge not philosophy, Warren uncritically quotes from a wide variety of theological heretics, especially Roman Catholics such as Mother Teresa, Henri Nouwen, Brother Lawrence (Carmelite monk), John Main (Benedictine monk who believes that Christ “is not limited to Jesus of Nazareth, but remains among us in the monastic leaders, the sick, the guest, the poor”), Madame Guyon (a Roman Catholic who taught that prayer is not from the mind does not involve thinking), John of the Cross (a pantheist who believed the mountains and forests are God). Warren does not warn his readers that these are dangerous false teachers who held to a false gospel and worshipped a false christ.

Mother Teresa and Henri Nouwen were universalists who believed that men can be saved apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ. When Mother Teresa died, her longtime friend and biographer Naveen Chawla said that he once asked her bluntly, “Do you convert?” She replied, “Of course I convert. I convert you to be a better Hindu or a better Muslim or a better Protestant. Once you’ve found God, it’s up to you to decide how to worship him” (“Mother Teresa Touched other Faiths,” Associated Press, Sept. 7, 1997). Henri Nouwen said, “Today I personally believe that while Jesus came to open the door to God’s house, all human beings can walk through that door, whether they know about Jesus or not. Today I see it as my call to help every person claim his or her own way to God” (Henri Nouwen, Sabbatical Journey).

Why does Rick Warren continually and non-critically promote heretics?

As for the “Purpose Driven” philosophy, we don’t need a man’s shallow encapsulations of the New Testament faith; we need the “whole counsel of God” as found in the Scriptures (Acts 20:27). The Lord Jesus Christ instructed the churches to teach “all things” rather than a few things (Mat. 28:19-20).

RICK WARREN’S IGNORANCE ABOUT FUNDAMENTALISM

Rick Warren knows a lot about megachurches but almost nothing about fundamentalism. In his appearance before the Pew Forum in May 2005 he made the following comments: “Today there really aren’t that many Fundamentalists left; I don’t know if you know that or not, but they are such a minority; there aren’t that many Fundamentalists left in America. ... Now the word ‘fundamentalist’ actually comes from a document in the 1920s called the Five Fundamentals of the Faith. And it is a very legalistic, narrow view of Christianity, and when I say there are very few fundamentalists, I mean in the sense that they are all actually called fundamentalist churches, and those would be quite small. There are no large ones. ... that group is shrinking more and more and more” (“Myths of the Modern Mega-Church,” May 23, 2005, transcript of the Pew Forum’s biannual Faith Angle conference on religion, politics and public life). To set the record straight, fundamentalist churches are growing both in size and in number and many of them run in the thousands. Consider Lancaster Baptist Church north of Los Angeles, in Warren’s native California, with a membership of 4,000. The fundamental Baptist movement has tens of thousands of churches in America alone, many of them with a membership of a thousand and more, and has a large and aggressive missionary arm that exceeds that of the Southern Baptist Convention. And that is only one segment of fundamentalism. Even one small fundamentalist ministry like mine touches tens of thousands of people. For example, some 80,000 of my sermons have been downloaded from just one site, and that is only one aspect of my ministry. As for the origin of the fundamentalist movement, Rick Warren gave false information to the Pew Forum. There was no document called “the Five Fundamentals of the Faith.” Most books on the history of fundamentalism claim that the name “fundamentalist” probably derived from a series of books called “The Fundamentals” that was published from 1910-1915. With the financial backing of two wealthy Christian businessmen, some three million copies of the 12 volumes of The Fundamentals were distributed to Christian workers in the United States and 21 foreign countries. The series, composed of 90 articles written by 64 authors, did not promote “five fundamentals” but rather dozens of fundamentals. (For more about the history of fundamentalism see http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/fundamen1.htm) As for fundamentalism being a “narrow view of Christianity” Warren is correct. It seeks to be as narrow as the Bible, and if that is a sin, the apostles and early churches didn’t know about it. As for Warren’s idea that fundamentalism is a form of “legalism,” this only exposes his anti-biblicist perspective. What kind of “legalism” is it for a blood-washed saint to aim to preach all of the truths of God’s Word and to be faithful to God’s Word in all matters? If that is legalism, Paul was a great legalist, for he testified, “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). Rick Warren is a very dangerous man, the blind leading the blind. His books are accepted by the world (e.g., his “40 Days of Purpose” has been used by Coco-Cola, Ford, Wal-Mart, the NBA, LPGA, NASCAR, professional baseball teams, etc.), because he is of the world.

