Amen, Hymen and Oz, "Oh My!"

Amen, Hymen and Oz..  That is, Mark Hyman, Mehmet Oz, and Daniel Amen, "nationally known doctors" who currently are sidekicks for Rick Warren.  These three are Rick Warren kick-off the "Decade of Destiny," currently beginning at Saddleback Church, but more importantly they re helping Rick plan and implement what Rick calls, the Daniel Plan. 

It's a little unsettling to some Christians, who say, "Amen, Hymen and Oz...Oh My!" when they hear this news.  Yes, it's a little unsettling to hear that a Christian pastor, in particular, Pastor Rick, has chosen these men who are not believers to implement what he is calling, the Daniel Plan, but Rick wants to silence any opposition.  Calling them "confused Christians" he began a recent Sunday sermon, assuring us that the celebrity doctors, Hyman, Amen and Oz are our knowledgeable friends.

IT's enough to make you feel like you are traveling along with Rick on the Yellow Brick Road to the glorious Emerald City of total Health. ) 

Yes, Rick is going to interview them... and these three men will get everyone on their first steps to health in the coming week.

 After thanking and applauding his enormous supporting staff, talking-up about the impressive numbers of people all over the United States who are now interested in his great idea... the Daniel Plan, (and who have showed interest in his "Purpose Driven" everything,) Rick made a serious attempt to derail and deflect some of the criticism he has drawn for yoking himself with these men.  He clearly defended his choice of associates saying that these were "nationally known." and telling the church that was all ears before his pulpit, that they should be impressed, after all,thanks to yours truly, they had these three great nationally known experts in their fields, as their personal coaches.. for 52 weeks, a whole year!

Wow. Personal Coaches!

(Even though they never meet with people individually, face to face or one-on-one.  but people are used to this by now.  After all, they are accustomed to viewing video sermons, video seminars and filling in the blanks during sermons to be sure they know exactly what to remember.)

Ys, these three men have partnered with Rick,  and are going to help the church be "healthy."


Dr. Amen is a double board certified adult and child psychiatrist and Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.  He advocates "meditation" and subtly so.. for while referring to the kind of meditation where you empty your mind, he simply calls it "prayer."

Dr. Hyman  has dedicated his career to identifying and addressing the root causes of chronic illness through a ground-breaking whole-systems medicine approach known as Functional Medicine.

Dr. Oz, daytime Emmy Award-winning host of "The Dr. Oz Show," and not only is he host of this award winning program, but he has authored over 400 original publications, book chapters, and medical books, has received several patents, and performs more than 100 heart surgeries per year!  Oz boasts quite a biography, including being the  Vice-Chair and Professor of Surgery at Columbia University.  Dr. Oz is happy to teach people about meditation too. 

As you can see, they are all quite impressive, knowledgeable people... but none profess to be Bible believers. You might want to read an article profiling these men, by Marsha West, here.


But those three aside,  Rick  is really the issue...

Warren wants people to know that those who speak out against his own use of the word "meditation," and who complain about the practices he endorses... like "breath prayers," "meditation" and various forms of what others call "spiritual formation"... things like that...(not to mention his association with these three, Amen, Hyman and Oz, ) are wrong.


 "Oh My!" 

Hang on to your Christian dogma friends, because, like Dorothy, in the Wizard of Oz, who said,  "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more," the things being taught by Rick Warren and friends, (Amen, Hyman and Oz)  are looking much more than a little strange.