Posted on 11/20/2006 5:44:21 AM PST by Esther Ruth
Megapastor Rick Warren's Damascus Road experience (Megapastor Rick Warren admits he's in CFR)
Posted: November 20, 200 1:00 a.m. Eastern
WASHINGTON Rick Warren, the superstar mega-church pastor and bestselling author of ''The Purpose Driven Life,'' had a Damascus Road experience last week and like Saul of Tarsus, one of the after-effects appears to be blindness. Warren went to Syria and could find no persecution of Christians. He could find no persecution of Jews. He could find no evidence of extremism. He could find no evidence of the sponsorship of terrorism.
Despite the temporary loss of vision that prevented him from seeing any evil in the totalitarian police state, Warren's hearing was apparently not affected for his ears were tickled by what he heard and apparently accepted lock, stock and barrel from the second-generation dictator, Bashar Assad, and his state-approved mufti.
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But that's not the story Warren is telling at least not in the official press releases he is sending out from Rwanda in response to my confrontations with him last week in which I accused him of betraying his own country in a hostile foreign land and of being a propaganda tool of the Islamo-fascist regime in Damascus.
In fact, after I called him out last week in my column, Warren e-mailed me claiming to have been misquoted by the official Syrian news agency.
''Joseph, why didn't you contact me first and discover the fact that I said nothing of the sort?'' he pleaded. ''The trip was a favor to my next door neighbor, had nothing to do with policy, and was done with the State Department's knowledge who told us to expect exactly what Syria did a PR blast. I don't pretend to be a diplomat. I'm a pastor who just gets invited places.''
I pointed out to Warren that WND had indeed attempted to contact him about his trip. No one from his Saddleback Church ever returned our calls the day the story broke.
''I'm sure since you were warned in advance by the State Department that you took the precaution of recording your own words,'' I suggested in my response. ''We look forward to seeing the transcripts or hearing the recordings.''
I also asked if he could respond specifically to the words put in his mouth by the Syrian news agency. And lastly I suggested that he should have ''counseled with me, or other people knowledgeable about the Middle East before doing so much damage with your reckless trip.''
I really didn't expect to hear back from Warren but, a few minutes later, I did, with an absolutely stunning retort.
He let me know he is a close friend of President Bush ''and many, if not most, of the generals at the Pentagon.''
He also told me he did not tape anything while in Syria, ''because it was a courtesy call, like I do in every country.''
Warren explained that he had also counseled with the National Security Council and the White House, as well as the State Department, before his little courtesy call for a neighbor.
''In fact,'' Warren added, ''as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Oxford Analytica, I might know as much about the Middle East as you.''
He continued: ''I hope you'll not choose to believe Syrian propaganda even though, as you pointed out at the start of your article, you've been wanting to criticize me for some time. In spite of your rush to judgment, I think you write great, insightful columns. You are almost batting 1,000.''
No sooner had I received this surprising response from Warren, I also got an e-mail providing a link to a YouTube video of Rick Warren in Syria explaining how great the Assad regime treats Christians and Jews and how Damascus ''does not permit extremism of any kind.''
Not one to let lies go unchallenged, I wrote back to Warren with a link to the YouTube video: ''If you didn't tape anything, what's this? Do you really believe Syria does not allow extremism of any kind? There are more terrorist organizations based in Syria than anywhere else in the world!''
It might be that Rick Warren, deep in the bush of Rwanda, never received those last questions, because he never responded at least not in the last three days.
He did, however, within minutes make sure the YouTube video he recorded independent of his meetings with the Syrian brown shirts was removed from the network. Vanished. Kaput. Sterilized. Cleansed.
Stay tuned for more on Rick Warren's ''Agenda-Driven Life'' in the coming days sponsored, of course, by the Council on Foreign Relations.
It is a heretical piece of crap.
John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life is orthodox and God-centered.
