Haven't we had enough controversy in the evangelical world this year with the messy Ted Haggard fiasco?
In four previous posts, I have written about Rick Warren. I started out feeling very enthusiastic about his book, church, and ministry. Unfortunately, as time went by, I had to admit that there were several things that bugged me about his ministry and politics.
In one of my "Rick Warren" blogposts (Seeking to Save title), I can still recall the chill and feeling of dread that I had felt when the following incident happened:
...[I] first want to share something that happened at our leaders training class when preparing for "The Purpose Driven Life" Bible study.
All the leaders gathered to view a video done by Pastor Rick Warren as an introduction to the study course. When the video came to the portion where accepting Christ was involved, an alarm went off in my heart and mind as I noticed something missing from Pastor Warren's prayer. There was no mention of the need to confess personal sins and repent of them. I had arrived late to the meeting so I thought that perhaps I missed that part in the beginning. During the question and answer time, I raised my hand and brought this up to the assistant pastor leading the class. He said he would "look into it" and quickly called on someone else with the next question. His lack of reaction and abrupt answer was close to an outright dismissal about my concerns!! I was shocked! Two other women sitting nearby said they felt the exact same way about that prayer! I was hoping that this would be brought out to the general congregation (because my pastor ALWAYS SPECIFICALLY EMPHASIZES THE NEED TO CONFESS SIN AND REPENT BEFORE RECEIVING CHRIST AS SAVIOR) but I don't think it was ever brought up.
As a leader of two study groups, I felt that it was my obligation to be sure that the sinners prayer was included in this study so I led such a prayer myself to give people the opportunity to receive Christ at any time during the 8 week study. If I had to criticize the "Purpose" book for one reason, it would be its lack of this important point within its pages.
Farah's article contained a YouTube link to Rick Warren's alleged comments in Syria. Unfortunately, when I clicked on it I got this message:
The url contained a malformed video id.
I am truly saddened by all of this!! If all of what Farah alleges in his article is true, then Rick Warren may be turning out to be one of the false teachers that are prophesied in the book of Jude.
I, for one, hope not.
I sincerely hope not!
But the evidence against him certainly doesn't look good.
Hat tip: WorldNetDaily
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Update: Warren denies
praise for Syria
Posts
4 comments:
He had no business there. Sometimes these guys get so influential they forget who they really work for.
Update: Warren denies
praise for Syria
Why does this Warren business seem to upset you so much? Isn't all this "apostasy and heresy" all happening in accordance with the prophecies? Isn't this another sign that we are at the End Of Days? Doesn't this demonstrate that God is in control, and that such events are all part of His Plan?
If you don't believe all this, why are you wasting our time?
The reason I point out Warren's mistakes in his evangelism efforts is because it matters to the salvation status of any of his followers in his church. Warning people that Warren is not preaching the genuine gospel anymore is a responsible thing to do, don't you think?
Here's an interesting letter from a former Saddleback church member that was posted on WorldNetDaily:
Severing ties to Saddleback
I called Saddleback today to resign my membership. I came to Christ there in 2001 and it is sad that the P.E.A.C.E. plan has decided that P is not for Planting Churches (the Great Commission), but for Partnering with Muslims (the Great Deception).
Rick Warren's reputation is terribly blemished. To me, it's like dad cheated on mom ... you can never look at him the same. Warren sold out the principles of Christ in a Muslim land, and came back to sell them out again by inviting pro-abortion/pro-gay marriage/pro-thought crime Barack Obama to speak about AIDS.
I'm just blown away ... completely dismayed at the wreckage that has become the modern church ... Haggard, Warren, Pope Benedict praying to Mecca ... it goes on and on.
Anonymous
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