RICK WARREN LIKENS BIBLICAL FUNDAMENTALISTS TO MUSLIM EXTREMISTS AND ATHEISTIC SECULARISTS

In his interview on Larry King Live on December 2, 2005, Rick Warren likened biblical fundamentalists to Muslim extremists and atheistic secularists. He said: “There are all kinds of fundamentalists, Larry, and they’re all based on fear. There are Christian fundamentalists. There are Muslim fundamentalists. I’ve met some Jewish fundamentalists. You know that there are secular fundamentalists. They’re all based on fear. Secular fundamentalists are afraid of God.” This statement is a vicious libel against Christian fundamentalists. George Dollar, in his history of fundamentalism, defined it in this way: “Historic fundamentalism is the literal interpretation of all the affirmations and attitudes of the Bible and the militant exposure of all non-biblical affirmations and attitudes” (Dollar, A History of Fundamentalism in America, 1973). Looking back over the fundamentalist movement since the 1930s, John Ashbrook defined it as follows: “Fundamentalism is the militant belief and proclamation of the basic doctrines of Christianity leading to a Scriptural separation from those who reject them” (John Ashbrook, Axioms of Separation, nd., p. 10). That is the type of fundamentalism that tens of thousands of fundamentalist churches throughout the world seek to emulate. Rick Warren has set himself up against this scriptural position and has likened it to Islamic terrorism and secular atheism. If fear is a central aspect of biblical fundamentalism it is the fear of God that leads to strict obedience to His Word, and that is scriptural and right. That was exactly how Paul instructed the believers at Corinth to live: “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1). Paul instructed the church at Philippi to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). Hebrews 12:28 says we are to “serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” If Rick Warren does not have this fear, he is not a true Christian, and if he does, let him apologize publicly for saying that fear is a wrong thing and for likening those who practice it as dangerous extremists. I won’t hold my breath, though..

RICK WARREN PREDICTS A “NEW REFORMATION”

In his appearance before the Pew Forum in May 2005, Rick Warren predicted a “New Reformation” or a “Third Great Awakening” for America. He said: “You know, 500 years ago, the first Reformation with Luther and then Calvin, was about beliefs. I think a new reformation is going to be about behavior. The first Reformation was about creeds; I think this one will be about deeds. ... The first Reformation actually split Christianity into dozens and then hundreds of different segments. I think this one is actually going to bring them together. Now, you’re never going to get Christians, of all their stripes and varieties, to agree on all of the different doctrinal disputes and things like that, but what I am seeing them agree on are the purposes of the church. ... Last week I spoke to 4,000 pastors at my church who came from over 100 denominations in over 50 countries. Now, that’s wide spread. We had Catholic priests, we had Pentecostal ministers, we had Lutheran bishops, we had Anglican bishops, we had Baptist preachers. They’re all there together and you know what? I’d never get them to agree on communion or baptism or a bunch of stuff like that, but I could get them to agree on what the church should be doing in the world” (“Myths of the Modern Mega-Church,” May 23, 2005, transcript of the Pew Forum’s biannual Faith Angle conference on religion, politics and public life). Warren’s New Reformation is not about beliefs or creeds or doctrinal purity; it is rather about “the purpose of the church.” Let me see if I understand this. It is not important than a church be biblical or that it hold biblical doctrine or even that it preach a biblical gospel (e.g., Catholic priests). It is only important that “churches” agree on their purpose? How can a church have a biblical purpose when it does not have biblical doctrine? How can it have a biblical purpose when it preaches a false sacramental gospel? If sound doctrine is not a foundational issue, I wonder why Paul instructed Timothy to “charge some that they teach NO OTHER DOCTRINE” (1 Tim. 1:3)? I wonder why he didn’t rather instruct Timothy to go easy on the doctrine thing? Could it be that the apostle Paul’s teaching is contrary to Rick Warren’s? I, for one, am certain of it!

