A HOPE FOR THE WORLD and a NEW HOPE FOR YOUR CHURCH

Hold on to your hope and your faith in Jesus Christ church.  Rick Warren has a "new hope" to replace it.

Paul, writing to young Timothy, begins his letter in Timothy 1: verse 1 telling him and us who and what our hope is.( It's Jesus.)  In Titus 2:13, we are told about a "Blessed Hope" and who/what THAT HOPE  is. (Again, it's Jesus.)   And In 1 Thessalonians 1:2-4, we are told the object of the hope the church (and all who would be the church) has.  (Please note: It is not a hope in the the church, (ourselves) but in Jesus Christ, the hope of the world.)

But Rick, apparently is not convinced by such passages of scripture because he has another agenda.  He is still out promoting "the church" as the "hope "of the world.  

And is he even sure of the gospel, once and for all delivered to the saints?  You have to wonder.  He is willing to bet he might be right on this most important issue of "hope." 


“The world needs hope like never before. Our hope is not in government. It will never come through a politician. Our hope is not in who we put in the White House, but in who we put on the cross,” said Warren. “I’m betting on the church to change the world, and I’m betting on the church to give us all the hope we need.”

-Rick Warren,

ReligiousNews.com article: Rick Warren brings his message back to the American Church.

Neglecting to simply mention the name of Jesus in a public forum; he merely makes reference to "the cross" and implies that  "the church" that will give us (the world)  "all the hope we need."

Our hope is in Jesus and there is something beyond the cross... It's is the cross, yes,  but there is also this little historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus from death to life.  This is the hope of the church and the this is the hope that the church gives to the world..  


PS 
Foshizzle means, according to the urban dictionary, "For sure"

The Mother Teresa Principle (by Rick Warren)

EWTN  is Rick Warren's "favorite" Christian channel, and the program, "Chaplet of Divine Mercy" is his "favorite show" (one that he likes to relax to... along with his wife Kay, after a stressful day.) It renews and restores him.... helps him to worship, relax, reflect and meditate.... or so he says:

"I’m an avid fan of EWTN. I make no bones about it. I probably watch it more than any Christian channel. Well, you know what? Because you have more, more, uh, shows that relate to history. And if you don’t understand the roots of our faith, that God had been working for 2,000 years, regardless of what brand of believer you are, God has been working for 2,000 years in His church. And if you don’t have those roots you’re like the cut flower syndrome. Or you’re a tumbleweed. One of my favorite shows, which you repeat often is the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Which I love. And when I’ve had a very stressful day, I’ll come home, I’ve got it taped and Kay and I will both, we’ll listen. We’ll put it on and just sit back, relax and worship. And in the time of reflection, meditation and quietness I find myself renewed and restored. So thank you for continuing to play the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. " ~Rick Warren 

Interview with Raymond Arroyo of EWTN on his program World Over, April 2014

With all his flattery aside, the way that Warren embraces EWTN's religious television program, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy... which is reallyu more of a Rosary recital than  "program," you would think he was Roman Catholic. Maybe he is.

After all, Rick Warren, his pastors.come website, and even his wife Kay, have been known to endorse and promote people, past and present, of Roman Catholic faith in their protestant arena.  Figures like Mother Teresa,Thomas Merton,   St. John of the Cross, Brother Lawrence, and Teresa d Avil,have been talked about as Christian heroes for their listeners to admire and emulate.  Rick and friends quote them, name-drop their names and endorse their "mystical" practices as something spiritually profound, something to be desired in the walk of Christian faith.

Rick, just loves to name-drop......

"To mature your friendship, God will test it with periods of seeming separation—times when it feels as if he has abandoned or forgotten you. God feels a million miles away. St. John of the Cross referred to these days of spiritual dryness, doubt, and estrangement from God as "the dark night of the soul. Henri Nouwen called them "the ministry of absence." A. W. Tozer called them "the ministry of the night." Others refer to "the winter of the heart.""  

