Four Laws of a Blessed Church

Four Laws of a Blessed Church


"Laws of a Blessed Church?"  


Did God already set forth his commandments in stone?  Didn't God already fullfill the requirements of the law on our behalf in Christ?  Yes... and yes!  What on earth is Rick talking about these "Four Laws of a blessed church for?


True as it is that God has already fulfilled the law in Christ, recently posted at pastors.com was this article,  Four Laws of a Blessed Church, by Rick Warren.  It seems to be a remake of a 2009 Purpose Driven article, of a similar title, Four Laws of God's Blessings. It's probably changed to appeal to a newer audience now, so it is slightly different, but the effect of reading it remains the same.  Gullible readers will be believing that "God's blessing upon your church "brings responsibility." Apparently there are Four Laws (laws that you have to be keeping) if you are, or want to be, that "Blessed Church" Rick is speaking about.

Rick's concepts are biblical, aren't they?  After all, churches do have responsibilities to carry out.  not only that, but Rick is a "pastor" and like all pastors, he uses some impressive quotes of the scripture to make his points in the mind of his readers and hearers.  He even sounds quite well versed and literate because he quotes from all kinds of "Bibles." 


Some readers, however, might be unaware of the difference between a translation and a paraphrase and they might just be glad to hear someone using the bible as they speak!  Well hooray for them, but sad for Rick who misleads people in the hows and why's of getting God's "blessing."  


Look at Rick's Laws and you will see that these "Laws" are not really "laws."  He doesn't even write them that way.  Rick just calls them laws as he teaches them to his hearers.  Look also how he uses the Bible to back what he says.


The first law, according to Rick, is for blessing to flow outwardly.   

"1. Blessing should flow outwardly."

From the Book of Genesis, he shows us how God told Abraham, "I will bless you and you will be a blessing to others." 

What blessing is he referring to?  He does not say.  and while Abraham is a great example... it is notable he doesn't mention the blessings we have in Christ.  Are you thinking yet that Rick is referring to earthly possessions and material blessings.... like finances?

Is that number one even a law?  It sounds more like a suggestion. ("Should flow?")  

 "2. When we bless others, God takes care of our needs.'

Oh, now he mentions Jesus.  Jesus "guaranteed," "Anyone who gives up anything for the kingdom of God will certainly receive many times more in this life and will receive eternal life in the next world to come." 


Is this number two, another law?  It sounds more like a principal. Furthermore, if it is a "Law" then who bound to keep this law?  God?  


So, when you bless others, God reciprocates?  (And it's a law?)  Hardly.
Rick has it backwards. 
 Someone even wrote a hymn that says, "Praise God from whom all blessing flows....."  


 "3.  Our blessings to others will come back on us."

Is this a LAW?  ( If it is, it actually sounds like the Buddhist "law"of Karma.  We do know that we reap what we sow...  Jesus tells us that.  We do know too that the measure you use, it will be measured to you.. (Luke 6:38) But Rick gives his hearers some motivation for blessing others.... (while quoting the Message by Eugene Peterson, which is not a Bible translation but a paraphrase.)  Rick says, in support of blessing others, "Luke 6:38 tells us, "Give your life away and you'll find your life will be given back.  But not merely given back.  Given back with bonus and blessing."

Christian, are you a follower of Jesus, for "the bonus?"  Are you in Christ for the bonus and the blessing Peterson and Warren insist God will be passing out if adhere to this third so-called "law" or are you in Christ because of what Christ has done for you on the cross.  

4.  The more we're blessed by God the more he expects us to help others."


Again, is this written as a law? (No.) More importantly, is this a law of God?
Statements like this are written in order to provoke people to give.  Instead however of giving out of generosity or with a cheerful spirit, one is urged to GIVE because of guilt and out of abundance.  


(Which of God's infamous Ten Commandments requires one to GIVE anything to anyone?)


To make his point, Rick uses words from the Living Bible, a paraphrase, stating that God says, in Luke 12 that, "Much is required from those to whom much is given. For their responsibility is greater." Rick neglects however to mention what verse in Luke this is and he fails to convey that this verse, in context, even in the Living Bible is about punishment specifically for those who know the master's will and do not do it.  It is not about the proper reciprocation and distribution of goods or finances as Rick infers when he asks, "If your church is blessed with resources that others around the wold do not have, how do you think God wants you to use them to help (or plant) other congregations?"  Rick makes blessing all about money.  

 So, what is a blessed church and what does it look like?


