In this final section I’m going to lay out a series of myths and errors by going straight to the quotes by various other authors, as well as a few of my own. Those who accept these myths and errors are deceived. And those who are the proponents of such will one day face the great Judge.
Ecumenicalism
“Dr. Hyman said that he is a Jew, Dr. Amen said he is a Christian, and Dr. Oz said he is a Muslim. And doesn’t that represent the demographic of “most of the population of the world”? But then he said, “we’re all the same underneath.” True to his salesman fashion, Dr. Hyman didn’t define his terms. What in the world does he mean “we’re all the same underneath”? That can mean a number of things. Since he was speaking to a religious crowd, I’d venture to say some of the folks present took that to mean we’re all children of God (Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, etc.), which is patently false according to the Bible. The Bible says there are only two groups, children of wrath and children of God. You’re either one or the other, a believer in Christ Jesus, or a non-believer. We aren’t “all the same underneath.” (See Ephesians 2)(Bold mine)
The only way in which we’re “all the same underneath” is we’re all sinners in need of a Savior; and the Savior isn’t “sustainable living.” [LT Note: Remember, the New Age says the era of the single savior is OVER!] The Savior is Jesus Christ, and He is the only way unto salvation (John 14:6). [7] And to become a child of God, Jesus said, “You must be born again” (John Ch. 3). [8] The tragic thing about this day at Saddleback is, Jesus was never mentioned … and I mean NEVER. There were a few passing references to God; Daniel Amen mentioned that our bodies were “a temple of the Holy Spirit and the brain is the inner sanctum” [Amen means that all humans are the temple of the Holy Spirit], but Jesus never made the cut – ”sustainable lifestyles” and “group living” did.
Following Dr. Hyman’s talk, my best friend arrived to observe the day with me, only to hear Dr. Amen mention in his presentation that he did a brain scan on one of his clients who had a habit of cheating on his wife. The brain scan showed that there were “holes in the pre-frontal cortex of his brain” which controls the impulses. In other words, this man wasn’t sinful, he was “mentally ill.” All he needed was to get on the “Change Your Brain, Change Your Body” program, and his personal struggles with sin were remedied. Once again, Jesus was removed from the equation. My friend and I were dumbfounded when we listened to the Saddleback crowd cheer. My best friend couldn’t contain it any longer and let out a, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” My thoughts exactly!
Dr. Hyman recommended Yoga and meditation to the crowd. Dr. Amen gave a diplomatic denunciation of Yoga (which is contradictory since he has recommended it himself), but about 5 sentences later mentioned a study done by a friend of his named Andy Newberg who did brain scans on Tibetan nuns and Franciscan priests while in “prayer and contemplation” and the study showed that “spiritual connection” is healthy. Dr. Amen has been an advocate of “Sa Ta Na Ma” meditation. [9]
(A Visit to Rick Warren’s Health Seminar – The Unfolding of a Global New Age Plan
by Jennifer Pekich
Re-posted from Ponderings From Patmos 1/22/2011)
“I happen to know people who are Followers of Christ in other Religions” (David Gergen & Rick Warren: Discussion- Religion & Leadership 7/6/05)
Pragmatism
“There are two distinct features present in Warren’s philosophy. First, he relies on pragmatism and weak doctrine. Second, he misuses scripture to such a degree that I question whether he had a single course in Biblical hermeneutics.”
An Examination of Rick Warren’s Teaching on “Exponential Growth.”
BY BRIAN JONSON
The PEACE plan and The Daniel Plan
“As part of the P.E.A.C.E. plan, his top missions pastor was photographed teaching that Muslims don’t have to convert to Christianity to be saved.
- Created The Daniel Plan: God’s Prescription for Your Health to get the folks at Saddleback Church healthy. To create his alleged biblical plan, he elicited the aid of unbelievers — Dr. Mehmet Oz., a Sufi Muslim, Dr. Mark Hyman, a secular Jew and New Ager, and Dr. Daniel Amen, a professing Christian who dabbles in Eastern mysticism.” (Berean Research.org 2022)
Warren first promoted spiritual formation in The Purpose Driven Church. In it he wrote
“From time-to-time God has raised up a parachurch movement to reemphasize a neglected purpose of the church … [one such movement is the] Spiritual Formation/Discipleship Movement. A reemphasis on developing believers to full maturity has been the focus … authors such as … Richard Foster and Dallas Willard have underscored the importance of building up Christians and establishing personal spiritual disciplines… [this] movement has a valid message for the church … [it] has given the body a wake-up call.”
