What Rick Warren Thinks of Christians

"Most Christians today couldn't even define "protestant' much less name one."                                                                                ~Rick Warren tweet, 10/10/12

"Most Christians clam up and shut up because they're afraid to even stand up." ~Rick Warren,                                                                     

Rick Warren Emboldens Christians, Says Not

 to Apologize for Voting in Line With the Bible

 christainpost.com

"The greatest need in the world today is to release the latent energy bottled up in believers who are doing nothing for the kingdom of God."                                                      ~Rick Warren

Rick Warren: The Church Must Take Action. MinistryToday article, ministrytodaymag.com

"Okay. I mean I went to a Bible university, and I went to two seminaries, earned a Doctorate, how did I miss 2,000 verses in the Bible on the poor....Well, evidently, I just had on cultural blinders. And this is true with everybody, we always see what we want to see. We see what we've been taught to see. And, when I began to look at what Jesus did, I began to think, there's an entire missing part of my ministry. And so the answers to the prayers actually became the, steps of action. And that's how we came up with the PEACE Plan."

~Rick Warren

Interview with Alison Rostankowski, 2006

Finding Christians, to be uneducated, inept, and doing nothing for "the kingdom of God," Rick has decided to convince Christians to follow him so they can do something productive. Rick who is never unknowledgable about anything related to faith, never slack in knowing everything about church, even made public statements that he was ignorant of what the Bible said.  Now he is building bridges to connect people "of faith"

What faith?

Your faith ...and forget the first and greatest commandment of loving /god with allyour heart and mind.  All you need is your faith, any faith that "causes you to love others."

 (Not the faith you have in Jesus, the Savior of the world.... (John 3:16)  not the gospel of Jesus Christ, that of having your sins forgiven by God and receiving the gift of eternal life.)

Rick Warren's grandiose idea is P.E.A.C.E. (a program he apparently invented all by himself.  See his bio at www,danielplan.com.) 

This P.E.A.C.E. Plan, does not offer peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ.... but the peace of the world here on Earth and it is quite similar to the PEACE offered by the United Nations.

To Rick, the hope of the world is not Jesus, It's the world-wide "Church.".  To facilitate this peace he has set about the work of building "bridges."  

"I am looking to build bridges with the Orthodox Church, looking to build bridges with the Catholic Church, with the Anglican church, and say 'What can we do together that we have been unable to do by ourselves?' "

Read more: http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/05316/605324.stm#ixzz2unRny52Z

In A Conversation with Rick Warren at Ancient Faith Radio October 11, 2013 Rick spoke with Fr. John Parker, the chair of the Department of Evangelization of the Orthodox Church in America, about Orthodoxy, Evangelicals, evangelism, and ....himself.


"I just got back from Jordan, where I met with 80 Orthodox patriarchs and priests and bishops from Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Middle East. It was primarily Arab-speaking leaders, Armenian were there, though, Russian were there, but it was primarily Egypt and Syria and Palestine, and the Patriarch of Jerusalem was there. It was an amazing time. I’ve actually invited the Patriarch of Russia, Patriarch Kyrill, and the Patriarch of Jerusalem to come to Saddleback before Christmas. I’ve asked them to come and speak to my staff. I haven’t received an answer yet back, but I’ve invited them both to come."                                             ~Rick Warren

" I don’t call myself a Protestant, because I’m not protesting anything; I have more in common with an Orthodox who believes in the authority of Scripture than I do with a liberal Baptist or a liberal Methodist or Presbyterian who denies the authority of Scripture, and things like that. "     ~Rick Warren



"Today, a lot of churches are what I call “tumbleweed” churches. They’re not rooted in the fact that God has been at work in the Church for 2,000 years."   ~Rick Warren

"The number one thing Evangelicals need to learn from Orthodox is spiritual formation. I would say they can help us on spiritual formation, and we can help them on evangelism. I said, “If you’ll teach me about spiritual formation, I’ll teach you everything I know about reaching contemporary Americans."