The picture Rick paints  of a blessed church as one who has wealth and worldly possessions.  His Four Laws all reflect allusions to what can only be described as monetary "blessings" from God and being  given and being received back in bonus too.  Rick attempts to makes your motivation for giving all about being motivated to get "God's blessings" in return.    However, when it comes to serving, helping and even to "giving,"  Christians do not give in order to get.  No, they operate under greater principles than Warren's bizarre  repackaging of the "law" of Karma for Christians.  They are instructed in the bible to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, (and they do) .... how he said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive.'  (Acts 20:35) 


 Jesus gave us a very different picture of a church blessed by God... (Matthew 5)

• Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
• Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
• Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
• Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
• Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
• Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
• Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
• Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

What is Church?

"Church is not a place you go to but people you belong to."
Rick Warren Tweet... March 29,2012

Really?  I thought that was family.

" Church is the people you belong to." 
                                                Rick Warren

Funny, the Bible teaches that the church consists

of those who belong to the Lord.

Rick's Acronym for "church".... (The Church, the Hope of the World, 2009)


Care for and support those infected and affected;
Handle testing and counseling;
Unleash a volunteer labor force;
Reduce stigma;
Champion healthy behavior;
and
Help with medication and nutrition.

C.H.U.R.C.H.

While acronyms are sometimes helpful, this one offered by Rick 

deserves to be scrutinized by thinking individuals who would call themselves the church.

We can assume he is speaking in reference to AIDS....

but there are more problems than AIDS in this world.

and there is one solution....

Jesus Christ and him crucified for sin.

The solution is not the church as a group of concerned people who  volunteer their labor in testing for AIDS or counselling or who champion "healthy" behavior by offering condoms helping with medication reminders and advocating good nutrition.  No.  The church while concerned and caring stands looks to one greater than even John the Baptist....

and it's not Rick....(even as "great" as he makes himself and his care

  and compassion for the world and for those suffering with AIDS to be...)

The solution is Jesus Christ and we belong to Him

He bought us with a price and He paid for our sin. 




See also http://rickwarrenquotes.blogspot.com/2011/03/church-hope-of-world-rick-warren-and.html

Picture It!

"The picture-it method of Bible study is useful because the Bible is full of stories.  In this method, you put yourself into the scene of a biblical story as if you are an active participant.  Then you ask yourself, "How would I feel if I were involved in this situation?  hat would I say?  What would I do"  When you do this, God's Word becomes flesh in your life, and it'll change your life."
Rick Warren... @ purposedriven.com

Is this how" God's Word becomes flesh?"

Really?

According to Rick Warren it is.

Apparently, this idea of the Word of God  "becoming flesh"

  is about you putting yourself into the stories in the scriptures,

 (any of them you like.)

Remarkable.   

 I mean, considering that Jesus is the very Word of God,

 and that as such he was born into humanity as a man 

and that he died upon a cross for the sin of of humanity, and rose again...

 it is quite remarkable that a "Christian pastor"

 would teach this about the word of God becoming flesh in you

by you simply imagining yourself in the story, any story, in the text.  It is as if he is teaching that 

our flesh and blood can somehow attain to the kingdom of God, 

which is not the way it is at all.

It is as if he simply made up this so-called "method" of meditation

 and is instructing both Christians and would-be Christians,

 to believe it as he tells and instructs his hearers to 

 imagine themselves in the Bible's stories 

and tells them that this is how the Word becomes flesh.

This is not true.  Jesus is the word made flesh.  Not you.

He says, "...That's a truth that you can apply today--all because you stepped into the words of scripture and let it become "flesh" in your life.  You can do this with any character in the story or any story in the Bile.  It'll change how you read your Bible."

Rick Warren

Yes, Rick Warren, ( the change agent,) wants to" change " how you think , PERIOD.

Wherefore previously you might have thought (or been taught or even taught others) 

 that Jesus was the Word made flesh as it reads in this chapter of John...

he would like you to think otherwise...

and have you  imagine yourself

 as that Word of God, made flesh.

Strange.

If you listen to Rick, then soon you will be using,( rather than believing) the Bible,

and using it to exalt yourself into higher realms of consciousness....

 or at least imagine yourself  there, and instead of believing the bible is about Jesus, 

 you will believe that the Bible is not only all about YOU, but simply a nice

 collection of stories to be used for your own daily

  imagination/meditation exercises into higher realms of consciousness.... 

(remember those breath-prayers.)

