God's Gift to You

"The Bible says, 'God made my body; Jesus died for my body; the spirit lives in my body.' So I had better take care of it."

~Rick Warren, USA Today, 

Rick Warren Shares the Good News About Weight-Loss Plan by Nanci Hallmic h, Dec. 22013

Rick stresses the importance of taking care of his body. (Which equates to you taking care of your own.)  He says this is something that "...had better" be done.  However, if body care was of utmost importance to God (as Rick suggests,) then how is it that this is not mentioned in the list of commandments God gave Moses? 

More importantly, why does he not talk about the spirit?

"Jesus paid for your body. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, he paid for you - for your soul and for your body. So, in a sense, your body is on loan; therefore, physical fitness is a stewardship issue. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, 'You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.'"

~ Rick Warren, An Attitude Check  For Your Body by Rick Warren, Identity Network.net

 Rick says, "physical fitness is a stewardship issue."

Is it?  Is your body simply on loan to you?
Will you need the body you now have when you are in heaven?

Not, if you are listening to Rick and are out of shape, then after hearing his words
you are probably feeling like you have failed God. after 

all you want to be a good steward.... right?
If you are a Christian, you probably would want to be in the best shape possible to serve God.  Not only that, but Rick seems to know what he is talking about, and he is the "pastor"
he knows what the Bible says.... so if you then decide to listen to him,
 the next thing you will want to do is what?

Buy his book? 
Take good care of your body just like he says?
Get a group of your friends to do his Daniel Plan?
After all,  Rick says his program is "God's Prescription for your health."

The desire to exercise more, make smart food choices while shopping or follow a daily diet plan to help you loose pounds if you are overweight is great.  It is even great to do an exercise program with friends who keep you on-track and encouraged along the way.  It is wonderful to read the bible an see what it says too.  None of these things are what is wrong with the Daniel Plan concocted by Rick Warren and his publishing partners.  Their book probably has a lot of helpful advice.  But if you think a person can draw closer to God or please him more by meditation techniques or by abstaining from certain foods or drinks, if you somehow think that a person who is overweight is obviously not pleasing to the Lord God or not in God's perfect will, (especially if THAT person is you,) then you just might be being deceived.

Highly marketed inside Christian circles and to the general public as well via a full blown media blitz, the Daniel Plan advertising gives one the distinct impression that the idea behind it comes direct to you from God and straight from the pages of scripture.  It is as if  Rick Warren, ever-concerned with health issues of all kinds, has a message about what God has to say about your health.  It's the new theology of health, as he calls it; something that,  he says, no one has ever discovered before.

 Strangely, Rick's theology of health includes taking the advice and health recommendations of his partners in health, Dr. Amen, Dr. Hyman, and Dr. Oz.    Dr. Hyman, offers patients his many helpful nutrition supplements, for a fee of course.  Dr. Oz, the heart surgeon-gone-talk-show-host, introduces is audiences to spiritualists and mediums who talk to the dead and encourages them to learn to talk to their deceased loved ones too.  Dr. Oz.even recommends Paul McKenna to his patients (or rather, television audiences) and encourages them to be hypnotized for weight loss.  Then there is Dr. Amen, partner of Rick, who teaches about the health of the human brain.. He gives instruction for his patients to practice Kirtan Kriya a meditative practice with repetitive syllabic pronunciations of Sa Ta Na Ma, (making one sounds as if they are calling on Satan in meditation.)  So now, many people who listen to "Pastor Rick," also listen to the advice of these partnered "health" experts too.

Make no mistake, Rick, in full book promoting partnership with these men and is vicariously recommending their wisdom and practices, to the church, along with his own recommendations for you.   It's a new way of life he says that he is offering those unhealthy Christians who he says,(click here and look inside this book) never had a theology of health. (That is, until now... because now Rick and doctor friends have come along and devised the Daniel Plan to help them out.)

Rick's Daniel Plan, not only embraces and promoted the "wisdom" of these men listed above, but is chock full of things that you need to do,  "habits" you must form, and rules you need to remember about eating.  it is brimming with commitments you must keep... commitments of quiet times every day with God, commitments to the people in your weekly-meeting small group, to the Daniel Plan program and this is on top of those membership covenants you already have made and signed if you are in a purpose driven church. You will be abstaining from meat, (just like Daniel) eating this but not that and trying your hardest to rest in God's grace while you practice prayerful movements and breathing techniques all day long in order to obtain that closer walk with God and be able to serve Him better.  The slick marketing behind the Daniel Plan, with it's biblical sounding presentation is pure humanly-manufactured mind manipulation that reeks of legalism.

