The author of the article agreed with you. He responded to Rick Warren's statement with:
" this a response to the gospel? Where is repentance, acknowledgement of need, or confession of personal sin? Where is the cross? The Bible tells us that saving "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." [Romans 10:17-18] But none of the Scriptures that show the gospel are mentioned in this first lesson. Biblically illiterate friends and neighbors who join the group would pray this prayer without any real knowledge of the cross, of the Savior, or of God's view of sin. In fact, the meaning of salvation isn't included in the first lesson. And if it had been there, the context of the lesson would suggest that we are merely saved from a purposeless life -- not from bondage to sin."
IMO this is treading on very thin ice, as should be immediately obvious to anyone with even a perfunctory understanding of the original gospel.
I find it particulary chilling to observe this man, with his "worldly salvation plan", aligning himself with a "man of great charisma" -- someone who can woo nearly any and every crowd with little if any effort -- a man who is (pardon the expression) "half-christian/half-muslim", who is, like Warren, apparently of a mind to "unite the world as one." (note square quotes to denote the essence of the message, not a quote-literal.)
I am not comforted when I see him (Warren) being sponsored jointly by the most prominent media magnates (Rupert Murdoch) and the U.S. government (the Department of Defense):
Note too, his attachment to the philosophy of Joseph Schumpeter, who is oft considered a marxist/socialist (and, oft-denied, which is in itself curious). For giggles, check out all the conjunctions between Schumpeter and Gramsci. Their names turn up so many times in close conjunction with each other (when examining the results of a web search on both names) that one almost gets the image of two stars orbiting each other.
Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church and author of The Purpose-Driven Life, will be preaching to a global audience over Christmas thanks to Rupert Murdoch and the U.S. Defense Department.
I'll close by mentioning that on a sheerly "media-aware" basis, the one person that I am most reminded of when I see Warren in "full battle dress" (his "Ugly American" costume, of Hawaiian shirt, Bermuda shorts, and sandals), is none other than Michael Moore, whom also embraces a "jes' fo'ks" affectation via similar haberdashery techniques.
Frankly, I trust one as much as I trust the other.