~Rick Warren

"Saddleback Church speaks 69 languages.... 69 different languages. So we call ourselves an “all-nation congregation,” and we really intentionally reach out to different cultures. That has taught me about: “What’s the best way to say this?” But the process that we use for disciple-making at Saddleback, which is known to the world as “purpose-driven,” there’s absolutely nothing new about “purpose-driven” that hasn’t been done for 2,000 years in historic Christianity. We simply call them catechisms."                                              ~Rick Warren

Fr. John: "Yes, indeed. Tell me: when we were speaking a few moments ago, before we started to record this, you said that the Evangelicals are lacking the mystery."
Pastor Warren: "I do."
Fr. John: "Say a little bit about your thoughts on that."
Pastor Warren: "I was brought up in a Baptist background, which, in a Baptist background, in worship, it’s all about the sermon. It’s not about communion, the Lord’s table. It’s not about the sacraments. It’s about the word."    

"I believe that the Eastern Orthodox Church particularly, and also Catholics, could see a revival in America, because the new generation is craving more mystery. I see this in the next generation. "                                                                                             ~Rick Warren

   

Now this is weird.... Rick would have people "craving more mystery."

Rick apparently had not only overlooked the bible verse about helping the poor, but has not read Ephesians 3; .about how God made known the mystery in the person of Jesus Christ.

"For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:

How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)  Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel."  Ephesians 3:1-5

Promoting the notion of "mystery," and a "Protestant" return to it, Rick Warren says, 

"But there’s great mystery in the Church. There’s mystery in the elements of communion. There’s mystery in baptism. There’s mystery in the Gospel, and the Bible talks about this. I also think that Protestants, when they were reacting to what may have been some true excesses of the Catholic Church in the 1500's, went to the extreme and got rid of a lot of helpful worship aids: icons and pictures and symbols."                                                                                   ~ Rick Warren

Oddly, this and other strange things, are coming from someone who is supposed to be a Protestant, Southern Baptist minister.  

Rick obviously thinks Christians are not very bright people.  He snookers everyone he possibly can.  He believes that the people who gave their lives to give the world the gospel and the scriptures in written form, are inept, spineless, foolishly clinging to the wrong "unhealthy" foundation.   According to Rick, Protestants need to turn back to the notion of "mystery" like other forms of the Christian religions and all Christians need to do more than they are doing.

Of course they all should stop their useless Bible studies.. and listen to him pontificate about how to save the world, and buy his books where they can learn to better serve the world.  Someone who teaches pastors, not the importance of preaching the word of God, but rick's own sermons and campaign projects and stresses the importance of meeting people's "needs"

"The last thing many believers need is to go to another Bible study. They already know far more than they are putting into practice. What they need are serving experiences in which they can exercise their spiritual muscles." ~Rick Warren

We Are Commanded to Serve God By Rick Warren 8/19 2009

Martha didn't approve of Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus instead of serving either, but Jesus told her, Mary had chosen the better thing.

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?

Earmarked for Adventure

Do you like movies? If you do, you can understand how God made you and I for adventure, at least according to Pastor Rick.  He assumes a lot about what kind of movies we find appealing... and completely disregards books as an example.... but movies, it seems, is what he thinks will prove that you and I were made for "a great adventure."

"You and I were made for a great adventure—it’s why we like movies." ~Rick Warren 

God Created Us For Adventure by Rick Warren Ministry Today Mag.com, 

Life itself is actually an adventure in and of itself, but apparently we have to long for adventure.  Did you know that God made us to long for his adventure? 
(Note: "h" is not capitalized in "his.")

"God made us to long for adventure — his adventure.”

~Rick Warren 

God Created Us for Adventure by Rick Warren 12/16/2011

http://purposedriven.com/blogs/dailyhope/

Rick often quotes from the Message... originally written as a novel by Eugene Peterson.... subsequently turned into a "Bible," but it's not a translation.