~Rick Warren, 

God is Real No Matter How You Feel by Rick Warren, Daily Hope With Rick Warren,  5/21/2014

He used Brother Lawrence, to teach people to practice "breath prayers' originally in his Purpose Driven Life book.   And he repeats the "Brother Lawrence" story to this day.  Now, your "work" is suddenly transformed into communication and communion with God... but only IF...you learn to develop the skill of practicing the presence of God... From Rick and Brother Larry too..

 

"Everything you do can be “spending time with God” if he is invited to be a part of it and you stay aware of his presence. The classic book on learning how to develop a constant conversation with God is “Practicing the Presence of God.” It was written in the 17th century by Brother Lawrence, a humble cook in a French monastery. Brother Lawrence was able to turn even the most commonplace and menial tasks, like preparing meals and washing dishes, into acts of praise and communion with God. "

~Rick Warren, 

Be In Constant Communion With God by Rick Warren, Daily Hope With Rick Warren,  5/21/2014

Rick often endorses Roman Catholic books.  He wrote the forward to Tom Peterson's Catholics Come Home. (Check their website and see what they have to say to Protestants and Evangelicals.) The Vatican rightly promotes the notion that Jesus Christ founded one Church, but they also falsely believe that they, (and only they,) are it, with the Pope at their head.... they say, Jesus Christ willed that the apostles and their successors - the bishops with Peter's successor at their head - should preach the Gospel faithfully, administer the sacraments, and rule the Church in love.  "This particular book by Peterson is a call to all Christians to "come home to Rome" and be Roman Catholic.  Rick Warren wrote the "forward" to it.

 (See: Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 5:23; Psalm 118:22;   1 Corinthians 11:3; and Colossians 2:10.  Who, does scripture tell us is the head of the church?)
 

Rick often quotes  "Mother Teresa," a well-known Roman Catholic.   This is the same Mother Teresa who in her book, Life in the Spirit: Reflections, Meditations and Prayers, (Pg 81-82 ) said,

“We never try to convert those who receive [aid from Missionaries of Charity] to Christianity but in our work we bear witness to the love of God’s presence and if Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, or agnostics become for this better men — simply better — we will be satisfied. It matters to the individual what church he belongs to. If that individual thinks and believes that this is the only way to God for her or him, this is the way God comes into their life — his life. If he does not know any other way and if he has no doubt so that he does not need to search then this is his way to salvation.”

According to Mother Teresa, making humanity better--- "simply better" (not making disciples as Jesus directed)  is the point of her ministry. They do not preach the good news of JEsus, bear witness of Him, or of God's love... no.  Instead they "bear witness to the love of God's presence." (You have to wonder. Who is doing the love?)   Mother Teresa appears to believe that the way for a person to be saved is unimportant.  In fact, they are saved anyway they want to be, for what a person believes, be they Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, or agnostics, makes no difference.  

Interestingly, Mother Teresa's religious convictions....  are a lot like "Pastor" Rick's.

Rick, speaks to Muslim audiences without sharing with them the gospel.   Rick admits, Mormons are not Christian, but apparently this doesn't matter as long as they have purpose and buy his books.  With Rick, salvation via faith in Jesus Christ so that your sins are forgiven is really not his message.  His message is about how a person needs to have purpose... and health... power and influence over others. His is  "another gospel."  His message, just like Mother Teresa's is about the betterment of humanity.... the common good.   

For those who want power and influence and who desire the honor of men, Rick has devised a "principle" to live by.... one that he calls, the "Mother Teresa Principal." 

"The more you care about the powerless, the more power you have. The more you serve those with no influence, the more influence God gives you. The more you humble yourself, the more you're honored by others" -Rick Warren

 Forward to: Mother Teresa at 100, The Life and Works of a Modern Saint by Richard Lycayo, 2010 TIME Publishers

You'll notice, this "principle" is not a reflection of what Jesus taught in the Bible.  Rick, just simply made it up.  Yet, he teaches it as a "principle,"  one that.... if you follow.. and the more you do what the principle teaches,  promises to give you power, influence.  Apparently the acquisition of power and influence is important, as well as is being honored by other men.

