The World Meeting of Families is a week-long international event of prayer, catechesis, and celebration that draws participants from around the globe. It seeks to strengthen the bonds between families and to witness to the crucial importance of marriage and the family to all of society.
I had to look up what a catechesis is, it turns out that when you remove all the extra syllables organized religions like to inject into a concept you find that a catechesis is training on a catechism, and a catechism is a tutorial of beliefs of a church written in Q&A form. Since the World Meeting of Families is a Roman Catholic organization, it is probably safe to say that the catechesis will not be based on the 95 Thesis. No, the Roman Catholic catechism is a summary of the official teachings of Catholic beliefs including creeds, sacraments, commandments, and prayers and not written in Q&A form, more in the form of a series of commandments.
And Rick Warren is going to be in the thick of it. Appearing live with Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley at 10:30 Am on September 25th, Rick Warren will be giving a keynote address "The Joy of the Gospel of Life"
So what's a nice protestant minister doing at an all catholic get-together? Could it be making Pope Puppets? Bowling with the Bishops? Maybe the Swing with the Sisters dance party? Having gone to a strict Catholic school, that last one sounds explicitly terrifying, and yes, these are all real events planned for the World Meeting of Families. Each event has supporting references from the Roman Catholic catechism, not the bible. Surprised? Don't be.
The tying factor is that like the Roman Catholic Church, Rick Warren uses the bible to a point, then goes off the rails to make his own point. Rick used up to 15 different versions of the bible when authoring his book "The Purpose Driven Life". He searched each version diligently looking for a wording that supports his idea, and even used abominable paraphrases and perversions of the bible such as the Message. He does this for two reasons which he stated in A Purpose Driven Life: "To avoid missing nuances and shades of meaning" and to "see God's truth in new, fresh ways." If you noticed, his second reason contradicts the first. If you look at objective truth in new, fresh ways, you are almost surely introducing additional nuances, and shades of meaning. And if he can't force a meaning into his spectrum of bible translations and paraphrases, Rick will use a fragment of a verse, or even use a verse out of context. A fuller review of Rick's creative use of biblical references can be found here.
The Catholic Church takes a simpler route to the same goal of bending God's word to suit their purposes. Like any cult, they made up their own bible and have trouble interpreting that (Seriously - they believe that 2 Peter 1:20 means that the average person isn't smart enough to understand what God is saying through the bible!) They even added the Apocrypha to justify their beliefs even though the Apocrypha itself admits its not inspired by God because when it was written there was no prophet of God around to write it (1 Maccabees 4:46, 1 Maccabees 9:27, 1 Maccabees 14:41).
And when the bible didn't support the concepts that the Popes and Cardinals down through they ages wanted to foist on the people, they took the easy route and just made it up, called it catechism, and it's now The Rule. My two favorites are #841 "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims" (Let's forget all about that John 14:6 thing) and #846 "Outside the Church there is no salvation" (by Church they explicitly mean Roman Catholic Church)
Another thing they have in common is Contemplative Prayer. Contemplative Prayer is a form of neo-Gnosticism that, sadly, Protestants/evangelicals have borrowed from the monastic traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. It's the practice of relaxing, emptying the mind and letting one's self find the presence of God within. It involves silence, stillness, patience, sometimes repeating something, and the practice of "not knowing" as the person seeks God's presence. This is little more than old school satanic occult practice, it's the exact same thing that occultists do when trying to contact demons. It can put a person in an altered state of consciousness and open him up to a spiritual connection that is not in harmony with Scripture.
Leaving one's mind open is unbiblical. 1 Corinthians 14:15 and Philippians 4:6 tell us quite clearly to use our minds when praying, not to leave them in neutral with the parking brake off. As GotQuestions states:
Contemplative prayer is a keystone of Rick Warren's "The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life." a health plan he invented for Christians with the help of folks like Dr. Memhet Oz a Sufi Muslim and a daytime TV talk show host, Dr. Daniel Amen a brain imaging specialist and practitioner of Tanta which is the use of Hinduistic-type mysticism during sexual intercourse, and Dr. Mark Hyman a practitioner in alternative therapies in health and medicine and is a secular Jew. Where is the Christianity? Where is the discernment?
And like the Roman Catholic Church who believes that Islam worships the same god as they do, Rick Warren also believes the same thing... no wait, maybe he doesn't... it depends on which direction the winds of public opinion are blowing. Isn't it odd how Rick Warren claims that his involvement with Chrislam is a hoax, yet he's considered by almost everyone to be the founder of Chrislam?
