More Rick Warren connections as well as Ricks connections to the New Age movement and Ken Blanchard

Rick Warren continues to endorse New Ager Ken Blanchard and allow's Ken to speak at the church Warren created.
even though Ken continues to endorse and promote the New Age movement.
From a article from my good friend and brother in the Lord Bud Press-

"Buddha (founder of Buddhism), Mohammed (founder of Islam), Mahatma Gandhi (Hindu spiritual leader), Paramahansa Yogananda (Hindu guru yogi), and "His Holiness" Dalai Lama (Tibetan Buddhist monk), were and are responsible for deceiving untold numbers of precious souls for whom Jesus Christ suffered and died for on the cross. Ken Blanchard's reverence for and tribute to these so-called "great prophets and spiritual leaders" downplays Jesus Christ and His authority, and must be rejected.



Again, Jim Ballard's Little Wave and Old Swell is "Inspired by Paramahansa Yogananda" and "Lovingly dedicated to the matchless one whose precepts have given birth to this little story." Remember that in the Foreword of What Would Buddha Do at Work (above), Ken Blanchard included Paramahansa Yogananda's "words of wisdom" along with others he claims as "great prophets and spiritual leaders."



And in the Foreword of Little Wave and Old Swell, Blanchard demonstrates how well he knows Paramahansa Yogananda:



"Over the more than thirty years of our friendship, Jim Ballard and I have been inspired and enriched by sharing insights from our separate spiritual journeys. While I have been drawn to the feet of the Master of Galilee, Jim has followed the meditation path taught by Paramahansa Yogananda, the great Indian teacher. In more than one of the books we have coauthored, Jim has tapped the writings of his guru. Now, in a simple folktale-type allegory, he uses Yogananda's metaphor of human life as a wave that rises and falls on the Ocean of God as a means of addressing the most basic questions all of us ask. [p. viii]

But Blanchard's most disturbing statements in the Foreword of Little Wave and Old Swell opens a floodgate of deception for unwary Christians, and serves to cause further distancing between Yogananda devotees and Jesus Christ:

"Some people might ask why a follower of Jesus is writing the foreword for a book inspired by an Indian guru. The fact is, Yogananda loved Jesus, and Jesus would have loved Yogananda. Every year, the Self-Realization Fellowship headquarters in Los Angeles--as well as all its temples and meditation groups throughout the world--hold a full-day Christmas event. It is a time of reverent reflection, with periodic interruptions to listen to taped messages of Yogananda's love for Jesus and his teachings. The way I see it, love is love. [pp. viii-ix]

And on the homepage of Jim Ballard's website, Blanchard encourages the reader to, "Enjoy this story. Read it many times. Let it speak to your heart and reintroduce you to the wonder that breathes from everything in the world" ( http://www.littlewave.org/index.htm )." end quote.


And more Rick Warren connections from inplainsite.org

Amos 3:3 “Shall two walk together, except they have agreed?”

Or are we supposed to believe that Rick Warren is ignorant of the goals of every event he speaks at? The beliefs of everyone he shares a stage with or whose book he endorses?

Note: At The Time of Posting All External Links Were Good.



Rick Warren and Peter Drucker
Warren’s mentor well known in the business world for Management techniques and business innovation is now recognized as the grandfather of the ‘mega-church' movement. But is he even a Christian?

New Rick Warren And Dr. Ron Wolfson
jewishjournal.com says “Warren managed to speak for the entire evening [at a Jewish Temple] without once mentioning Jesus — a testament to his savvy message-tailoring”. Savvy message-tailoring or a testament to a man who is little more than a dangerous fool?

Rick Warren and Mitt Romney
When asked why Mormon leaders are involved in his pastoral training programs Rick Warren told USA Today: "I'm not going to get into a debate over the non-essentials. I won't try to change other denominations. Why be divisive?"

Rick Warren and Sen. Barack Obama
Warren has invited Sen. Barack Obama to speak to the congregation of the faithful on Dec. 1, 2006. In doing so, he has joined himself with one of the smoothest politicians of our times, and also one whose worldview contradicts nearly every tenet of the Christian faith that Warren professes.

Rick Warren and The Syrians
Warren has traveled to and provided legitimacy to a hostile foreign government, presided over by a brutal fascist dictator who hates Jews, threatens Israel, subverts neighboring Lebanon, imprisons and terrorizes its own citizens and even kills them in massive numbers when they stand up in revolt

Rick Warren and The Templeton Foundation
“Templeton's beliefs are clearly expressed in his numerous writings: He is an evolutionist, pantheist, universalist, and has occultic views

Rick Warren Teams Up With Ken Blanchard
a man who so obviously promotes and believes in the benefits and use of mantra meditation, yoga and who has no trouble borrowing from Buddhism.

Rick Warren and The Emerging Church
Although Saddleback is not a direct participant in the movement, Rick Warren obviously approves of leaders Brian McLaren, Dan Kimball, Spencer Burke Etc.

Rick Warren and Catalyst
There seems to be no end to the list of dubious people Rick Warren will willingly share a stage with.

Rick Warren and Robert Schuller
There has apparently been some controversy regarding the connections between Rick Warren and Robert Schuller, with Rick Warren himself denying that he was mentored in any way by Schuller.. But Schuller tells a different story

Rick Warren and Leonard Sweet
In Leonard Sweet’s 24 Transitions For Moving Into The 21st Century, point reads as follows: From "Does it Make Sense" to "Was it a Good Experience?"

Bernie Siegel
Says this of his ‘spirit guide’ "All I know is that he has been my invaluable companion ever since his first appearance. My life is much easier now, because he does the hard work”

Warren Meets With Yonggi Cho
“Cho's teachings are an idolatrous mix of a little Biblical teaching with a lot of occult healing, prophesying, visualization, sorcery, and pagan mind techniques

Rick Warren Endorsed The Alpha Course
Leaders of the Counterfeit Revival demand the Kingdom now! — in this life, with all of its attendant material wealth, public accolades, physical health, and earthly power

Rick Warren’s tribute to John Wimber
This is the ecumenical, I love Mary, user of relics, guided imagery and visualization, believer in astral projection, "Zen" prayer techniques for meditation (i.e., Buddhism), and Jungian psychology John Wimber. Yup! The very same guy!

Rick Warren and The Minerva Awards
Pastor Warren seems to have little concern speaking at conferences highlighting awards named after Roman Goddesses, especially since he totally neglects to present the Gospel.

Rick Warren and The Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute web site defines it’s mission.. “Our core mission is to foster enlightened leadership and open-minded dialogue.

Rick Warren and Henry Nouwen
Rick Warren says this about In the Name of Jesus by Henry Nouwen.. My wife, Kay, recommends this book: "It's a short book, but it hits at the heart of the minister

Three Questions for Rick Warren



Rick Warren and Peter Drucker

On May 23, 2005 Rick Warren was a guest speaker at the The Pew and Religion Forum, where he said

"Peter Drucker ... he's my mentor. I've spent 20 years under his tutelage learning about leadership from him." RW

And

“I read everything Peter Drucker writes. His book “The Effective Executive" is a favourite I re-read every year. Long before words like “empowerment” became popular, Peter was telling us that the secret of achieving results is to focus on your strengths, and the strengths of those you work with, rather than focusing on weaknesses. In fact, Peter says, making strengths productive is the unique purpose of organisation.

“… find out what others do well and help them to be able to do more of it. This is the key to effective businesses, effective churches, and every other effective organisation. Great organisations position people for success rather than trying to eliminate all their weaknesses. It's far easier to manage weaknesses than to eliminate all of them.” (BUILDING ON YOUR STRENGTHS - By Rick Warren)

The Drucker-Warren relationship may surprise many readers, but it goes back two decades, to when the young minister came to Drucker for advice. Under Drucker's tutelage, Warren's own success as a spiritual entrepreneur has been considerable. Saddleback has grown to 15,000 members and has helped start another 60 churches throughout the world. Warren's 2001 book, The Purpose-Driven Life, is this decade's best seller with 19.5 million copies sold so far and compiling at the rate of 500,000 per month.” (http://www.forbes.com/home/management/2004/11/19/cz_rk_1119drucker.html)

Although Drucker is supposed to be a ‘religious man’, he is well known in the business world for Management techniques and business innovation…

Peter Drucker has written 35 books in all: 15 books deal with management, including the landmark books The Practice of Management and The Effective Executive; 16 cover society, economics, and politics; 2 are novels; and 1 is a collection of autobiographical essays. His most recent book, Managing in the Next Society, was published in fall 2002. (http://www.peter-drucker.com/about.html)

Drucker advised Warren on the challenges of ministry and church building. This consultation is one Drucker and Warren have engaged in twice yearly for two decades”.

Drucker says

“Successful leaders don't start out asking, "What do I want to do?" They ask, "What needs to be done?" Then they ask, "Of those things that would make a difference, which are right for me?" (SOUND FAMILIAR?)
http://www.forbes.com/home/management/2004/11/19/cz_rk_1119drucker.html

Drucker's concepts of man, society and church were ‘lab-tested' by pioneers of the mega-church movement. Mr. Drucker is now recognized as the grandfather of the ‘mega-church' movement.


So who is Peter Drucker?

“ Peter Drucker's parents were part of the Vienna Circle . The members met regularly to discuss philosophy, religion and society. This was a radical group of elite, affluent European intellectuals, who developed a new model of man and society. Many of their ideas were rooted in German mysticism. Young Peter Drucker grew up with an aptitude for philosophical analysis and he incorporated innovative social theories into his Systems Management ideas so popular today. His social theory is found in an article posted on his official website. The article is “The Age of Social Transformation”.
(www.christianquill.com/)

Did we miss something here? Why does a Baptist Preacher spend 20 years under the tutelage of a business man.. What happened to years of staying at Jesus’ feet? Wouldn’t that be all the knowledge and wisdom a pastor would need?

Not in today’s Market Driven Church which focuses is on what the consumer (Unchurched Harry) wants and thinks he needs, rather than on what God wants and what He says Harry needs. In other words, market-driven churches are built upon the foundation of polls, surveys, and the latest marketing techniques, instead of upon the Word of God. {TOP OF PAGE}







Rick Warren And Dr. Ron Wolfson

Who is Dr Ron Wolfson?