RICK WARREN DENOUNCES THE SBC’S DEPARTURE FROM THE LIBERAL BAPTIST WORLD ALLIANCE

During a press conference at the Baptist World Alliance’s (BWA) Centenary Congress in Birmingham, England, in July, Rick Warren called the Southern Baptist Convention’s withdrawal “silly” and “a mistake” (“Warren: Global Baptists Are in This Together,” Kentucky Western Recorder, July 27, 2005). A mistake to pull out of an organization that is shot through with theological liberalism, that is a home to preachers who deny that the Bible is the infallible Word of God? Rick Warren obviously has a greater love for wolves in sheep’s clothing than Jesus Christ does (see Mat. 7:15-17). Warren, a keynote speaker at the BWA Congress, said Baptists should have “unity without uniformity.” This is not the kind of “unity” we find in the Bible. Paul instructed the churches, “... that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10). Warren said, “I see absolutely zero reason in separating my fellowship from anybody.” Perhaps he needs to read Romans 16:17; 2 Cor. 6:14-18; 2 Tim. 3:5, and similar verses in an accurate Bible like the King James instead of the paraphrases that he is accustomed to using, because the Bible’s command to separate from false teachers should be a good enough reason for doing so. Warren warned that Baptists often are “known for what we’re against rather than what we’re for.” In his book, that is wrong, but it isn’t wrong when measured biblically. Paul spent much of his time preaching against sin and error, both in the book of Acts and in the epistles. The Lord Jesus Christ frequently preached red hot messages on hell, and He was known for His opposition to the Sadducees and Pharisees, the liberals and Catholic priests of His day. Rick Warren has adopted the contemporary “positive” philosophy and he measures ministries by that rather than by the pure Word of God. Warren also said he is praying for a second reformation of the church that will focus more on deeds than beliefs. The Bible, though, focuses on BOTH! You can’t have right deeds before God if they are not built upon the right doctrinal foundation.

WARREN FEATURES ROMAN CATHOLIC MARY DEVOTEE AT HIS “APOLOGETICS” CONFERENCE

Warren’s 2010 Apologetics Weekend conference featured Roman Catholic Peter Kreeft. He is an apologist, for sure: an apologist for Rome. In his book Ecumenical Jihad: Ecumenism and the Culture War, Kreeft says is “very likely” that there is a “hidden Christ” in pagan religions, so that Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, etc., will be saved “through Christ and His grace” even though they do not consciously know or worship Jesus Christ (pp. 156, 157). Kreeft urges his readers to dedicate themselves “to the Immaculate Heart of Mary,” because Mary “is the one who will win this war” and is the one “who triumphs over Satan” (p. 169). Kreeft says “Allah is not another God ... we worship the same God” (p. 160). Kreeft worships the wafer of the Catholic Mass “because it is Christ” (p. 162). He thinks that God prefers to work through the intercession of Mary and the saints (p. 154). Kreeft says that he will follow the pope “everywhere he leads” (“Hauled Aboard the Ark by Peter,” http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/hauled-aboard.htm). Kreeft is a heavy promoter of Catholic contemplation, which is sweeping through evangelicalism. He attributes his conversion to Rome partly to the writings of the mystic John of the Cross.

CONCLUSION by Lyndon:

Where are those Christians who should be lifting their voices to sound a plain warning about Rick Warren’s errors? The silence is deafening.

In the strongest terms we urge our readers to beware of Rick Warren and the Purpose Driven philosophy. Rick Warren’s books are accepted by the world (e.g., his “40 Days of Purpose” has been used by Coco-Cola, Ford, Wal-Mart, the NBA, LPGA, NASCAR, professional baseball teams, etc.), because he is of the world the world will accept and use his materials. We as christians should not be cought doing the same.

Friends in Christ, beware. This deluded but popular man is a dangerous spiritual guide.

-In Christ Lyndon