Purpose Driven or Scripture Driven? - Way of Life Literature
Purpose Driven or Scripture Driven? - Way of Life Literature Purpose Driven or Scripture Driven? - Way of Life Literature
Roger Oakland rightly observes:“While Warren believes that a conversation with Jesusinspired his plan to establish the kingdom of God onearth, it would be important to check out the words ofJesus written in the Bible. Ironically, Jesus said much theopposite of what Warren is proposing. ... Jesus sent Hisdisciples out with a Gospel of repentance in proclaiming,‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand’ (Matthew 10:7). ...Jesus did not say they were to look for a ‘man of peace’in every town. Rather, He said, ‘whatsoever city or townye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and thereabide till ye go thence’ (Matthew 10:11). Now Jesus didtell His disciples to use the greeting, ‘Peace be to thishouse’ whenever entering a house, and if a ‘son ofpeace’ is there, to remain in that house (Luke 10:5-7).However, it is important to realize that the criterion forstaying in a house was not the greeting of peace itself butwhether those in that house received the message. ‘Andwhosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words,when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off thedust of your feet’ (Matthew 10:14). ... Let me speak veryboldly here: if we are going to link hands with those whobelieve in another gospel or no gospel at all for the sakeof establishing an earthly, unified kingdom, we will notbe building the kingdom of God” (Faith Undone, pp.150, 151).58
Warren Tells Pastors to Get Rid ofTroublemakersIn the November 14, 2007, issue of Ministry Toolbox, RickWarren told pastors to get rid of troublemakers.Warren begins with the erroneous statement that the Bible“talks more about unity of the church than it does abouteither Heaven or Hell.” In fact, the Bible speaks more aboutHeaven and Hell than about unity and it speaks far moreabout the importance of sound doctrine and practice andseparation from error than it does about unity.Warren makes no distinction between trouble that comesbecause of heresy and self-will and trouble that comesbecause of the truth. God’s people are nowhere instructed toblindly follow pastors. They have an obligation before Godto “prove all things” (1 Thess. 5:21).In a fashion that is one of his fearful trademarks, Warrenlifts Scripture out of context to prove his point.First, he uses 2 Timothy 2:23-26, which only deals withhow to handle “foolish and unlearned questions” asked bythose who are in the snare of the devil. It has nothing to dowith legitimate biblical questions asked by sincere Christianswho care about God’s Word.Next, he uses 2 Timothy 2:14, which is a warning aboutstriving about “words to no profit, but to the subverting ofthe hearers.” Again, this is a warning about how to deal withfalse teaching, and it has nothing whatsoever to do withsincere biblical challenges.Warren also uses Titus 2:15, which is an exhortation topreachers to be bold in proclaiming the truth but which says59
- Page 8 and 9: faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ
- Page 10 and 11: which he or she is highly gifted an
- Page 12 and 13: “The Bible says, ‘Self-help is
- Page 14 and 15: On page 70, Warren quotes Hebrews 1
- Page 16: lyrics. It is the words that make a
- Page 21: appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ
- Page 25: Saddleback Church features nine dif
- Page 30 and 31: the book of Acts and the Epistles I
- Page 32 and 33: Paul’s gospel is clear. It says t
- Page 34: Warren’s Anti-fundamentalist Tira
- Page 38 and 39: atheism and calling it “one of th
- Page 40 and 41: smoke screen. It is a straw man. I
- Page 42 and 43: instructed to follow in the book of
- Page 44 and 45: orderline as possible” (Henderson
- Page 46 and 47: "ATMOSPHERES ARE GOING TO COMETHROU
- Page 48 and 49: to believe it myself; and that’s
- Page 50 and 51: wicked than same-sex relations? Whe
- Page 52 and 53: how sick and blasphemous this thing
- Page 54 and 55: Warren’s P.E.A.C.E. PlanSpeaking
- Page 56 and 57: “The church is not called to tran
- Page 60 and 61: absolutely nothing about kicking pe
- Page 62 and 63: It is a sad fact that Southerland h
- Page 64 and 65: “Now I beseech you, brethren, mar
- Page 66 and 67: Judaism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Bahai,
- Page 68 and 69: clamour for a confederacy which wou
- Page 70 and 71: American Baptist ChurchesThe Baptis
- Page 72 and 73: Dr. Frederick Anderson, secretary o
- Page 74 and 75: “Then the third day came. A stone
- Page 76 and 77: eferred to as God in the Scriptures
- Page 78 and 79: 100 “lesbian, bi-sexual, and tran
- Page 80 and 81: “Through visualization and dreami
- Page 82 and 83: Bono complains that the churches ha
- Page 84 and 85: salvation is by grace, for instance
- Page 86 and 87: Warren’s and the Ladies HomeJourn
- Page 88 and 89: Is that not what “unconditionally
- Page 90 and 91: Furthermore, if God doesn’t expec
- Page 92 and 93: article; but to a Muslim, that’s
- Page 94 and 95: Warren Doesn’t Mention JesusIn Ju
- Page 96 and 97: Warren Predict’s A “NewReformat
- Page 98 and 99: An Analysis of the “Purpose Drive
- Page 100 and 101: Saddleback model? From our understa
- Page 102 and 103: on Sunday to all the church body, a
- Page 104 and 105: church growth. While the contempora
- Page 106 and 107: program) then the resultant growth
Warren Tells Past<strong>or</strong>s to Get Rid <strong>of</strong>TroublemakersIn the November 14, 2007, issue <strong>of</strong> Ministry Toolbox, RickWarren told past<strong>or</strong>s to get rid <strong>of</strong> troublemakers.Warren begins with the erroneous statement that the Bible“talks m<strong>or</strong>e about unity <strong>of</strong> the church than it does abouteither Heaven <strong>or</strong> Hell.” In fact, the Bible speaks m<strong>or</strong>e aboutHeaven and Hell than about unity and it speaks far m<strong>or</strong>eabout the imp<strong>or</strong>tance <strong>of</strong> sound doctrine and practice andseparation from err<strong>or</strong> than it does about unity.Warren makes no distinction between trouble that comesbecause <strong>of</strong> heresy and self-will and trouble that comesbecause <strong>of</strong> the truth. God’s people are nowhere instructed toblindly follow past<strong>or</strong>s. They have an obligation bef<strong>or</strong>e Godto “prove all things” (1 Thess. 5:21).In a fashion that is one <strong>of</strong> his fearful trademarks, Warrenlifts <strong>Scripture</strong> out <strong>of</strong> context to prove his point.First, he uses 2 Timothy 2:23-26, which only deals withhow to handle “foolish and unlearned questions” asked bythose who are in the snare <strong>of</strong> the devil. It has nothing to dowith legitimate biblical questions asked by sincere Christianswho care about God’s W<strong>or</strong>d.Next, he uses 2 Timothy 2:14, which is a warning aboutstriving about “w<strong>or</strong>ds to no pr<strong>of</strong>it, but to the subverting <strong>of</strong>the hearers.” Again, this is a warning about how to deal withfalse teaching, and it has nothing whatsoever to do withsincere biblical challenges.Warren also uses Titus 2:15, which is an exh<strong>or</strong>tation topreachers to be bold in proclaiming the truth but which says59
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