Rick Warren is so full of himself. His farcical writing, with theology that is no more than an inch deep, is a real embarassment. If the truth be know, he has done more harm with his books than he has done good. I guess he is beginning to believe his own publicity...and that of those who would include him in a list of the 25 most influential evangelicals, along with Ted Haggard!
PING for later read.
''In fact,'' Warren added, ''as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Oxford Analytica, I might know as much about the Middle East as you.''
White House? National Security Council? I thought he was a pastor!
No I don't believe it is as simplistic as that. Generally it is a forum for discussion of political theory and actions. There is a great variety of views expressed in its publications.
Nonsense.
I lived in Mission Viejo, when Warren started his church. Originally, most of the members were former members of other protestant churches in the area, looking for something more from a church than what they were getting from the mainstream churches in the area. The Presbyterian church had just voted to ordain women, and a whole lot of member left over that. The Lutheran church's pastor ran the service like a game show host, and the Methodist church was more of a women's social club than a church. Warren offered something different, or at least he seemed to be more fundamentalist than the others. I remember members of his church who wouldn't let their kids listen to rock music or play with He-man figures, because of their religious beliefs. I mean this church (the members, not the pastor) was strictly Bible believing.
But...I never bought into his act. His service was just another one of those pastor-centered, not God centered, shows that are put on every Sunday around the country. I think that he envisioned himself as in competition with Schuler.
How do you join?
FRom the CFR FAQs page..
http://www.cfr.org/about/faqs.html
How are individuals selected for membership?
Every candidate for membership must be a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident with an application for citizenship pending. Candidates are formally proposed in writing by one member and seconded by a minimum of three other individuals. Letters of support from members (as opposed to non-members) are strongly encouraged. Quality, diversity, and balance are the key objectives sought by the Council in the composition of its membership. The roster of members is listed in the published version of the annual report. To request a published version of the annual report, email the Councils Communications Department at communications@cfr.org. Click here for more information about member-selection procedures.
Hey Tommy, do you buy into this CFR conspiracy stuff?
Don't forget Bolton.
Have studied such things for more than 45 years.
Accusations of "nonsense" don't hold much water with me.
The elites have been on such a trek for a long time.
The issues listed on the Georgia Guide Stones are indicative of their relatively sanitized public sentiments:
THE MESSAGE OF THE GEORGIA GUIDESTONES
1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
2. Guide reproduction wisely - improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion - faith - tradition - and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth - beauty - love - seeking harmony with the infinite.
10.Be not a cancer on the earth - Leave room for nature - Leave room for nature.
Limiting the population of the earth to 500 million will require the extermination of nine-tenths of the world's people. The American Stonehenge's reference to establishing a world court foreshadows the current move to create an International Criminal Court and a world government. The Guidestones' emphasis on preserving nature anticipates the environmental movement of the 1990s, and the reference to "seeking harmony with the infinite" reflects the current effort to replace Judeo-Christian beliefs with a new spirituality.
FROM:
http://www.radioliberty.com/stones.htm
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If the "nonsense" comment indicates tha FREEPERS are going to be supporting CFR from now on, count me out of such a position.
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I don't know if Rick Warren is being sent as an agent into enemy territory by The Lord or has been co-opted as so many leaders have into the globalist agenda. I'm quite uncomfortable with some of his recent statements.
But I'm not his judge. God is well able to lead and discipline him as God sees fit.
Rick has done a LOT for the Kingdom of God in his own way and that's quite fine with me. I have no need to throw rocks at him.
I do have a need to be alert to the possibility that he may be in the process of being co-opted by the globalists.
Praying . . .
What's the deal about the CFR? What do they do; why is being associated with them a bad thing?
Sounds dangerous, all right (stifling a yawwwnnn......)
lol.. Sorry to overwhelm you. :-)
I've just never understood what all the fuss was about. A close friend's father was a member of CFR, and also was in Skull and Bones at Yale. And he didn't have enough hair to successfully cover a "666" on his skull, so I'm pretty sure there was none.
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