The beliefs of Rick Warren

Is Rick Warren a charismatic? Does he pray in tongues? Does he believe that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a seperate event to salvation? Does he believe in faith confession and the will of God for Christians to live a prosperous life - including finances? Does he believe we receive from God, what belongs to us, by faith?

These might help...
http://www.pastors.com/pcom/specials/rickbio.asp
http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/rickwarren.aspx

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Jesus lived a life that was full of passion, compassion, love, grace, and danger... He lived on the edge, in order to love the unloved, save the unsaved, speak up for the down trodden, and heal the broken.

Lets follow the heart beat of God the way that Jesus did.

Rick Warren

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Rick Warren (born 1954) is an American Evangelical Christian pastor and author. He is best known as the author of The Purpose Driven Life, which topped the New York Times Bestseller list for nonfiction for over 141 weeks .1 The book also played a role in a Georgia hostage crisis in March 2005, when Ashley Smith read to captor Brian Nichols passages from the book shortly before her release; news of the book's role in the crisis immediately increased sales of the book even more. The book presents what Warren believes to be the five biblical principles for a fulfilled life: worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and evangelism.

Warren is also the pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest in southern Orange County, California. Saddleback is an Evangelical Christian church which averages 30,000 in attendance at weekend services as of 2005.2 He also leads the "Purpose Driven Church" seminars, which are focused on teaching other church leaders to integrate the five purposes into their local church structures.

Born in San Jose, California, Warren holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from California Baptist College in Riverside, California, a Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, as well as a Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He also holds several honorary doctorates.3 A fourth generation pastor, his father's dying wish was to have "one more for Jesus" brought into God's kingdom.4 According to Warren, this moment at his father's deathbed moved him to have this ". . .be the theme of the rest of my life."5

Warren and his wife Kay began Saddleback Church in 1980 with one family in his apartment.6 His goal was to build a significantly large church, and then afterwards share his knowledge in doing so with other church leaders that would replicate across nations and cultures. He has been called by one journalist "the most influentual evangelist you've never heard of."7 Christianity Today magazine named him as "America's most influential pastor" in 2002. He is often in a Hawaiian-style shirt, with deck shoes wearing no socks, even when giving messages in his laid-back, informal style church. Warren attributes the world renowned Dr. Robert H. Schuller of the Crystal Cathedral with a great tribute, Warren says Schuller and his Church Leadership Institute helped him broaden his vision and be strengthed to move forward in his work.

He claims to be inclusive beyond his conservative Southern Baptist Convention lines in like manner as conservative evangelist Billy Graham (for example, Saddleback does not have the word "Baptist" in its church name, and the ties between the church and the SBC are not actively promoted) and admits pastors and leaders from all denominations to his training programs, chalking up what he terms "non-essentials" of the Christian faith as elements that can cause, from his point of view, needless division. His claim is that he sticks to the "essentials" of the faith and focuses on "loving people into the Kingdom" of God in an attractive way without compromising his faith's essential tenets.8

Unlike other well-known Christian and religious leaders, Warren does not have his own television or radio program because he believes the spotlight changes people to be more egocentric. He avoids both denominational and governmental politics, and lives in a home and drives a truck similar to others in his community would, which did not change when he became well known as an author. In addition, due to the success of the Purpose Driven materials, Warren repaid 25 years of salary back to Saddleback Church and "reverse tithes" living off 10 percent of his income and giving the other 90 percent away. In 2004, Warren and his wife Kay gave away $13 million.9

U.S. News and World Report named Warren one of America's Top 25 Leaders in the October 31, 2005 issue of the magazine.10

Warren and his wife Kay live in the Trabuco Canyon area of southern Orange County, California with their three children and a dog.11

These are my answers based on what I've read about Rick Warren.

Is Rick Warren a charismatic? No!

Does he pray in tongues? No!

Does he believe that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a separate event to salvation? No, he is Baptist.