Daniel was not trying to get healthier in his abstinence from the kings meat.  he just knew for certain of what kingdom he was.  He has made God the king of his life and was not about about bow down to the demons that the kind of Babylon had sacrifices his food to.  Neither should we.

The kingdom of God is not about food and drink. The kingdom of God is about the righteousness of Jesus Christ and what we who believe in Him have inside of us thanks to His death and resurrection.  (Read Romans 14... particularly verse 17)  There is no act of physical detoxification nor is there any work of righteousness that you can do in order to be closer to God.  A simple confession of faith in the one God sent to save you from your sin will do, and with that comes new life, today, and for forever after, even after that day that your body dies.. Jesus is God's prescription for everything that ails you, even death.  He is God's free gift; but Rick doesn't offer his audiences Jesus in order to have eternal life.  Instead he teaches what to eat and drink in order to add a few years to their life and he sells his product, conveniently labeled, "God's Prescription,"... the Daniel Plan..

Yes, the Daniel Plan may teach you helpful information about diet and exercise, and it may give you generic information about Jesus and you might even find yourself reading words on a page that sound like they came right out of the pen of scribes, but beware.  The Daniel Plan is full of legalism.

It is true, the Daniel Plan will encourage you to trust Christ to help you succeed with your diet.  It will tell you that you have the grace of God and are free in Christ and even talk about a relationship with God, but the act of actually trusting Jesus with your eternity by you putting your faith in Him for your eternal salvation is glaringly missing.

1 Corinthians 15:19 tells us, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable," because the Christian hope is much more than this life only. You see, the scriptures teach Christians that in Adam, all die, but in Christ shall all be made alive. Thanks be to God he has given us everything we need, even victory over death.

Jesus Christ is much more than a great teacher.  He is more than a "life coach" who will give his advice and counsel and take you on that long, slow journey of learning how to be just like God.   Jesus also did not die on a cross in order to give you the gift of health, or to simply help you "recover" from feeling burned out or lost in your life.   Jesus didn't die to make you a leader, or admired by the world.   He also didn't die for you so that you could celebrate his love for you and then continue worshiping any false God of your choice or making.   No. Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. God, who came in the flesh to reveal God and his love to you.  Coming to humanity as a baby, Jesus Christ was born.  He grew up and died in the hands of sinful men, and gave himself as the Lamb of God.  Jesus also rose again from death to life in order to make himself known and to give those who believe on Him, His gift of forgiveness for our sin, despite what legalistic Rick Warren teaches,here,) and eternal life.

Jesus Christ is the gift, free, unearned, and amazing gift of God, his righteousness is yours if you simply receive it.   Rick doesn't offer you that gift.... just everything and anything but that.

God's gift to you,  (according to Rick Warren) is not about you.... it is you.  It you and your purpose, you and your ministry and leadership skill, you and your SHAPE, your sdkills, your dreams..... and yeven your body.  And, you, Christian and Christian pastor, on judgement day, are going to be accountable to God for how well you have taken care of your body.

"Your body is a gift from God. 

What are you going to do with it?" ~Rick Warren to pastors: 

Pastors, Your Physical Health Matters Too, by Rick Warren, pastors.com

posted by Rick on the day that the Daniel Plan "hit the shelves

(And maybe you won;t even notice how Rick toots his own horn at the end of this article as he offers you the opportunity to buy "his book which  helped him change his life."  His link at the end of the article connects you to danielplan.com so you can learn from these "experts" on health.

."

"And he (Jesus) said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment."  Luke 12:22

 "As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God......

.....................neither doth corruption inherit incorruption."

1 Corinthians 15:48-50

The Daniel Plan Rx

In medical terminology an Rx means prescription.  This would be your doctor designed care program intended to help you regain your health when you are ailing.  It is usually an individual care plan created for an individual patient and it is implemented by a qualified practitioner of medicine.  Rick Warren wants you to believe his latest concoction called the Daniel Plan is "God's prescription" for you..

               

Watch the You Tubed commercial for the Daniel Plan, here.

Note the suggestion is that the Daniel Plan will cure whatever ails you, ("What's weighing you down?" the ad asks.) and note how it is "designed exclusively" for Saddleback Church.  This exclusive deal is not so exclusive anymore.  Now the Daniel Plan is being offered to everyone.    
In the article by Rick Warren titled, God's Prescription for Good Health, dated Jan 4, 2013, posted at www.danielplan.com, Rick says, 

"If I had a pill that promised to add years to your life, you’d probably pay a lot of money for it. But what if I told you that, as a Christian, you already have the key to a long life and that it’s free?"

