Noting how TIME Magazine called this shooting an "assault on innocence," Rick said it was, "...actually a phrase from the first Christmas where Herod killed baby boys under 2 at Christmas time."
Does he mean a phrase from a book by that title? Does he mean a phrase from the Bible?
And when exact was the "first Christmas? Was this murdering of children ordered by Herod "The "First Christmas?"
Moving into the topic of dealing with grief, Warren informed us that there were some long term things we needed to deal with...(regarding what had taken place) but he said that right now, we just needed to deal with the deep grief. He sympathized and offered some wisdom, saying,
Note... Jesus did not say grief, in itself is "good." (Rick said that.)
"Actually" a phrase?
From what source is the phrase taken?
Rick makes you think it is from the Bible. Is it?
Rick makes you think it is from the Bible. Is it?
Does he mean a phrase from a book by that title? Does he mean a phrase from the Bible?
And when exact was the "first Christmas? Was this murdering of children ordered by Herod "The "First Christmas?"
Moving into the topic of dealing with grief, Warren informed us that there were some long term things we needed to deal with...(regarding what had taken place) but he said that right now, we just needed to deal with the deep grief. He sympathized and offered some wisdom, saying,
"As a pastor I deal with grief every day of my life, and I've discovered is that grief is actually a good thing. It's the way we make transitions in the losses of life. Jesus said, "Blessed are they that mourn, they shall be comforted... "
-Rick Warren
Note... Jesus did not say grief, in itself is "good." (Rick said that.)
Jesus said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."
Jesus offers hope and comfort.
These, comfort and hope) ( not the grief, not the morning,)
are the "good" things.
Jesus has more to offer us than just this nice saying
about people being comforted, by other people, when they mourn.
Jesus does comfort us because he understands our sorrow and
because he was raised from death to life. Through faith in him,
with hope of eternal life...with him, and not just a hope
for life in this world where people do evil things,
we find comfort.
But Rick didn't touch on that.
But hooray for Rick. He did mention "Jesus."
Next Chris specifically asked Pastor Rick Warren to look past the "long term solutions" he had alluded to preiviously... the issues of gun control, better mental health care and trying to deal with things like the cultural of violence we see in video games and film production,,,,, and to address what the spiritual solution was. Chris said, "But, in a deeper, more spiritual sense, what's the problem and what's the solution?"
Rick responded to this by agreeing with Chris that this was indeed a spiritual issues and then went on to change the subject elaborating on all those things that Chris directly invited him to skip. During this time Rick informed us on the importance of health care saying that we in America, (you know, "that bad place, "America") are not taking care of those struggling with mental illness like we should be. Then he told us about how we had a "civil safety issue, which is gun control and these assault weapons." HE mentioned the culture of violence too...(with statistics,) saying how by the time students are 18 they have killed 10-20 thousand people on video games..... "without any remorse for it."
Finally, he acknowledged the "spiritual issue," and the solution, saying,
Rick responded to this by agreeing with Chris that this was indeed a spiritual issues and then went on to change the subject elaborating on all those things that Chris directly invited him to skip. During this time Rick informed us on the importance of health care saying that we in America, (you know, "that bad place, "America") are not taking care of those struggling with mental illness like we should be. Then he told us about how we had a "civil safety issue, which is gun control and these assault weapons." HE mentioned the culture of violence too...(with statistics,) saying how by the time students are 18 they have killed 10-20 thousand people on video games..... "without any remorse for it."
Finally, he acknowledged the "spiritual issue," and the solution, saying,
"But, at the deepest level is the spiritual issue, which is the emptiness inside of people, that causes people to be enraged, like this. Um, when we -- when we don't have peace in our hearts, we're not going to have peace with each other. That's why Jesus, the prince of peace, came at Christmas. So, It starts in the heart."- Rick Warren
So, you see, the spiritual issue is one of "not having peace" with others. According to Rick, lack of peace is why Jesus came at Christmas.
But just to be sure we understood Rick right, and since Saddleback sermons
are notorious for fill in the blank notes during church.
Let's pretend we are at Saddleback Church, and answer these
questions about what has been taught here.
Just fill in the blanks:
are notorious for fill in the blank notes during church.
Let's pretend we are at Saddleback Church, and answer these
questions about what has been taught here.
Just fill in the blanks:
According to the teaching above on Fox News by Rick,
1. Man's deepest spiritual issue is __Emptiness that causes me to be enraged, no peace in my heart_
Correct BIBLICAL answer is: Sin and separation from God because of that sin
2. The deep spiritual issues inside of people cause them to _be enraged and shoot other people_
Correct answer is: SIN. They display their desires, lusts, selfishness.. (James 4:1-2)
3. When we do not have peace in our hearts _we won't have peace with other people_
Correct answer is: Without Jesus in our hearts, God's gift of Grace and peace,
we die in our sin and cannot escape the snare of Satan,
and the place of punishment for all sin, hell.
4. The reason why Jesus, the Prince of Peace, came at Christmas is ? _
Correct answer is: God sent a promised Messiah and
came to save His people from their sin.
Odd that Rick would not give biblical answers.
(He did talk about Jesus though.)
