Rick Warren’s new book, The Daniel Plan

                         

Today Gretchen Carlson interviewed Rick Warren about his "The Daniel Plan" which is about healthy eating and exercise, and she specifically asked what he thought about the Obamacare mandate requiring Christians to violate their conscience and teachings, and after telling her Christians had the first hospitals he moved right back to talking about his book and didn't answer her question which included a clip of Cardinal Dolan on NBC.

One of the guests with Warren commented on obesity and brain function. Compared to people of normal weight, overweight people’s brains look 8 years older and obese people’s brains appear 16 years older. Warren has lost 65 lbs.--so maybe that was his problem with answering a very clear question.

http://bebrainfit.com/lifestyle/drains/the-toll-being-overweight-takes-on-your-brain/

Manipulative words

How the candidates did at Saddleback. It should be a news story, not a disguised editorial on page one of the Washington Post. (Although I believe the biggest gain was for Rick Warren who has firmly placed himself on the political stage, and because he is Jesus-lite, no other Christian pastor could do this.) Take a look at the word choices for the WaPo account by Jonathan Weisman, August 20, 2008; Page A01. Positive phrases in green, negative in red. Then count them.

Sen. Barack Obama was the abortion-rights candidate who was reaching out to foes, seeking common ground and making inroads. Sen. John McCain was the abortion opponent whose reticence about faith and whose battles on campaign finance laws drew suspect glances from would-be supporters.

We all know that "abortion-rights" does not leave the same emotional image as "abortion opponent." In my opinion, you are pro-life or pro-choice. Start with that and then add in your exceptions if you have them. You are assigning value to two lives, and you've chosen for one to die. Not one or the other, but one. Then you'll add your qualifying points--he'll be retarded; he'll ruin her life; our family won't accept a biracial baby; she already has too many children and this one will be a burden to society (i.e., I'll be paying); we really wanted a boy; her boyfriend's walked out on her; etc. The same person willing to see her grandchildren aborted in one breath, will want to save the planet for them in the next by not drilling for oil. It baffles me, but on to the other words.

Weisman knows his audience--and it isn't conservative Nobamas like me who know what he's doing. The far left Democrats are getting angry and nervous (see Michael Moore's latest tirade), the middle is still solidly behind their candidate. So he goes for the Obamacons, fence sitters and RINOS who may need to be reminded of McCain's past failures (let me count the ways!). Weisman didn't become a staff writer at WaPo by not understanding the impact of word choices. Let's look at them--out of context.

reaching out to foes
seeking common ground
making in roads.

reticence
battles
suspect glances
would-be supporters.

The reporter then goes on to say the born alive issue is an “obscure law” when virtually every other legislator, in Illinois and Washington, didn’t find it difficult or thorny. They seemed to grasp the concept of life after birth, even those who don’t catch the meaning of “before birth.” Yes, to his credit, as he winds his way to the bottom of the article he finally gets to the difficult truth--the truth of why he so desperately makes his case in the first paragraph (most people don't read much further and writers know this). In a race this close, abortion matters a lot. Eighteen percent of Democrats consider this issue critical. What if they just don't vote? Can he win without them?

Abortion remains an important issue to a large portion of the electorate, but it is not the biggest. An early August poll for Time magazine found that one in five likely voters would not consider voting for a candidate who did not share their views on abortion. Twenty-six percent of Republicans saw the issue as decisive, compared with 18 percent of Democrats.

Rick Warren and the campaign

When I heard what Warren planned to do I told my husband that it appears he wants to be the next Billy Graham (he always met with presidents regardless of their faith). A friend of mine from high school, let's call him Dave since that's his name, sends a Bible study a few times a week via e-mail to various home boys and girls. Today he commented on Warren's work and prominence. Here's my take, revised from my e-mail to Dave.

Our home congregation (UALC, Columbus, OH) is a believing church and used Warren's Purpose Driven Life as a sermon series about 4 years ago. I read and liked it, for the most part. I compare it to a fad diet--works for awhile and then you yo-yo back to your previous weight. I think for believers it is icing on the cake--can remind them of some things more traditional Bible preachers either forget or don't emphasize. But for unbelievers it is really loaded with fat and empty calories and they could be misled with good feelings and great intentions, thinking it is of God.

I'm analytical--if I don't hear or read some version of "Did you know Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and rose from the grave and you can too" early in the sermon or book, then I look for what the speaker/writer is building on. Usually it is a version of good works (environmentalism, humanism, political activism, human relationships). Most people desperately want to believe in something, and when it isn't the saving work of Jesus, it tends to be some type of trendy prayer, or human effort (fight global warming), or multiple gods. However, I have to remember that just as there are multipe learning styles, so there are many methods through which God reaches people depending on their personalities and emotional make-up. I've heard plenty of well-intentioned, Biblical sermons that could drive a person into a long nap. Yes, God could reach you in your dreams, but probably not if you're snoring through the sermon. I love certain programs on Catholic radio and TV, but when it's a panel investigating the miracles of praying to Mary or a particular saint, I reach for the remote. It's not for me. Warren just doesn't fit the needs of many Christians; he's Jesus-lite.

Rick Warren has a huge church. I hope that after he draws them down the saw dust trail with the preaching, music and programming, there is a sound small group to disciple the new members or visitors with solid Bible teaching. I've heard there is--sort of bait and switch. The only problem I have with that method, and I've told my own pastors this, you never know when you're in that pulpit (or even conversation) whether this is your last or only chance to reach that person, and God has put him there that Sunday for you to witness to the Good News.

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Porn again Christians?

You can go to this site for all the details and follow the links to come to your own conclusions. I'll just pull out a few. I wouldn't say I've seen porn on Christian blogs and websites, but I have seen some pretty unseemly, sloppy stuff, and I've heard of it creeping into our local churches in careless attempts to be "relevant" in reaching out to unbelievers.

Said [Chris] Rosebrough, "Rupert Murdoch is a born-again Christian and Rick Warren claims to be his pastor. As a Christian, Murdoch is committing an egregious sin by owning, expanding and profiting from pornographic channels and Rick Warren, as his pastor, has a Biblical duty to call Murdoch to repentance and/or put him out of the church."

I didn't know that Murdoch owns Zondervan, the publisher of Warren's best selling Purpose Driven Life. This is sad, sad indeed.

I just scored 100% in that quiz on religion that Newsweek ran about 2 months ago. You don't have to get an A in religion to know in your gut that pornography hurts women and children, hurts marriages, hurts society, grinds the soul and mind into the dirt, and makes mega-millions for the owners and producers. Mixing Christian books into the TV soft porn business? Come on, Pastor Warren, step up [to the collection plate] and do some counseling. I like a good investment portfolio, but there are certain products I won't buy--alcohol, nicotine, and viaticals. But I thought I was pretty safe with Christian books.