(And I believe that a sloppy/inaccurate message translates to sloppy actions/behavior...just maybe that is some of the fruit that is being witnessed, now, via the Syria incident and the Obama incident.)
So is the standard church growth or God's Word?
So...should have the Bereans (Acts 17:11) have considered Paul's target audience and potential church growth prior to searching the scriptures to see if what Paul said was so?
Why did it matter to you that CDL's link was inaccurate about alleged missing content in the PDL...but it appears not to matter to you that The PDL is inaccurate relative to God always using 40 days to prepare or transform someone for His purposes (and then, "bad examples", as you stated, or inaccuracies, are used to reinforce the incorrect statement?
In any audience, why would it be okay for a pastor to use unbiblical examples, distorted scriptures (check out the John 4 reference that I previously mentioned) and use known false teachers?
As an aside...Scripture tells us that Satan masquerades as an angel of light and that his demons masquerade as workers of righteousness...How is a Christian able to discern the difference between the false thing and the real thing? Have a good Thanksgiving!
Sometimes there are situations in life that challenge our view of how things ought to be done. As Keith Green said: "Nobody's perfect, except for the Lord, and even the best [are] bound to fall." Nobody is going to be right 100% of the time.
We see in Philippians 1:18 that Paul didn't care why somebody preached Christ as long as Christ was preached. While it's important to act as the Bereans, we can't at the same time put God in a box especially when we see the Holy Spirit convicting people through Warren's ministry.
The Bible is clear on one thing. We are saved by the grace of God through faith in God. There is nothing we do to earn salvation (Eph 2:8-9). How God uses his Word and who God uses to spread the gospel message is entirely up to Him. If the Church is growing through ways in which we don't think are correct, perhaps we have put God in a box and it's our thinking about how God works that needs to change.
If they had the New Testament at their disposal, what would the Bereans report where Warren writes: "Jesus, who died on the cross for you" and tells his readers to "receive his forgiveness for your sins" (page 58).
Warren doesn't say the Christian life is easy or that once you're a Christian all your problems go away. Warren goes on (pages 81-83) to state "Surrender is hard work. In our case, it is intense warfare against our self-centered nature ... Surrender doesn't weaken you; it strenghtens you... You are free to choose what you surrender to, but you are not free from the consequences of that choice... Surrender is not the best way to live; it is the only way to live... There is a moment of surrender, and there is the practice of surrender, which is moment-by-moment and lifelong."
That one link mattered to me because the author quoted Warren and stated Warren never wrote about the cross and sin; when in reality two sentences later Warren wrote about the cross and sin (page 58). The author denied Warren wrote about central tenets to Christianity, the cross and sin, when two sentences later Warren wrote about those central tenets to Christianity: the cross and sin.
Yes, Satan masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). Yet Warren teaches the cross and sin.
You may not agree with his methods or style, but Warren teaches the gospel message. The Holy Spirit is convicting people to give their life to the Lord through Warren's ministry.