Apparently, Rick thinks that "If" he had a pill..... one that "promised to add years to your life," you’d probably pay a lot of money for it?  Whatever gave him THAT idea?  And why does Rick often sound just like a snake -oil salesmen in one of those old western films?  

Is that what YOU would do?  Would you pay a lot of money for a pill that would add years to your life?  But then he gives you the good news that you, Christian, already have this very thing... and it's not going to cost you any money at all.... it's free!

 It's odd that the pastor who should be preaching about the free gift of God, eternal life, through faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:16) is instead talking about the free gift of a longer life on earth.  Even more bizarre is that the "pastor" avoids the topic of Jesus completely in the article. 

Make no mistake, much like the stereotypical snake-oil salesman,  "Dr." Rick does have a pill to sell you.... one that promises you health and long life and his pill cabinet is loaded. The Daniel Plan has several items for you to buy.  There is a book, a study guide for the book, a personal journal that you will want to record your diet progress in, as well s cookbook of recipes.  Additionally he offers campaign packets that pastors can purchase...complete with DVD's.   Make no mistake, it is a pill he has for you and it is only "given" to you in exchange for a few bucks. 

The proceeds Rick makes when you buy his plan will not just line his pockets, but the pockets of his three "friends," Doctors, Amen, Hyman and Oz.  He's teamed up with these "health experts,"  to bring you optimal health, and he recommends you listening to their wisdom and teachings as well as promotes their webpages, products and books.  It is one expensive pill he offers, but all the while he made you think that there was no pill and that what he offered you was "free.".

Like a typical snake-oil-salesman, Rick knows you cannot fool all the people all the time, but he knows that you can fool some of the people, some of the time.  He only needs some of them to believe that what he is offering is from God and straight out of the Bible.  He has mastered the fine art of using all sorts of bible versions to say what he wants and to give some people the impression that he not only knows the bible, but every bible ever produced.  Using his fine-sounding salesmanship to draw a crowd, Rick is certain some of the people listening to him will  be like putty in his hand

These kind, somewhat naive and very trusting, loyal people, will go home, stand on the scale and then stand in line to buy Rick's "best selling" diet book.  

So you see, the hypothetical "pill" is more than hypothetical.... In fact, here are some of the "pills" that Rick Warren is selling:
.

$13.99 (discounted from $24.99)

$8.49 (discounted from $11.99)

This ten-pack sells for 109.90

Buy it here  only $21.99  (another discounted price!)

And about those co-authors, for your brain health, Rick recommends Dr. Daniel Amen's Amen Solution. See: http://www.theamensolution.com/.  also recommended is  Dr. Hyman's Ultra life-coaching.   These items have their price too.

More than a Diet...., the Daniel Plan is the "Power of Community"

"The Daniel Plan is far more than a diet...."

~ Rick Warren Charisma News 12/19/2013, 

Rick Warrren's Daniel Plan Debuts on NYT Best-Seller List by Kristin Cole

".... in order to find long-lasting health and strength, you absolutely need a small group of friends to support you."

~Rick Warren, The Daniel Plan Journal, Day 35,

Chapter titled, No Lone Rangers

"The Daniel Plan is not a book; it's a movement...... 

Says Mark Hyman, who is not Christian yet is co-author of the book.marketed to the church. 

Hyman then explains what it is this "community" does together

:

.....It is the power of the community. They shop, cook, eat and exercise together. And that accountability—the love factor—is what helps people change."

~Mark Hyman, Charisma News 12/19/2013, 

Rick Warrren's Daniel Plan Debuts on NYT Best-Seller List by Kristin Cole

"Community if (typo? for "is"?) the cure for healthy living."

Dr.  Mark Hyman- as quoted on the Curriculum Page at The Daniel Plan, December 2013

There are to be no "lone rangers."  No one can ever "go it alone."
 Interestingly, Jesus is supposedly our  example.  Rick uses Ecclesiastes 4:12 to 

assert that  you need a community to belong to from which you can get

 health and the support you need..  

"Even Jesus didn't go it alone. He had a circle of twelve friends and three close buddies."    

~Rick Warren, The Daniel Plan Journal, Day 35,

Chapter titled, No Lone Rangers

And....are you resistant to change?

Are you resistant to receiving help or support? 

(Is "resistance" sinful?) 