Do you desire power, influence and the honor of other men?  Maybe it would be wise to remember who is powerful (Answer: God) and who is not.... and then remember what Jesus said:

 Luke 20: 45-47 ...."Then in the audience of all the people he (JESUS) said unto his disciples, Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts..... "

"So Close to Hell That I Can Smell It"

Hell?

The reality of a place called hell is an rather unpleasant thought, for it is a place where God is forever unreachable.  If hell has a smell, it would likely be more unpleasant that anything we know in this world.  Strangely, in his article, 8 Acts of a Healthy, Growing Church, by Rick Warren, he states that he wants "to get so close to hell that he can smell it." It's a rather weird thing to say, but then, in light of scripture, so are some of the other things Rick touts.

In, 8 Acts of a Healthy Church, Rick  uses the book of Acts in the bible, to show his readers the characteristics of the early church, and teach how, (if we want God's blessing,) we can do the same as they did, (Note: this is not necessarily what the bible says, but what is being taught by Pastor Rick.)  Rick's catch on the deal with God, is that you have to learn these 8 "acts" (of a "healthy" church,) from Rick. 

"There are a lot of churches that want to play it safe. They get as far away from unbelievers as they can so they don’t get tainted. I want to get so close to hell that I can smell it!" - Rick Warren

Rick accuses churches, a "lot" of them, of "playing it safe," being unwillling to take risks, like Rick, who evidently is so risky that he's willing to get close to "hell" then those other churches and Christians dare to get.) 

Rick, who claims to know almost everything, is out to convince you that he knows all about The book of Acts, but more importantly, that he knows how to get God's blessing.  The key to getting the blessing of God is apparently doing church like it was done in the book of Acts, with a catch..... it must be interpreted for us, by Rick. 

He begins the article by dropping names like B.H. Carroll, C. Peter Wagner, and G. Campbell Morgan.  You might not even know who those people are.   Rick probably never met B.H. Carroll or G. Cambell Morgan personally, but he did know C Peter Wagner well.  Droping the names of some popular names, one of which is a personal friend, Rick hopes the legacy of these men will validate what he has to say about the book of Acts.  Promising you and me a "blessing," from God.... IF....  we accept his wisdom about the early church.... validated by those three men of course, Rick teaches:

"If we echo the actions of the early church, we can expect God’s blessing on our church."  

Now that he has you trusting that he knows so much about this, and has validated it for you and me who are impressed with his wise associations of Carroll, Wagner and Morgan, it is expected that you will see...as Slicky Ricky teaches...that the Holy Spirit living inside of you is not sufficient.  

Nope.  you need to have Rick's teaching.  He says:

"If you’re a Christian, you already have the Holy Spirit living inside you, but...."  -Rick Warren

 But?...  

But what?  What follows is a long list of things that you MUST do in order to be "blessed" by God. 

Here is his list of things YOU (he says "we" so he himself is included....) "must" DO, (besides receive the Holy Spirit, because that is not enough:)

"We must maintain a warm fellowship."

"We must multiply small groups."

"We must magnify our vision of God."

"We must maximize the power of prayer."

"We must model Christ-like generosity."

(Must... must..... must.... must...must...must....must... and....)

"We must move out with God’s mission." -Rick Warren

8 Acts of a Healthy, Growing Church, By Rick Warren, October 10, 2013

Rick  has a long list of things for the Christian with the Holy Spirit "living in side of them," to get busy doing.   The thing is, those are Rick's commands, use here  to get you on his own programs.  there is no loophole, no rest... not even a choice on your part.  The Holy Spirit living inside of you when you put your faith in Jesus Christ, is not enough.  You MUST also do all these things Rick mentions.... as MUSTS.

Rick has people running themselves ragged, moment by moment doing their best to please God by maintaining warm fellowship with people in their small groups.  They must also be working to multiply and grow their groups, as well as be busy "magnifying" the "vision of God", (What is "God's vision" by the way?  Is that in the Bible or one of Rick's books?)  They must also be busy "maximizing the power of prayer," (as if we possess that power in and of ourselves.) and we must also be "modeling" of "Christ-like generosity." (Perhaps he means tithing?) As for  "mobilizing God's mission," this means promoting Rick's "movement of God."   

