Rick Warren Teams Up With New Age Guru Ken Blanchard!

http://lighthousetrailsresearch.com/PressReleasekenblanchard.htm ^ | Aril19,2005 | Lighthouse Trails Research

[pro610]

Rick warren is gearing up to train a billion people,unbeknownst to many he has also been teamed up with New Age and contemplative promoter,Ken Blanchard,for some time now. According to a new biography on Rick Warren,A Life With A Purpose wrtten by George Mair,Rick Warren has solicited the services of Ken Blanchard to aid him to train leaders:"Rick taps the best and the most famous to help train church leaders to be like Jesus. he has hired Ken Blanchard...to come to saddleback to help train people how to be effective leaders."p.193

In light of knowing who Ken Blanchard is,this is shocking and devatating news for the Church!

There is countless evidence to show that Ken Blanchard sits on the New age/mystical/contemplative bandwagon.Blanchard believes in the benefits and use of mantra meditation,yoga and has no trouble borrowing from Buddism... http://lighthousetrailsresearch.com/Pressreleasekenblanchard.htm

[Corin Stormhands]

Actually, no. Help me out here. Rick Warren advertising his books on his website="OK", yet these people are "tainted" due to the fact that they advertise books on their site. i don't get it.

Oh I think you get exactly what I mean. I have no problem with people writing and selling as many books as they wish.

The difference here is that Rick Warren is not selling his books, or promoting his work by trashing theirs.

But I think you knew that all along.

If it fulfills some need, you may have the last word.

[Calvinist_Dark_Lord]

The difference here is that Rick Warren is not selling his books, or promoting his work by trashing theirs.

But I think you knew that all along.

If it fulfills some need, you may have the last word.

Well, thank you for your consideration of my "felt needs", even though i don't really have any, and believe "felt needs" in a church context to be largely fiction. None the less, i will take the opportunity offered:

The difference here is that Rick Warren is not selling his books, or promoting his work by trashing theirs.

Actually Warren is selling his books on his site. Furthermore, If the criticism's of the author of the posted article is accurate, how is this sort of criticism to be construed as "trashing"? It sounds as if the [FReeper 5^th] has been expanded to annoint Warren as a Protestant Pope. Point being that if Warren's work doesn't stand up to biblical scrutiny, then perhaps this article merely "takes out the trash". Of course you already knew that...

[pro610]

I,m still waiting for you you show me where it,s biblical to borrow eastern mysticism for use in Christianity?

PDC PDL people,Your being deceived
These methods are not taught in the Bible.
They are borrowed from the east and brought into Christianity by people who are evidentially not satisfied with the means of grace God has provided all Christians.
We are not lacking mystical capabilities because Western rationalism robbed us of them,we lack them because GOD NEVER GAVE THEM.

[Corin Stormhands]

Actually Warren is selling his books on his site.

You missed (or ignored) the point. Of course Warren is selling his books on his website. But his books are not trashing theirs. The reverse is not true.

It sounds as if the [FReeper 5th] has been expanded to annoint Warren as a Protestant Pope.

Hardly. But, over the past few weeks, there has been a FReeper crusade of sorts against Warren. But that's only a matter of time. There's a new Harry Potter book due out in July.

[Protagoras]

I,m still waiting for you you show me...

I owe you nothing. I have already made my point that you or whatever group you are with, does not define what it means to be a Christian. I reject your interpretations of scripture and have no desire to have a discussion with you regarding them nor engage in "dueling verses" with you. You are free to discard my opinion as well.

My opinion of you is the same as your opinion of me, you are being deceived.

Not to mention, all of your charges are baseless about what is happening at Saddleback. So the rest is irrelevant.

[asformeandformyhouse]

Borrowing from Pagan religions is unchristian and unbiblical

I personally agree, but wonder how you feel about Christmas and Easter.

[pro610]

I already know about Easter and Christmas.
The topic is about borrowing prayer practices, and that is unbiblical

[Quix]

Well said.

I'm not so thrilled when Solid believers like Rick seek the counsel of the evidently unGodly.

However, I don't believe 99% of the rocks thrown at him hereon.

He Loves Jesus and is doing Jesus' work.

He's leading thousands to a saving relationship with Jesus and discipling them to maturity.

I doubt any of the rock throwers are doing 1/100,000th as much for Jesus.

[Quix]

You should know

that

the NASB, KJV etc

are full of paraphrases.

Translating well is impossible without them--particularly between two diverse cultures greatly distant in time.

[pro610]

So,are you saying that PDL PDC movement does not approve of Contemplative prayer ,yoga,and Carl Jungs psychological profiling???

Or are you saying that they are able to Christianize these methods somehow?

[xzins]

I don't think anyone wants to annoint Rick Warren as the Protestant Pope. What has happened is that legitimate criticisms of his work aren't possible because too many are trashing the guy because he has a big church, because he wrote a book, because he has a pot belly....

Dumb stuff.

I'd be happy to participate in a discussion of what he actually says. When we were doing his PDL in Sunday School, I had real difficulty with some of his statements that were entirely TOO deterministic for me.

[pro610]

No one is questioning his love for Jesus.
All that is being questioned is the methods.

The methods are unbiblical and you know it.

Many people including myself would approve of this movement if they would stop using them.

