Posted on 11/21/2006 5:49:44 AM PST by TommyDale
Millions and millions of people have purchased his books.
His California church attracts thousands every Sunday.
He seems to be the go-to guy whenever the establishment, ultra-secular press wants to quote an evangelical leader they like.
I'm talking about Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose Driven Life" and the pastor of the Saddleback Church.
Ever since I first pointed out the way he betrayed the persecuted church and our Jewish brothers and sisters living in captivity in the totalitarian police state of Syria, I have been expecting to get blasted.
Millions and millions of people have purchased his books.
His California church attracts thousands every Sunday.
He seems to be the go-to guy whenever the establishment, ultra-secular press wants to quote an evangelical leader they like.
I'm talking about Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose Driven Life" and the pastor of the Saddleback Church.
Ever since I first pointed out the way he betrayed the persecuted church and our Jewish brothers and sisters living in captivity in the totalitarian police state of Syria, I have been expecting to get blasted.
I thought for sure I would hear from these millions of well-educated, well-informed, biblically astute purpose-driven disciples.
It has been six days. God created the whole universe in that amount of time. And, so far, I haven't heard one cogent argument, apologia or rationalization for Warren's actions by any of his flock.
I'm told he's got one of the best PR machines money can buy. He sure is not getting his money's worth.
On the other hand, I can tell you hundreds of thousands of people are reading my critiques of his misadventures in misguided foreign policy. We can actually count those readers on WND. And they are being spread far and wide in a viral way by e-mailers and bloggers.
Is the strategy now to ignore Farah?
Is the strategy to pretend WND doesn't exist?
Is the strategy to ignore the hard facts presented here about what Rick Warren said and did in Syria and hope the controversy blows over?
I've got news for you. It's not going to blow over. I won't let it.
I demand an apology from Rick Warren – not to me, for heaven's sake, but to Christians in Syria who choose to worship outside the state-approved churches he toured. I demand an apology to the Jews who suffer the humiliating life of dhimmitude in Syria today while Rick Warren tells the world they don't exist.
This is a world I know something about.
It was just about a year ago that my Jerusalem bureau chief, Aaron Klein, was prevented from entering Syria for one reason – he's Jewish!
Funny, I don't remember Rick Warren protesting that action – minor, really, compared to the indignities Jews in Syria live with daily, but well-publicized nonetheless.
Perhaps Rick Warren hasn't seen the Syrian TV show – a big hit in Damascus – that renews the blood libel direct from "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," entertaining millions with a graphic story of a rabbi who slits the throat of a young Christian boy so he can use it to prepare the Passover motzah.
Perhaps Rick Warren hasn't noticed that the Syrian government has published an updated version of the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," an anti-Semitic story that claims Jews run the world by proxy.
Perhaps Rick Warren is not aware of hundreds of years of genocidal pogroms that have taken place in Syria at the expense of the Jews.
But of course he must know about all these things, because he says he's an avid reader of my column and an expert on the Middle East because of his membership in the Council on Foreign Relations.
Rick Warren thinks it is commendable that Syria has opened its arms to Christians fleeing Iraq. What he doesn't know or doesn't say is that many of those Christians fleeing Iraq are fleeing bullets and bombs and terrorists that have entered Iraq through Syria. He also doesn't explain President Bashar Assad's penchant for keeping his friends close and his enemies closer.
I'm not going to let this matter slide. Not me. Not this Syrian-Lebanese-American Christian journalist. If Rick Warren thinks dialogue with everyone is so great – let the dialogue begin right here. The persecuted church in Syria can't speak for itself. But I will stand with them in answering Rick Warren's lies about their tormentors.
Folks from Rick's home church have written on Rick Bashing threads about how the church life and sermons and small groups emphasize working THE WORD INTO THEIR LIVES, CHOICES AND ACTIONS in the nitty gritty where the rubber meets the road.
But, hey, throw rocks if one must . . . I'm not his overseer. God is. I expect God throws rocks back better than anyone.
I didn't buy or read either one.
It shows how far Christianity has fallen.
That 'christians' would even read such crap, much less purchase it.
How could you call it "crap" if you haven't read it. Read it yourself and make your own decision. Don't listen to the opinions of others.
We must have read different books.
So let's tar and feather him and "demand an apology".
Or just grow up.
= = =
INDEED!
What a novel idea!
"Judge not........"
That's not the only thing God says about judging.
"Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." -John 7:24
" Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. " -I Cor. 6:2
Scripture alone helped me most times. But God graciously brought me many Godly books that helped as well.
The logic was posted that Scripture alone was all anyone needed so Rick's stuff should be thrown out.
Logically, then, all but the Bible should be thrown out.
"Christian Zionism is rooted in errant theology, but that doesn't we have to support Palestinian terrorism."
Could you please point out that errant theology that is the root of Christian Zionism?
Read the Book of Acts and walk *that* out.
= = =
Am ALL FOR THAT.
Quote:
When the theology of men like N.T. Wright replaces that of men like Kennedy and Sproul, then you will find compatibility between the theology of believers of the 1st Century and that of reformed theology today. Until then, "orthodox" is in the eyes of the beholder, and not an objective word.
If you're calling on N.T. Wright, I would say you're as misguided as Mr. Warren. I don't see anything anti-semitic with R.C. Sproul, or Kennedy -- what I DO see is a reliance on scripture... which Mr. Wright does not do.
Neal
May God continue to bless you and yours in His richness and Intimacy.
The African project was the fruit of Jabez and his book Dreamgiver.
How good could they have been?
Scripture alone helped me most times. But God graciously brought me many Godly books that helped as well. ........
Whew...I was beginning to think I was the only heathen on this thread....
Actually, the statement was "Christians have everthing they need to for a more intimate relationship with God already."
There is nothing about throwing Rick's or any other books away. You said that. Don't be so sensitive. I ask again, are all these other books necessary for a more intimate relationship with God. I didn't say "are they helpful?", the question is "are they necessary?" Why do the Gideons place God's Word in hotels? Because the Word of God is sharper than any two edged sword and more powerful than any text written about the Word. Consider yourself in a place where you could only have one book or a loved one only able to have one book. What would that book be?
There are many good helps, as I have previously inferred but there is ONE that is necessary.
Rick Warren is a lousy preacher. I don't like his delivery or the message. The hermeneutics in his books are just plain horrible. Politically, he may be off the reservation. But, my pastor and I agree that Rick is gifted as a teacher of organization and providing an outline, or method, for growing a church and getting more people committed to service in their church.
If I don't look for, accept or expect anything more from Warren and PDL, then I am fine with it and so is my pastor.
He has also been quite effective for shrinking many churches. Most of the growth in some churches are at the expense of movement from smaller churches. His teaching materials are all over the map, based on 19 different versions of Bibles, to suit his point.
At best, Rick Warren is good at marketing.
There are also some large churches that have experienced sudden shrinkage.
Yes, thank you for that reminder. The recent front page article in the Wall Street Journal told of many large churches that had lost many members. The author of the article said that she could have written about dozens more, but she didn't want to duplicate stories.
As I recall, didn't 150 members leave a church in Winston-Salem after the "Purpose Driven" program was introduced?
I seem to recall hearing that.
Yes, I know someone who once attended there, and also a couple of friends of the former pastor, who ended up losing his job there.
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