What Rick Warren Said

There is hope because Jesus does not condemn us. Rather He calls us to a better life, a more excellent one than we now have. And this is possible when we accept the "crumb" of hope and life which is Jesus himself. "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." That is why there is hope for everyone, christian and non-christian alike because this hope is not found in a religion but rather in a relationship with the One who gave his life for us.

Is he just being nice? What is intended by that question? Rick Warren didn't write the Bible he professes to believe in; he believes the God whom he worships and the God who "changed [his] life wrote the Bible (or, at the very least, inspired men to write it on His behalf!). So, when the Bible says to Rick Warren that belief in Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation, how is it that others like you expect him to be openly accepting of the teachings of Mohammed, Buddha, or any founder or prophet of any other religious practice, as an equal or alternative path to salvation? When you expect a Christian to express a prayer that is fully accepting of everyone elses beliefs (including athiests, apparently!), then what you expect is for that person to be accepting of everyone else while ignoring only his own belief. For a Christian to say a prayer without invoking the name of Jesus would require them to ignore the very tenant of theirfaith, that is, that it was absolutely necessary for God to come to earth in the form of a man (Jesus Christ) and bare the sins of all mankind on himself at the cross so as to pay the eternal penalty for such sins ("the wages of sin is death, according to the book of Romans!), so that all believers, through His ressurection, would receive the gift of salvation (that is "forgiveness for sins and the promise of eternal life). What you expect Rick Warren to do is set his faith aside for the protection of the emotions of people of other and different faiths, or no faith. What you really want Rick Warren to do (along with others who profess a belief in Jesus Christ) is to keep their religious beliefs to themselves, because the best way to eliminate a particular belief is for those who practice it to not share it with others. For Rick Warren to have failed to invoke the name of Jesus (or any other Christian to do likewise) in a prayer, would be tantimount to a repudiationof their faith. So, what you really are saying in your article is that Warren can only pray as long as he ignores his own God.

The end of my first article is below. It cut off my date. So I have included the ending paragraph in its entirety here:

America is still the greatest nation on the planet. Even with her indecision and issues, people are not lining up at the borders to get out. Quite the opposite is happening. Sadly, those people that are lining up are not finding the intended nation that was birthed in 1776. They are finding something far less. Instead of a nation who is passionate about her Creator (Jesus) they are finding a nation centered on presentation, conceit, pomp, and glamour.

The reason most of America does not believe in Jesus Christ is because we have become apathetic to our foundation. We use our foundation to excuse our insolent behavior instead of correcting it. In the Old Testament, the people of God used "stones of remembrance" to remind them of the great things God had done in their past in hopes of preventing future debacles. America is no different, our founding fathers erected "stones" of remembrance in everything they built. Look at any national building and you will find a notation of scripture (from the Bible) or reference to a biblical figure. They serve as reminder of the great thing that God has done and still wants to do in our nation!

No matter how hard you try, you cannot rewrite what has been written about the faith of our nations roots. It is solidly founded on Jesus Christ. Read some of the prayers of our first President...Unfortunately, we have divisively and decidedly fallen away from what this great nation was birthed to do...Spread the news that Jesus Christ is Lord and that he and He alone offers true redemption, true freedom, true relationship, true forgiveness, and true life! Unfortunately, many have perverted the message and convoluted its practice to the point where it is common and popular to desecrate the one at its core. Jesus Christ.

There is a word most people do not like to hear. It is the word conviction. The vast majority of our society equates this word with condemnation. Why? We have preached it that way from our pulpits and in our books and in our demonstrations??? These two words are no remotely close in definition nor do they compare to the way God deals with those He is dealing with. Perhaps the reason for the outcry and the reason for anger is not because of anything Rick Warren has or has not done. It could be that those decrying the moment are convicted of their own lifestyle and simply refuse to acknowledge that God could be dealing with them because they have bought into the ???religious??? system that has misrepresented the truth in what Jesus Christ came to do???He did not come for those who are well, He came for the sick and that sickness that every human deals with is sin. He came to set the captive free. Not the captive of some separatist but the one who is held captive to their vice or captive to their guilt or captive to their shame. Jesus said you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. One thing we must all remember is that with freedom comes great responsibility. The freedom that Jesus brings is not the freedom to do but the freedom not to???He takes away the desire to want to continue in any lifestyle that is detrimental or less than what He intended.

