The beliefs of Rick Warren

Thy will be done... (aka, if this sickness be your will- let it be done)...

my take of Rick Warren's book?

well i'll just say, anything will be taken in as far as we let it. that goes with any Christian, any follower of any other religion or belief system. it's just the facts. people will always apply books, ideas to their own lives, and change fittingly, if they want to.

if Rick Warren's books create good fruits in people's lives, praise be to God. if to some people think Rick Warren's books are just motivational speeches, and does no good for them, may God be praised, and we can trust God will reach them as well.

Rick Warren is of no concern to me, except, i hope for humantarian/godly love to the man, i hope him and his family and his church will be blessed.

God Bless you all!

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“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”
― Albert Camus

Rom 14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.

don't worry about rick warren. focus yourself on Christ. go feed some poor people.

AMEN!

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“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”
― Albert Camus

AMEN! I second that... God has a verrrrry soft spot for those that are converting and strengthening Christians. He will set his face against those who are picking others apart and weakening them by gossip, standards, condemnation, etc. I would be verrrry careful not to judge another person (in your heart) first, but especially careful not to magnify another's shortcomings (to one person or a thousand). This allows non-believer's the chance to say, "Look at how Christians act! They dont even like each other!" And it could keep a new Christian from reading or listening to a person who may be beneficial in their Christianity. Plus, it teaches non-Christians and Christians alike to be judgemental and confused about who they could trust. It's separating and not unifying the church... We have to encourage Christians to seek out all material written by Christians and explore it all... not be lead blindly by it, but to question God personally on what God would have them believe. The Holy Spirit will confirm the Truth and help Christians to grow. I heard a preacher say, "Let the Holy Spirit do it's job! The Holy Spirit doesn't need you out here trying to do it's work." I try to be more careful now about what I say or feel in regards to others. Especially when there is a new Christian or non-believer in the room... but even if there isn't, God knows my heart and whether I'm harboring the wrong feelings

I'm sorry, but this is just not scriptural because sickness is not the Father's will, or He wouldn't have had Jesus bear it on the cross.

AMEN!!!

I have nothing against Rick Warren. He is a Protestant and in error. I have experienced his teachings and find them based in deception.

IMHO

His theology is very weird. He still believes we (those who are born-again) are sinners. The word sinner = one who practices sin. If we are born-again...we do not practice sin. That doesn't mean we never sin, BUT we are not ones who practice sin.

He believes God gives us sickness...to teach us something. What a joke! God uses His Word and the Holy Spirit to teach us.

My wife and I went to one of the 40 days studies...it made me ill just to hear such hogwash being taught.

We stopped attending the study and filed his book in the circular file if you know what I mean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Debtfree

First, let me say that I have read a lot of the online criticism of Warren's book before and I am not in agreement with that stuff. Most of it is the usual heresy hunter's false comparisons (psychobabble, new age, etc.), prejudicial theology, and other agendas to that they took with them before they even started to read the book.

On the other hand, I actually went through the 40 day experience and I must say that from my own reading from the book I found good and bad. For me, the bad tfar too much outweighed the good. I actually wrote down some of my disagreements with the book in the journal I had to write in (though I did my best not to read them in the group). Let me give some of them.

Day 2 (Chapter 2)
In some parts of this chapter, I found Rick Warren's theology to be a little too "deterministic." If every detail of our lives have been planned by God then He either skipped over some people or He made some terrible plans for a few others.

I do not deny that God can foreknow many things about His creation, but to say that He planned our lives in the detail that warren describes is counterproductive, considering that some babies get aborted, others are born into abuse, handicaps, and other things. I have trouble relating to Warren's doctrine in this lesson. Finally, some people die early and horrible deaths. Does God plan those?

However, one can still affirm that we are no accident and that God has a purpose for our lives. I have believed this most of my life. However, not everyone fulfills the purpose that God has for them. Therefore, we must be careful not to insinuate that every detail of our lives is planned by God to the extent that Warren claims. For example, the sin that I committed was NOT planned by God (Jer. 19:5). Neither is a person's untimely death (Ps. 91:16).

Day 6 (Chapter 6)
I am not sure that the teaching that earth is only a temporary existence is accurate, yet the author mentions this several times in his book.

First, God does intend to create a new Heaven and a new earth (Rev. 21:1). God Himself plans to dwell on this new earth (Rev. 21:3). It may also be important to note that God will have us return with Jesus during His 1000 year millenial reign on the earth (Rev. 20:4-6). To imply that this life we now experience is it and that Heaven is our eternal abode is somewhat inaccurate.

I also want to point out that the author implies that THIS is the reason that we do not see prayers answered and other things of this nature. However, David assures us that we can believe to see God's goodness always in this life (Ps. 27:13).

Day 7 (Chapter 7)
Warren says that God's glory is the essence of His nature and is His nature and that it is the expression of all other intrinsic eternal qualities. However, the Bible says that Love expresses God's nature (1 John 4:7-9). So I differ with Warren here.

Also, misquotation/misapplication of Rev. 21:23. This is NOT in reference to Heaven. It is in reference to the New Jerusalem that will come on the earth.

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I have more but I am already tired from writing all of the above. I lost interest in it at certain points and only briefly annotated my journal so that I would have something to share in the group. I read more later and began having problems again with Warren's teaching. I never could understand how so many in the study group I was with were so in love with the book.

More later ...

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Let the Scriptures Determine Your Theology, Do Not Read Your Theology into Scripture.