"If you are resistant to receiving help or support, why do you think that is so? "

Faith Question from the Daniel Plan Journal, Day 35

Traditionally speaking, believers learns to rely on God and his word. 
 The believer says,"I can do all things through Christ who strengthen me."

  In Rick's Daniel Plan the participant is taught instead
 that they can do all  things, thanks to faith and friends.

"These last two components (Faith and Friends)  are what I call the "secret sauce" that makes the Daniel Plan so effective.  When you have God and a group helping you, you now have far more than will power helping you make positive changes and you are far more likely to stay consistent."

                                        The Daniel Plan, Chapter One, by Rick Warren, Daniel Amen and Mark Hyman,

Other interesting  and related tidbits to read include:

At a Big Church, a Small Group Health Solution  By Tina Rosenburg's New York Times article

Zondervan's 10/16/2013 Release Info  on The Daniel Plan book

Article by Rick Warren- When Your Church Doesn't Match the Community

Unity and Community article by Berit Kjos

Belonging and Genocide book by Thimas JuHne 

Resistance is Futile: You Will be Assimilated Into the Community lecture by Chris Rosborough

Rick Warren Poem here

Rick's New "Theology of Health"

"But not once have I ever heard an entire sermon on God's view of our bodies,  the subject was completely ignored.  This is why most people still have no theology of health."

-Rick Warren,  Chapter One of The Daniel Plan by Rick Warren, Daniel Amen and Mark Hyman, 

Rick says that, "most people".....  (note the "most" and consider whether or not you want to be elite and understand like Rick or just be part of the ignorant "most" as he continues,) "....still have no theology of health." Most people, apparently, don't, but Rick Warren now has one for you.... if you will listen to him.  Even better in his mind is that perhaps, if you do  listen to him, you would buy his book(s.)

"Even though I grew up  in the church, I never heard a single sermon about the body.  Not one.  I have heard sermons about the importance of your spirit, your soul, your mind, your character and your values.  I believe it's safe to say that most Christians do not have a theology of health." 

-Rick Warren,  The Daniel Plan Journal (Introduction) by Rick Warren, 

Rick...poor victim of the church, was completely lost until he came up with this new "theology of health."   He endured such poor preaching and teaching until now, after preaching and teaching for thirty years himself..  Imagine that!  He had never heard an entire sermon, not even one, on God's view of the human body.

 Rick would have you believe that the bible not only has a theology of health that you never heard about before....and that he, in his wisdom is now creating a "theology of health" for you. from the Bible.

Apparently, Rick doesn't read the Bible to understand, but to make stuff up, because the BIBLICAL "theology of health" is actually quite clear and the bottom line is simple, you are sick and weak and poor and wretched, destined to die in your sin without Jesus Christ saving you.  Unbeknownst to Rick and his earful audiences, the church believes the scriptures and understands our need for health and wholeness.  We believe health and wholeness come by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, (not Rick.)  Rick's extraordinary wisdom about the bible and his uncanny ability to re-invent everything has him even inventing a new theology.... of "health"  and he wants to sell it to you and me in the form of yet another a book.  

Rick sees the illness.  He sees that you are out of shape physically, much like himself. He blames, of course, the church for not having taught a proper theology on the subject all these 2000 years.  He will help you though, because Rick is an inventor , a visionary and he know how to re-invent and redefine most anything.  The solution to your problem and the problems of the world, according to Rick, has a simple solution:  Listen to Rick.  His P.E.A.C.E. Plan is touted as the solution to end all five giant ills in the world, and his Daniel Plan promises to end all the ills of your body.  Yes, the solution Rick offers to all people of "faith" (view the video) pastors, priests, rabbis imams, teachers, leaders and congregant of all spiritually-minded, religious  and even Christian communities is to put him, Rick, in control.

 In the olden days, traveling salesmen would come through town with cure-alls for health.  You would listen to them, get sold on the idea and purchase their "snake oil "product.  Rick has yet a new item he is peddling and it's being bottled as the new, never before discovered or understood,  "theology of health."   Gone is the concept of a healthy church sold to pastors left and right.  Now it's the healthy YOU being sold to individuals.  It's the Daniel Plan.

Biblical verse is used to support the Daniel Plan in concept.  People proclaimed as expert "doctors" are being employed to make it more desirable.  It is smart sounding, and apparently chock full o worldly wisdom. Rick and his three friends will teach you everything you need to do in order to have the health they offer.  While unwittingly walking after vanity, the wise preacher says, touch this, don't touch that, eat this, not that..... and they think this new health project is what godliness really is.  The sad end result is that people walk not after God or His Word, but after things that do not profit.  Physical training and eating properly is of some value..... but there is something greater.  Read 1 Timothy 4:8.  Daniel of the Bible was not simply concerned with what he ate and drank for his health, as Rick Warren would promote here.  Daniel was godly.