What we do know is that Rick Warren loves the Roman Catholic Church. He has gone on record as saying that one of his favorite TV shows is EWTN's is “Chaplet of the Divine Mercy.” A book that is taking the Roman Catholic Church by storm is "Catholics Come Home: God's Extraordinary Plan for Your Life" promoting Catholic evangelization targeting everyone including Bible-believing Christians and not just lapsed Catholics. Rick Warren wrote the following endorsement for that book:
After his meeting with Mr. Pope, Rick came back from Rome with all kinds of wonderful things to say about Mr. Pope and the heresy of the Roman Catholic Church. Here's Roman Catholicism's newest, bestest apologist,Father Pastor Rick Warren in action:
Not one word about the Roman Catholic doctrine of salvation through works and sacred ceremonies (sacraments), and did you notice that when he got to talking about Mary worship and necromancy he suddenly backed away from that subject. Did he just realize what he was about to talk about was indefensible?
I am quickly coming to the opinion that discernment died with the passing of C.H. Spurgeon. A discerning world would have called Rick Warren out on the carpet for his part in attempting to reverse the reformation. This is what should still be ringing from the pulpit and across the Christian blogosphere:
These statements were Red Herrings meant to distract and put their opponents on the defensive. Who doesn't like children? (I mean besides those who want them murdered in the womb and chopped up on the alter of "Protecting Women's Rights" another Red Herring) Who doesn't want to save lives? These are all powerful Red Herrings meant to strike at the emotions and distract the world from what is really happening - in these cases they're masking power grabs by those that have an agenda that requires their opponents to be taken out of the equation.
I fear that Mr. Pope is using things like The Family and Global Warming as Red Herrings to mask his agenda and Rick Warren is either blinded by the frippery and gilt of the Vatican or he is in collusion with Mr. Pope in whatever his plan entails. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was an autocrat, an authoritarian hard liner who left the Jesuits in Argentina in such a state of uproar it took two decades to clean up. So divisive were his 15 years as Jesuit kingpin in Argentina that, when it ended in 1986, he was sent into exile to Germany by the Jesuit leaders in Rome. One senior Jesuit wrote privately, on the eve of the papal election, that a Bergoglio papacy would be “a catastrophe” for the Church.
Now that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio is Pope Francis he's Mister Nice Pope, will this last? Currently his everlasting legacy is keeping the damage control team at the Vatican busy. Nearly every time he has an interview the Vatican has to issue a press release that starts with "I know that's what he said, but that's not what he meant..." When he told a reporter that atheists can get into heaven I'm sure that alarm bells and klaxon horns went off all over in the Vatican recalling the damage control monks to full alert status.
And now he's added Rick Warren to his stable. Mr. Pope certainly has an agenda. A purpose driven agenda.
And Rick Warren is going to be in the thick of it. Appearing live with Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley at 10:30 Am on September 25th, Rick Warren will be giving a keynote address "The Joy of the Gospel of Life"
So what's a nice protestant minister doing at an all catholic get-together? Could it be making Pope Puppets? Bowling with the Bishops? Maybe the Swing with the Sisters dance party? Having gone to a strict Catholic school, that last one sounds explicitly terrifying, and yes, these are all real events planned for the World Meeting of Families. Each event has supporting references from the Roman Catholic catechism, not the bible. Surprised? Don't be.
The tying factor is that like the Roman Catholic Church, Rick Warren uses the bible to a point, then goes off the rails to make his own point. Rick used up to 15 different versions of the bible when authoring his book "The Purpose Driven Life". He searched each version diligently looking for a wording that supports his idea, and even used abominable paraphrases and perversions of the bible such as the Message. He does this for two reasons which he stated in A Purpose Driven Life: "To avoid missing nuances and shades of meaning" and to "see God's truth in new, fresh ways." If you noticed, his second reason contradicts the first. If you look at objective truth in new, fresh ways, you are almost surely introducing additional nuances, and shades of meaning. And if he can't force a meaning into his spectrum of bible translations and paraphrases, Rick will use a fragment of a verse, or even use a verse out of context. A fuller review of Rick's creative use of biblical references can be found here.