In his Purpose Driven materials he claims, "This campaign is all about the Kingdom of God, fulfilling his agenda in His world. Nothing brings more glory to God than having his churches, small groups, and his people fulfilling His Purposes. Because 40 Days of Purpose is about God's Kingdom, it is much bigger than any individual, church or denomination. We must work together "to serve God's purpose in our generation." (Acts. 13:36)   I hope and pray that your church won't miss out on this movement of God. I invite you to join us. We're waiting to partner with you on the journey of a lifetime!"  -Rick Warren

                                                                                   (Check Acts 13:36b here for meaning.)

People under Rick's tutelage, must do, do, do.  If you remember, the church, according to Rick, for the last fifty years, has been nothing but a big mouth, (better known for speaking than doing,) that is..... until Rick came with new insight from God.  Rick was tired with the big mouth church that never did anything to help people....and was always negative.

" The problem for the last fifty years is that the church has been the body of Christ, but the hands and the feet have been amputated and all that’s left is the mouth. Most of the time, we’re known for what we say and not for what we do in culture. And we’re more known for what we’re against than what we’re for. I’m tired of that and I intend to change it. "  ~Rick Warren                     The Purpose-Driven Student, An Interview, Jan. 14th, 2007

So people must now do everything perfect... perfectly balancing the five purposes laid out by Rick .  Churches and Christians are by default, labeled not "healthy."  And evidently, you should never be tired or feel ill for this is certainly a sign that God is not with you, because, as Rick states,  that:

 "one of the characteristics of people who try to minister in a church without God’s Spirit is simple – tiredness, fatigue."         8 Acts of a Healthy, Growing Church, By Rick Warren, October 10, 2013

This is a problem.  It's not the truth.

 We do get tired and weary..  Jesus himself got tired.  This does not mean Jesus did not have the power of God with him.  Christians are to live lives by faith and trust the Holy Spirit living in side of them always, not listen so some man who puts himself up on a pedestal and who does nothing but find fault with the church so that he can, by his own ideas and programs, improve upon it.  

According to Rick in this article, the early church in the book of Acts, chapter 8, did not even do church right.  "They didn't spread the gospel." 

"They didn't spread the gospel. So God applied pressure by allowing persecution to get them to spread. The Bible says, 'On that day a great persecution broke out against the church of Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered through Judea and Samaria.' Notice that: the pastors stayed home but all the people were scattered into Judea and Samaria. Why? Because that’s where He wanted them to go..." -Rick Warren

8 Acts of a Healthy, Growing Church, By Rick Warren, October 10, 2013

The disobedient church refused to share the gospel with others.  Persecution didn;t come because they refused to share the gospel, rather, it came because they did share.... after all, Saul, who later became Paul, was out to destroy the church.   He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison, (Acts 8:3) and this while all the while thinking he was doing a good service unto God. Saul was wrong. Meeting Jesus personally and realizing his sinful errors and repenting of them, Saul became a Christian himself and leaving the old man behind, he became known to the church, not as Saul, but as Paul.


The way to be "church"  according to Rick, has nothing to do with people having faith in Christ Jesus as Lord. 

"We will be the New Testament church when we magnify the vision of God, pray like they prayed, when we are filled with the Spirit and when we are generous with each other." -Rick Warren

8 Acts of a Healthy, Growing Church, By Rick Warren, October 10, 2013

...and while Rick talks about being "filled with the Spirit," note that he does not say, be tilled with the "Holy Spirit."  

Filled with what "spirit?"   (1John Chapter 4) 

It would be easy to assume, he means the Holy Spirit, but he is vague.  HE a pastor, he talks about Jesus and he even says that he himself is a "believer."

"I am a believer and I know I’m going to heaven. Nothing can take that away from me. But between now and when I go to heaven, I want to take as many people with me as possible. I hope you’ll commit to that same thing."
 