“… Fingerhut Professor of Education at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles and a cofounder of Synagogue 3000. He is author of Hanukkah, Passover, and Shabbat, all family guides to spiritual celebrations; The Spirituality of Welcoming: How to Transform Your Congregation into a Sacred Community; A Time to Mourn, a Time to Comfort: A Guide to Jewish Bereavement and Comfort; and, with Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, What You Will See Inside a Synagogue (all Jewish Lights). [http://jewishlights.com/Press%20Room/GodsToDoList.htm]

Rick Warren has endorsed [The other three endorsers are Rabbis] Dr. Ron Wolfson’s latest book, God’s To-Do List: 103 Ways to be an Angel and Do God’s Work on Earth with the following statement..

“This book is built on a great premise: Figure out what God does and then do that with other people! Simple but profound. I loved this book!”

—Rick Warren, author, The Purpose-Driven Life

Rick Warren’s endorsement of a book is hardly grounds on which to plunk down your $12.99 and this one is no different. In the following excerpts all emphasis has been added.

from the Introduction: God’s To-Do List

God has a To-Do List for you….. You are God’s partner. God needs you to continue the ongoing creation of the world….”

Wolfson then quotes Genesis 1:27 [So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them].

“Wait a minute. What does it mean to be ‘made’ in the ‘image’ of God?

It means that the spark of divinity is within you.”

In “God Needs You” he says

“Yet, even God realized that the world would need a very special presence, human beings who are literally infused with the breath-the spirit- of God to be the frontline caretakers of creation. God can’t do it alone. That’s why God created you”.

Rabbi Ron Wolfson and The “Jesus’ Man”

In June of 2006, Rob Eshman, Editor-in-Chief of the jewishjournal.com wrote an article entitled Jesus’ Man Has a Plan, in which he talks about Rick Warren speaking at Sinai temple “as part of the Synagogue 3000 program, which aims to revitalize Jewish worship” [emphasis added]

Some excerpts from the article

“The program’s leader, Rabbi Ron Wolfson, met Warren a decade ago and was influenced by the pastor’s first book, “The Purpose-Driven Church” (Zondervan, 1995). And to demonstrate what such a church looked like in action, Wolfson brought two busloads of synagogue leaders to Warren’s Saddleback Church in South Orange County to experience firsthand the pastor’s success….”

And

“…The other secret to his success is his passion for God and Jesus. Warren managed to speak for the entire evening without once mentioning Jesus — a testament to his savvy message-tailoring. But make no mistake, the driving purpose of an evangelical church is to evangelize, and it is Warren’s devotion to spreading the words of the Christian Bible that drive his ministry.

Good for him and his flock — and not so bad for us either. His teachings apply to 95 percent of all people, regardless of religious belief. As he put it to a group of rabbis at a conference last year — using a metaphor that might be described as a Paulian slip: “Eat the fish and throw away the bones.”

Warren told Wolfson his interest is in helping all houses of worship, not in converting Jews. He said there are more than enough Christian souls to deal with for starters.

The success of Warren’s second book, “The Purpose-Driven Life” (Zondervan, 2002), demonstrates his ability to turn a particular gospel into a universal one”.

Finally

“Similarly, Warren has leveraged his fame to bring attention to AIDS in Africa and other global problems. He said he’d just come from a photo shoot at Sony Studios with Brad Pitt and was about to meet overseas with the leaders of 11 countries in 37 days. While he was at Sinai Temple, his wife, Kay, was at the White House”.


Words can not express how tired I am of this man who claims to be a Christian pastor, yet can speak for the entire evening in a Jewish temple and not once mention Jesus. He wants to help all houses of worship but does not want to convert Jews. How precisely is he helping them then? Is his marketing expertise going to enable them to add to their congregations or perhaps raise more money? Wow! I guess Matthew had it all wrong when he said

"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? [Matthew 16:26]

The article says that one secret to Warren’s success “is his passion for God and Jesus” I guess He is not passionate enough about the warning God and Jesus have issued to this world. Nor does he seem to be even dimly aware of how close to Armageddon we truly are. So he can manage to speak “for the entire evening without once mentioning Jesus — a testament to his savvy message-tailoring”.

You are savvy alright Warren and will have much to answer for on that final day when souls you could have saved are sentenced to death.

[The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7]

{TOP OF PAGE}






Rick Warren, Mitt Romney and The Mormons.

It is a fact that the "40 Days of Purpose" and other church growth and leadership materials produced by Rick Warren are aggressively marketed to Mormons and others outside Christian orthodoxy. When asked why Mormon leaders are involved in his pastoral training programs Rick Warren told USA Today:

"I'm not going to get into a debate over the non-essentials. I won't try to change other denominations. Why be divisive?" [Source]

Say WHAT? Mormonism...a "denomination" and “non-essentials” such as the identity of Jesus Christ, godhood for mankind or the route to eternal salvation??? [See Section on Mormonism]

Clearly, Warren doesn't KNOW or doesn't WANT to identify Mormonism as non-Christian. Either way, what USA Today didn't report is that Rick Warren is helping train Mormon leaders to more effectively present a false religion to the world - a false religion that has led millions of lost souls to an eternal Hell.

Now, we find listed alongside a Mitt Romney promo video on the popular YouTube website that one of his favorite books is listed as...you guessed it, The Purpose Driven Life. [Source]

It is the only religious book he mentioned (Hummmm, in May 2007 Romney listed the Bible and Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard's tasteless novel "Battlefield Earth" as first and second on his list of "must reads." [Source]

As you ponder the correlation of Warren and Romney, also note this quote: "...we are a religious people... We are a purpose-driven people..." Governor Mitt Romney, Union Leader, March 19, 2006

The point is that Warren can't or doesn't care to identify that Mormonism is cultic and NOT in any way orthodox Christianity and Romney doesn't seem to discern anything from Warren or his book to make him think that the Purpose Driven Philosophy is incompatible with Mormonism! Both Christians and Mormons should scratch their heads in wonder. The line between truth and error continues to blur...or simply just disappear altogether - exactly what the Scriptures foretell of for the end-days. [Eric Barger. The Common Ground of Rick Warren & Mitt Romney] {TOP OF PAGE}






Rick Warren, The Templeton Foundation and The Power of Purpose
Adapted from A Bridge over other Waters by Let Us Reason Ministries

The Power of Purpose, Sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation, is a world-wide essay competition with the theme "The Power of Purpose" with total grand prizes of $500,000 and the grand prize of $100,000. There is no entry fee. Essays should be no more than 3,500 words in English, entrants are to be 18 years of age or older. “The award-winning essays in this competition will be selected by this distinguished panel of judges, all of whom have exemplified throughout their lives and careers a strong and unmistakable understanding of The Power of Purpose.

The Templeton web site says

“In day-to-day life, we encounter men and women who seem driven by something outside of themselves, whose commitment to their profession or volunteer activities, their community, or their cause seems to rise above the necessary, above the possible, above even the human. Indeed, we say that in such people we see “the divine spark.”

Many religious traditions, both Eastern and Western, subscribe to the idea that there is something of God’s presence in each of us. Even for the growing number of people who describe themselves as spiritual, but not necessarily religious, there is a certain attachment to this concept of the divine spark. It is the sense that our lives can be guided from within by something more important than our simple survival, something not merely intellectual either, something in our souls.” http://www.templeton.org/powerofpurpose/about.html

“ Few have done as much to promote a sense of unity among the world's religions than John Marks Templeton. Templeton has become world renowned for offering a million dollars as his annual prize from his religious research center that is dedicated to develop progress in religion.

The Council for a Parliament of World Religions promotes inter-religious dialogue and plans for the world's “spiritual future by having government institutionalize a global ethic.” I have heard that Sir John Templeton serves on the Parliament of World Religions board of trustees, and while I have not been able to confirm this, it is known that the Templeton Foundation has been one of the the financial contributors to the Parliament. The Media Transparency Site lists a donation of $47,500 over two years (1999 and 2000)

Additionally The Templeton Foundation has also made several substantial donations to the Association of Unity Churches. The Unity Church website has this to say...

Q What are the basic tenets of the Unity teachings?

A “... Jesus was a special person in history who expressed perfection and thereby became the Christ, or Jesus Christ. He was a Teacher who demonstrated the importance of thoughts, words, and deeds in shaping the life and world of the individual”

Q Do Unity ministry teachers believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ?

A Yes. Unity church leaders teach that the spirit of God dwelt in Jesus, just as it indwells every person; and that every person has the potential to express the perfection of Christ, as Jesus did, by being more Christ-like in everyday life.

Q What are Unity's distinctive characteristics?

A “Unity students are encouraged to align with the spirit of the Christ within for personal guidance and direction that will best enhance their spiritual growth....”

Templeton also donated a sum of $50,000 to First United Church of Christ in Northfield MN, which says on their site

“Through the years, other groups such as American Indians, Afro-Christians, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, Volga Germans, Armenians, and Hispanic Americans have joined with the four earlier groups. In recent years, Christians from other traditions, including the Roman Catholic Church, have found a home in the UCC, and so have gay and lesbian Christians who have not been welcome in other churches. Thus the United Church of Christ celebrates and continues a broad variety of traditions in its common life”.

Templeton is also linked to some very important and wealthy people that have been known to be involved in Globalism, both politically and religiously.

“Templeton's beliefs are clearly expressed in his numerous writings: He is an evolutionist, pantheist, universalist, and has occultic views. His writings display a rejection of the God of the Bible, Christ as the only way to God. He claims that heaven and hell are states of mind we create here on earth that truth is relative, and that Christianity is no longer relevant today as it was in Christ’s day”.

In his own words

“God is billions of stars in the Milky Way and He is much more …Time and space and energy are all part of God …God is five billion people on Earth…God is untold billions of beings on planets of millions of other stars …God is the only reality… God is all of you and you are a little part of Him” (Templeton, Humility, p. 37-38.)

According to Templeton, “progress” is needed because the; world's scriptures (including the Bible) “were written … [by] men whose minds were limited by cosmologies long since discredited.” Nor does the Bible accurately record the words of Christ, because those who reported them “could write clown only what they understood … [as] ignorant and primitive…”

“Templeton has been noted for saying “I am hoping to develop a body of knowledge about God that doesn’t rely on ancient revelations or scripture (the bible)… The main purpose of the Templeton foundations is to encourage enthusiasm for accelerating discovery and progress in spiritual matters” (the Humble Approach p135-139).