“God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of His Son and our master Jesus.” 1 Cor. 1:9 (Msg)"                                                                        ~Rick Warren 

  Saying Yes to God (Printable Message Notes)by Rick and Kay Warren http://purposedriven.com/day10/

And so why does he use The Message?   

 He uses it because the translations of the original languages do not say what he wants to present to the "church."  He only wants to make his own point.  You see, he rather scratch your adventurous ears than tell you about fellowship with Jesus and how you need Him.   He rather talk to you about you getting to have a "spiritual adventure" (like a great movie) one that "God" wants to take you on... with Rick Warren leading the way.  

However, there is nothing about a spiritual "adventure" in the verse Rick references in any of these other, truly translated, presentations of the Word.  Like a pied piper, Rick is misleading those who have itchy ears away from truth with his craftily selected words.

KJV reads: "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son                         Jesus Christ our Lord."

NIV reads: " God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus                         Christ our Lord."

NASB reads:  "God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with 

                     His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."

TLB reads: "God will surely do this for you, for he always does just what he says,                             and he is the one who invited you into this wonderful friendship with                           his Son, even Christ our Lord."

Even the Living Bible, which is not a translation, does not fabricate the tale being told by Rick Warren about God giving you some kinds of a spiritual adventure.  What God actually did, was give you life and if you are a believer, he has given you eternal life.  He brings you into fellowship (friendship) with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who, by the way, is Lord, does not "Lord it over" us.  /in fact, he calls us friends.

 Rick says that God's will for you is to "live and lead in a spiritual adventure."  He says that God's plan is not for you to lead a mundane life.

"Never forget that.” God’s will for you is to live and lead in a spiritual adventure. The life that God plans for you is not a mundane boring life. It is an adventurous life."        ~Rick Warren 

http://pastors.com/re-ignite-passion-ministry/

So much for being a mom at home with little ones... that must not be God's will or plan, as that can be pretty "mundane," dull, boringm tedious, monotonous, tiresome, wearisome, uneventful, unexciting, uninteresting, repetitive, ordinary, routine, .... commonplace.  Rick offers a adcenture, a spiritual adventure instead.

You might wisely think to ask yourself...."Spiritual"  .... What spirit might that be of?  (The Bible, you might know, says that you should try, (test)  the "spirits," whether they are of God... for  many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1.)   

In 2006, PurposeDriven.com told people that the spiritual adventure was Rick Warren's P.E.A.C.E. Plan.  We wwere also told that Pastor Rick was created by God to implement this P.E.A.C.E. Plan.  It was described as a "wild ride" an "amazing spiritual adventure."   

"Please prayerfully consider attending this workshop to begin the process of preparing your church to engage in the P.E.A.C.E. Plan. Rick Warren has said repeatedly, “This is why God made me. Everything else I have done was simply preparation for the P.E.A.C.E. Plan.” If you choose to lead your Church to participate in the P.E.A.C.E. Plan it will be a wild ride and an amazing spiritual adventure for your members as they get God’s heart for the world, as God uses them to change lives, and together we bring global glory to God! 

http://web.archive.org/web/20060318015829/purposedriven.com/en-US/Events/PurposeDrivenChurch/PDC+PEACE+Seminar.htm

John 17:14

"I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."     ~ Jesus Christ

Matthew 24:9

" Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.  ~ Jesus Christ

"The influence of the book keeps amazing me everyday as I get requests for autographed copies. I have signed books for 1) All the Supreme Court Justices 2) One for Fidel Castro (!) 3) One for the President of Peru (these last 2 were spanish editions), and I even got a note saying that everyone on Air Force One was reading the book recently.  But all this is not about us. God's intention is much bigger than the book. It's all about the global glory of God! We intend to leverage the attention that the Purpose Driven Life has garnered to bring about a whole new way of thinking and acting in the church about our responsibility in the world. "

~Rick Warren

Peace Plan Letter Saddleback.com

*****************************
        RICK WARREN POEM  Click Here

Can't Stop Thinking BIG... Rick's Power of Exponential Thinking

Rick Warren explains "exponential thinking" like this:

"This is thinking so big that it demands that you depend on God to see it happens. It's what I call "the faith factor."