According to the Bible we are united to God only through repentance and faith in Christ. God comes to dwell within us when we are born again, such that our body is described in an extraordinary way as the “temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19). ‘Union with God’ does not come about by practicing contemplative prayer. This practice only leads to union with demonic spirits.1 John 3:24 declares: “And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.” The Spirit of God unites Himself with our spirit the moment that we are born again.
Foster’s ultimate agenda is to unite all ‘faiths’ in the common practice of this form of mysticism. He writes: “[Jesus] showed us God’s yearning for the gathering of an all-inclusive community of loving persons.” (p5) (newcreationcourse.com) (Bold, mine)
Easy Beliefism
“In the video that accompanies the “40 Days of Purpose,” Warren leads his listeners in prayer at the conclusion of the first session. The prayer is as follows:
§ “Dear God, I want to know your purpose for my life. I don’t want to base the rest of my life on wrong things. I want to take the first step in preparing for eternity by getting to know you. Jesus Christ, I don’t understand how but as much as I know how I want to open up my life to you. Make yourself real to me. And use this series in my life to help me know what you made me for.” Warren goes on to say: “Now if you’ve just prayed that prayer for the very first time I want to congratulate you. You’ve just become a part of the family of God.”
(Who is Rick Warren: A Lie Mixed with Truth is More Dangerous Than the Lie Itself, Written by: Richard Haas)
How can the “sinner’s prayer” not contain the asking God for forgiveness one’s sins, repenting for them, and accepting Christ as one’s Lord and Savior?
“37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Acts 2:37-38 NIV. What Rick’s preaching is not the Gospel! It would appear that if they committed to anything it was the purpose driven series. News Flash: You can find your purpose and still lose your soul! You can take a ton of church classes and even be heavily involved in church ministries and not be any more saved than a drug addict or the prostitute in the street! Simply put, easy beliefism isn’t going to cut it.
Marketing 101
“In a closing prayer at one of his Seeker-Sensitive growth seminars, Warren declared, “Thank God there is a movement, a stealth movement that is flying beneath the radar that is changing literally hundreds, even thousands of churches around the World.” One has to ask the question, “Why does it have to fly underneath the radar of the church?” Could the answer be that if the Church recognized it for what it really is, the Church would reject it?
Schuller himself admits that he is the founder of the Seeker-Sensitive Movement. He says, “I advocated and launched what has become known as the marketing approach to Christianity.” No one will dispute his statement knowing that Hybel and Warren both are graduates of Schuller’s Church Growth Institute and utilizes his teachings. It is easy to see that the foundation of the Church Growth Movement is not the Bible. It comes from New Age teacher Robert Schuller.”
(NEW AGE CONNECTIONS OF THE PURPOSE DRIVEN CHURCH, Francis Swaggart, January 2005)
A Different Gospel
“Dave: And we would not consider it an attack. We would consider it a grace from God, if you will correct us from the Word of God and show us where we are leading people astray.
Now, Rick Warren should be held to the same standard, and particularly, in view of the fact that in his book The Purpose Driven Life, at the end of it, he says he quotes the Bible nearly a thousand times.
Now, we’ve mentioned it in the past. It’s not exactly the Bible that he quotes. He’s quoting some…I’m sorry to say…perversions of the Bible, which many Christians don’t seem to recognize, because they don’t know the Bible…and they are very popular. I was just speaking at a church…a very sound church…I thought. I had never been there before, and I was really pleased to see what they were teaching and the attitude of the people seemed to be very biblical. And yet…judging by their bookstore…I was told that many of them…of the people in that congregation…in spite of the good teaching…love The Message. And that is in spite of the fact that the bookstore will not stock it. Now, The Message is by Eugene Peterson.”
DOES THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE PRESENT THE GOSPEL? December 5, 2004, The Berean Call. (bold mine)
“Page 25 seems to summarize the thesis of the book. It says, “We discover that meaning and purpose only when we make God the reference point of our lives.” This seems to say that if the reader finds God he will also find himself and his purpose. This is not the gospel!