“No one should say that God can be reached by only one path” (The Humble Approach pp. 46,55).

To say that God cannot reveal Himself again in a decisive way [through other Messiahs] …seems sacrilegious...” (Templeton, Humility, pp. 48,53.)

So what has all this to do with Rick Warren?

Just this... Rick Warren is one of five judges to determine the winner in the Power of Purpose Essays. Along with Hugh Delehanty Editor in Chief, AARP Publications (A practicing Buddhist), Marian Wright Edelman Founder and President- Children's Defense Fund (Co-authored a book with Alison Wright who wrote The Spirit of Tibet: Portrait of a Culture in Exile and the photographer for A Simple Monk: Writings on His Holiness the Dalai Lama) and Paul Davies (Professor of Natural Philosophy also lectures to religious organizations around the world. He has had meetings with the Pope and the Dalai Lama and frequently debates science and religion with theologians). http://www.templeton.org/powerofpurpose/judges.html.

Which brings us to question one.... While people have the right to believe whatever they want, What is a ‘Christian’ leader doing on this panel. He does not seem at all uncomfortable with the New Age beliefs that has not only been promoted by Templeton in the past, but are being promoted on the same website.

Furthermore

The 2004 Grand Prize winner was August “Augie” Turak who wrote ‘Brother John’.

“Brother John is the true story of how the author’s contemplative retreat at a Trappist monastery turns both magical and terrible when a simple monk offers to share an umbrella on a cold and rainy Christmas Eve. This simple act of loving-kindness proves almost more than he can bear, and becomes the catalyst for a gut wrenching re-evaluation of life, love, and the terrible yet fascinating nature of God”. See Winners

“While Brother John is his first attempt at serious writing, he is no stranger to religious, philosophical and/or spiritual themes. Turak founded the Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation, an interfaith non-profit, 15 years ago to help students at Duke, NC State, and UNC find a deeper and more spiritual purpose to their lives” .

About the Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation...
The Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation (www.selfknowledge.org) is a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization that encourages people to consciously develop their own personal, moral and spiritual values and to live according to them. The SKSF creates experiential learning programs and social contexts within which people can explore the deeper questions in life, developing intellectual understanding and personal character in a quest for the life worth living. [Source]

The same website also says

“In 1973, Turak met a man who would change his life forever. His name was Richard Rose, and to the untrained eye, he was just a simple, West Virginia farmer. But Rose was much more. A voracious spiritual seeker since childhood, Rose had dedicated his life to finding God. He traveled the nation, looking for individuals, spiritual groups, and books that might have answers. At twenty-eight, in the late 1940s, he had an Enlightenment experience while meditating. He first impulse was to share his new knowledge with others, but in the conservative atmosphere of the era, he knew he would be taken for a madman, so he stayed quiet. When the spiritual movements of the 1960s and 1970s began, Rose saw that he finally had an opportunity to teach.

August Turak was one of his first—and best—students. For five years, Turak studied under Richard Rose. Did he realize at the time that his life would never be the same?”

And

But Turak's true love is the time he spends teaching university students involved in the Self Knowledge Symposium (SKS). Since founding the SKS in 1989, Turak has worked with thousands of university students on a strictly volunteer basis. Teaching students how to integrate spiritual values into their everyday lives based on his own experiences, Turak's students have gone on to successful careers in such varied professions as law, business, medicine, engineering, teaching, the armed forces, non-profit work, research science, and countless others.

Good Going Rick Warren

By the way

“It was Norman Vincent Peale who called Templeton “The greatest layman of the Christian church in our time” (found on Jacket of Discovering the laws of Life, 1994). This he attributed to a man who is an evolutionist, universalist, pantheist, a non-Christian and even against Christian doctrine. How is this possible?

Templeton and his New Age views were first introduced to the church by none other than Robert Schuller in 1986. Schuller put Templeton's picture on his Possibilities Magazine front cover. In it he wrote, “The Christ spirit dwells in every human being whether the person knows it or not nothing exists except God” (Possibilities, pp. 8-12, Summer 1986).

So now we see Rick Warren who learned from Robert Schuller who introduced Templeton. My how the circle is unbroken” {TOP OF PAGE}








Rick Warren Teams Up With Ken Blanchard!
From A Report by Lighthouse Trails Research Project

While Rick Warren is gearing up to train a billion people, unbeknownst to many he has also teamed up with New Age and contemplative promoter, Ken Blanchard. In November 2003 Rick Warren gave a sermon (I watched the video clip on his site) outlining his upcoming Global PEACE Plan and said

"Ken [Blanchard] has signed on to help with the Peace Plan, and he's going to be helping train us in leadership and in how to train others to be leaders all around the world. In fact, he was here this week and I've asked him to just give a little video greeting"

(Incidentally the sermon in which Rick Warren introduced KB to Saddleback
has since been taken off his site.)

However The Leadership Summit 2005, convened each year at Willow Creek Community Church and hundreds of satellite sites across North America with a goal of “making the world-class leadership training of The Leadership Summit accessible and affordable on a worldwide scale on an annual basis.”

Almost 160,000 people have attended The Leadership Summit since its inception almost 10 years ago. And Summit 2005 will be our first global event, with more than 100 sites in North America, plus locations in 12 other countries. Only through God's grace…! It's with great pleasure that we announce part of the 2005 speaker line-up...” (www.willownet.org/news/story.asp?id=NF01102004)

And then proceeds to name Rick Warren, Bill Hybels and Ken Blanchard. So it seems that the Warren/Blanchard partnership is alive and doing well, with Blanchard speaking to thousands of Christians around the world.


So What is all the fuss over Ken Blanchard about?

There is countless evidence to show that Blanchard sits on the New Age/mystical/contemplative bandwagon. While this in no way proves that Rick Warren supports or endorses either New Age beliefs or any form of Eastern Religion or Philosophy, the question still has to be asked... What is a so called Christian leader doing in any kind of alliance with a man who so obviously promotes and believes in the benefits and use of mantra meditation, yoga and who has no trouble borrowing from Buddhism.

Additionally Ken Blanchard is about business all the way.

The Brisbane Graduate School of Business carried the following information in their 2004 Newsletter. (The same information is carried on the University of Ulster site) The conference, to be held on November 12 in the University of Ulster’s Jordanstown campus was carried to the Convention center in Brisbane via simulcast (a contraction of "simultaneous broadcast").

I believe this conference was carried via satellite to 95 cities around the world and another one is scheduled for December 2005, (this one will include Bill Clinton and Madeleine Albright)

On the event front, QUT and the BGSB have signed on to be the host university for the largest Leadership event of 2004, the worldwide simulcast titled ‘Living Leadership’. Keynote speakers via simulcast include Donald Trump, Mikhail Gorbachev, Jim Collins, Peter Drucker, Russell Simons and Ken Blanchard. This event will be on October 21 at the Convention Centre. We will keep you posted on this event. We believe this association will send strong signals about our expertise in the leadership field, but also our willingness to be involved in innovative new ways of educating the Australian business community. (Emphasis Added). (For more about Mikhail Gorbachev see Men Who Run The World and other articles in that section)

Among the many books Blanchard has written there does not seem to be one with a ‘Christian’ theme and certainly nothing about Jesus.. Some of his books are listed below

The Heart of a Leader and Leadership by the Book (with Bill Hybels and Phil Hodges).
Big Bucks! and High Five! (with Sheldon Bowles and Whale Done).
Whale Done! The Power of Positive Relationships (with Jim Ballard and top SeaWorld trainers Thad Lacinak and Chuck Tompkins).
The Power of Ethical Management with Dr. Norman Vincent Peale
Raving Fans : Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service (with Sheldon Bowles)
Big Bucks! and High Five! (with Sheldon Bowles, described as “a successful entrepreneur, New York Times and Business Week best selling author, and noted speaker, who turned a small manufacturing plant into a multimillion-dollar business. Sheldon now shares his hard-won knowledge of what works and what does not...”

While Blanchard himself is characterized as “A prominent, gregarious, sought-after author, speaker, and business consultant, Ken Blanchard is universally characterized by friends, colleagues, and clients as one of the most insightful, powerful, and compassionate men in business today. (premierespeakers.com. All emphasis added)

Please make NO MISTAKE. Ken Blanchard was not hired as a spiritual help. He was hired to ‘Grow’ the church. To use efficient but worldly methods to make the church more ‘successful’. It’s business, businessmen and more business all the way. Why else would you take on a man who has been immersed in business for years, has written many books about business, who shares speaking platforms with other motivational speakers, who co-authors book with other entrepreneurs and who’s knowledge of Jesus seems to be pretty paltry.

Again.. we have NOTHING against business per se, but it HAS NO PLACE IN THE CHURCH.


Ken Blanchard and Lead Like Jesus

Perhaps one of the best known programs broadcast (also called a celebration) by CCN is Lead Like Jesus, which was co-founded by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges in 1999.

“After studying both the theory and practice of leadership for more than 35 years, I have found that Jesus is the greatest leadership model of all times.” Ken Blanchard [Co-founder, The Center for Faithwalk Leadership and Co-author, The One-Minute Manager]

“The stated purpose of the conferences is to help people become leaders by following the leadership habits of Jesus Christ. The purpose is not one of evangelism, but rather teaching the traits of Jesus to help others achieve personal success…” [See More]



Blanchard Wrote the Foreword to Franz Metcalf's What Would Buddha Do in the Workplace? ©2001.

"I look for inspirational messages from a variety of sources besides Jesus. Our folks get to hear words of wisdom from great prophets and spiritual leaders like Buddha, Mohammed ... Yogananda and the Dalai Lama”. —Ken Blanchard, foreword

"Buddha points to the path and invites us to begin our journey to enlightenment. I ... invite you to begin your journey to enlightened work." —Ken Blanchard, foreword

"As a follower of Jesus I believe He is the truth and the way. So I look for my inspiration from Him as documented in the Bible. And yet, in our company we have people of all faiths as well as people who center their faith in the goodness of human beings. As a result, many of our people would delete my morning messages if they thought I was only coming from a Christian perspective. So I look for inspirational messages from a variety of sources besides Jesus. Our folk get to hear words of wisdom form great prophets and spiritual leaders like Buddha, Mohammed, Moses, Mahatma Gandhi, Yogananda, and the Dalai Lama....