Thinking BIG is what Rick Warren does best. However, there is a problem.  The problem is, Jesus never said that you needed to have a LOT of faith to get things done?  He said, if you have the faith of a mustard seed... you could move mountains.  Jesus then went on to explain that the mustard seed was not a huge enormous thing at all.  Rick however, wants you, like himself, to be thinking BIG.... really really big, and he teaches that without big thinking, without a big church, without a big dream....and without doing his programs and reading his books and materials, listening to him teach or letting him lead your small group, you are not doing things the right, good and godly way. In fact, in contrast to his "healthy" church propaganda, you might just be one of those sickly,  "unhealthy" people or churches.
Here are some quotes from Rick about thinking BIG.

Here he talks about thinking on a "godly scale.".  (What on earth does that mean?)

“I want to challenge you to think exponentially when you consider your church and to think on a godly scale about how you and your staff could help usher revival and renewal into your community.  There are many ways God may lead you to do this and I don't want to suggest that there is one formulaic direction. See what God has to say about this--and then believe him for BIG, BIG things.” ~Rick Warren

The Need for Exponential Faith Thinking by Rick Warren,  Global christian Center 

Originally posted at pastors.com

If you are not thinking big, you are not thinking on a "godly scale."   Not thinking big.... you are not on the godly scale.

He explains what "exponential thinking" is..

"This is thinking so big that it demands that you depend on God to see it happens. It's what I call "the faith factor." You attempt to do something so big that it can't be accomplished by human effort alone. It requires a miracle. Jesus said, "According to your faith, it will be done unto you."  ~Rick Warren

Revival, Awakening, or Miracle by rRck Warren, Global Christian Center

Originally posted at pastors.com in 2003

Apparently, the book he wrote and sold, was "a miracle," one that came about because of Warren's own BIG faith. ( Never mind of course, that it really was not the gospel of Jesus.... sold to the world by it's publishers and there were marketing techniques used to get the word out that Christians and others should be listening to "Pastor Rick."    

Rick was thinking in the millions....

“There’s only one thing big enough in the entire world to solve them [the five global giants]. Only one thing. The millions and millions and millions and millions and millions and millions of congregations that are spread out all around the world. I could take you today to a million villages that don’t have a school, don’t have a clinic, don’t have a post office, don’t have a fire department, don’t have a business, but they got a church. " ~Rick Warren

Keynote Address to the interfaith, Annual Conference of the 

Religion Newswriters Association (RNA) in September 2005.

Did you notice,,,, the ONE THING, is not JESUS CHRIST?

Rick also has his own P.E.A.C.E. plan.....which also is not about Jesus, but strategy.


“Now this is the strategy behind the P.E.A.C.E. plan. It’s a strategy to mobilize millions of small groups in millions of churches to attack the 5 global giants with a 5 point strategy.… P-E-A-C-E is the P.E.A.C.E. plan. ” ~Rick Warren

Saddleback’s 25th Anniversary Celebration, April 17th, 2005,

"This life you get 60, 80, maybe 100 years at the most. It’s very, really, quite short. On the other side of eternity you’re going to spend millions, and millions, and millions, and actually trillions, and trillions, trillions of years in eternity.

 ~Rick Warren 

http://bigthink.com/videos/rick-warren-on-a-purpose-driven-life

And yes, all of those millions of people who have a peace plan that is of the world and not about Jesus,will have an eternity.... but without the Jesus of the Bible that "eternity" will be quite sad.  God has offered forgiveness of sin, for all who believe on Jesus... who gives a peace much different than the peace this world has to offer.... and faith in Jesus, not faith inthe words of Pastor Rick, is the only way. 

