Let me start out by saying that like Dean, I've always been disappointed with Rick Warren. Don't get me wrong, I consider him a brother in Christ. But I must say that his teaching is substandard at best. He preaches a message that contains very little Gospel. When hear his messages, I don't walk away with a desire to worship God because of Christ's finished work on the cross and salvation from my sins. Rick Warren seems like the kind of pastor who preaches that people should turn to Jesus and clean up their lives. This is a great message for repentent or repenting drug users, alcoholics, adulterers, etc. But what about those of us who have lived a relatively "good" life (good by the world's standards, not God's)? What about non-Christian theists whose religions demand high standards of righteousness? Before I came to Christ I never did any of these socially inappropriate behaviors. Most of my sins were secret sins of the heart, the kind that only God sees. So a message like Warren's probably would never have brought me to the state where I realized that I am no better than an adulterer or an alcoholic, and that I need Christ as much as those people. Rick Warren's Gospel is incomplete at best.
I'll give him this, though. On television I've never seen him openly state that non-Christians can be saved or that Jesus Christ is less than necessary for salvation. The doctrine of hell is the most offensive of all Christian doctrines, and it takes quite a bit of spiritual fortitude to affirm it in front of a national audience. For this, Rick Warren ought to be commended. I'd never consider Warren a spiritual father, nor would I read his books or listen to his sermons to make any spiritual gains. But I certainly wouldn't go so far as to call him apostate.
First, I'm disappointed that Rick Warren even accepted the invitation to pray at the inauguration. Our country has turned its back on Christ and will most likely never fully turn back to Him until He comes again. Presidents who claim to be Christians don't stand up for Jesus and what's right because we're a "free country, free to worship any god we want (even though Jesus is the only true way to God!!!).
Sad, isn't it? I too wish that Americans would reject all other religions and turn to Jesus Christ for salvation. As you said, he is the only way to God.
Anyways, do you think that Rick Warren realizes that he prayed to a false Jesus? He mentioned Isa, the muslim name for Jesus. Guess what the muslim's believe about Jesus? They deny that He was the Son of God and call him a mere prophet. Their Jesus is a false Jesus! I would have left that out completely.
Actually, I wouldn't be too hard on him for this. Someone who has a bettr understanding of Islam can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly certain that Isa is the
Arabic name for God. It isn't necessarily characteristic of Islam. Arabic Bibles refer to God as Allah and Jesus as Isa. So referring to Jesus in this manner doesn't necessarily mean that he is referring to the false Muslim portrayal of our Lord Jesus.
Another thing, he left out who Jesus is. "The one who changed my life.." Okay, that doesn't say anything about Jesus Lordship. Oh well.
Well, we might give him the benefit of the doubt here. Since it's a prayer, not a sermon, what he ought to do is pray whatever is on his heart, in accordance with Scripture. And it is perfectly Biblical for him to say that Jesus changed his life. Jesus' Lordship is among the most important of his roles in our lives, but he does have other ones. Jesus serves as our chief example (1 Corinthians 11:1), so Warren is right to call this to mind before God. Now I agree it's more likely that he referred to Jesus' role as example rather than Lord because the latter is more offensive. But since I don't know him personally, I hesitate to judge.
I just think that his prayer was a "politically correct" prayer, and I'm very disappointed in it. Forgive me for criticizing, it's just that I'm so fed up with Christian's not standing up for Christ. When you're in a position like Rick Warren is, you should not be ashamed to pray however you want. If I was invited to do the prayer at the inauguration, but was told that I had to keep it politically correct and try not to offend, guess what? I'd turn it down! No man can dictate how I should pray in front of people, especially the nation!
Again, forgive me for criticizing. It just gives me such a headache. America was celebrating today, but there's nothing to celebrate. Our country is still on it's way to hell, and Barack Obama can't change that. Anyways, thanks for listening to me vent. I've just got such a headache from this.
It annoys me too. But let's face it, it's the best we're going to get from such a nationally known figure. Most famous pastors would have esposed blatently heretical doctrines (did you see the racial jokes that the last person injected into his benediction!?). At least Warren didn't say anything that was blatently false. But again, I hear you, and it does bother me too.
You too!
People who complain about someone's prayers gives me a headache. I'm glad Rick Warren had the courage to stand up and pray for our nation and our first African-American president.
I think he's complaining because it goes to show the nation's spiritual poverty. We have always been a nation that does not publically honor God. Maybe that's a good thing, because theocracies tend to lead to state churches. And we've all seen the abomination that is Catholicism, as well as the empty religion that exists in the indiginous churches of England, Germany, Greece, India, etc. But the problem is that Americans want their leaders to believe in God, but not in a God who actually has a say in how they live their lives. So when politicians (both Republican and Democrat) refer to "God," their god is not the God of Israel. So ultimately the religious rituals that go on at presidential inaugurations are spiritually worthless and laughable. I'm fairly certain that both George W. Bush and Barack Obama are heathens. Both have said publically that the Bible ought not to be read literally. Bush even said that non-Christians are going to heaven! They call themselves Christians because it's fashionable in America. And of course, their Christianity is about as liberal as it can come. Any Bible believer ought to be severely disturbed by all this.