"Throughout this book, 'Buddha's insights and words help us create a kinder and gentler workplace. Jesus would approve. ...

"Buddha points to the path and invites us to begin our journey to enlightenment.... K.B."


Ken Blanchard and the Hoffman Quadrinity Process
From A Report by Lighthouse Trails Research Project

The Hoffman Institute... offers The Hoffman Quadrinity Process and other programs designed for you to release the negative conditioning that has limited your life. ...more than 50,000 participants worldwide report gaining access to untapped resources of power, wisdom and creativity.". (emphasis added)

"The SPIRITUAL SELF is the pure non-programmed, non-mediated aspect of self that is positive, pure, open presence, yearning to embody our larger, true nature in this world. Our SPIRITUAL SELF is resonating in harmony with the Universe.

Ken Blanchard is on the Board of Advisors of an organization called the Hoffman Institute (home of the Hoffman Quadrinity Process). For those of you who may wonder what exactly the Hoffman Quadrinity Process is, we turn our attention now to a 2003 book named, The Hoffman Process written by Tim Laurence, the present director of The Hoffman Institute. I don't even think words can fully describe the disturbing anti-biblical message in this book. But to see Ken Blanchard's name on the inside endorsement page nestled in between Sonia Choquette (a third generation psychic), Margot Anand (a tantric/mystic sex teacher), and staunch New Ager, Joan Borysenko, is an utter disgrace.

In both the book and the Hoffman Institute web site, Ken Blanchard states, after having taken the course himself, that: "The Hoffman Process brings forth spiritual leadership in a person. It made my spirituality come alive." (emphasis added)

Let's look at a few quotes in Tim Laurence's book to gain a perspective on the spirituality of the Hoffman Process.

· "'I asked my friends up above. They always have the right answer," he replied, referring to his spirit guides that, as a psychic healer, he often consulted."-Tim Laurence, speaking about the Hoffman Process founder, Bob Hoffman, p.15.

· "Many traditions around the world focus on the breath as a link to the divine. -- Indeed, it is used as the focus of the Buddhist practice called Vipassana, or 'insight meditation.'" (Also see pages 89 and 299 of Rick Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Life for his explanation of breath prayers.)

· "You can use a short meditation to remind yourself of this connection to all others in this world of ours. - As you breathe, feel that breath coming from your core essence." p. 207.

· "When you are open to life, you start noticing the divine in everything." p. 209.

Additionally

Ken Blanchard has either written the foreword or placed his endorsement on the front or back cover to Mind Like Water by Jim Ballard, What Would Buddha Do At Work by Frank Metcalf, The Corporate Mystic by Gay Hendricks, The 7 Spiritual Laws of Success by New Age leader Deepak Chopra, and Death and Letting Go by clairvoyant Ellen Tadd.

Robert Scheinfeld is the author of a book called The 11th Element. Scheinfeld, a man who boasts of going through the AVATAR program, teaches in his books and seminars a concept that within every person is an invisible network and an inner intelligence or Inner CEO. Of this invisible network, Scheinfeld says, "That network links all of us together at the unconscious level and stores information on what everybody is doing all over the planet."

(The Avatar course, was written down by Harry Palmer, an educational psychologist, in 1986. He says it was created out of ‘perceived need' and that he wanted to give people tools to better handle the difficulties of life. The tools and techniques delivered in the course, he says, were IN consciousness and may have always been there, just waiting to be discovered. If it weren’t for all the people who have meditated, read about and explored consciousness, perhaps the tools would not have been discovered exactly when they were ? birthed from a floatation tank in the stillness of his own living room!.. Section 1: The journey begins in the written and spoken word. This tests the relationship of Master/Student. is there empathy and a matching of vibrations? A Brief Description of Avatar)

Ken Blanchard makes no secret of his admiration and trust in Scheinfeld's theory. On the back cover of Scheinfeld's book, Blanchard says: "The 11th Element teaches you the valuable skill of asking for assistance from your 'Inner CEO' to improve your decision making."

Ken Blanchard’s latest endorsement is of a book called In the Sphere of Silence, by Vijay Eswaran, about which he says

“Effective leadership is more than what we do; it starts on the inside. Great leaders are able to tap inner wisdom and strength by cultivating the habit of solitude. This book is a wonderful guide on how to enter the realm of silence and draw closer to God.”]

However Vijay Eswaren says this on his site

“The Sphere of Silence, if it is practiced properly, is a very powerful tool. It is not just oriented to any one religion, it is universally accepted and practiced by almost all faiths on the planet. It is through silence that you find your inner being”. (See Author’s Message).


InPlainSite Note: I have heard the excuses made that Ken Blanchard 1) Was a very ‘young Christian’ at when he endorsed all of the above, or 2) Didn’t know better. Neither one of which holds any water. If he endorsed the above material before he became a Christian he should publicly refute all his endorsements just so that people will know where he stands. And only a fool or hypocrite of the first order will embrace Christianity and then publicly endorse a book that claims Buddha has something to teach us. In which case what is Rick Warren doing signing up someone who has all the discernment of two fleas without any.
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Rick Warren and The Emerging Church

Warren obviously approves of the Emerging Church movement (although Saddleback is not a direct participant in the movement.). Rick Warren was a contributing writer to Dan Kimball’s book The Emerging Church and his web site also features the Innovative Church Conference saying

“The 2003 Innovative Church Conference will feature Brian McLaren, founding pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church in the Washington, D.C. area. Brian is a prominent voice on postmodern thinking and church growth. He is also the author of several books including The Church on the Other Side and the revolutionary book, A New Kind of Christian”.

[Also See Warren and McLaren and Warren and Kimball]

Therefore one assumes, in light of Rick Warren’s written endorsements of the two men and their books, that he has, to all intents and purposes, read (over and above the parts he authored) The Emerging Church by Kimball and, at the very least, The Church on the Other Side and A New Kind of Christian” by McLaren that he speaks of on his site. One has to further presume he is familiar with their beliefs. So what do the leaders of the Emergent Church Think, Believe and Recommend

Spencer Burke promotes contemplative and emergent philosophies, and is considered to be one of the more popular emerging church ministries. And yet, evangelical leaders such as Rick Warren, given their endorsement of the Ooze. Of the Ooze, Rick Warren states that The Ooze website is, "one of the best online communities related to post-modern ministry." (Source Source) This means that pastors around the world will likely recognize the Ooze as a trusted source for spirituality. [From Lighthouse Trails research]

"I stopped reading from the approved evangelical reading list and began to distance myself from the evangelical agenda. I discovered new authors and new voices at the bookstore-Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen and St. Teresa of Avila. The more I read, the more intrigued I became. Contemplative spirituality seemed to open up a whole new way for me to understand and experience God. I was deeply moved by works like The Cloud of Unknowing, The Dark Night of the Soul and the Early Writings of the Desert Fathers." —Spencer Burke, The Ooze [Source]


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Rick Warren and Catalyst

Both Rick Warren and Erwin McManus are scheduled speakers at the Oct 2007 Catalyst Conference. Interestingly Warren has been billed as a “Global Humanitarian and Influencer” on the Catalyst web site. which says...

“Creating FORWARD THINKING church leaders that will serve as change agents in our culture. Catalyst is THE leadership filter for what's next in the church. Catalyst over the last 8 years has helped define a look, created a feel and mixed up a substance for young church leaders.

This growing movement is all about leadership, innovation, creativity and constantly changing the process. We are intent on shaping the next generation of church leaders, presenting the next big ideas, practices and content that will redefine our generation of leadership....

Sadly all these big words leave out the fact that Scripture (I Timothy 3) already gives us the criteria for a church leader.. and ‘the next generation of church leaders’ are as bound by the Bible’s definition as the church leaders of thousands of years ago. Perhaps they should consider following the Bible’s guidelines instead of redefining them. Incidentally 1 Tim makes six references to sound doctrine.

Another Catalyst featured speaker, Patrick Lencioni, is also a scheduled speaker on the The Lead Like Jesus October 19th 2007 simulcast. [Lead Like Jesus was co-founded by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges in 1999] The Lead Like Jesus site advertises the coming October 19th 2007 simulcast as having an all star cast. [See Article on McManus and Mosaic]

A fourth speaker will be Injoy’s founder John Maxwell who was once pastor of a small church in Hillham, Indiana. Studying the “correlation between leadership effectiveness and effective ministry” John founded one business which ultimately led to ‘INJOY Stewardship Services’. He resigned his pastorate in 1995 to devote full attention to ISS, seeing “greater potential in the thousands of lives that could be reached through INJOY…”, He speaks frequently for several high-profile organizations such as Promise Keepers, Focus on the Family, Sam's Club, Chick-fil-A, Mary Kay, and various Fortune 500 companies. Joel Osteen hired Injoy as consultants to transform the Compaq Center (home to the Houston Rockets) to a $70 million, 21st century worship center. [Details]

Included also is Andy Stanley, son of Charles Stanley and senior pastor of North Point Community Church, a megachurch in Alpharetta, Georgia. In 2006, Andy Stanley was voted the 13th most influential Christian in America by The Church Report. Andy Stanley is author of Choosing To Cheat (Foreword by John Maxwell). His book Next Generation Leader: 5 Essentials for Those Who Will Shape the Future carries the following endorsements..

"It's obvious that what Andy Stanley has to say in Next Generation Leader comes straight from the gut of someone who is in the leadership game and is winning at it" [Bill Hybels Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church.]

"Andy Stanley offers a fresh perspective on ageless truths that will be of enormous benefit to today's leaders and to future generations." [Patrick S. Flood. Chairman and CEO, HomeBanc Mortgage Corporation].

Again... besides the fact that this has to be the billionth book on ‘leadership’ why is a so called Christian book, written by a senior pastor of a large church endorsed by a businessman? The answer is very simple. Today’s church knows nothing of separation from the world, but seeks the approval of the world by integrating and ingratiating itself wherever possible.






Rick Warren and Robert Schuller

There has apparently been some controversy regarding the connections between Rick Warren and Robert Schuller, with Rick Warren himself denying that he was mentored in any way by Schuller, so consider the following..