Rick is about breaking down denominational barriers.

"There have been movements that have come along that have broken the denominational barriers in Christianity, things like the conferences we do, and even stuff like Promise Keepers that kind of went up and then went down; you know, all of a sudden you’ve got a million guys on the National Mall, and they’re everything – they’re Catholic and Pentecostal and Baptist." ~Rick Warren 

Influencing others.... 

"And so when I say I’m not a policymaker, that doesn’t mean that I’m opposed to Christians being in the public square.... I’m just saying that personally I’ve got a different agenda. My agenda is really of, in, for and through these millions and millions of churches that I now have technology to network together called the Internet, which allows me to sit in my bedroom and talk to guys in Brussels, and it allows me to influence any influencer." ~Rick Warren 

Myths of the Moern Mega-Chuirch pewforum.org, 2005

Influencing others.... for the "good"

“There is only one thing big enough to handle the world’s problems, and that is the millions and millions of churches spread out around the world...” "Well, the biggest distribution network in the world is local churches. There are millions of them, far more than all the franchises in the world. Put together, they could be a force for good.” ~Rick Warren

THE CELLULAR CHURCH How Rick Warren’s Congregation Grew by M. Gladwell 9/12/2005

Rick has them all in his sight, desiring they beunder his leadership and control.

He says, "They could be a "force for good."
 ???
Does this infer that they are not?


He is thinking BIG.

Caravan (Can't Stop Thinking Big!) 

with lyrics 

(Song by Canadian band, Rush)

“Last Sunday, we took a special offering called Extend the Vision, for people to give over and above their normal offering. We decided we would not use any financial consultants, no high-powered gimmicks, no thermometer on the wall. It was just ‘Folks, you know you need to give.’ Sunday’s offering was seven million dollars in cash and fifty-three million dollars in commitments."~Rick Warren

THE CELLULAR CHURCH How Rick Warren’s Congregation Grew by M. Gladwell 9/12/2005

Rick Warren's First "Gathering on Mental Illness and the Church"

In March, 2014, Warren will team up with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, (represented by  Bishop Kevin Vann,) and the National Alliance on Mental Illness to "raise awareness and remove the misunderstandings against mental illnesses within the faith community."  Interestingly enough, the National Alliance in Mental Health not onlysays that ut defines the roles and responsibilities of NAMI State Organizations and NAMI Affiliates,like their "Faith Net" established for "outreach to all religious organizations." (Faithnet claims this is successful for them because "all the major religions have the basic tenets of giving care and showing compassion to those in need." ) A recent  ABC NEWS report said that "the Gathering on Mental Health and the Church grew out of private conversations Warren had with the local Catholic bishop, Bishop Kevin Vann, after his son's death."

What we are seeing here, looks a lot like the "miracle of unity" as declared recently by Pope Francis a few days ago via video at a Kenneth Copeland Conference.  The Pope's message was followed by Archbishop Tony Palmer citing the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification that he said was posted on the Vatican Website, it was one of their documents. Palmer said that this document brought and ed to the "protest" of the Protestant Reformation.  He told the crowd, “Brothers and sisters, Luther’s protest is over Is yours? "  Do not be surprised that the next "miracle of unity" just might unite faiths on this issue of mental illness.  

As for the gathering, take a look at the line of speakers for this one day event.... 

Rick Warren

Kay Warren

Kevin Vann

Steve Pitman

Amy Simpson

Churck Hannaford

Eric Johnson

Matthew Stanford

And just what do these people all have in common?  Mainly it si the goal of getting you on board.  Apparently the church is just not concerned enough about mental illness.... they attach stigmas to mental illness that do not belong. Therefore they are being sold this concept of coming under the direction of these experts in the field.

Says Warren, 

.