Rick's words, are like clouds without rain.  His words are all about himself, and the object of true Christian faith is invisble.  while he claims that he wants to "take people to heaven with him,"  he does not give any opportunity for someone reading this article to put their faith in Jesus Christ.... even though he hopes they will "commit" to the same thing he's committed to, (a thing that is undefined and ambiguous.) We find him not sharing the gospel, but soliticing  people to follow his teaching  and do,do, do, do, all the things he says that  they "MUST" do to be  the "church" ....without any mention of the Savior.

 
People of all faiths can be classified as "believers" for they all "believe" in something.   

Religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Mormonism and other various cults all have their followers and their own particulars of what one is to "believe" ( and do) to be called of that religion.  Rick's a "believer?"  In what?  

He does not say.

Rick also says knows he is "going to heaven,"but so does a Muslim who practices jihad.  Meanwhile, he never mentions the way to heaven is only one way, nor tell you that Jesus is the only door.... and he wants to sell you his books and programs and ways of thinking about the book of Acts.  Apparently some people are not only perfect as doing everything God demands, but are also busy working to make converts.  Unwilling to be open about the truth of God, they simply make clones of themselves... or worse.  


Christian pastors proclaim the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  They encourage others to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation from sin and death ( and without hypocracy, this faith is the same that they believe.) Their hearers, actually have the opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus Christ and receive God's gift of eternal life and thereby, with sin forgiven, be able go to "heaven."  Rick Warren, has his own agenda.  To get you interested in his programs and his P.E.A.C.E> plan and his teachings, like a bully, Rick paints churches in a negative light.  He is also quick to tell you that he is so much better than they are.

"There are a lot of churches that want to play it safe. They get as far away from unbelievers as they can so they don’t get tainted. I want to get so close to hell that I can smell it! "

Weird.    

New Reformation - New Evangelization

"Dr. Rick Warren is passionate about attacking what he calls the five “Global Goliaths” – spiritual emptiness, egocentric leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic disease, and illiteracy/poor education. His goal is a second Reformation......"

Daily Hope with Rick Warren, About Rick Warren

"The mission of Tom Peterson and Catholics Come Home to bring souls home to Jesus and the church is critically important during this challenging time in our history. I fully support this New Evangelization project.”
                                                    —Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life

Catholicscomehome.org, 12/20/12   The book endorsement by Rick Warren

 Watch the Advertisement for the book featuring Rick Warren by clicking the frame above.

Browse the book here.  And please do read the book's description written by the publisher.
Does it sound like it could describe anyone else you know?  

     
We are in the midst of a New Evangelization 
and I believe this book is a signal moment in its success.” 

—Dr. Scott W. Hahn, author of

 The Lamb’s Supper and Signs of Life

“This book’s powerful message contains both a heartfelt invitation — ‘Catholics, come home!’—and an encouraging statement of an often overlooked fact— ‘Catholics come home!’ With enthusiasm, humility, and
 wisdom born of his own lived experience 

Tom Peterson lays 
out the salient reasons for both.”


—Patrick Madrid, author of Envoy for Christ: 

Twenty-Five Years as a Catholic Apologist

“Catholics Come Home is a powerful sacramental, a means of grace. It is a willing, waiting taxi to take us home, to our home away from home, the 
Catholic Church, the mystical body of Christ.”


—Dr. Peter Kreeft, author of Handbook of Christian Apologetics

“Catholics Come Home inspires each of us to share God’s love 

with others, in order to help change the world for the better, for eternity!”

—Roma Downey, Touched by an Angel actress, 

and co-producer of the History Channel series The Bible

“[Tom Peterson] has a statistically verifiable program of bringing people back to the Church.”

—Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York

Recommended reading:
 Let us Reason.org....Article  Rick Warren’s Catholic Conduit
Spiritwatch.org Article  What is Wrong with Eccunmenical?

"Son of God" THE MOVIE... and Rick Warren

"When God gave to Moses the blueprint of the Tabernacle He was careful to include every detail; then, lest Moses should get the notion that he could improve on the original plan, God warned him solemnly, "And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shown thee in the mount." God, not Moses, was the architect. To decide the plan was the prerogative of the Deity. No one dare alter it so much as a hairbreadth."