Rick Warren uses a recommendation by Schuller at the start of his book, “The Purpose Driven Church.”

In Christianity Today, Warren’s wife was quoted as saying, "When we came to that institute, we were blown away." How God has blessed him. And today Rick Warren is blessing millions of people. (http://www.hourofpower.org/booklets/bookletdetail.cfm?ArticleID=2570).

During his last year in seminary, [Rick Warren] and Kay drove west to visit Robert Schuller's Institute for Church Growth. "We had a very stony ride out to the conference," she says, because such nontraditional ministry scared her to death. Schuller, though, won them over. "He had a profound influence on Rick," Kay says. "We were captivated by his positive appeal to nonbelievers. I never looked back"… Imitating Schuller, Warren walked the (then unincorporated but fast-growing) town of Lake Forest, asking what kept people from going to church. (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/012/1.42.html).

In Schuller’s words

We are the home of the world's first Church Growth Institute, -launching the mega-church movement in the 20th century. Tens of thousands of pastors, including famous graduates Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Bishop Blake, Walt Kallestad, and Sundo Kim of Korea, were mentored here.
(http://www.hourofpower.org/Jubilee/who_are_we.cfm)

"I launched the megachurch movement through the Institute for Successful Church Leadership in 1970," he said, referring to his annual pastors conference at the Garden Grove church. "There were no megachurches 32 years ago--we were the closest thing to it."
(http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_8_119/ai_85106545).

What has been accomplished already through this church is phenomenal because of the dedicated members and friends we have. I see the results today of the Institute for Successful Church Leadership which we dared to launch 35 years ago and it is still going strong. Here ministers are inspired to believe in their dreams and to present the good news of the gospel in positive terms. And some of those students are well-known. Bill Hybels now pastors the largest church, I think, in the United States, the Willow Creek Community Church. Bill has often said that there probably would not be a Willow Creek Church if he hadn’t been able to come to our pastor’s institute here. I’m so proud of him. (article numbered 1783).

Robert Schuller is probably one of today’s most apostate leaders. Consider the following from Bible Discernment Ministries..

“Schuller's false teaching is an extremely serious matter in light of his wide influence. His is the most popular religion television broadcast in America. His books sell by the millions. He appears with presidents. His "self-esteem Christianity" has been adopted by multitudes. These believe they are Christians and attend churches; but in reality, they worship a false christ and follow a false gospel. Robert Schuller and his mentor, the late Norman Vincent Peale, are two of the key culprits in promoting this error.

Schuller reinterprets the doctrines of the Word of God to conform with his self-esteem philosophy. His Christ is a Jesus who provides men with self-esteem. Schuller's gospel is the replacement of negative self concepts with positive ones. To Schuller, sin is merely the lack of self-esteem. To Schuller, the greatest evil is to call men sinners in a Biblical fashion and thereby injure their self-esteem. Schuller is a universalist who believes that all people are the children of God. His goal is to help each person understand and enjoy this "fact." Bottom line, Schuller's message is that there is no need for one to recognize his own personal sin, no need for repentance, and no need for the crucifixion of self. In fact, concerning the latter point, Schuller teaches just the opposite philosophy -- that self is to be exalted -- which is nothing less than an outright denial of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: (See Articles on Self Esteem, sin and repentance on this site)

(a) Personal Sin?: "What do I mean by sin? Answer: Any human condition or act that robs God of glory by stripping one of his children of their right to divine dignity. I could offer another complementing answer: Sin is that deep lack of trust that separates me from God and leaves me with a sense of shame and unworthiness. I can offer still another answer: Sin is any act or thought that robs myself or another human being of his or her self-esteem" (Self-Esteem: The New Reformation, p. 14). In a 10/5/84 letter to Christianity Today, Schuller wrote, "I don't think anything has been done in the name of Christ and under the banner of Christianity that has proven more destructive to human personality and hence counterproductive to the evangelism enterprise than the often crude, uncouth, and unchristian strategy of attempting to make people aware of their lost and sinful condition" (cf. Romans 1:18-3:20).

(b) Repentance?: In response to a question from Paul Crouch on Crouch's TBN 12/8/87 television show, concerning critic's claims that Schuller doesn't preach repentance, Schuller responded, "I preach repentance so positively, most people don't recognize it" (cf. Ezekiel 18:30-32).

(c) Denial of Self?: One of Schuller's books, Self-Love: The Dynamic Force of Success, took Eric Fromm's humanistic self-love teachings and brought them into the church. In Self-Esteem: The New Reformation (Word Books, 1982), Schuller teaches that: (1) the church's problem is that it has had a God-centered theology for centuries, when it needs a man-centered one; (2) we're not bad, merely badly informed about how good we are; (3) it would be an insult to the integrity of any human being to call him a sinner; and (4) "Jesus knew His worth; His success fed His self-esteem. He suffered the cross to sanctify His self-esteem and He bore the cross to sanctify your self-esteem. The cross will sanctify the ego trip" (p. 115) (cf. Matt. 16:24). (See attached reports for more analysis and quotes from Self-Esteem: The New Reformation) [Schuller further amplified this latter thought on the 8/12/80 Phil Donahue Show; Schuller said, "Jesus had an ego. He said, 'I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.' Wow, what an ego trip He was on!"]

Schuller is also an ecumenist

"I met once more with the Grand Mufti (a Muslim), truly one of the great Christ-honoring leaders of faith. ... I'm dreaming a bold impossilbe dream: that positive-thinking believers in God will rise above the illusions that our sectarian religions have imposed on the world, and that leaders of the major faiths will rise above dotrinal idiosyncrasies, choosing not to focus on disagreements, but rather to transcend divisive dogmas to work together to bring peace and prosperity and hope to the world...." (Robert Schuller. My Journey p. 502)

"Standing before a crowd of devout Muslims with the Grand Mufti, I know that we're all doing God's work together. Standing on the edge of a new millennium, we're laboring hand in hand to repair the breach." (Robert Schuller. My Journey p. 501) [See Should Christians Join In Interfaith Communion?]

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Norman Vincent Peale

Stepping back a little further we find that Robert Schuller was one of Norman Vincent Peale’s most successful protégés.. Schuller's son said of Peale that he was "responsible for dad's possibility thinking.

In fact bronze statues representing "four of the greatest communicators of the Word of God" stand in the glass-walled, nearly 3,000-seat Crystal Cathedral. The four are Bishop Fulton Sheen, Norman Vincent Peale, Billy Graham and Schuller himself. (Bishop Fulton Sheen is a Catholic bishop)

Norman Vincent Peale was an apostate liberal and a Mason who rejected key Bible doctrines (see 10/1/90, Calvary Contender). (Peale served as Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of New York, Imperial Grand Chaplain of the Shrine, and was inducted into the Scottish Rite Hall of Honor in 1991. His oil portrait hangs in the House of the Washington D.C. Temple.) He got his "power of positive thinking" ideas from the Unity healing cult. His Positive Imaging book teaches visualization and other occultic/New Age ideas. A review in the 6/21/93 Christianity Today of a new biography of Peale mentions four "conversion" experiences. It said his key formula was "Picturize, prayerize, actualize." Though calling Peale "a devout Christian who injected vitality into a church that was losing touch with ordinary Americans," the article also said: "Peale always believed his message was biblical, but it lacked much reference to sin, to atonement, or ... to an incarnation. The Christ he preached was very like Alcoholics Anonymous founder Bill Wilson's ambiguous Higher Power." The Christianity Today reviewer thought it revealing that Peale devoted nearly all his time after retirement to motivational speaking at business meetings, and concluded that "the church of Pealism ultimately requires only the lively spirits of a banquet room" (7/15/93, Calvary Contender). (Read Article)

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Rick Warren and Leonard Sweet

“Warren and Sweet have both been instrumental in helping set the stage for the emerging church movement. And even though Leonard Sweet has been an avid promoter of New Age ideas for a long time, Warren has shown continued support for him. In 1995, the two did an audio series called The Tides of Change. In the audio, they spoke of "new frontiers," "a new spirituality," and "waves of change." In more recent days, with Rick Warren's New Reformation and Global Peace Plan, those "new frontiers" have begun to come to the light” [Source]

In 2003 Leonard Sweet and Brian McLaren co-authored A is for Abductive: The Language of the Emerging Church. Here are some quotes from Sweet’s other books.

New Lights offer up themselves as the cosmions of a mind-of-Christ consciousness. As a cosmion incarnating the cells of a new body, New Lights will function as transitional vessels through which transforming energy can renew the divine image in the world, moving postmoderns from one state of embodiment to another. (Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality. P. 48)

"The first of these five untheorized observations is that New Light embodiment means to be "in connection" and 'in-formation' with other Christians. Deeper feeling and higher relating go together. The church is fundamentally one being, one person, a comm-union whose cells are connected to one another within the information network called the Christ consciousness." (Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality. P. 122)

"A surprisingly central feature of all the world's religions is the language of light in communicating the divine and symbolizing the union of the human with the divine: Muhammed's light-filled cave, Moses' burning bush, Paul's blinding light, Fox's 'inner light,' Krishna's Lord of Light, Bohme's light-filled cobbler shop, Plotinus' fire experiences, Bodhisattvas with the flow of Kundalini's fire erupting from their fontanelles, and so on." (Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality p. 235)

..."Postmodern culture is a change-or-be changed world," he continues. "Reinvent yourself for the 21st century or die. Some would rather die than change” (Leonard Sweet, Soul Tsunami, pages 17, 34,74-75.)

(Warren's P.E.A.C.E. Plan & UN Goals. www.crossroad.to/index.html )

"A sea change of transitions and transformations is birthing a whole new world," wrote Dr. Leonard Sweet, whose books are often quoted in Rick Warren's Ministry Toolbox. "God is birthing the greatest spiritual awakening in the history of the church.... Are you going to show up." [Leonard Sweet, Soul Tsunami, Page (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1999), pages 17, 34, 75.]

If you love truth, you may want to say no! For in his book Soul Tsunami, Dr. Sweet, a popular leader of the Emerging Church, tells us to flow with the currents of change and leave God's unchanging gospel behind.