“Our goal is, as we say, we crack the door open and then churches go, ‘OK. If the diocese is doing this, if Saddleback’s doing this, we can do this,’” Warren said. “And we’d love to see a movement started where people actually begin to say, ‘We need to see this element added to our local ministry.'"    ~Rick Warren
                                Rick Warren Calls Church to Mental Health Ministry by Sophia Lee 2/25/14

One alarming aspect of this is that churches already do care about people with mental illness. Another is that mental illness is not always easy to identify and treat... it can be easily misdiagnosed and once diagnosed, treating it is not always so simple.... Ask Rick; He knows. Then on top of this, when church does deal with mental illness they still get the response from people like the Friendly Atheist, that wonders, "Why,"( if Jesus really does make a difference and heals our huts,) "doesn't Jesus heal mental disease?" They point out that while Rick and family profess to believe Jesus heals, Jesus did not heal Pastor Warren's son of his depression which he struggled with. his dad says, all of his life.

Alarming too... is that Rick, the self proclaimed expert on everything, who frequently misrepresents what the bible says and disregards sound doctrine, also thinks that he in in charge of everything "health."

Rick Warren has grown himself a big following and so he thinks he know everything about preaching and growing a church... He has made himself a pastor to pastors, and believes he knows everything about how to build it, and how to balance it perfectly all of the time to keep it "healthy.". He thinks he knows all about physical health too...(even though he not in great physical condition himself.).He has also recently enlisted people he considers to be experts to teach those churches that line up with him, to find physical health too, and now, he is putting himself up in front as knowing a lot about mental health and bringing in more "experts" in the area of mental health..

Pastors of churches have willingly put themselves under Rick Warren's mentoring, given his their congregations ears to listen to the advice of doctors that practice meditation for relaxation and teach necromancy on TV. Now he is inviting them to subject themselves and members of heir congregations to the scrutiny of a National Alliance of Mental Illness....He is asking them to subject themselves to answer to the Alliance who will, according to their website, "develop and provide materials to be used in congregations of a wide variety of faith traditions,"

This is another miracle of unity... (n the making.)

Meanwhile, some people would believe that major figures and personalities in the Bible may have been mentally ill........

See:

 http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=1476850

 http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/341926/Jesus-Christ-may-have-suffered-from-mental-health-problems-claims-Church-of-England

https://www.evidenceforchristianity.org/what-is-your-response-to-those-who-claim-pauls-vision-of-jesus-on-the-road-to-damascus-was-just-a-hallucination-brought-on-by-his-deep-sense-of-guilt/

So, what if you do not want to go this Mental Health route with Rick and friends?  What if you are overweight and go to church or if your church id not "Prupose Driven," and has not done "Forty Days of Love"?  What if yu congregation is ot as big as a college campus?  Would this mean you are "unhealthy?  

What if you didn't get o board with Popes and bishops because you read more than one page at the Vatican site, and what if you believe faith in Jesus, *not good works and belonging to  a faith community )  is the ONLY way to God.?  What if you take the bible seriously.... adhere to biblical doctrines... like the reality of hell, and you believe the promises of God?  Would this,cause you to be labeled unhealthy.... 

Or for that matter, "mentally ill"?

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Other Topic Related Articles That Might Be Of Interest To You:

The friendly Athiest, Rick Warren: "We are all mentally ill."

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/07/30/pastor-rick-warren-were-all-mentally-ill/

Article by Matthew S. Stanford is professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University

http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/latest-columns/20140216-church-must-stop-abdicating-its-role-in-mental-health.ece

Roman Catholic Article about the Popes Message to Kenneth Copeland

http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=54312

It all about healthy and safety...

"Matthew S. Stanford is professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University"

http://neatoday.org/2013/12/13/is-mental-health-the-next-focus-school-safety-debate/

Jesus was ill?

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/341926/Jesus-Christ-may-have-suffered-from-mental-health-problems-claims-Church-of-England

50 Days of Transformation

"Starting in January, thousands of churches across America will begin Pastor Rick’s new seven-week small group study, Transformed" Saddleback Church website.