 Before long, you will be just like Jesus, imagine yourself as God and 

 falsely believe you are the word of God in your flesh.

  He has an acronym for it too...

S.P.A.C.E.  P.E.T.S.

Space Pets?

This notion and term comes from the Rick Warren Bible Study Methods Book, 

subtitled, Twelve Ways You Can Unlock God's Word.

He is using it in his 40 Days in the Word study too.

Is it really up to you to do the unlocking?

Is God's word hidden from you?

  The premise of Rick, after all, is that you use his "method"

to "unlock" what is locked up.

Odd.... 

You see, God gives wisdom like he gives grace... freely to all who ask.

God is also in the business, you might say of revealing himself, truth, his Word,

 his Son, and even "mysteries" to those who simply ask,or seek, or knock.  

(Matthew 7:7)

Not only that but the apostles have set forth

 the truth and the scriptures quite plainly...

preached to the whole world and even 

written the Bible  in nearly every language ever spoken by man.

Yet, Rick sells this "Picture-It" method

 of "meditation" as a key,( one of many) to unlock God's Word

 as something biblical.

 In essences though, "Picture It" is just another form of what is known as guided meditation... 

where you visualizing things you imagine in your mind's eye...

and place yourself into the scenario prescribed by you or by someone else.

It is a "spiritual," exeercise, perhaps,

 but quite contrary to simply hearing the Word 

and  reasoning and thinking as a

 human; reading, hearing and understanding

 what the scriptures say and knowing they are real.

and right, and true and good....

 not imaginary or  imagined.

They are historical and real... as is his salvation of mankind through the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ.

Which reminds me of a verse:

2 Corinthians 4: 1-5

Therefore seeing we have this ministry,

 as we have received mercy, we faint not;

 But have renounced the hidden things 

of dishonesty,

 not walking in craftiness,

 nor handling the word of God deceitfully;

 but by manifestation of the truth 

commending ourselves to every man's conscience 

in the sight of God.

But if our gospel be hid,

 it is hid to them that are lost: 

In whom the god of this world 

hath blinded the minds 

of them which believe not,

 lest the light of the glorious gospel

 of Christ, who is the image of God, 

should shine unto them.

  For we preach not ourselves, (or our own books and Bible Study methods)

but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves

 your servants for Jesus' sake.

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

Dreaming with Rick Warren

Rick wants to know if you have a "dream."  If you don't, then you should be asking God to give you one of his... and then, you follow your dream.  (Hmmmm.  This all should make one wonder "what on earth" Rick is teaching people.  Did Jesus Christ ever tell those disciples of his to "follow their dreams?  Did JEsus teach them to pray and ask God to give them a dream that he could fulfill for them?  No. However, Rick here, wants to teach his readers these things.  In fact, he tells them here, how to have faith... in your dream and the Six Phases of Faith that it takes in order for your dreams to come true for you.

And what are the Six Phases of Faith?
Dream,
         Decision, 
                  Delay, 
                         Difficulty, 
                                                      Dead End.... and finally,
                                                                    Deliverance!

Saved by your faith... in your DREAMS! (???)

From RickWarren.com
The Six Phases of Faith by Rick Warren
5-30-2010

"Do I have a dream planted in me by God? If you don't have a dream, start praying, "God give me your dream." Rick Warren

"Some of you have a dream from God, but you haven't made a decision to follow it. "  Rick Warren

" What has caused my dream to be delayed?" Rick Warren

"What difficulties have I faced waiting for the dream to be fulfilled?" Rick Warren

" "According to your faith will it be done to you." (Matthew 9:29 NIV) God is faithful. What he tells us to do, he will do. But it doesn't happen overnight. " Rick Warren

Every Word That Proceeds From the Mouth of God

"Jesus demands greater allegiance than any dictator would dare ask. But as God, he deserves it & no one will ever love u more." 
Tweeted by  Rick Warren, January 2012  

 "Demands" greater allegiance than a dictator?

Jesus is not a dictator, nor should he be compared as to one.

Jesus is not a tyrant taskmaster 

DEMANDING anything of you.

(Satan , on the other hand, is demanding and he hate's God's Word.)

By the way, just how much allegiance  "dare" a dictator ask anyhow? 

Do you know any dictators who have the scruples to be careful 

as to how much allegiance they "ask" of you 

or rather, how much they demand? 

"Fake Christianity is just a bunch of words, REAL Christianity is love in action."
Tweeted by Rick Warren, January 2012

"Just" a bunch of words?   