"Postmodern culture is a change-or-be changed world," he continues. "Reinvent yourself for the 21st century or die. Some would rather die than change." [Leonard Sweet, Soul Tsunami, Page (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1999), pages 17, 34, 75.] ]

Would Rick Warren agree? Probably, since he wrote this glowing endorsement for the front cover of Sweet's book: "Soul Tsunami shows us why these are the greatest days for evangelism since the first century!"

What kind of evangelism does Warren envision? Would it be based on God's Word or on "good" works? Apparently, the latter. In a world that has traded Biblical absolutes for changing values and feel-good experiences, God's "divisive" truths face a rising tide of hostility. But few will argue against helping the poor and sick. Perhaps that's why Pastor Warren keeps repeating this statement: “The first Reformation was about belief; this one’s going to be about behavior.” [Ken Camp, "Second Reformation' will unify church, Warren tells Dallas GDOP," Pastors.com, 2005, at www.pastors.com/article.asp?ArtID=8280 ]

The new focus is on unity -- a worldwide oneness reflected in the growing union between the East and West. Leonard Sweet's online book, Quantum Spirituality, sheds some revealing light of the envisioned global "church" for the 21st century. In his view, the offense of the cross has been replaced with a passion for interfaith peace and possibility thinking. To illustrate this point, Dr. Sweet quotes Thomas Merton, the popular Catholic author who popularized mysticism and died in Asia searching the depths of Tibetan Buddhism:

'We are already one. But we imagine that we are not. And what we have to recover is our original unity.'" [Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality]

In Leonard Sweet’s 24 Transitions For Moving Into The 21st Century, points 3,4, and 5 read as follows

3) From Control to Out-of-Control -- From Program to Manifestation
4) From Authority Structures to Relational Structures
5) From "Does it Make Sense" to "Was it a Good Experience?"

Leonard Sweet states he has corresponded with David Spangler and quotes him several times favorably in his book Quantum Spirituality. Sweet says in his footnotes #86.

I am grateful to David Spangler for his help in formulating this “new cell” understanding of New Light leadership.”

David Spangler is a philosopher, writer and educator in incarnational spirituality; the integration of spiritual values, energy and presence into everyday life. He is executive director of the Lorian Association and past co-director of the Findhorn Community. Since a child, he has had conscious awareness of and communication with supersensory worlds of spirit. David Spangler's 2004 workshop is on "Kinship With All Fairies". Human beings, fairies, devas and angels are all cousins. This workshop explored the kinship between ourselves and the Fairy Kingdom. The link between the fairy world within us and the larger fairy realm of the world.

“The true light of this great being can only be recognized when one's own eyes can see with the light of the Christ, the light of the inner sun. Lucifer works within each of us to bring us to wholeness, and as we move into the New Age, which is the age of man's wholeness, each of us is brought to that point which I term the Luciferic Initiation, the particular doorway through which the individual must pass if he is to come fully into the presence of his light and his wholeness.

Lucifer comes to give us the final gift of wholeness. If we accept it, then he is free and we are free, that is the Luciferic Initiation. It is one that many people now, and in the days ahead, will be facing, for it is an initiation into the New Age. (David Spangler, Reflections on the Christ, Findhorn Lecture Series, 3rd ed., 1981; p. 45)



From Spiritual Fusion - East comes West by Let Us Reason Ministries

In his book Quantum Spirituality Under the topic of Sevening (On the seventh day [God] rested and drew breath.) he gives some 10 deep breathing exercises. “1. Get in touch with your lungs by closing your eyes. Visualize in your mind a tennis court” 8. “Hold your Bible and breathe meditatively. The breathtaking, nay, breath giving truth of aliveness is more than Methuselean in its span: Part of your body right now was once actually, literally part of the body of Abraham, Sarah, Noah, Esther, David, Abigail, Moses, Ruth, Matthew, Mary, Like, Martha, John, Priscilla, Paul... and Jesus. 9. Keep breathing quietly while holding your Bible. You have within you not just the powers of goodness resident in the great spiritual leaders like Moses, Jesus, Muhammed, Lao Tzu You also have within you the forces of evil and destruction.” Resident in each breath you take is the body of angels like Joan of Arc and devils like Gilles de Rais, Genghis Khan, Judas Iscariot, Herod, Hitler, Stalin and all the other destructive spirits throughout history” (Quantum Spirituality p.300-301)

On the 7th day- did God need to breathe? So while Sweet promotes visualization (Guided imagery), breath (contemplative?) prayers, he slides in the belief of the interconnectedness of life and a synthesis of religions, presenting the founders of these other religions as co-equal in their spiritual teachings with Jesus Christ because of the goodness within them. Like the Bahai’s, and Rosicrucians Jesus is then demoted to one of the many in a great line of spiritual leaders. Why have your Bible in your hand doing this spirit exercise unless you read it to see that what Sweet is leading you into is some pantheistic metaphysical process. So we are so interconnected that we breathe in both good and bad angels, all the dead people in history along with the fumes of cars. Sweet needs to take time to breathe some fresh air. What does this have to do with the Bibles teaching??? Nothing. but it has much to do with new age concepts” {TOP OF PAGE}







Bernie Siegel

Extract From ‘Deceived on Purpose .. The New Age Implications of the Purpose-Driven Church’
by Warren Smith
Chapter 5 - Enter Robert Schuller

“In June of 1978, a Connecticut physician named Bernie Siegel attended a workshop that would completely change his life, including the way he practiced medicine. As a result of a spiritual experience in this workshop—a guided visualization— he would eventually become a bestselling author and New Age leader. In his book Love, Medicine & Miracles, he describes this guided visualization:

"In June 1978, my practice of medicine changed as a result of an unexpected experience I had at a teaching seminar. Oncologist O. Carl Simonton and psychologist Stephanie Matthews (then his wife) gave a workshop—Psychological Factors, Stress, and Cancer—at the Elmcrest Institute in Portland, Connecticut…." 9

"The Simontons taught us how to meditate. At one point they led us in a directed meditation to find and meet an inner guide. I approached this exercise with all the skepticism one expects from a mechanistic doctor. Still, I sat down, closed my eyes, and followed directions. I didn’t believe it would work, but if it did I expected to see Jesus or Moses. Who else would dare appear inside a surgeon’s head? Instead I met George, a bearded, long-haired young man wearing an immaculate flowing white gown and a skullcap. It was an incredible awakening for me, because I hadn’t expected anything to happen….

"George was spontaneous, aware of my feelings, and an excellent adviser. He gave me honest answers, some of which I didn’t like at first….

"All I know is that he has been my invaluable companion ever since his first appearance. My life is much easier now, because he does the hard work.10

Siegel also teaches that through continuous "spiritual consciousness" death no longer exists and that he has "received many messages from those who have died," (p. 220). Siegel concludes with instructions on how to meditate and visualize cosmic-at-oneness energy healing you. He also lists a whole spate of New Age writers and books for suggested reading (pp. 227-239).

Since that initial spiritual encounter, Siegel has become a leading New Age author and spokesperson. Providing “hope” by fusing modern day medicine with New Age teachings and practices, Siegel has introduced New Age concepts into the professional medical community and to cancer patients everywhere. In Friendship with God, Neale Donald Walsch writes that Bernie Siegel was the “first celebrity endorsement” he received for his first book Conversations with God: Book 1. Walsch said that “it helped book buyers, who might have been skittish about a previously unpublished author, see the value of what I had produced.”11

Today, Siegel continues to influence countless numbers of people in his role as a New Age leader. In his books and workshops he encourages people to do guided meditations and visualizations—just as he once did—to initiate contact with their own personal spirit guides. Siegel openly endorses the teachings of A Course in Miracles, and currently serves on the Board of Advisors of Jerry Jampolsky’s A Course in Miracles-based Attitudinal Healing Center in Northern California.

Why Siegel?

I describe Bernie Siegel at length because I was about to discover that Rick Warren suddenly and inexplicably made reference to Bernie Siegel in Chapter Three of The Purpose-Driven Life. He used Siegel’s name in conjunction with remarks he was making about people who have “hope” and a “deep sense of life purpose.” The reference follows Rick Warren’s strange characterization of Isaiah and Job as two men who exemplified life “without purpose” and life “without God.”

The reader is given no explanation as to who Bernie Siegel is and, therefore, has no idea that Rick Warren was using the remark of a New Age leader to reference the importance of having “hope” and “purpose” in their life.

Particularly for someone like myself, who came out of the New Age, it was extremely bizarre to see Rick Warren’s remarks linking hope with the New Age leader Bernie Siegel rather than with Isaiah and Job. His skewed comments were very misleading. Rick Warren wrote:

"Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance or hope. In the Bible, many different people expressed this hopelessness. Isaiah complained, “I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.” Job said, 'My life drags by—day after hopeless day” and “I give up; I am tired of living. Leave me alone. My life makes no sense.' The greatest tragedy is not death, but life without purpose.

"Hope is as essential to your life as air and water. You need hope to cope. Dr. Bernie Siegel found he could predict which of his cancer patients would go into remission by asking, “Do you want to live to be one hundred?” Those with a deep sense of life purpose answered yes and were the ones most likely to survive. Hope comes from having a purpose."13

Isaiah and Job without purpose?

After quoting the situational complaints of Isaiah and Job, Rick Warren stated, as quoted above, “The greatest tragedy is not death, but life without purpose.”

In reality, Isaiah’s “complaining” had nothing to do with “a life without purpose” or being “without God.” Rather, it had to do with the fact that Isaiah was finding the prophetic role that God had assigned to him to be very discouraging. He was trying to warn the people that their religious leaders were leading them astray.

"…O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. (Isaiah 3:12)

As I read this whole section in The Purpose-Driven Life, I kept asking myself: why would Rick Warren want to introduce his readers—even indirectly—to a New Age leader like Bernie Siegel? Why would he preface his whole discussion about the importance of having “hope” and a “deep sense of life purpose” by referring to a man whose own hope and purpose are so totally invested in the false teachings of the New Age? A believer’s true hope is not based on perceptions of longevity or the false hopes of this world. It is based only in the person of Jesus Christ. He is our hope (1 Timothy 1:1).

What helped to finally clarify the matter for me was my discovery that much of Rick Warren’s seemingly spontaneous discussion about hope and purpose—even his reference to Bernie Siegel—could be found in the writings and teachings of Robert Schuller.