  A.W. Tozer, The Menace of the Religions Movie

Well, this is amazing.... Brace yourself.  There is a menace ahead.  

Heralded as "the best Jesus movie ever," Son of God will be officially unleashed February 28th and the state of this blogshow is in on it.  Rick Warren is more than simply involved,
he is integral  and even has a bit of a financial interest in the films success. Rick has  created and published a small-group Bible study on DVD to be used in conjunction with the film Tou may  purchase at Saddleback,com for about 20.00. There is a drive to get churches everywhere into the movie, doing the study study guide with their friends.

The DVD study guide features six sessions and it uses actual video clips from the Son of God movie as well as videos of Rick Warren teaching,  He will teach  participants to find their purpose in studying the life of Jesus. Consifering many of the participants with be Rick's church and church congregations, what we can see hapening here, if we look closely, is a move away from the sctipres to the movies... under the direction of "Pastor rick.  for six weeks, at least, everyone will have their noses in his study guide.... and learning about JEsus from a religious film.

If you have never read Tozers Article, you can read it here. 

Regarding this study guide, movie producer Burnett says that it is essential for congregations to dig deeper into the life lessons of Jesus’ ministry” conveying that thiss movie is not about leading the unsaved to Jesus Christ, trather it is about churches everywhere watching the film to "go deeper" in study....which, by the way, is planned to happen by conveniently using the study guide that Saddleback is selling, prepared by "Commander" Rick.  Apparently, Mr. Brnette seems to think that he and his film explains Jesus life, lessons and ministry much better than the bible ever did.

In another article promoting the film, this one written by Jeremy Burns for Christian Retailing,  Warren is quoted as saying,  “Jesus’ teaching will transform you from the inside out, so I developed a curriculum and DVD-based study to better understand key scenes and valuable teaching moments from the movie and connect the teaching of Jesus to your life’s purpose.” He is not saying that hs is 
going to connect you with Jesus, but that he will connect the teaching of Jesus... to YOUR 
life's purpose. 

This is so-o-o-o-o-o weird.

To help promote the film, Rick Warren and other pastors who will follow Warren's lead, are buying out entire theaters for showings of the film.  Warren gave the command for them to do this saying, ""I want every other faith leader in America to do the same. Whether you can buy out a whole theater, or just one screen, now is the time to show up."  Interesting that he didn't use the word "pastor" in this  Christian Post article.
The word he chose to use was  "faith leader."  Well known names in the faith world, buying up theater seats for  this movie include Joel Olsteen, Craig Groeschel, T.D. Jakes, l and Archbishop Jose Gomez.  These guys are on-board with the movie too.  

It's apparently a pretty big deal when churches invest in booking theaters.  This is supposed to impress you.  It is also supposed to impress you that this movie cost a lot of money to produce.  

Warren hosted an after-screening gathering of pastors on stage to speak out and encourage others at the viewing.  Warren took the opportunity to encourage pastors to buy theater seats and talked to them about how they should be appreciative to these brave film makers for making a Christian film.  But is it a Christian film?  Does faith come by seeing and seeing by the work of movie producers?  No.

The short video of the after-screening includes a scene from the film that is anything but biblical.   You can watch  this  after-screening and clip of the movie in question at the link above or here. Do you know, can you find in the bible texts,  anywhere in which John says of Jesus,  “He will bring a new age of righteousness and justice. His  power will draw all men to a new world?  This is not any biblical teaching recorded in the bible.

Rick says that this  movie is unlike any other Biblical movie he has ever seen. Maybe this is because of the unbiblical nature of it all,   take a minute and view the movie trailer. Watch and listen as Jesus tells one man, "Come with me." The  man responds, "What are you going to do?"This is not scripture... nor are audiences given a biblical answer. 

 In this movie Jesus's answer is "Change the world." 

 In case you do not know, Jesus came to seek and save the lost.  He also came that we might have life.... instead of death.  He came to be a ransom for many.  He is not known to have ever said that he came to "change the world."  Change and changing the world are a whole different concept than what he came for... and its a political platform too.

