Fox News has been running Rick Warren’s Christmas message and his P.E.A.C.E. Plan. As Joseph Farah takes on Warren for his comments in Syria, Paul Proctor takes Warren on for being a humanist. Here is the introduction:
I suppose I should rename this column "The Warren Report," since so much of my writing time these days seems to be spent rebuking much of the spiritual whiskey he pours his patrons in the name of Christ, rendering them drunk, delusional and unable to distinguish right from wrong, good from evil and sacred from sacrilegious.
Like alcoholics, the more his regulars drink, the thirstier they get; the thirstier they get, the more they drink, until they all begin sounding brilliant to each other and yet silly to the sober souls around them that fear God. Oblivious to His Word and the consequences of their carelessness, most end up laughing, crying, hugging and high-fiving each other while bragging about all of the great things they’re going to do for God, which frankly turns my stomach.
There are, of course many parachurch organizations and movements that have evolved over the years, some new and some not so new, from the Alpha Course, to the Promise Keepers to the Willow Creekers to the Purpose Driven to the Mosaics to the Emerging Church; each with their own set of false prophets and demonic doctrines steadily steering their respective groups into the coming one world religion of tolerance, diversity and unity, having forsaken the Word of God for the seductive will of men in an ancient occult effort to undo the confusion and separation the Lord inflicted upon the world under the rule of Nimrod. Though they are many and varied, they are all related in some way or another and are empowered by the same spirit that the Bible says will emerge in the latter days to make war with God.
There are numerous books, web sites and writers today that address these men and their movements; but for now I will continue to focus on the one that is currently deceiving the greatest number from among my own denomination, Southern Baptist.
On his church’s 25th anniversary, Rick Warren launched what he calls his Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan to "eradicate five giant problems that oppress billions of people" around the world with "five smooth stones of (P) - Planting Churches, (E) - Equipping Leaders, (A) - Assisting the Poor, (G) - Caring for the Sick and (E) - Educating the Next Generation."
Here is what Proctor finds fault with Warren:
In typical Saddleback style, Warren twists the biblical account of David and Goliath ("five giants and five smooth stones") into a useful tool of deceit that stirs emotions while teaching the exact opposite of what the Lord intended us to learn; proclaiming that the answer to the world’s "giants" is a "church network," even though it was a "network" of faithless Israelites who cowed before the great warrior Goliath.
Rather than empowering King Saul and his trembling "network" to bring down the giant, the Lord raised up one small shepherd boy named David, who couldn’t even wear the armor of the king and took no sword with him but only five rocks and something to throw them with as accessories to his fearless faith. The lesson here is, of course, when you go into battle for a righteous cause, it doesn’t matter what weapons you carry or how many of you there are or how trained you are; the only thing that really matters is your faith in God. He and He alone will deliver you in time of need.
So, what is Warren teaching his followers by invoking selective parts of the David and Goliath story to sell his Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan? Here are a few revealing quotes Berit Kjos found in some of Warren’s 40 Days materials that she included in a recent article of hers entitled: Creating Community (Part 2). They will illustrate quite clearly how he uses socialist slogans to teach Laodocian lies.
Warren: "We is more powerful than me."
Warren: "There is power in partnership.... Evangelism is always a team effort."
Warren: "There's no such thing as a lone ranger Christian.... We're better together and we belong together."
Warren: "The Bible says we're better together. We were created for community."
He's Teaching that bigger is better, more is mightier and you can’t win by going it alone using, of all things, the story of a small shepherd boy who single-handedly whipped the Philistines while the Israelites watched in amazement from a nearby hill.
If it hasn’t dawned on you yet, he’s using the Bible to teach humanism or, to put it another way; he’s using truth to frame lies.
Proctor then goes beyond just accusations of humanism:
So, if you bring good news, train leaders, help the poor, care for the sick and teach children, you are fulfilling the Great Commission? Isn’t that what the U.S. is doing right now overseas, bringing good news, training leaders, helping the poor, caring for the sick and teaching children? Isn’t this also what the United Nations and many of its non-governmental organizations say they’re all about? Isn’t it what liberals, socialists, communists, Marxists, Fascists and every other corrupt leader, regime and revolution throughout history claim they were all about, as well? I’ll bet even Fidel Castro believes he accomplished all these things and more down in Cuba when he took over.
If that’s the case, then what’s the difference between the church and the world? Could it be that something else is being taught amid all the pomp and circumstance of Warren’s grand coming out party? Could it be he is suggesting, ever so subtly, that when it comes right down to it, there really isn’t much difference between the church and the world; that his Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan is just another upgraded form of humanism and socialism, better packaged, better managed and better marketed with better people and better technology all wrapped up in Christmas paper to be presented as his glorious gift to the world?
Of course the Bible does warn us about false prophets. And I did point to other suspects in my Christmas Eve post.
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