I became aware of Schuller’s influence while searching the Internet in an attempt to understand why Rick Warren might be citing Bernie Siegel in reference to “hope.” I discovered an Hour of Power sermon in which Robert Schuller referenced Bernie Siegel in regards to this same issue of “hope.” After describing Bernie Siegel as “one of the greatest doctors of the 20th Century,” Schuller stated:

"Dr. Siegel said that he’s been accused of building false hope and he likes to tell people that the only false hope is giving them no hope."18”



Notes

"Dr. Siegel said that he’s been accused of building false hope and he likes to tell people that the only false hope is giving them no hope." 18

9. Bernie Siegel. Love, Medicine & Miracles (New York: Harper Collins Publishers: HarperPerennial, 1998), p. 18.

10. Ibid., p. 19–20.

11. Walsch, Friendship with God, p. 335–336.

12. (http://www.localcommunities.org/servlet/lc_ProcServ/dbpage=
page&GID=01004011550947263615155189&PG=01004011550953336137033205).

13. Warren, The Purpose-Driven Life, p. 30–31.

14. Ibid., p. 30.

15. Holy Bible, New International Version (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zonderan Corporation, 1973 (1984), p. 1006.

16. Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary On The Whole Bible (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1991), p. 1172.

17. Warren, The Purpose-Driven Life, p. 31.

18. Hour of Power. Program #1572. “Principles for Powerful, Prosperous Living—Part IX” by Robert H. Schuller, (http://www.hourofpower.org/ booklets/archives/pppl_1563-1573/1572.html), p. 3. Also see, Robert H. Schuller, Believe In The God Who Believes In You (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1989), p. 246–247.
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Warren Meets With (whatever his first name happens to be this week) Yonggi Cho..

Recently, in Southern California for a brief breakfast...”

Apparently neither of these ‘Christian Leaders’ have ANY clue as to how the New Testament Church was conducted, nor how a house church is supposed to function...

Warren: What about the process of helping people grow in Christ? What is the process your church uses for moving a non-believer to maturity in Christ?
Cho: We have this kind of organization: When people first get converted, we ask them to the School of Conversion. They are taught for six weeks and given all of the materials. Then they're introduced to the Cell System in their area, and they are trained through the Cell Leaders.

Warren: How have you used technology to care for the needs of everyone in such a large church - to give personal attention when you have so many thousands of people?
Cho: We couldn't handle the situation without computers. We computerized everything in the church - every facet! We also make use of the Internet. Right now we are offering an Internet church where people participate in services through the Internet. I want to take people to the Internet. Korea is very small - not like in America with a lot of space, so we can't enlarge our church buildings. Besides, every year we have 20,000 new converts in our churches, and we can't put them all in our church building or even our branch churches. So now we have an Internet church and many of the young generation participate in the services at home. They send in their offerings on the Internet. They can do on-line giving.

Warren: How many of your house churches or cell groups use the Internet and watch your Internet services?
Cho: Most of all the house churches are using the Internet service now.

Warren: Is it done at a certain time and they just click to see it? Is it a live service?
Cho: (Right now) It's a live service, including Sunday and Wednesday. But also, when I want to give special instructions or teaching for the cell groups, then I will teach it through the Internet to the cells and apartments. This way I can give a special word or special instruction to the ministers and the cell leaders in that area.

Warren: It seems that the Internet cell group has far more potential for growth even more than Branch (satellite) churches?
Cho: THAT IS IT EXACTLY! - I always say to our people - this is the next generation ministry! Without the Internet we will fall far behind the wall. Many (in the) young generation won't come to church because of traffic and a lack of spaces in church. But now we have an Internet broadcasting system with a fantastic program to attract them, and they can stay home. I say to the young people - don't come to church - just stay home and get your teaching through the Internet. And they also give us feedback about sermons and services.

Below is an extract from BDM’s Assessment of Yonggi Cho’s Teaching and Beliefs

“Cho's teachings are an idolatrous mix of a little Biblical teaching with a lot of occult healing, prophesying, visualization, sorcery, and pagan mind techniques. Cho teaches that Christians can get anything they want by calling upon the spirit world in the "fourth dimension" and envisioning (visualizing) their felt needs, no matter how crass and gross. Cho teaches that positive thinking, positive speaking, and positive visualization are the keys to success, and that anyone can literally "incubate" and give birth to physical reality by creating a vivid image in his or her mind and focusing upon it

“Cho's teaching is a system of mind over matter (or rather, imagination over matter). He frankly admits that it is a Christianized version of precisely the same methods practiced by Buddhists, exponents of yoga, and the followers of other pagan, mystical, and occult systems. The only difference is that their fourth-dimensional power receives co-operation from the devil, while that of Christians supposedly receives help from the Holy Spirit. He says that so long as we keep our minds from foolish and wrong ideas, we shall keep the canvas of our imagination clean for the Holy Spirit to paint on it the things we are to have. (Cho says that his massive church grew to its present size, and continues to grow, because he follows this principle of visualization. He first imagines his church growing to a certain figure, and he then visualizes all the faces and incubates the vision into reality.) Cho teaches that all Christians should aim to prosper in body, soul, and spirit, and their success and failure in this is due entirely to their success or failure in visualizing.

Cho's theology begins with the subconscious mind. It ends with God and Cho switching roles. Cho describes the obedience of the Holy Spirit to his will: "… I can go into the fourth dimension of the Holy Spirit, and I tell Him what is needed in my church in Korea, and He carries out the work" (The Fourth Dimension, p. 49). [Jesus' attitude was quite the opposite, "nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matthew 26:39).]

Of positive speaking (confession), Cho declares: "You can create the presence of Jesus with your mouth … He is bound by your lips and by your words …" As for visualization, the most powerful occult technique, Cho writes, "Through visualization and dreaming, you can incubate your future and hatch the results." In the foreword to Cho's best-known book, The Fourth Dimension, Robert Schuller writes of visualization, "Don't try to understand it. Just start to enjoy it! It's true. It works. It tried it. Thank you -- Paul Yonggi Cho -- for allowing the Holy Spirit to give this message to us and to the world." (Cho himself admits that his message of hope always exalts people and focuses solely on prosperity, health, and problem-free life. This teaching prompts the deceitful message of selfism, advocating the dangerous message of uplifting man through self-love/self-esteem/self-worth.)

Cho's involvements in the movements of positive thinking, prophesying and miracle healing, charismatic practice, prosperity theology, and world-wide evangelism have caused him to be held up as an example of "success" or "prosperity" today. Because he has achieved remarkable success in church growth, a large number of "Christian" leaders are recommending and using many of his books. But what Cho actually does is substitute Biblical, God-centered teachings with a worldly, man-centered system of prosperity gospel, positive confession, visualization, fourth dimension concept, and other dangerous ideas. His theology and methodology have deviated from the truths of the historic Christian faith.

Cho claims that if there is no visualization, there will be no church growth. He insists that every minister needs to have visualization, the process in a person's mind through which pictures in visions or dreams bring about miracles and powers”.
(http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/exposes/cho/general.htm)

So apparently all Rick Warren cares about is that Yonggi Cho is pastor of the largest church (In the world?) which fits in very well with his idea of what constitutes a ‘Successful’ church. {TOP OF PAGE}







Rick Warren Endorsed The Alpha Course
See More on the Alpha Course On this site.

“It’s great to see how Alpha has been used to reach people with the good news of Jesus Christ, who wouldn’t normally come to church. This resource is very complementary to helping seekers connect with The Purpose Driven Life.” [Dr. Rick Warren Sr. Pastor, Saddleback Church. Source]

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Rick Warren’s tribute to John Wimber (listed on the Vineyard site)

Rick Warren

“I will remember John Wimber as a man who truly loved Jesus more than anything else. I always enjoyed our conversations because that love for Christ produced an uncommon passion in his life that was contagious. I will miss that. A hundred years from today, people will still be singing "Spirit Song" because it verbalizes that deep love for Jesus”. (Source Click on John Wimber Tribute in the left column)

This is the same Wimber that

“claimed that signs and wonders were the essential ingredient for success in first century church evangelism (a claim which is not supported anywhere in the Book of Acts), and that for today, the only way to get people to believe the Gospel is to startle them into believing through healing, prophecy, and the casting out of demons; Wimber called this "power evangelism." It was Wimber's opinion that only by startling the world by demonstrations of clairvoyance and powerful healings would the gospel message receive respectful attention, because (apparently) by itself, the Gospel is too weak and powerless to break the stubbornness and rebellion of the human heart. (Cited in Masters, pp.74-75.)..

..” Wimber consistently maintained an ecumenical spirit toward Roman Catholicism. He frequently appeared on the same platforms with Roman Catholic clergy in ecumenical gatherings, and hosted Catholic "leaders" at his various church growth/healing seminars. Wimber even once wrote an article for the Catholic charismatic publication, New Covenant, entitled "Why I Love Mary," lending credibility to the doctrines of Mariology”..

... “Wimber's doctrine of Demonology was thoroughly unscriptural; he saw demons behind many physical illnesses, and most emotional problems, entering into people, both lost and saved, in varying degrees, either for "possession" or "oppression," so as to control all or some aspects of their lives...”

... “As an example of a practice rejected by the church for centuries, but engaged in by Wimber and the Vineyard movement, is the use of relics (human remains and objects thought to have supernatural miracle powers by virtue of their being connected with a Saint; the relic may be the whole or a part of a Saint's body, or something a Saint has touched). The use of relics of the dead is an utterly pagan concept with no Scriptural justification whatsoever; rather it is associated with necromancy. (Masters). Wimber states "In the Catholic church for over a 1,200 year period people were healed as a result of touching the relics of the saints. We Protestants have difficulty with that, why ... but we healers shouldn't, because there's nothing theologically out of line with that." [John Wimber, Church Planting Seminar, Tapes I, II, III, IV, V, March 28, 1981.]