A Christianity that  preaches  words... reads words and believes God's Word, 

 might seem like "nothing but a big mouth" to some people, 

but Jesus told Satan, "Man does not live on bread alone."

Must have been a reason for that.

As as for action...

Love in action is best displayed and seen in Jesus,

His love in action,

 dying on the cross,

 forgiving,

 and raising from the dead

according to the very word

 and promise of our God.

"The glory of God is a human being fully alive!"

St. Irenaeus

Tweeted by Rick Warren, January 2012

Is this tweet intended to promote some kind of radical

Christian humanistic thinking, or faith in the person of Jesus Christ?

One can only  assume or guess.

Ireaneas, bishop of Lyons,

taught about Jesus and Christian doctrine 

from the writing of the apostles

available to him in his day.

Why is Rick even tweeting this "quote" of Iraneuas?

"Pain is the mother of change." 

Tweeted by Rick Warren, January 2012

Some people embrace that teaching,  but... 

God does not change, like shifting shadows.

No.  he is the same, yesterday today and forever.

Pain didn't change Jesus as he hungered in the wilderness for 40 days

or when he died and ugly death on Calvary's cross.

We have also seen Christian martyrs, 

refusing to "change" what they believe about God..

under the influence of pain....

 tortured for their faith in Christ,

dipped in oil, 

sawed in two,

 beheaded... 

not for a crime of sin, but simply for their faith in Jesus.

 Many were killed by men, who thought 

they were doing humanity (or  "God") a favor,

doing something "good," 

believing too the notion that   

 pain....would be the mother of change.

They  were evidently wrong.

"You get God's power IN your life by surrendering to God's purpose FOR your life."

Tweeted by Rick Warren, January 2012

I would appear that Rick Warren, 

the prince of "purpose," wants YOU to surrender 

your life to God's purpose, 

All five of them as defined, explained, outlined,

by Pastor Rick,

who knows all about the stuff...

Then you will get "power."

Let's look at Luke, Chapter 4 where JEsus was being tempted for forty days in the wilderness... and where Jesus God his power.

And the devil said unto him, "All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine."

 And Jesus answered and said unto him, "Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

"God's Prescription?"

Sick?
Unhealthy?
  Feeling empty, run-down,
 upside down...
a little round?

Feeling blue?

Listen up, little cup...You're vulnerable, and Rick Warren has a  Daniel Plan,  for you.

Advertised as,  "God's Prescription for your health!"  and with a year in the implementing at Saddleback Community Church, it's definitely a plan, but is it really a plan prescribed by God?  Rick thinks so; and  he markets it that way.

Concerned for peoples mental, physical, and spiritual well-being  Rick Warren has hatched yet another plan for you and your life. He began promoting his clever plan in his own church last year, to make everyone  healthy, balanced and fit. He enlisted the three wisest men he could find, called it the "Daniel Plan" and jumped right in.

Rick's three wise friends are doctors, each claimed to be experts in their own perspective fields regard "health." The three are highly publicized, best-selling authors, just like Pastor Rick.  They are not only his personal friends, but supposedly co-creators in the project designed for Warren's congregation, and their names are  Daniel Amen, Mark Hyman and Mehmet Oz,  Rick makes it look biblical and sound biblical... but here is an interesting twist.  "God's prescription" is not about learning from Jesus, or the apostles, but comes from getting information from Pastor Rick and friends.  In fact, the first thing one can expect when beginning the Daniel Plan is to be spending time reading materials published by these guys, learning from them, taking in all of their expert advice regarding eating and exercise, so that your everyday lives are soon reflecting the wisdom of these great men.

Rick tells his hearers that the Daniel Plan is God's prescription and that it was inspired by the book of Daniel in the Bible, and tells a little story about how he, and overweight Rick, decided many people in his church were fat.  Wanting to see a change in himself and help his church be healthy, he sought some help from the worlds wisest men.... Amen, Hyman and Oz, and...Whalla!  Out popped the Daniel Plan, a  collaborative effort of Rick Warren and his three wise men.

We are led to believe Rick is the instigator and that it is just Rick and these three helpers of his, who have worked on implementing this, but rest assured, this is no simple project.  There is publishing to manage, the writing of program materials for participants as well as  a 52 week curriculum plan with sermons, and computer programs to collect and store and analyze all the data from individual people who participate in the plan.   It seems as if just overnight, Rick single-handedly, (well maybe with the help of his three benevolent friends, came up with this grandiose clinical study where you can gather all sorts of pertinent information about a populace and put it into your database....and hand feed them information, news and products, daily... monthly.... weekly, and all on line!. (OOPS! ) "plan" to help people in the church be healthy and obey God, just like Daniel in the Bible did!