Charisma Magazine's article, Why Pastors Like Rick Warren Are Renting Out Theaters for 'Son of God' Premiere by Sarah Pulliam Bailey,told readers,  "The unusual move, reflects the confidence Christian leaders have in Burnett and Downey’s work in the wake of The Bible, a hit miniseries on the History channel."

It really is not that unusual to hear of churches doing this. We have seen churches do this for a vast array of movies already, like the Passion of the Christ, Facing the Giants, Fireproof and even Narnia.  This is just more promotion.  This is not the first time this has been done. Everyone with something to gain is happy to promote the film, like Rick.  He  will be selling his specially created DVD with study guide, for twenty bucks.

  “I've seen most of the films about Jesus produced in the past 50 years. SON OF GOD stands alone, in a class by itself. It is a powerful and poignant movie, the best Jesus movie I have ever seen. I am thrilled that Twentieth Century Fox is distributing this film and I know it will be a blessing to millions when it opens all across America on February 28, 2014.” 

- See more at: http://wadeoradio.com/son-of-god-best-jesus-movie-rick-warren/#sthash.7qO1uk25.dpuf

MOre refernces for learning about this film:

http://sharesonofgod.com/
http://thebibletourexperience.com/

"..., the vogue of the Miracle Play coincided exactly with the most dismally corrupt period the Church has ever known. When the Church emerged at last from its long moral night these plays lost popularity and finally passed away. And be it remembered, the instrument God used to bring the Church out of the darkness was not drama; it was the biblical one of Spirit-baptized preaching. Serious-minded men thundered the truth and the people turned to God."

A.W. Tozer, The Menace of the Religions Movie

MOVIE ENDORSEMENTS by
Andy Stanley
Cardinal Wuerl
Rick Warren
Joel Olsteen
Santiaga Mellado
Archbishop Jose Gomez
Carl Anderson
Tom Peterson
Lins Hendey
ra Sang Choo
Brandon Vogt
Ro Chang Soo
Jim Bob Park
 and a few others

http://sharesonofgod.com/Endorsements
MaxLucado
T.D. Jakes and various Roman Catholics
http://sharesonofgod.com/Endorsements

****************************************

RICK WARREN POEM  Click Here

Rick Was Wrong.

“You’ve heard me say many times that the greatest thing you can do with your life is tell somebody about Jesus … if you help somebody secure their eternal destiny, that they spend the rest of their life in Heaven not Hell …your life counts, your life matters because nothing matters more than helping get a person and their eternal destiny settled. They will be forever eternally grateful… And I’ve always said that that was the greatest thing you can do with your life.... I was wrong. ”

 Sunday Sermon at Saddleback Church, 11/2003  Rick Warren announces Global Peace Plan

Evangelizing the 21st Century culture by Rick Warren

"In ministry, some things must never change but others must change constantly.  Clearly, God’s five purposes for his church are non-negotiable. If a church fails to balance the five purposes of worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and evangelism, then it’s no longer a healthy church, and it’s in danger of becoming simply a social club. On the other hand, the way or style in which we fulfill these eternal purposes must continually be adjusted and modified because human culture is always changing."

So then, if your church is not a "Purpose Driven" Church, ( code for not listening to the wisdom of Rick who teaches all about balancing the FIVE purposes, a concept he himself has made up, ) then,  it is not "healthy"?

If you want to be "healthy" you will have to listen to Rick and throw away your tradition of thinking of church as something solid and substantial, important or consider in light of 2 Thessalonians 2: 15.... which reads, "So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us."

Rick says, "Here’s a simple tradition to break in the 21st Century: stop thinking of the church as an institution. Regardless of the language we’ve used, we boomers have tended to see the church as an organization, but the merging generations – and a lot of us Beatle-era boomers – are desperately looking for community (a major secret to Starbuck’s successful strategy; community in a coffee cup).  We need to present the church as a place where you belong, a family where, as they sang on Cheers, everybody knows your name. Now you and I may know that the church is a community, but emerging generations have never seen it that way."

Rick would have you think of church as a Starbucks and use their strategy...

and by the way... whose name does everyone at church know?  

Yours; or is it Jesus'?