Warren’s gospel seems to be one of purpose. He teaches that man’s greatest problem is purposelessness and this book will remedy that situation by helping the reader discover his purpose. Needless to say, this is not the gospel as taught by the Bible. The Bible teaches that man’s greatest problem is that he is a sinner and is alienated from God. Purposelessness is insignificant compared to the possibility of an eternity in hell.
The author seems to fall into a trap where he sees teachings about purpose in parts of the Bible that simply are not about purpose. For example, on page 30 he talks about the hopelessness of a life lived without purpose. In discussing this under the heading of “the benefits of purpose-driven living” he quotes the book of Job where Job says, “My life drags by – day after hopeless day.” Of course, familiarity with the book of Job will show that to say Job was bemoaning lack of purpose is ridiculous. A man who has had everything he owned and everyone he loved taken from him and is covered in sores is not likely to be upset by a lack of purpose in his life. In the same chapter the author quotes Genesis 4:12 which says of Cain “You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” Again, this is made to sound like it has something to do with purpose. And again, this is a ridiculous assertion.
This book does contain some valuable teachings. Unfortunately, it also contains a large amount of false teachings. Most alarming is the author’s blatant disregard for the proper use of Scripture. He continually uses Bible passages out of context and assigns them false meanings.” (www.challies.com/book-reviews/book-review-rick-warrens-the-purpose-driven-life/, January 12th, 2004)
“During Warren’s original first session of the 40 Days of Purpose® tape you are introduced to two main concepts: 1) That a person is an eternal soul and 2) That life should have purpose before God. Then, Warren states, “what you do with your life on earth will determine where you spend eternity.” At the close, Warren leads in a prayer for those who have not yet “opened their life” to Christ. But what does it mean to open your life to Jesus Christ when you have not considered the sin issue? There was no mention of the cross, sin, Jesus blood shed for remission, death of Christ, resurrection of Christ – nothing! This was certainly no “sinner’s prayer”.
I believe a careful reading of the book which accompanies the video session will clearly show it is centered in humanistic philosophy rather than the cross, similar to the self-esteem gospel. Go to your local public library sometime and read the chapter on the Fatherhood of God in Self-Esteem: The New Reformation by Robert Schuller. (Or you can read Review: Self-Esteem: The New Reformation) If you are truly Christian make sure you are seated. Notice how he twists the real meaning of Scriptural words/concepts and yet continues to use those very same Biblical words.”
(https://www.4truthministry.org/40-days-that-start-with-a-different-gospel/) (Bold, mine)
All truth is God’s truth/Seeker friendly/I’ve become all things to all men.
“A quote from John Moffat’s book All Truth God’s Truth? seems to be particularly fitting for the Saddleback strategy of designing the church’s service after the contemporary worldly context:
I can imagine Nadab and Abihu talking before the early worship service in the wilderness. One says to the other, “All fire is God’s fire. God made all fire; therefore it is all of Him.” Or while Moses was up on Mount Sinai, the children of Israel could have said to Aaron, “All worship of god is God’s worship.” These analogies have the same deceptive sound of being logical at first glance, but they are full of the same ambiguity and deceit as the expression “all truth is God’s truth.”
God does indeed care about one’s “style” in worship and methodology. Our worship is to be patterned after the likeness of Christ Himself and in accordance with the principles set forth in the eternal, unalterable Word of Truth.
First Chronicles 16:29 says, “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” Is “holiness” subjective to the individual? Absolutely not — only God is holy; therefore, the characteristics of holiness are found in the Lord, not man. Many examples and direct statements in God’s Word guide the believer in his worship and in his witness away from the course of this present evil age. The qualifications of holiness are invariably different from the world; thus, holy worship includes both reverence and separation from a worldly style.
The Saddleback seminar said that only positive Bible texts should be used from the pulpit, but God’s Word says something quite different. The apostle Paul had very straightforward directives for the elders of the Ephesian church regarding their ministry, and the same is essential today. Acts 20:20-31.
The following comments by Rick Warren reveal Saddleback’s “Biblical” justification for making the church “user friendly” to the unsaved:
Now Paul’s evangelism strategy was this: 1 Corinthians 9 — “To the Jew I became like a Jew to win the Jews. In the same way with the Gentiles, I became like a Gentile in order to win the Gentiles. I have become all things to all men that I may save some of them by any means possible.” He’s saying, “Adapt to the situation God puts you in.” Today, he’d say, “When in Southern California, become like a Southern Californian to reach Southern Californians.”