Quix,I,m surprised you never picked up on the fact that my attacks are never on Warren ,but rather the methods being used.

[Cleburne]

In Rick Warren’s Purpose-Driven Life, on Day Eleven, he encourages people to practice “breath prayers” by repeating words and phrases over and over in a mantra-style prayer, a practice used centuries ago by a group of mystical monks known as the Desert Fathers. This so-called “prayer” is identical to that found in Hindu yoga and Zen Buddhism.

The author displays his lack of knowledge from the bat. The Jesus Prayer as practiced to this day in Eastern Orthodoxy is _not the same as mantras used in Eastern practice. It can be _mis-used_ and turned into a mantra, but any practice can be misused. Calling out to Jesus Christ our God for help and confessing one's sinfulness from the heart (the whole point of the Jesus Prayer) is very different from Buddhist ideas. Certainly, there are external similarities to Buddhism, in this and other ancient (and not so ancient!) Christian mystical practices, but they are by no means the same. Christian spirituality has as its heart the Incarnate God.

Incidentally, I found the reference to the Desert Fathers in The Purpose Driven Life very heartening and rather surprising.

[pro610]

You can sugar coat it all you want but I can show you well over a hundred articles where the use of yoga and contemplative prayer is approved by the PDL ,PDC movement.
Its origin comes from Eastern Mysticism no matter how you try and water it down, its unbiblical
Its also no secret that they use Carl Jungs personality profiling.

[HarleyD]

I doubt that Rick Warren would have disagreed with anything that I have written. It is well documented and Rev Warren is unabashed about using people from all walks of theology, his PDL is based upon the Living Bible and the Messagers (both of which are poor translations), and he is a well know advocate of marketing surveys for the church from which many churches are copying his ideas. I don't understand why you feel you must deny he advocates these methods when Rick Warren doesn't.

[Larry Lucido]

shocking and devatating news for the Church

Someone writes a book and the Church is devastated. Church becoming a little fragile perhaps?

[pro610]

There are people who think they can use any methods possible to bring others to Christ.
Their argument is "God can do anything and use anything, their accusation is you are trying to put God in a box.

The biblical record shows that it is God who purposely limits the ways we can come to him,If there was a "box"God made it.
A better analogy than a box,is a sheepfold.It is a Biblical analogy.

Jesus said,"truly truly,I say to you,he who does not enter by the door into the fold of sheep,but climbs up some other way,he is a thief and a robber."(John 10:1).The true sheep enter the sheepfold through the door,Jesus Christ(John 10:7)
He as the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep(John10:11)
He protects His sheep from wolves,gives them pasture,and abundant life(John10:10-15
Being a sheepfold may seem to be restrictive compared to the adventures of exploring the bigger world out there unencumbered by the guidance of the Sheperd.
However the restrictions are there to save our spiritual life.
The restrictions God places on how and by what means we may legitimately come to Him and receive spiritual truth are for our own good. Using other methods borrowed from eastern mysticism and psychology in the spiritual world can lead to the dangers of deception.
In fact,if we journey into the world of the spirits by means other that God has ordained,we will be deceived.The spirits that inhabit that world have been there for many thousands of years practicing the art of deception.They willingly give people whatever experience they would tend to think is from God,they will provide any experience that serves their purpose,including a counterfeit of"Jesus"
(2Corinthians11:4)
I say this because,when someone comes preaching another Jesus than the one we preached,or you receive a different spirit than the one you received,or another gospel other than the gospel you accepted,you seem to endure it quite well.

The prohibitions on divination are there to protect us from these malicious entities.

So we are not putting God in a box,God is putting us in a sheepfold if we are willing to be there.

The practices of "thinking outside the box" that are so popular today are fatal when it comes to spirituality
God has not left access to spiritual truth in the hands of thinkers who like pioneers blaze new trails.God has given access to Himself once for all,through Jesus Christ.
The truth is revealed once for all in the scriptures.

Some Evangelicals who know the Gospel yet dabble in practices of the pagans because they think their creative making Christianity relevant to the culture.
The problem is not Western rationalism as contemporary mystics claim
They are fighting an obsolete battle.
The prevailing culture in America is very much "spiritual"
they claim the need for mystical experience to fight against modernity when they are in post-modern culture that has embraced the East.
The danger today is not that people think that the material realm is all there is,its that they think they can contact the spiritual realm their own way.
They are practicing divination

[Protagoras]

Your opinions are bizarre. They should be rejected.

[Protagoras]

What denomination do you belong to?

[Protagoras]

I doubt that Rick Warren would have disagreed with anything that I have written.

Send it to him and see.

It is well documented and Rev Warren is unabashed about using people from all walks of theology,

I have no problem if he does, but you need to prove it..

his PDL is based upon the Living Bible and the Messagers (both of which are poor translations),

You say that, and your OPINION on those translations can be given the appropriate consideration.

and he is a well know advocate of marketing surveys for the church from which many churches are copying his ideas.

It's a good idea to always explore new ways to reach people with the gospel.

I don't understand why you feel you must deny he advocates these methods when Rick Warren doesn't.

I never denied the things above. I reject the false connection to "NEW AGE" thinking in his preaching the gospel and implications that may here have made.