The Catholic Church takes a simpler route to the same goal of bending God's word to suit their purposes. Like any cult, they made up their own bible and have trouble interpreting that (Seriously - they believe that 2 Peter 1:20 means that the average person isn't smart enough to understand what God is saying through the bible!) They even added the Apocrypha to justify their beliefs even though the Apocrypha itself admits its not inspired by God because when it was written there was no prophet of God around to write it (1 Maccabees 4:46, 1 Maccabees 9:27, 1 Maccabees 14:41).
And when the bible didn't support the concepts that the Popes and Cardinals down through they ages wanted to foist on the people, they took the easy route and just made it up, called it catechism, and it's now The Rule. My two favorites are #841 "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims" (Let's forget all about that John 14:6 thing) and #846 "Outside the Church there is no salvation" (by Church they explicitly mean Roman Catholic Church)
Another thing they have in common is Contemplative Prayer. Contemplative Prayer is a form of neo-Gnosticism that, sadly, Protestants/evangelicals have borrowed from the monastic traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. It's the practice of relaxing, emptying the mind and letting one's self find the presence of God within. It involves silence, stillness, patience, sometimes repeating something, and the practice of "not knowing" as the person seeks God's presence. This is little more than old school satanic occult practice, it's the exact same thing that occultists do when trying to contact demons. It can put a person in an altered state of consciousness and open him up to a spiritual connection that is not in harmony with Scripture.
Leaving one's mind open is unbiblical. 1 Corinthians 14:15 and Philippians 4:6 tell us quite clearly to use our minds when praying, not to leave them in neutral with the parking brake off. As GotQuestions states:
Contemplative prayer, by design, focuses on having a mystical experience with God. Mysticism, however, is purely subjective, and does not rely upon truth or fact. Yet the Word of God has been given to us for the very purpose of basing our faith, and our lives, on Truth (2 Timothy 3:16-17). What we know about God is based on fact; trusting in experiential knowledge over the biblical record takes a person outside of the standard that is the Bible.That being said, the Roman Catholic Church just adores contemplative prayer. They like it so much they dedicated 13 paragraphs of their catechism to contemplative prayer: 2709 - 2719, 2721, and 2724. Rick Warren too likes contemplative prayer, pushing its agenda in his books "The Purpose Driven Church" and "The Purpose Driven Life". He calls contemplative prayers "Breath Prayers" In his book The Purpose-Driven Life, on Day Eleven, he encourages people to practice “breath prayers” by repeating words and phrases over and over in a mantra-style prayer, a practice used centuries ago by a group of mystical monks known as the Desert Fathers. This so-called “prayer” is identical to that found in Hindu yoga and Zen Buddhism.
Contemplative prayer is a keystone of Rick Warren's "The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life." a health plan he invented for Christians with the help of folks like Dr. Memhet Oz a Sufi Muslim and a daytime TV talk show host, Dr. Daniel Amen a brain imaging specialist and practitioner of Tanta which is the use of Hinduistic-type mysticism during sexual intercourse, and Dr. Mark Hyman a practitioner in alternative therapies in health and medicine and is a secular Jew. Where is the Christianity? Where is the discernment?
And like the Roman Catholic Church who believes that Islam worships the same god as they do, Rick Warren also believes the same thing... no wait, maybe he doesn't... it depends on which direction the winds of public opinion are blowing. Isn't it odd how Rick Warren claims that his involvement with Chrislam is a hoax, yet he's considered by almost everyone to be the founder of Chrislam?
What we do know is that Rick Warren loves the Roman Catholic Church. He has gone on record as saying that one of his favorite TV shows is EWTN's is “Chaplet of the Divine Mercy.” A book that is taking the Roman Catholic Church by storm is "Catholics Come Home: God's Extraordinary Plan for Your Life" promoting Catholic evangelization targeting everyone including Bible-believing Christians and not just lapsed Catholics. Rick Warren wrote the following endorsement for that book:
“The mission of Tom Peterson and Catholics Come Home to bring souls home to Jesus and the church is critically important during this challenging time in our history. I fully support this New Evangelization project.”The upcoming World Meeting of Families is not the first time that Rick Warren snuggled up in person to do the bidding of the Roman Catholic Church, Rick and Pope Francis met in November 2014 at "Complementarity of Man and Woman: An International Colloquium", an ecumenical study of marriage and examine how this relationship is lived in cultures and societies of Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Taoists, Muslims, Jews, and Catholics.