Does he believe in faith confession and the will of God for Christians to live a prosperous life - including finances? No

Does he believe we receive from God, what belongs to us, by faith? I don't understand your question.

This is another cut and paste.



The full article is found at:



http://www.challies.com/archives/000607.php



Abuse of Scripture

One of the most common complaints against Rick Warren is that he uses a plethora of Bible translations, often 10 or 15 in a single message or chapter of a book. I will address this issue first.

Though some King James-only proponents may disagree, it is my conviction that there is not a perfect translation of the Bible in the English language. The original autographs, as given to the writers of the Bible by the Holy Spirit are inspired – of that I have no doubt. But once we translate the original languages, we no longer have the perfect, inspired Word of God. We have a translation of it and hopefully a very accurate, excellently-researched translation, but we do not have a translation that has the infallibility and inspiration of the original. Because of this there may be times where on translation renders a passage more clearly or more accurately than another. In times like this it may be preferable or even necessary to provide a passage in a different translation and there is nothing wrong with doing this. If Rick Warren were to use differing translations for this reason, I would applaud his diligence in attempting to draw the most accurate meaning from the Scriptures. To examine this issue we will turn to one of Rick Warren’s books.

Rick Warren quotes the Bible over 1,200 times in the text of The Purpose Driven Life. To do so, he uses fifteen different translations and paraphrases. Appendix 3 contains his rationale for this and he provides two reasons for the number of translations. The first is that in any single translation “nuances and shades of meaning can be missed, so it is always helpful to compare translations.”

The second is “the fact that we often miss the full impact of familiar Bible verses, not because of poor translating, but simply because they have become so familiar.” (author’s emphases) He believes this will “help you see God’s truth in new, fresh ways.” (author’s emphasis)

The author’s logic is faulty as the two reasons he provides contradict each other. If a translation introduces something in a new and fresh way it will necessarily introduce new nuances and shades of meaning. The way to remove nuances and shades of meaning is to use as literal a translation as possible so that the words are God’s alone and are not interpreted by the translator. The author can then exposit the text, clarifying what might require clarification. This is nothing more than the traditional means of teaching what the Bible says.

As for verses losing their full impact, this may happen to some Christians, but rather than use poor Scripture translations, the author should help the reader focus on the fact that as a Christian he should love the Bible. As with David, God’s Law is to be our delight day and night and not something we grow tired of.

While Warren may attempt justify his use of many translations, it is clear that he does so to read meanings into the Words of God. There are multitudes of passages in his books and messages where he uses a translation or paraphrase that provides a meaning absolutely foreign to the text. To prove this we will turn again to The Purpose Driven Life. 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.” Warren would have us believe that Job is bemoaning a life lived without purpose, but this is clearly not what God intends as the meaning of this passage. 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.

The Bible can only be understood with its context. There are historical contexts to the Bible that we cannot ignore if we are to truly understand it. For example, a passage written during the life of King David has an entirely different historical context than a passage written by the apostle Paul. If we try to understand Paul in the context of David, we will misread his teachings.

Similarly, each passage has an immediate context that we cannot ignore. Rarely can a verse be understood outside of the context of the verses and even chapters surrounding it. Warren continually ignores context, claiming promises the Scriptures do not support and ignoring parts of the passage that contradict what he would like it to say. A clear example of a promise that is not ours to claim (quoted in PDL, Day 10) is found in Jeremiah 29:11 which reads “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” While God does have plans for our life and does desire to give his children a future and a hope, this promise is not intended for all people. It was given to the Israelites within a specific context. Within the context of the book we find a parallel passage in Jeremiah 44:27 which reads “I will watch over them for adversity and not for good...[they] shall be consumed by the sword and famine.” I find it unlikely that Warren would teach that this passage likewise applies to all believers.