Pastor Rick is being transformed, and promoting "transformation."  Instead of his typical "40 Days" of stuff, he has changed!  Now it is 50 Days! 

(Wow, ten more days for the same price as 40!  What a deal!  

He has changed his pastoral uniform too. Instead of his casual-styled Hawaiian shirt, he is pictured and preaches from the pulpit, wearing a black T-shirt.

Accroding to Rick Warren, it's the most important "spiritual growth" campaign he has ever done.  He says that he has been working on it for two years.

"Am I just like, walking down the street one day, and all of a sudden....ZAP! I am just transformed... and all of a sudden I am filled with love and I love everybody?  No, it doesn't work that way, it doesn't work that way at all." ~Rick Warren 

Sermon, Transformed: How God Changes Us

Odd.... This is what transformed Paul on the way to Damascus when he encountered Jesus Christ. The book of Acts records that Paul was going to arrest followers of Jesus there with the intention of returning them to Jerusalem as prisoners for questioning and possible execution. His journey is interrupted when (ZAP!) Paul saw a blinding light, and communicated directly with a divine voice.... God's.  now, this may not be how is it for everyone, but how can Rick say that it doesn;t work this way at all?  

Weird huh?

Listen carefully as Rick Warren attempts to transform your congregation.  

"To put it another way, the ultimate goal of preaching is not information. In fact, giving people a greater knowledge of the Bible can cause pride to develop in our hearers rather than humility if that information isn't translated into obedience. And the goal if preaching is not merely instruction either."

~Rick Warren, 

The Aim of Preaching Is Life Transformation by Rick Warren, pastors.com

He will take church people who should understand the gospel of grace through faith, into people who are always attempting to please God by their actions, not faith.  People who are perfectly obedient to the Bible, (that they  now purpose to  know nothing about because having all that information from the Bible might make them arrogant and full of pride.)   

......" the result will be believers who are more obedient to the Bible, and we call obedient believers disciples."

~Rick Warren, 

The Aim of Preaching Is Life Transformation by Rick Warren, pastors.com
What IS a disciple?

Your church will repent.  Their minds, beliefs and values will be changed,  Thanks to Rick and his new campaign they will experience a total change in thinking,,,, the ultimate "paradigm shift." 

"Repentance is changing minds at the deepest level - the level of beliefs & values. We preach to produce the ultimate paradigm shift for people – the very transformation of their lives."

~Rick Warren, 

The Aim of Preaching Is Life Transformation by Rick Warren, pastors.com

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                      HOW ON EARTH DOES THIS HAPPEN TO A CHURCH?                           

First you bribe people whoneed no experience and likely know little or nothing about what it is that they will be facilitating to host groups.  You do this by offering FREE materials to them, materials that usually cost more than just a couple bucks.  Everyone else pays to participate.  then you teach all the people in their group via video.

"AS A HOST, YOU’LL RECEIVE THE ENTIRE KIT FREE:
The leatherette Life Journals, the seven DVD lessons, and all the other life-changing materials for your group."

Pastor Rick, News with Views 1/17/2014

Then you apply intimidation....

"If you don’t form a 50 Day group, I’m certain you’ll later regret missing out on what God intended to bless you with."

~Rick Warren, 

Rick’s January 17th, 2014 newsletter to Saddleback attendees:

And you replace the Bible that they used to hold in their hands with material you created, books, workbooks, whatever..... even a "transformation app!"  

You train them not to think  independently from the group.

"Transform yourself and your life group with the Transform Me and the Transform My Group Apps Available through iTunes and Google play."                      
                                                                  http://www.saddleback.com/series/transformed/

SEE WHAT YOU THINK......

                                                                      See and hear a sermon here:  Transformed: How God Changes Us
Here is another source: saddlebackchurchnotes.blogspot.com

And another: transformed 

"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

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RICK WARREN POEM  Click Here