Do you  notice that the story of Daniel in the Bible is a little different than the Daniel Plan of Rick's?   In the Bible we do not see Daniel sitting under the feet of the wise men, consulting them about what he should eat and not eat or about what he should think and he should do?  The wise men in the Daniel story were  magicians, enchanters, diviners, seers, sorcerers... experts in all-things-Babylon, but Daniel, instead of inquiring of them, instead of conforming to their thinking, their wisdom, conformed his thinking to the ways of God.  Reading the book of Daniel, we even see Daniel's special God-given wisdom, put all the wisdom of the king's wise men to shame.... so why does Rick's Daniel Plan have people listening instead to his personally selected "wise" men?

Apparently, Rick thinks these people should be listened to by people in the church.  After all, as he says, "The Bible says, God wants you to be as healthy physically as you are spiritually," and apparently, Rick believes that their wisdom will help him be healthy physically, and help him bring more people into his church too.  Rick says, without apology, "This is God's prescription for your health,"

God's Prescription?  Really?  God who?  Daniel's God?  The one he believed in and devoted himself to daily?  Really?

If you were to do the Daniel Plan of Rick's, you would be spending valuable time and money reading  and learning  from these high profile men instead of the Bible.  You would buy their books, watch their television programs webcasts, videos and be busy implementing their "expert" teachings into your life.  You would probably be marketed via email, web advertisement on your Daniel Plan account and in your church bulletin and in your church lobby to buy their books, nutritional supplies, products and services on a regular basis too, with new celebrity wise men added occasionally too.  Then seeing the results of their wise expertise, you too would be smart, knowledgeable, savvy on matters of health and human well-being... as they teach it.

 At the end of the fifty two weeks, you would be well-versed in everything these wise men teach regarding the health of your body, your mind and soul as well as the failures of western medicine, what really causes disease, and how to look at your spirituality and your life.  :Little, if anything will you lean information about having faith in the one true and living God.  The reason is that, like the wise men in the biblical story of Daniel,
Rick Warren's wise men do not submit to God.

Daniel of the Bible, however,did.

Rick, teaches his hearers about Daniel; after all, this program is the Daniel Plan.  He says, "For Daniel, what he ate was connected to his faith in God.  He knew the only way to honor God with his body was to refuse the rich food from the king's table."  Rick makes it sound as if Daniel was declining the food because it was "rich." (Not the reason at all.)  So, in participating, for 52 weeks, in the Daniel Plan,  what you get, along with the wisdom of Ricks hand selected wise men, is bible teaching... from Rick!  

Rick will tell that what Daniel ate was connect to his faith in God and that the only way for Daniel to honor God with his body was to refuse to eat the kings rich food, but it wasn't simply because the food was too rich, fattening, or unhealthy that Daniel refused to eat from the King's table. It was because Daniel knew that the food the king was providing Daniel had been sacrificed to the many diverse religious idols they worshiped in the land of Babylon.  Rick teaches something completely different than what the Bible says.

Also, Daniel didn't simply "refuse the rich food" or" refuse to compromise," (Daniel asked politely to be excused.)  Why is it that Saddleback Church staff and Rick Warren is encouraging people, to "Be like Daniel, and refuse to compromise!"  (See Session 6 of the Daniel plan.) and then, while claiming not to compromise,(using Daniel as our example,) does Rick Warren purposefully yoke himself and his hearers to the teaching and training of these three men?


Daniel Amen, says he is a Christian, and as such he teaches people that they need to have a brain-soul connection.  He writes books so that people can learn from him how to be smarter, use more of their brain and help their brain and soul connect.  He says, in his book, Change Your Brain, Change Your Mind, that without optimal brain function, it's "hard to be successful in any aspect of your life... including your feelings about God." (pg. 8.)


According to Amen, people struggling with things like "moodiness" and "negativity," do so because the "deep limbic center" of their brain,( a part that controls your bonding with other people and your moods,)  is "off kitler."  (Hmmm... limbic center?) That is interesting.  This kinda sound a little like Rick Warren saying the church is not balanced properly, (or that the body of Christ is such that the hands and feet (limbs) have been amputated, and we are just a big mouth,") Rick believes Amen is the number one, world-class brain expert in the nation, and that people who want to have a healthy, happy brain, and mind, especially those in the Church who want to be "healthy"should listen, and learn from Dr. Amen.