This moved the conversation into a discussion of Rick and his book, his latest campaign and his plan for P.E.A.C.E. Rick's "public profile" was about to reemerge....
" I intentionally a- was absent from the scene... for the last ten years, I've been in a lot of small villages around the world, Africa...and places like that that most people never even heard of. " - Rick Warren
This is not very specific.
Also, do you suppose most people never heard of "Africa?"
"We started... a... with the proceeds of the book... we took that and put it into a thing called the Peace Plan, P.E.A.C.E. ....stands for Promote reconciliation, Equip leaders, ethical leaders....Assist the poor, Care for the sick and Educate the next generation..." - Rick Warren
Too bad that "P" is not for "Preach the Word"
Too bad that "reconciliation" is not specifically mentioned as sinners reconciling
And that part about "ethical" leaders....who's ethics?
What does Rick really mean by this?
You might have to look back to the first time he announced it, because
his words have been repackaged since then.
He is not talking about "leaders," he is talking about pastors in churches.
He was very specific about who these ungodly, unethical "leaders"
he considered "evil giants" wer, church leaders. Of them he said,
"Not only have these leaders not gone to seminary or Bible school,
they haven’t even gone to high school or primary school. They have no
training whatsoever -- and yet they lead the church. This must be remedied."
What if your church is not deemed "healthy",
What if you reject purpose driven or if you do not have the "purpose driven DNA"
Read, The Characteristics of a Purpose Driven Congregation by Rick Warren, 2006
Was this news program really about helping people through the Sandy Hook Massacre and talking genuinely about the meaning of Christmas? Seemed more like it was about Rick....his rereleased book and new "campaign." Chris' lead in was, "...your public profile has not been as high in the last few years, but you're just about to begin a new campaign...."
"The new campaign is.... I realize that when I wrote the book, The Purpose Driven Life, What on Earth Am I Here For, that a girl who was twelve years old when that book came out is now 22 and she needs to learn the purpose of life."
- Rick Warren
At 22, "this woman" now needs to learn "the purpose of life" from Rick?
Apparently she needs Rick's book... not the advice of her parents
and teachers and friends, not even the bible... just his book....
in order to learn the purpose of life.
Apparently she needs Rick's book... not the advice of her parents
and teachers and friends, not even the bible... just his book....
in order to learn the purpose of life.
Badmouthing "America" again, he said,
"People are pretty disillusioned with the American Dream...."
- Rick Warren
Chris Wallace gave Rick another opportunity to speak on spiritual issues. He said, "You talk about a nation in decline, divided as it's been since the Civil War.... a need for a Spiritual reawakening....could you explain that?"
Rick replied in a typical Rick-like fashion. Skirting any Bible references, he simply turned the subject at hand, "spiritual re-awakening," into a promotion for his book and world unification project.
"The answer to our unity, I believe, it's not going to be in politics. Uh, because we are going to have different degrees of... uh,uh, all over the spectrum on that ... but when we come together on the things that matter most...and there are three fundamental question...The question of significance, that is, "Does my life matter? The question of Intention...."What is my purpose" and the question of existence, "Why am I here?" These are spiritual issues They are not political issues, and they can provide a rallying cry,... a purpose....that can help us unify. We are not ever gonna agree on policies but we can agree on direction...." - Rick Warren
He suggested that we all look to the things we have in common to find unity. He pointed out how "people want the same things".... safety, security... a job.....health. The problem, according to Rick, is that we "disagree on how to get there." The answer to Chris' question about "spiritual awakening" is "unity"... (or in other words, everyone getting what they "want.") Rick then began dropping taglines attached to the promotion of his book and talking about his plan for world peace. Of course we must make mention that Rick plan for world peace is everyone "of peace" under the banner of "peace" (with the right "DNA") working together to rid the world of those five "evil" giants.
Mark Ellis, reporting in March 2011,on the state of missiary work,
summed the PEACE Plan up this way: "Saddleback’s PEACE
Plan seeks to make an impact door-to-door, church-to-church, village-to-village.
His teams always look for a person of influence when they enter
a new area. “It’s very important to find a ‘man of peace’ in each village,”
Warren said. “I’ve found you can find a man of peace in every village,” he said.
“It could also be a woman,” he added. “The man of peace could also
be a Muslim, a Hindu, or an atheist.”
Even though the answer was not in politics, the two then embarked on a discussion of politics. They discussed the president and what "Warren thought" of the job that Barak Obama, was doing. Apparently. "it" is not about "politics" much the way "it " is not about you.
Chis Wallace, then ready to conclude the interview, said, "Pastor, ......we still look forward to Christmas,.. Do you have a message for all of us, myself, all of our viewers this year, sir "
Vague as ever about the gospel, neglecting to mention the name of Jesus, (by which men might be saved, ) Rick Warren. took us back to the "first Christmas," and gave a message "for us all." Ad wouldn't you know, he didn't talk about Jesus. He didn't mention the gift of God, eternal life through simple faith in Jesus Christ, He didn't even mention God's long time promise of sending a savior into the world, and how that had been fulfilled by a baby miraculously being born, in Bethlehem or of how God had come to dwell among men, He did not even quote the bible. He did however bother to inform us all that Christmas has "purpose."
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