An example of quoting only a partial verse is in Warren’s use of Isaiah 44:2. This is used in the heading of the second chapter of The Purpose Driven Life and is rendered “I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born.” The author chooses to quote only the first part of the verse. The second part, we see, goes directly against what he wants to say. It reads “Do not fear, O Jacob My servant; And you Jeshurun whom I have chosen.” When viewed in the proper context we see that this verse applies only to a specific group – the Israelites.

I have dwelled on this point, I admit, but I believe it is crucial. As believers we are to be true to the original words of Scripture and not impose our desired meanings into the text. It is clear that Rick Warren continually crosses this line and does so through all areas of his ministry. The Bible is not ours to manipulate as we please. We need to treat it with the utmost respect, acknowledging that it belongs to God and is given to use to guide us in our worship of Him. Within the Word He provides wisdom on how we are to use and interpret the Word and we must be careful to follow His rules about His book. I believe we cannot overemphasize this point and it is the most important of all. Warren’s flippant use of Scripture is inexcusable and as one trained as a pastor he surely knows better. His disrespect for the Bible is a serious issue and one we simply cannot ignore or excuse.

This is another cut and paste.



The full article is found at:

http://www.challies.com/archives/000607.php



Pragmatism

Purpose Driven principles are inherently pragmatic. Pragmatism is the belief that consequences are the criteria of truth and usefulness. Therefore, if something works, it is good. Perhaps we see this clearest in Warren’s statement that we should never criticize any method that God is blessing. This presupposes two things: first, that God only blesses things that are done exactly as He desires, and second that God’s blessing is an accurate indicator of approval. It also implies that the things that do not work should be jettisoned in favor of those that do work. Clearly this is a philosophy that brings great success in the business world, but it is one that is foreign to the Scripture.

God does not always provide the results we would like to see. There are missionaries that have spent many years laboring in the mission field and have seen very few hearts and lives changed. Does this necessarily mean that their technique is flawed? Does it necessarily mean that they are not doing God’s will? By no means! God sometimes chooses to provide results and other times He does not. Even Jesus experienced varied results when He ministered. In some towns the people listened and trusted in Him while other towns rejected Him. Again, this does not mean that Jesus’ technique was flawed or that He was being disobedient. More than anything God desires and expects obedience of His children. Pragmatism has no answer to the question of how we determine obedience for obedience can only be determined through Scripture.

On the other hand we see many programs and philosophies in churches that seem to bring great success, so can we assume that these are bringing glory to God and meet with His approval? By no means! We are to hold everything to the unchanging standard of the Word of God. Only when it meets with the approval of the Scriptures can we have confidence that this is bringing honor to the Creator.

The obvious danger of pragmatism in the church is that we lose our focus on the absolute standard God has given us in His word. When we lose that focus the church is on the slippery slope to becoming like the world. When we discard of God’s standards we must depend on our own deeply flawed standards. We begin to trust in ourselves and lose our trust in God.

Pride

Rick Warren believes that God Himself provided the Purpose Driven principles. Because of this he feels a tremendous responsibility to take those principles to all churches and in doing this he has met with incredible success. As was mentioned earlier, tens of thousands of churches spanning nearly every denomination and millions of believers (and even millions of unbelievers) have been impacted by his ministry and have some familiarity with his teachings. Purpose Driven principles are presented as being synonymous with Biblical teachings on how a church should be run. Therefore, churches that do not participate are regarded as somewhat less than Biblical. Warren’s Web site has a tool people can use to find a church in their area that has been modeled on Purpose Driven principles. As far as I can determine these churches are not examined by Warren in any way except to determine that they have participated in his programs.