After his meeting with Mr. Pope, Rick came back from Rome with all kinds of wonderful things to say about Mr. Pope and the heresy of the Roman Catholic Church. Here's Roman Catholicism's newest, bestest apologist,
I am quickly coming to the opinion that discernment died with the passing of C.H. Spurgeon. A discerning world would have called Rick Warren out on the carpet for his part in attempting to reverse the reformation. This is what should still be ringing from the pulpit and across the Christian blogosphere:
Warren said, "if you love Jesus, we’re on the same team". If it's true that whoever loves Jesus is all on the same team, then true love for him should manifest itself in dedication and obedience to his word as revealed in Scripture. It's one thing to say that a group of people loves Jesus. It's another thing to demonstrate that it is true. When we see the many un-biblical teachings of the Catholic Church listed above (and there are many more), how can anyone say that they truly love Jesus? Sure, there are Catholics who love the real Christ, the one who died on the cross for our sins. That is not the problem. The problem is the Roman Catholic Church's false teachings concerning Mary and salvation.
Pastor Rick Warren has not only failed to recognize the problems in these serious areas, but he has lent his credibility as a Protestant pastor in support of the Roman Catholic Church. This should never be done by any Protestant pastor who takes the Bible seriously. I must conclude that Mr. Warren does not take the word of God seriously and/or he does not understand the damnable teachings of Roman Catholicism regarding salvation. Rick Warren needs to repent. -Matt SlickNot long ago the socialist/leftists now in power passed a lot of bad legislation claiming "It's For The Children...", lately their powergrab is propelled by the all new battle cry "If It Will Save Just One Life..." which is used to justify denying your rights (such as the 2nd Ammendment) and passing outrageously bad legislation such as the Affordable Care Act.
These statements were Red Herrings meant to distract and put their opponents on the defensive. Who doesn't like children? (I mean besides those who want them murdered in the womb and chopped up on the alter of "Protecting Women's Rights" another Red Herring) Who doesn't want to save lives? These are all powerful Red Herrings meant to strike at the emotions and distract the world from what is really happening - in these cases they're masking power grabs by those that have an agenda that requires their opponents to be taken out of the equation.
I fear that Mr. Pope is using things like The Family and Global Warming as Red Herrings to mask his agenda and Rick Warren is either blinded by the frippery and gilt of the Vatican or he is in collusion with Mr. Pope in whatever his plan entails. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was an autocrat, an authoritarian hard liner who left the Jesuits in Argentina in such a state of uproar it took two decades to clean up. So divisive were his 15 years as Jesuit kingpin in Argentina that, when it ended in 1986, he was sent into exile to Germany by the Jesuit leaders in Rome. One senior Jesuit wrote privately, on the eve of the papal election, that a Bergoglio papacy would be “a catastrophe” for the Church.
Now that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio is Pope Francis he's Mister Nice Pope, will this last? Currently his everlasting legacy is keeping the damage control team at the Vatican busy. Nearly every time he has an interview the Vatican has to issue a press release that starts with "I know that's what he said, but that's not what he meant..." When he told a reporter that atheists can get into heaven I'm sure that alarm bells and klaxon horns went off all over in the Vatican recalling the damage control monks to full alert status.
And now he's added Rick Warren to his stable. Mr. Pope certainly has an agenda. A purpose driven agenda.
I often wonder why Warren just doesn't go ahead join the Papist church!
ReplyDeleteDoug,
ReplyDeleteThis whole subject is so distressing. Thank you for posting it. Few seem to understand or value the gains of the Reformation. The Pope is not the friend of Christians who want to read and understand the Bible apart from Rome.
Alec
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThat is a well thought out and well written essay on how unbiblical and dangerous the ecumenical movement is. Your bible references are perfect - the Holy Spirit was certainly the co-author of your post.
DeleteA thought struck me as I read your article; if spreading the gospel and making disciples of the world is the Lord God's great commission, then an ecumenical wave of ignoring the gospel and enslaving the world is clearly Satan's infernal commission. The waves of utter mayhem we are seeing; the SJW movement, the homosexual explosion, the transexual explosion, the social and political disdain of our elected officials, even the disregard of our borders - is this all just a distraction from the infernal commission? Or are they actually part of the infernal commission?
You pegged it Doug.
DeleteWhat better to sow confusion and enslave than to have truth mixed with just enough error to destroy the gospel message. Some pastors have said that the worst danger to men is not open paganism, but rather false versions of Christianity.