The church, according to Rick Warren, needs this new "theology of health," created by, none other than, Rick Warren.  Unfortunately, Rick will never tell you that it is only in Jesus Christ, by faith in Him and Him alone,(Titus 3:5)  that you are made complete, whole and healthy, (as we learn in Colossians 2:10.)  No...with Rick it's not faith in what Jesus has done for you.   (See this Daily Hope with Rick Warren article by Rick, July 22, 2013) and note he talks about what Jesus has done, but relays the concept that what he has done is bought you at an auction.  He  fails to encourage you,  his reader, to put your faith in Jesus at the cross.) No, with Rick, Jesus is good, but his church is all wrong and needs Rick's plans and theologies and must work with Rick to align itself into that three legged stool he like to talk about, politics, economy and all religious faiths working together to "save the world.". 

Daniel Plan aside.... and truth be told, the Church does have health.  Built  by Jesus himself on Jesus Christ, the cornerstone, even the gates of hell cannot undo what God has done through Him.  Too fat or too skinny, old and sickly or youthful and full of vigor, those who repent of their sin and by faith stand in the righteousness of Christ alone,have set our minds above.... and  while we do not yet see it, we know, by faith in God who gives life that it will appear when he does..  (Colossians 3: 2-4) 


 Nothing, (even our fat bodies, ill health or decrepit diseases) can separate us from the love of God that is given to us freely in Christ Jesus.  (Romans 8:38-39)

Rick's Special Sauce

http://mcdonalds.wikia.com/wiki/Hamburglar
 Hamburglar loves the special sauce.

Do you remember the fast food hamburger slogan from the seventies about those," two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce , cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame bun"?  It was that taste-bud-tantalizing "special sauce" that attracted that notorious "hamburglar" every time.   Well now, in 2013, Rick Warren has concocted a diet plan, and he is trying to sell his diet plan by offering some "special sauce"too.  He believes it is this "special sauce" that makes his diet plan better than all the rest and unique among every other diet plan offered in the world.  What is his "special sauce?" It is "FAITH and FRIENDS."

"The last two components — faith and friends — are what

 I call the "special sauce" that makes the Daniel Plan unique."

                                                                 Rick Warren, on TV interviews throughout the month of December, 2013.

Special sauce?
Really?

Regarding "faith".... this generic concept of "faith" could mean anything.  What kind of faith?  Who's faith and faith in who... or what?  Faith... put this way, could mean faith in anything..... your dog, yourself, God.... a god.... many gods, yourself.  It sure would be helpful if the "pastor" was at least speaking clearly, but he is not and he does not.  He uses the Christian sounding word "faith"... and says "faith."  People hear the word, "faith." and then that word, faith, means whatever that person wants to think it means.  Like counterfeit money that looks like it the real thing but is not backed by silver or gold, Rick passes off a Christian word that has no anchor in biblical understanding of the word.  As Rick leads you to "health" with his "special sauce" of "faith" this faith is so generic,  it means whatever you want to imagine it to mean.  

 What do you put your faith in?  What faith to you have or what do you believe in?

The other special ingredient is supposedly friends. Evidently Rick Warren never read about Job and his friends and how much help they were in his struggle to find health.  If he had, he might be more descriptive about friends and friendship, but he is not.  And apparently "friends" are more important than any other social aspect of your life.

What kind of help or pressure will you get from your friends? .  Friends love you and care for you... right?  Well, Rick says if you are not in a group...  there is something wrong with you/

"You need to be in a group if you are going to be healthy."

Rick Warren on The Dr. Oz Show

This is an interesting manipulation tactic.. Your health, apparently,  depends upon you being part of a group.

 You want to be healthy don't you?

Are you also aware that people will often do really strange things in order to be accepted by a group?  We call this peer pressure.  If everyone in your group is going along with Rick, and you are part of the group, how likely will you be to choose to do something deemed  "unhealthy"?  If they all say members of the group must wear red... how likely will you be to wear blue? You will probably not wear blue if your group wants you to represent them in red and you do not do what they do.  Peer pressure can be positive or negative, but it is always a powerful force in controlling others, so the fact that he says this should cause you some concern. Who are your friends?  What do they lead you into?  What do they like to do for fun and where do they like to go?\

Rick has a friend... a doctor friend (or three,) that he has teamed up with.  One is Dr, Mehmet Oz.   Dr, Oz could be considered a man of "faith" by the generic definition of faith that Rick Warren uses as he advertises his diet and exercise plan, complete with "special sauce" to the watching world. However, to Oz, faith has a completely different connotation that is does to the average Christian..  Dr. Oz's faith is not in Jesus Christ as Savior, taught in Christianity, but in the teachings of something else.... Islam.  