“ Wimber was on Renovaré's "Board of Reference" -- Renovaré is an international, New Age, ecumenical organization that emanates from the religious traditions of Quakerism, whose message is that today's Church is missing out on some wonderful spiritual experiences that can only be found by studying and practicing the "meditative" and "contemplative" lifestyle "of early Christianity." In actuality, Renovaré espouses the use of the early pagan traditions of guided imagery and visualization, astral projection, "Zen" prayer techniques for meditation (i.e., Buddhism), and Jungian psychology (i.e., a blend of Eastern mysticism and Roman Catholic mystical spiritual tradition, which nicely fits the New Age model), all as means of obtaining "personal spiritual renewal" in the lives of believers. (For a more detailed analysis of Renovaré and the teachings of its co-directors, psychologist Richard Foster and William Vaswig, [See Media Spotlight's Special Report of March, 1992: Renovaré: Taking Leave of One's Senses”. Click On Movements in the left hand column. [http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm]

Also See Section John Wimber and The Vineyard

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Rick Warren and The Aspen Institute

The Aspen Institute web site defines it’s mission..

“Our core mission is to foster enlightened leadership and open-minded dialogue. Through seminars, policy programs, conferences and leadership development initiatives, the Institute and its international partners seek to promote nonpartisan inquiry and an appreciation for timeless values”.

“Founded in Aspen, Colorado, but linked to the British-based Tavistock Institute for Human Relations, The Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies (AIHS) calls itself "a global forum" which "seeks to improve the condition of human well-being by fostering enlightened, responsible leadership and by convening leaders and policy-makers to address the structural changes of the new century." This training center for a global army of psycho-social change agents works through offices in Germany, Japan, Italy and France as well as the United States. Its manipulative and transformative conferences are usually held in Aspen or at the beautiful Wye plantation in Maryland .

The AIHS website summarizes its mission and policies in nice-sounding words that few would challenge. For those who look deeper, they reflect the socialist vision of the master-minds behind the world's sophisticated mass psychology and manipulative consensus process -- well indoctrinated men and women determined to crush all hindrances to their quest for a new world order: not quite capitalism, not quite socialism, but Communitarianism or the Third Way. Ponder this statement on its program page:

"The Leading Change seminar is both intellectually challenging and immediately practical. For example, research indicates that as many as 80% of all change initiatives fail. A major factor contributing to the high failure rate of change initiatives is a natural, deep-seated resistance to change within an organization. Throughout this seminar, senior executives consider the nature and sources of resistance to change and how to overcome them. They explore ways of making the organizational environment receptive to ongoing change and ensuring that beneficial changes become embedded in culture and practice."

In 1976, the AIHS published A New Civic Literacy. It offers a glimpse of the philosophy taught and touted at its global conferences -- one that shows alarming sympathies with the manipulative education strategies used by Fidel Castro's team of Communist trainers. The author, Ward Morehouse, writes,

"Experimental activities should be undertaken to see to what degree formal learning experiences can shape the world views of Americans so as to make those views more compatible with (or at least less resistant to) adjustments in behavior and attitudes necessary to cope more effectively with problems of interdependence....

"The kind of educational transformation for which we have argued in these pages will not come easily. Changing complex social institutions in any fundamental way requires unlimited quantities of sweat and almost certainly some tears, if not blood."

In light of the above agenda, it's not surprising that the Aspen Institute is funded by globalist foundations such as the Carnegie Corporation, The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (once headed by Alger Hiss) and the Ford Foundation”. (Kjos Ministries)


In July 2004 Rick Warren shared the platform one morning with another speaker--Rev. Peter Gomes, talking about the American Experience: The Problem of Evil. (Peter Gomes is the out-of-the-closet homosexual minister for Memorial Church at Harvard University).

Earlier this summer, we saw the value of that when, at our ideas festival, there was an astonishing amount of common ground found by such speakers as Pastor Rick Warren, the Rev. Peter Gomes, Colin Powell, Bill Clinton, Bill Bennett, Toni Morrison, Larry Summers, Ted Olson, and scores of other particpants. I have also seen this in so many other aspects of our work, such as the bipartisan delegation of top Senate and House leaders that Dick Clark took to Turkey in June to study Islam and the new Aspen-Rodel Fellowship program for young political leaders of both parties (Source)

Other sessions covered a diverse range of topics, from the art of modern animation, led by Patricia Hannaway, an animator who worked on Lord of the Rings, to a conversation among Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren, Harvard theologian Peter Gomes, and Alan Wolfe - a Boston College expert on the intersections of religion and culture — on how different societies approach the concept of evil. (Source)

Rev. Peter J. Gomes: arguing for Homosexual Marriages said

To extend the civil right of marriage to homosexuals will neither solve nor complicate the problems already inherent in marriage, but what it will do is permit a whole class of persons, our fellow citizens under the law heretofore irrationally deprived of a civil right, both to benefit from and participate in a valuable yet vulnerable institution which in our changing society needs all the help it can get. (For Massachusetts, a chance and a choice. 2/8/2004) (Source)


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Rick Warren and The Minerva Awards

Warren was a speaker at the 2005 California Governor and First Lady’s Conference on Women and Families

The website says

“The intriguing and empowering seminars included extraordinary hosts, speakers and panelists like, Finance expert Suze Orman, world-renowned breast cancer expert Dr. Susan Love, Pastor Rick Warren, National Geographic Explorer host Lisa Ling, journalist Leeza Gibbons, The Oprah Magazine Editor-at-Large Gayle King and Radio Talk Show Host Dr. Laura Schlessinger teaching and inspiring all of us to become better Architects of Change”.

Other Participants were Jane Fonda, Barbara Walters and United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Deepak Chopra and New Age Mormon, Steven Covey.

However one of the highlights of the Conference was The Minerva Awards Created and Presented by California’s First Lady Maria Shriver

“Created by Shriver in 2004, the Minerva Awards are named after the Roman Goddess of Wisdom and Justice portrayed on the California State Seal who symbolizes the dual nature of women as warrior and peacemaker. The distinguished Minerva Awards, a program of the California State Alliance, is bestowed annually upon California women whose indisputable humanitarian qualifications demonstrate the enduring power of great acts of service”.

Being asked to speak at Conferences that numbers some very influential people among its attendees could be an amazing opportunity to preach the Gospel. Sadly Rick Warren (Like Charles Colson at the Templeton Awards) sees no reason to do so, preaching instead a watered down message that offends nobody.. And saves nobody. He missed exactly the same opportunity with his column in The Ladies Home Journal (readership estimated at 14.5 million) See Details. HERE and HERE

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Rick Warren and Henry Nouwen

Rick Warren says this about In the Name of Jesus by Henry Nouwen

My wife, Kay, recommends this book: "It's a short book, but it hits at the heart of the minister. It mentions the struggles common to those of us in ministry: the temptation to be relevant, spectacular and powerful. I highlighted almost every word!"

A Quote from In the Name of Jesus

"Through the discipline of contemplative prayer, Christian leaders have to learn to listen to the voice of love ... For Christian leadership to be truly fruitful in the future, a movement from the moral to the mystical is required" (In the Name of Jesus, p. 6,31-32).

Henry Nouwen is a Universalist

"Today I personally believe that while Jesus came to open the door to God's house, all human beings can walk through that door, whether they know about Jesus or not. Today I see it as my call to help every person claim his or her own way to God." (Sabbatical Journey, page 51, 1998 Hardcover Edition

Interestingly the Henry Nouwen web site features different paintings by Vincent Van Gogh at the top of individual pages. A link entitled Why did we use van Gogh as a motif? leads to one short paragraph which says.

“Why Vincent van Gogh? Henri Nouwen was deeply moved and inspired by the life and work of van Gogh. Of van Gogh he said, “That was [van Gogh’s] vocation: to touch people by tenderly expressing his solidarity with the human condition - not motivated by anger but by love.” Nouwen wrote and taught a course at Yale Divinity School in 1977 entitled “The Ministry of Vincent van Gogh”.”

While I do think that some of Van Gogh’s art was quite amazing, I cannot see how a so called spiritual leader can could ever be ‘inspired’ by his life... Van Gogh is almost as famous for his mental instability as for his vivid paintings. At one stage of his life he moved in with a pregnant prostitute called Sien Hoornik and even considered marrying her. He suffered from various types of epilepsy, psychotic attacks, and delusions, once committing himself to an asylum. His mental state deteriorated through much of his life with him once cutting off his own ear and taking it to a brothel, where he asked for a prostitute named Rachel and handed the ear to her, asking her to keep it carefully. At the age of 37, Van Gogh shot himself in the chest and died two days later.

Debate has raged over the years as to the source of Van Gogh's mental illness and its effect on his work. Some of the theories which have been suggested include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, syphilis, poisoning from swallowed paints, and temporal lobe epilepsy. Any of these could have been the culprit and been aggravated by malnutrition, overwork, a fondness for the alcoholic beverage absinthe, and insomnia.

What exactly in this sordid tale is there to find inspiration in? He had a ministry? What ministry. The man was a loon and a possible drunk who killed himself..

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Three Questions
(With apologies to the author of these questions as I do not remember where I got them from having neglected to copy the URL).

Question 1
Is it possible that Rick Warren is totally unaware of the doctrines and activities of these men?

Answer 1 If This is the case then he is naive and completely lacks any form of spiritual discernment. A man who cannot distinguish doctrine from blatant heresy and new age ideas cannot possibly be trusted in any matters relating to spirituality, far much less being a pastor to pastors. There is no excuse for not knowing what are the people you endorse and associate with believe in and stand for.

Question 2
Is Warren being loving, and wants to welcome everyone who names the Name of Christ Jesus?

Answer 2 If so, he is disobedient to God’s commands, and lacks love and compassion for those who have been caught in the traps of these false teachers already, and for those who may be yet caught in the future.

Question 3
Is it possible that Rick Warren simply wants to emulate the ‘success’ of men like Robert Schuller and teach others to do the same.. That he genuinely associates large numbers with success?

Answer 3
If this is the case then Warren has no clear understanding of Biblical concepts of separation or Scriptural Godliness if he is willing to adapt the methods of dangerous deceivers, and call that compromise “success”. There is really no excuse for being a collaborator with the severe apostasy of these latter days. See The Christian and Worldliness
End of article.

I have to ask with all this wealth of information about Rick Warren why are people still following him and the new religion Rick has created?
Why are'nt people making a beeline for the door at Saddleback?

You have to wonder if this ties into the Bible verse that states-
2 Thess 2:10-12

"and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Something for Rick Warren, his followers and imitators to think about for sure.
Peace
Tim