Rick also enlisted a man named Mark Hyman to help with the metabolic side of loosing weight and gaining health. Hyman is not a professing "Christian," like Amen is, but as Rick's doctor, personally selected by Rick to help him get his "mind, body and health" in shape, Rick decided to let Dr. Hyman teach his "healthy" practices, not just to him, but also to his church..


Hyman advocates what he calls,  Functional Medicine,  (FM) which he says, "is the bridge that connects the dots between the whole story of medical science."  FM which had it's start in the 1990's, is something akin to Integrated Nutrition; or Integrated Medicine, both ideas that are intended to incorporate medical care of a person's body or physical being with the  mind and spirit too.  Hyman teaches that in FM, there are seven core imbalances that, (much like the five purposes of church, as Rick teaches in his purpose drive church model) "have to be balanced systems or else... your body, can't be "healthy".

Like many other people, who have a cause to promote, Hyman enthusiastically works to sell and promote his cause and his cookbooks and nutritional books and his nutritional supplements to go along with his books, and his general expertise in ultra wellness as well as his political worldview about how the health of our planet is linked to the health of our diet...as well as his counseling and  health coaching  services; and now also through his Daniel Plan association with Pastor Rick! 
  
Mehmet Oz, the third wise man in the bunch, also is not a professing Christian.  This doesn't really matter to Rick either.  Dispite this man's religious beliefs, Rick has yoked up with him  too and for the last year, Oz has been co-leading the Orange County, Purpose-Driven Church, along with Drs. Amen and Hyman, into "optimal health."  And while Oz may not be a Christian by profession, he does seem to be a very spiritual man.


Oz, a heart specialist by vocation, appears on a nationally syndicated television show from which he practicalizes  medicine and disseminates information about many health issues for his audiences.  His show teaches people watching television in America various facts and figures about health.  Interestingly,  he is well-versed in and promotes to his television viewers a lot of spiritual practices, making practices like Reiki, necromancy and hypnosis, common household terms and even suggesting people try them, like he did, sometimes  as complimentary medicine.   Oz is a spiritual man, but not Christian, and yet, Rick Warren promotes listening to Oz to Hyman and Amen, in order to obtain  "God" prescribed "health."  


When asked by skeptics about his enlisting these three men, and in particular, men with religious beliefs that stand in opposition to Christianity, in his planning and  propagating the Daniel Plan, Rick defended his choices.  In this Christian Post article, Rick said, "If I have a brain tumor, I find the best brain surgeon I can find.  I'm not asking what his background is or what his belief is... If you're dying, you might even let an atheist save your life."  Apparently, for Rick it is not an issue if these men are believers or not believers in the Lord Jesus Christ or not.  All that matters is that they can help to save your life.  Besides, they are the wise men, experts, the best in their fields.  Their advice is, to  to Rick, part of the Daniel Plan,  "God's prescription for your health."


If you are not believing Rick about now, here is some good news.... God's prescription for Christians today is the same as it was for Daniel of the Bible. knowing God and His Word and putting faith and trust in only Him.


Christian see Daniel's God displayed in Jesus Christ who they believe is God incarnate, and who, as God, took away their sin when he died according to the scriptures and in three days, rose again.  Daniel, captive in Babylon, faced many pressures, he encountered many situations wherewith he had to respond in faith, believing, trusting and honoring God and as a man of faith Daniel was given wisdom, health and deliverance from his trials and tribulation.  Daniel, in a land where people thought you could serve any god of your own choosing or making, remained subject to only One, the true and living God.  


 Isn't it strange that this "Daniel Plan of Warren, Amen, Hyman and Oz, has little or nothing to do with the Biblical example of "Daniel," and in terms of religious beliefs of these men , the Bible and God's plan to redeem or save humans through faith in Christ, God's only begotten Son, is just not that  important?  Apparently, faith in the one true God doesn't matter, all that matters is that you listen to these wise man and learn from them so you can experience physical, mental and "spiritual" health.

The plan these four hatched for Saddleback and all its initiates affiliates, continues into 2012.  Daniel Amen says,( at the end of his October 2011, Huffington Post article, ) that they plan to "export  the plan to other churches, temples and mosques."    He says, " The Daniel Plan is not just a Christian plan.  It is a plan to get the world healthy where people gather."