The interesting thing about Dr; Oz... is that, even though he is not a Christian,  he can teach you correctly and accurately about Jesus.  To help you in your quest for health, he can teach you all about what Jesus ate and didn't eat, just like he did when he brought this information to his audiences....

What Do We Know About How Jesus' Health? by Dr. Oz

And what do we know about Jesus' health?  Maybe he was "healthy" because of what he ate and drank?
So suggests the Oz man.  Apparently, high fiber, low intake of meat... lots of walking from city to city, kept Jesus fit trim and healthy  This is what the Daniel Plan is about.... making yourself healthy, like Jesus.

But little does Oz understand.... because he does not put his faith in Jesus.

Got to have that special sauce... 

no mention of Jesus.

 Jesus is God.  He actually healed others... he raised the dead, made the lame to walk, the deaf to hear and the blind to see. Jesus is a friend, a true friend to us.... and he is the only friend you can really ever count on.  He is a friend who sticks closer than even a brother.

 Jesus didn't die on the cross so that YOU could be healthier in the here and now only and have any faith you imagine for yourself as being true.   Jesus does not need you to be the one to save the world.  Jesus didn't even die on the cross so that Pastor Rick could sell you a book about diet and weight loss and connect you into being part of a group.   Jesus died and rose again, to pay for your sins and according to the scriptures, so that YOU, by believing in Him, might have eternal life and know God,  a subject that Rick often skirts around teaching.

Jesus is a King and he talked about a kingdom, but his kingdom is not about what you eat or do not eat.  In fact, it is not what a person eats that defiles him or her, and yet, this concern over eating and drinking, dieting and being healthy, learning from the experts like Oz,  is the message coming out of Pastor Rick.

Rick will tell you that your health problem, most of them anyhow....is caused by you and you are the solution.   he is the one who will help you solve your problem.

"Most of the health problems in the world, in America particularly, are not the result of infection diseases.   They are....we are killing ourselves from not enough sleep, too much stress, too much food, not enough exercise.  And so I thought,  you know what, to be a good steward, we have to take care of this area of our life too. "        Rick Warren to Elizabeth Dias from TIME Magazine

Yes, that "special sauce" of the Rick Warren Daniel Plan diet is amazing.  Without any Jesus in it, void of the gospel, it's not just applicable to the church. Imagine the uses!  You can put it on nearly everything and the false ideas just go down smooth.

And when it comes to imagining how things could be better in the world...the sky is the limit and Rick is a pro.  With enough of the special sauce, liberally applied to everything and anything...( faith....and enough friends to imagine with you,) you could believe yourself to be able to reinvent the world.  


Health is just one of the issues... global issues.... that, we need a partnership between the private sector, the public sector and the faith sector.  And each of them bring something to the table that the other doesn't have. And people ask me all the time, they say, "Are you trying to reinvent healthcare? And I say, "No, I am trying to reinvent health. "   Rick Warren to Elizabeth Dias from TIME Magazine


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Some examples of how Rick wants to reinvent things:

Reinvent Your Congregation....When Your Church Doesn't Match the Community, by Rick Warren, Ministry Today Magazine

Reinvent Mission Strategy ...Rick Warren , Saddle /back Church  2003, Preaching about his Peace Plan.
                   "The bottom line is that we intend to reinvent mission strategy in the 21st Century."

Reinvent the Mental Health Care System.  Rick Warren Returns To Pulpit by Erika Ritchie, OCR 8-21-13
" When Matthew died, Kay and I thought of several things we'd like to do, both short-term and long-term, but decided we'd spend a year learning more about mental illness before launching any programs. But we do know this: America's mental health system is irreparably broken and inadequate.........America's mental health system needs far more than repair. It needs to be reinvented and revolutionized." Rick Warren

The Daniel Plan: 40 days to a Healthier Life (by Rick Warren and Companions)

Are fat people more holy (or unholy) that the skinny ones?
Are people fat because they are in some kind of "sin"?

"Guys, I need to repent."

