Rick Warren, False Prophets & the Remnant

"Pastor Rick" Warren is merely one of a cabal of modern-day false prophets whose message can be boiled down to "I'm okay, you're okay" when the clear message of scripture is "I'm not okay, and neither are you. But guess what? God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life!"

While he is but one man, the global reach of his ecumenical church of deceit and of his Devil Driven machination gives "Pastor Rick" an unprecedented opportunity to rend the flock.

"Pastor Rick" is joined in his man-centered false gospel boy's club by the likes of Joel Osteen who preaches a sticky sweet "God loves you" bubble-gum theology utterly devoid of the offense of the cross and Brian McLaren whose version of the "McGospel" is being endlessly "reimagined" by the post-modern neo-liberal emergent church movement.

Notoriously missing from the message of these "Evangelicals" - a term I use advisedly - is the evangelium, i.e. the Gospel itself! Think about for a moment and ask yourself when is the last time any of these very prominent - supposedly Christian - pastors publicly called for repentance or spoke of sin, judgment or hell? I'm guessing those subjects would be quite unpalatable to their worldly followers and would serve to vaporize their fawning media coverage and alienate many of their most generous "prayer partners". Tsk, tsk...

The not-so-curious thing all of these "men of God" (so-called) have in common is the acceptance, adoration and love of the world. I seem to recall something in the scriptures about the love of the world; can anyone help me out with those pesky chapters and verses?

And though it's unfortunate and saddening to watch these ravening wolves rend the flock it is simultaneously heartening to see in the midst of this present darkness that there are still those willing to speak out against the spiritual adultery committed by these men and their kind. There remains a remnant of true believers within the Body who are empowered by the Holy Spirit with discernment and love of the true Gospel message of Christ crucified; the one and only Truth. These few stand as sentries in the darkness shining forth their candles of truth and light; the teachings of infallible scripture. While others question the validity and relevance of the Bible these few hold fast to their first love, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.

This discerning remnant is constantly pilloried and ridiculed by the co-opted church for their failure to collectively bow their knees to the church growth Baal of Rick Warren and his ilk. They often are accused of being hateful, spiteful, legalistic and highly Pharisaical. The paradox is that these few bastions of Christian truth are relatively powerless when contrasted against the Devil Driven...er, um...I mean Purpose Driven organizations surrounding the likes of Warren, Osteen, McLaren, et al. These "watchmen on the gate" don't have gigantic media relations teams, near limitless funds, book deals, powerful friends in high places or legions of hirelings at their beck and call. What they have instead is the inspiration of scripture and a simple boldness and love of the truth which they derive from the Holy Spirit. With those odds there's no reason for dismay on their part for as it's been rightly said, God is a majority.

At the end of the day Rick Warren is another fence riding charlatan who wants to have his cake and eat it too. He enjoys rubbing elbows with the world's elite and relishes in the perquisites of his worldly fame. In the private sector Rick Warren would be a great asset to any company, smart, savvy, and possessing natural leadership skills and enthusiasm. In the Church he's an abomination who has sold his spiritual birthright for a bowl of worldly porridge.

Sadly for "Pastor Rick" he and his type surround themselves by gutless yes-men, sycophants and hangers-on who will never tell him the truth he so desperately needs to hear; that he has strayed from the path of righteousness and become self seeking, self serving and man-centered and is in need of a contrite and repentant heart that the Lord might be merciful and restore him. But why would they? Why would these blind followers of the blind point out to Pastor Rick the error of his ways? He's their meal ticket, their golden goose if you will, and it's been proven time and again that men will go to great - even drastic - lengths to preserve their positions and material wealth.

But even more disheartening than Pastor Rick's self-sustaining delusions of grandeur is the fact that he has proven himself unwilling to use his visibility and fame to perform the very task to which he ostensibly was called: to preach the Gospel. This means that, not unlike Pastor Rick himself, his audiences are also not hearing the truth they so desperately need to hear; the truth of the cross.

The church doesn't need more P.E.A.C.E. plans, programs, AIDS summits or rallies, instead we need more men of God who will stand up and tell the world that it's going to hell except for repentance and salvation via the shed blood Jesus Christ alone made available through the everlasting mercies of the One True Living God.