Let us take a closer look at this portion of Scripture found in 1 Corinthians 9. First, the apostle is not defining in this text the purpose and character of the worship service of the local church. Instead, this discourse is the personal testimony of Paul, the evangelistically-minded missionary, as he took the message of Christ to the lost in their respective communities, cultures and circumstances. Second, the “assembling together of the saints” on the first day of the week, Sunday, was for the purpose of being built up in the faith, of giving attendance to the “reading [of the Scriptures], to exhortation [the charge to continue in God’s truth], to doctrine [the teaching of ‘all the counsel of God’]” — 1 Timothy 4:13.
The overwhelming volume of instruction in the epistles was given to the elders of the churches and to ones such as Timothy and Titus who were to “set in order the things which are wanting” (Titus 1:5). This apostolic instruction had to do with what the Christian was to believe and how he was to “behave [himself] in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). For Warren to suggest that the church’s purpose is to provide common ground for the “seeker” and present him only positive Biblical texts that speak to his emotional, psychological, and inter-personal “needs” is absolutely ludicrous! The pastor is to preach the Word – all of It – or it ceases to be “the pillar and ground of the truth”!”
No, Paul did not become like the unsaved with respect to their lifestyle nor address their desires to meet their perceived “needs” of the flesh! He was still ministering “under the law to Christ” (v. 21) and kept his body under the control of the Holy Spirit of God (vv. 24-27). The difference was that he was willing to be “a servant,” to do what he could to gain a hearing. No one was beneath any social or educational constraints. No one was off limits due to their ethnic or cultural differences. To the philosophers on Mars hill, Paul used their idolatry and superstitions as a springboard to tell them of the “unknown God” that they ignorantly worshipped; he preached to them Christ crucified and risen again (Acts 17:22-34). The Gospel testimony in the pagan city of Ephesus did not result in the church being patterned after the predominate culture of the community — the temple of Diana. No, the proclamation of Christ ruined the business of the ungodly, and changed lives resulted in a changed culture, not a changed church (Acts 19:21 ff). Another example of this willingness to subjugate personal liberty to win the lost is found in the advice given by the apostles at Jerusalem in Acts 15. Even the Gentile converts living among unsaved Jews were to be “under the law” in the sense that they would not eat that which would be offensive to the Jews they were trying to reach with the Gospel (Acts 15:25-29). “Style” of ministry is not the issue here.”
(Church Growth Movement: An Analysis of Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Growth Strategy November 10, 2004, Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061) (bold mine)
The Disney Land Church Philosophy
“So, it sounds like there was the belief that we can’t assume people are going to know the “script” of church, is that correct?
Gerardo Martí: Absolutely, because the whole point is actually not to use a church script at all. The idea is to take the kinds of experiences that people already have in urban society—the grocery stores, the amusement parks, shopping malls, theater experiences—to remove all semblance of being a church and to just be this place that you gather.”
Rick Warren Mastered the Formula for Suburban Church Growth. Why the “Purpose Driven” pastor connected with Southern Californians. June 11, 2021.
Exclusivism
According to Rick Warren if you don’t fall in line with his vision for the church, you can go find fellowship somewhere else. By “church” I mean Saddleback church. Moreover, he states in his book, The Purpose Driven Church, that the pastor shouldn’t worry themselves about the people that leave the church. He goes on to point out there’s a difference between the crowd and the church members. If you’re going to become a church member, you’ll need to sign a contract. So much for Jesus leaving the 99 to find the lost sheep! Funny I can’t find any examples of this in the Bible. You would have thought that maybe the Apostle Paul may have brought it up at least once. Here’s a news flash Rick, it’s not your church, it’s His. Who are you to put stipulations on it? If you know anything about cults, you’ll see the dangers of this kind of exclusivity. Does the name, Jim Jones, ring a bell?
Conclusion
Those who lead people into error with these myths and doctrinal errors, will be judged accordingly.
“I charge you [a]therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead [b]at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and teaching.” II Tim 4:1 NKJV
Suggested Reading
“A Time of Departing”, by Ray Yungen
“Deceived On Purpose”, by Warren Smith