America is still the greatest nation on the planet. Even with her indecision and issues, people are not lining up at the borders to get out. Quite the opposite is happening. Sadly, those people that are lining up are not finding the intended nation that was birthed in 177

What fascinates me is so many people think that this country was founded on Christian principles...It wasn't that at all. The country was founded on principles of freedom. If you want to really get the ugly truth of it, it was founded on ways to pay for a war, creating one currency, greed and establishing a place for the elite, and slavery to maximiize profits from indigo, tobacco and rice...What is Christian about that?

Reporters are to report the news as it happens, not give personal opinion about people and their beliefs. After all your publication is called NEWSWEEK. What ever happened to reporting with out taking sides? Is real journalism dead now? Magazines and newspapers are now fascinated with celebrities and personality, gossip, and name calling. We live in a country where we have the freedom of speech and the freedom of choice, yet its now normal for the news media to bash Christians and their faith and what they believe. It never ends! I used to work for newspapers for 25 years myself and as a caption writer and photographer we were always told not to quote or use the name of Jesus Christ in our stories, or captions unless its "approved" by an editor. ITS A POLICY, PERIOD. When Jesus Christ actually changed my life and still continues to do so, I had to leave the business of journalism. I am now a freelancer and have no limitations to my sharing of my faith, to my freedom of speech and to my freedom to be who I am. People have a misunderstanding about Christians and this article shows the ignorance of the writer more then it shows any kind of intelligence. Christians love Muslims, Jews and homosexuals. We are required by Jesus Christ to Love all people. Homosexual people, know that you are loved, not hated by Christians, its the SIN that we do not like. Its flaunting the sin openly before our children that we dislike. Its your eagerness to spread the openness of that sin that is in conflict with Christians in good standing. To what can we compare it? Imagine for a moment if all the rapist (sin) or all the thieves (sin) in this country got together and openly shared what they do and "celebrate it" publicly, teaching the rest of this great nation that its OK and saying to your children that they should not be offended. That is what offends me as a Christian. Not the person. WE ARE ALL SINNERS, including myself. At least true Christians understand this and confess this to whoever wants to know. Jews are God's chosen people, we love each and every Jewish person and will do anything for them. Our lord and savior is also Jewish.

So when he wraps his great big arms around Muslims and Jews (and homosexuals), does he really believe there's hope for us? Or is he just being nice?
We know that Jesus loves everyone. I believe Rick Warren loves everyone. There is also hope for everyone. Jesus is that hope! John 3:16 say "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life." Whosoever include Jews, Muslims, and homosexuals.
That is not just being nice. That is not being hateful. That is the TRUTH.

Both. He hopes that you will find your way to Jesus and he was being nice about it. These are true Christian values.

NICE MY ASS - Rick Warren does NOT love gay people - He's a HOMOPHOBIC BIGOT - A HIPPOCRATE - and a LIAR.

In this article, Lisa Miller points out that Rcik Warren and Obama are entirely dissimilar; however, she then calls Rick Warren "savvy and not specific" - which is EXACTLY what Obama is...So there is your simliarity. The last couple of sentences in the article shows me that the journalist has probably not read the Bible.. which of course Rick Warren has. It looked like Obama wasn't even paying attention to Warren's prayer and was tuning out just wanting it to be over.
I thought a much bigger deal than Warren's prayer was the "prayer" by Rev. Lowery, which seemed to be a "less than reverent" little rhyme with lots of racial overtones (e.g. praying that "Black never has to give back") while Obama smiled and laughed - it didnt seem very unifying or glorifying. That was trumped by the racist filth spewed by rap artists Jay-Z and Young Jeezy... which of course wasn't renounced in any way. And that was trumped by the rude ugly crowd booing GW and Laura Bush... a golden opportunity for Obama to put his money where his mouth is and let his actions live up to his rhetoric for a change, but he failed to admonish the crowd in any way then or since.

Its unfortunate that people disregard Jesus becasue they dont want to turn back form the sin in their life. The sin they have become blinded by. Followers of Christ dont find His words so ambiguous. And God does love all..but not the sin we CHOOSE to commit. Truth is truth

Enter Your Comment Rick Warren WAS being inclusive - he was praying for God to touch each and every human being so that he/she would come to know Him and His Son.