Posted on 08/29/2006 7:24:18 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
LOL! Rick Warren says that Rick Warren's book changed someone's life!
Actually, Rick Warren said there was an article on the front cover of the Manilla paper. Are you saying this isn't true? If it is true, the Holy Spirit is convicting people to come to Christ through Rick Warren's ministry.
I'm saying that I doubt the actual facts of the case are identical to the version told by Warren.
And I can't find a shred of evidence to back up his claim anywhere on the web. I'm asking a colleague of Filipino ancestry to check Filipino websites as well.
It's good to be skeptical. But, there are other similar actual facts of the Holy Spirit convicting people to come to Christ through Warren's ministry.
Great! Let me know what you find out.
The man in question's name is Renato Constantino.
He was never the leader of the CPP, but was a member of an undercover cadre with the codename of "Kaka", who was charged with organizing street protests in Manila.
While he was in prison in 1988, a Christian police captain named Balligi Tira witnessed to him and over a period of months, he decided to become a Christian.
Tira's congregation, Greenhills Christian Fellowship apparently got involved with Warren's PEACE initiative a few years ago, and Constantino is now a volunteer and organizer for PEACE initiatives.
Constantino was not converted by reading The Purpose Driven Life - which was published in 2002, 14 years after he converted.
So when Warren writes, as he does above, that: "this communist leader who had read The Purpose Driven Life and accepted Christ and was now trying to serve the Lord" he is simply not telling the truth.
I'll point out that the paper in which this article was published, the July 23, 2006 edition of the Philippine Inquirer is an English language newspaper.
I found something similar here: Ex-communist finds purpose-driven cause. If this is the article Warren saw, the title might have thrown him off.
Because so many lives have been changed through Warren's ministry, I try to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Don't give Warren the benefit of the doubt. He can't even get a simple story right, and he twists it (as he does the Scriptures) to suit himself and his agenda.
"In the mid-1980s, when the CPP was cleansing its ranks of suspected deep-penetration agents, Constantino was among those at the party’s helm. But the purge, which killed around 3,000 of his comrades, nagged at his conscience.
“I became confused. What right did we have to determine the fate of others when we ourselves were not beyond reproach? What was once a choice assignment for me became a living hell. It was then that I said, ‘If there is a God, He would take me out of this,’” he said.
His “rescue” came in the form of an arrest in August 1988. He was detained at Camp Crame for over a year.
Kindness
In prison, Constantino found kindness in his arresting officer, then Capt. Balligi Tira (now superintendent of the Philippine National Police Academy).
At first he thought it was just a ploy to break him down, but when Tira’s father and brother, who were pastors at the Greenhills Christian Fellowship, started visiting him and telling him about God’s love and forgiveness, he submitted.
In an affidavit, he admitted his involvement with the CPP—but declined the government’s request for him to turn state witness.
Once, brought before then President Corazon Aquino, Constantino was asked what he would do if he were set free. He said he would do the same thing—serve the people."
The Holy Spirit convicts people to come to Christ through Warren's ministry. I've seen it myself.
He can't even get a simple story right, and he twists it
The guy is human and busy. I can see him getting confused about some details, and there are other similar stories that have made the news.
The previous article I posted states his Purpose Driven Life book is changing lives in the Philippines. Even theologin Dr. Melba Maggay (executive director of the Institute for Studies in Asian Church and Culture) who has expressed discomfort of the Purpose Driven Life said it's "main strength is that it can easily convince non-Christians or Christians whose faith is weak."
The Holy Spirit is convicting people to come to Christ through his ministry and I find it extremely odd that some professing Christians have a problem with that fact.
"The Holy Spirit is convicting people to come to Christ through his ministry and I find it extremely odd that some professing Christians have a problem with that fact."
The problem is that he is wolf in sheep's clothing. Jesus warned us about men like him.
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/news/9-purpose-resisters.htm
You are probably referring to Matthew 7:15 where Jesus was referring to false prophets. The Holy Spirit is convicting people to come to Christ through Warren's ministry, and according to Jesus, a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
Jesus warned us about men like him.
Jesus said some interesting statements about the Pharisees as well.
As I said, Jesus Christ warned His followers (including me) about the Warren types, and I intend to heed His warnings.
By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.God is using Warren's ministry to bring people to Christ, which, given the context, is my definition of good fruit. If that is your definition, perhaps you should rethink your position on Warren.
I don't know that many people are truly being born again because of Warren's ministry. Warren makes a lot of grandiose claims, just like the one he got busted for in this thread. Warren produces a lot of rotten fruit, in my opinion.
Thank you for speaking out what I am thinking. God has a place and a ministry for all of us. Theologically, I should become a Catholic, but the Catholics won't let me take communion because I've been divorced twice, so I continue with my Episcopal church and tend to my own ministry-- my family, my daughters' friends, and other young women I meet.
The Lord works in mysterious ways. Doctrinal purists will never understand it.
You don't know but you're perfectly willing to cast doubt on his ministry. A ministry that uses a biblical definition of the gospel as I demonstrated to you here. You didn't respond to that post which demonstrates Warren defines the gospel as you do. But to you he's a false prophet. If true and you define the gospel the same way, what does that make you?
"Purpose Driven Pastor Rick Warren ... Warren's name and best-selling book, The Purpose Driven Life, ... It's very fulfilling to see the Purpose Driven paradigm, the Purpose Driven strategy being used in all kinds of situations ... who had read The Purpose Driven Life ... the police force is using The Purpose Driven Life... gone over 40 Days of Purpose ... through the Purpose Driven Life."
Sheesh, talk about unashamed product hucksterism!!!
("Snake Oil Pastor Rick Warren ... Warren's name and best-selling book, The Snake Oil Driven Life, ... It's very fulfilling to see the Snake Oil paradigm, the Snake Oil strategy being used in all kinds of situations ... who had read The Snake Oil Driven Life ... the police force is using The Snake Oil Driven Life... gone over 40 Days of Snake Oil ... through the Snake Oil Driven Life.")
I cast doubt on him because I have read his own words and many critiques of him, and drawn my own conclusions. What I don't understand is why so many are so anxious to follow him, defend him, and be his disciples. Why do people seem to have so much emotion and belief invested in Warren or any other man? When people tried to lift up the Apostle Paul or other men in the church, Paul told them to stop. So did John the Baptist.
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