Rick Warren to congregation, reported by USA Tokay, December 2, 2013  

If you listen to Rick Warren, you might falsely think so. You  might look at a fat person and think they are simply a glutton.  People can be fat for a lot of reasons...skinny people might be binge eating.... how would you even know?  And sin.... is everyone's problem.  Repentance is essential, it is good for the soul.... and Rick says he "repented;" but did Rick Warren "repent" or does he just want to sell his next plan and book?

Rick Warren's new book, The Daniel Plan:40 Days to a Healthier Life is a new diet and exercise fad being promoted to Christians.. by Rick and friends.  The book is co- authored by two of the the three doctors who have been working with him as he has been promoting the Daniel Plan as part of his Decade of Destiny in his churches. They are the book-publishing doctors, Daniel Amen and Mark Hyman. (Mehmet Oz, the third founding doctor, is not listed on this book.) Rick's book, (See at amazon,is "designed to be done in a supportive community relying on God's instruction for living."

This sure looks like it means it is meant to be done specifically in church. and it also asserts that if you are following God's instructions for living, this will be acceptable to you. Ironic though is that those instructions are not working. The Bible Belt of America is the responsible party for the obesity in America....this is according to Rick's expert partner and co-author of this book, Dr.Amen, who also suggested that the church is the "epicenter of the obesity epidemic."

The idea here is that the sick "church" needs a doctor. (Amen?) Okay... maybe more than one..... and so, Rick Warren has decided to give them the help they need by giving them the doctors he most admires. Unfortunately he does this while the Great Physician himself, Jesus Christ, is basically ignored. Rick Warren is not busy telling people to believe in Jesus for salvation from all their sins, nope. He is selling them books and programs and introducing them to the wisdom of Oz, Hyman and Amen.

No longer is Jesus "the Savior" or the "Bible" the focus in many religious minded, "Purpose Driven" labeled congregations. Bibles are exchanged for paraphrases or even the latest, greatest, New York Times Best Selling book. Pastors like to preach about the law-keeping ability of the individual person to obtain a sure salvation, people in church buildings are fervently working to both save themselves and /or their dying planet. And now we have the Daniel Plan.

Even without the emphasis on Jesus dying for our sins, it sure sounds biblical, after all, Daniel is from the bible, and not only that, we hear on the news programs all about Rick's own "repentance."

A December 2, USA Today article reported how Rick Warren "went in front of his congregation of 20,000 people..... (Ears are supposed to be impressed by huge number,) and said, "Guys, I need to repent." (He says," guys' but you can bet that there were "gals" there too.) He then told them that he " had gained 2 to 3 pounds a year, and I've been your pastor for 30 years, so I needed to lose about 90 pounds." Rick was repenting.... publicly, in front of thousands of people.
(Are you impressed by the astronomical number of congregants?)
Perhaps upon hearing the pastor "repent" you heart will soften. Perhaps you will see this "repentance" (over his gaining weight or maybe of being fat) as an act of humility. Perhaps you too will then humbly recognize your need to loose a few pounds and get more exercise..... identify with Rick, and then be excited to join him in his weight loss endeavor, and subsequently receptive to his selling you his latest book and study guide. Did he repent or was this just a marketing ploy.... and, if he did repent, what did he repent of?

As the same "copy"about the new Daniel Plan, 40 Day Program book, goes out like a script and repeats itself over and over and over into all forms of media. We hear about how the Daniel Plan started when Rick was baptizing hundreds of people and was convicted of being "fat." Sadly, the sin he repents of is merely "fatness" and his explanation makes it sound like this fatness, or being overweight was really not even Rick's fault. However the remedy for it all is the Daniel Plan.

Yes, Rick used the word, "repent" but let's note how it is that Rick, just couldn't help but gain those 2-3 pounds per year for thirty years, because, sad to say, he is so dedicated to being a pastor and became merely a victim of circumstance. His weight problem was a job hazard of working long days and having no time to eat right. However he is confessing his "sin" and is now willing to take control of his life and make a change in his weight... using his own plan, names and modeled after Daniel... in the bible.

In his NPR interview with Rachel Martin, (December 8, 2013) we are told that as a pastor, Rick was as busy as any doctor.... so busy, in fact, that he was stuck eating fast food. In was his incessant serving of all those church members, just like a doctor does his patients, his busy schedule that cause Rick to gain all that weight. It was not until that one day while baptizing over 800 people, (Are you impressed with that number and how long he must have spent, five hours) in the water baptizing them all?) that Rick had his defining moment where he realized how fat the people he was baptizing were. Then he realized he was fat too and that is when he enlisted the help of those three wise "experts," Hyman, Amen and Oz,, and subsequently offered their assistance to his congregation too.