I believe 40 Days of Purpose and 40 Days of Community are unique in the long history of the church. I cannot think of any other programs that asked a church to turn itself over completely to another pastor for the duration of a program. Warren believes the Purpose Driven principles are so important and so unique, that he asks pastors to hand them his church – programs, messages, worship and even private devotions - for 40 days. At the end of that time he indicates that the principles God has revealed to him will have transformed your church. It will be bigger (growth in numbers), be bringing in more money (growth in giving) and stronger (growth in small groups). He asks members of these churches to listen to his messages, his interpretation of Scripture, sing the songs he has chosen and study the topics he has outlined. Warren casts his vision for your church and then attempts to deliver that vision to you. The program is designed to infiltrate every important area of the church and remove those areas that are not deemed important. It is all-encompassing. Warren must believe he has such an exclusive grip on truth that he is the only one who can share this truth with churches. He does not merely share principles with pastors and ask them to take these to their congregations. No, he does the teaching himself, requiring nearly every aspect of the Christian walk be directed by him for a full 40 days. His pride is overwhelming.

Conclusion It is my belief that Rick Warren and his Purpose Driven principles are doing harm to the church. This is not to say that any church that participates in them will be ruined or become apostate. However, I do believe that these principles represent an unbiblical model and one that is destined to weaken churches. Warren is more than a pastor and a teacher – he is a role model who is mimicked by hundreds of thousands of other pastors and teachers who seek to duplicate his success. What Warren teaches soon finds its way into evangelical churches across the world. We saw an example of this recently. When he encouraged pastors to dedicate resources to sending their congregations and communities to see The Passion of the Christ, thousands of churches immediately began to take action. I have little reason to doubt that we will see many more examples of this.

One of my largest issues with The Purpose Driven Life Theology is that I don't believe that Jesus drives His sheep, but rather leads His sheep.

I once attended a, supposedly, charismatic church, led by a Rhema graduate who had written out a 4 inch think vision based on Rick warrens book, The Purpose Driven Life. Attending this Church turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes and most unedifying experiences of my life.

This, supposed pastor, held up two books in front of his congregation, stating, "This church will be based on these two books." Neither book was the Bible, but one of the books was The Purpose Driven Church.

This, supposed pastor, discouraged people from bringing their Bibles to Church on Sunday morning because he stated that it might offend some of the new seekers.

This, supposed pastor, was of the seeker friendly persuasion.

This, supposed pastor, pandered to women.

This, supposed pastor, kicked more people out of his church than all the people that I have seen kicked out of all the other churches I'd ever attended.

This, supposed pastor, encouraged divorce rather than reconciliation.

This, supposed pastor, emotionally and physically bullied parishioners who weren't in total agreement with him.

This, supposed pastor, called me, screaming and yelling, because I'd decided to stop attending his church.

This, supposed pastor, basically told me, "I need to bond with them so they will do what I want them to do."

This, supposed pastor, was always talking about provoking people to do what he wanted them to do. The only thing he almost provoked me to do was to lay hands on him suddenly.

Regarding Rick Warren, I believe him to be in grievous error. I think that he has a lot of Christians from all persuasions because of his mega church status. I don't think that anyone would pay any attention to him if it weren't for the large size of his congregation.

The size of a following is not a good reason to jump into a movement. There are a lot of Mormons too, and they are all in error.

Pastors should look at the anointing of God to draw people to their Churches instead of copying another's vision and theology in hopes of getting the same results. I also think that pastors are way too hung up on numbers. the congregations of most larger churches I've attended are not Pastored. The Pastors of these larger churches, for the most part, don't like the smell of the sheep on them. Jesus loves the smell of His sheep.

Thankyou for these responses Prosperity.

What I was asking was that does Rick Warren believe that we receive from God by faith, or is he one of those who say that if its God's will he will give it to us?

Also, do you have any evidence to support your statements that he doesn't believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a seperate event to salvation, and that he doesn't believe it is the will of God for us to live a prosperous life?

What I was asking was that does Rick Warren believe that we receive from God by faith, or is he one of those who say that if its God's will he will give it to us?

I don't know!

Also, do you have any evidence to support your statements that he doesn't believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a separate event to salvation, and that he doesn't believe it is the will of God for us to live a prosperous life?

He is a Baptist. Baptists beliee that you believe the Holy Ghost when you are save.

Thanks Prosperity!