What a guy, that Rick. He just wants to help everyone... all the time! Using an example from the Bible,.Daniel, Rick set out with his three new friends down the golden path of not just diet and exercise, but even more.... that of understanding the brain and heart and spirit too. His goal is to help the church get healthy by doing his programs and reading his books and to teach them how to be just like Daniel, too.

Some people believe as they have been falsely taught by their pastors or by pastor Rick himself, especially as he is appearing to promote his book on all sorts of secular media sources around, that this Purpose-Driven "Daniel Plan" is more than simply good for their body, but also for thier mind and soul. Some even (falsely) believe, (and others are being taught to falsely believe) that this mass marketed "Daniel Plan". is God's Prescription for you, his church. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Your belief in the person of Jesus Christ as lord and Savior, is the prescribed remedy sent to you by God.

Your diet will not save you. Being a better or even a skinnier person will not make you righteous before God. Your diet does not have to exclude or include meat. There is one thing that your pastor needs to teach you about.... and it is not how to diet. It is Jesus and his righteousness.

ROMANS 14:17

For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

It's odd isn't it, that in the book of Daniel the "experts" were called in by the king, but they actually had no true idea about what they were talking about. Daniel, however, was given a special revelation from God to specifically interpret the kings' dream and he did so in righteousness because Daniel believed God. The the so-called "experts " a.k.a. 'wise men" actually had no clue, though they had done a good job of pulling the wool over they eyes of quite a few. Now, in the name of Daniel, (this very same "prophet,") we have "pastor," Rick, encouraging his flock to give ear to "experts," who are not even Christian in their beliefs.

Rick Warren would subsequently recommend you read their books and listen to the wisdom they offer you about health and about your heart and about your brain. Look closely at what they are teaching you and others and you will notice that the teachings of Rick's "experts" is very similar in teachings to the "wise men" (see: Daniel 2:27) of Daniels day.

If you want to know more about what these experts that Rick Warren has teamed up with teach, you might check out this article by Martha West.

Make no mistake, this Daniel Plan is a money maker and Rick takes those numbers seriously. He is all about finances and numbers. Keep in mind, Rick has a long time practice of "tithing" and in his recent days of affluence he,( being the great out-doer of everything and everyone that he is,) has boldly taken this requirement of the Old Testament law one step further than anyone has ever taken it before and become what he calls, a reverse tither. (Reverse tithing is something Rick invented.) Interested in numbers, Rick told USA Today, "There are more than 2 billion Christians around the world, so the church is the largest distribution center on the planet." If only a third bought his 14.99 book, that would be a lot of bucks for both Rick and Zondervan publishing. The Daniel Plan will reap in the millions and the information contained within will be distributes as it is heavily marketed in the media and at church, but the Daniel Plan will also serve to gather data from it's participants .

It is interesting that every font of modern media wants you to know that Rick Warren has a new book, USA Today and NPR, just to name a few. There is also FOX, CBS, NBC and even your local Zondervan sponsored book store for Christians are all on the bandwagon, letting you and your pastor know about Rick's latest and greatest 40 Day event. It is marketed just in time for Christmas giving and in time for New Year's resolutions to. But the Daniel Plan is more than a book.... It is a book.... first in hardcover, with a book study guide, a cook book, (to be released in April 2014 after you put your copy on order...no risk for the publisher this way,) and of course, there is also the ever-notorious "40 DAY "campaign kit" for your church. (a 6 week preaching series...).featuring, yours truly, Pastor Rick, but it is not free, like the gospel.... like all that Rick has to offer, you will have to purchase this one too.

They call it "groundbreaking," but does this diet work?

Rick assures us that the Plan works after all, Rick lost weight doing it. However, in all honesty he admits that he gained a lot of it back, but that was not his fault either. First, he explains, there was a back injury that kept him from exercise. Then there was the untimely death of his son. Being upset about this, of course, he couldn't sleep and was hungry all the time. Not only that, there were people who were bringing unhealthy meals to him and his family every day while they were grieving over this.... and therefore he had no control over what he was eating. He tells the media that during this time he had actually gained back half of what he originally loss.

No problem.  Rick, the ever outdoing anyone and anything hero that he is, will prove to you, (not once,) but twice, hat the Daniel Plan really works. Rick is doing the plan himself.... again.  

He says, "I 'm actually trying to make my own example for other who felt discouraged and thought I just give up."