Rick Warren's trip to SyriaPrint
World
Written by Chris Perver  
Wednesday, 22 November 2006 17:00
I've been emailed by a number of people regarding the news of "Purpose Driven Life" author, Rick Warren, and his trip to meet Syrian President Bashar Assad. Rick Warren's trip to Syria angered many Christians, who felt he was allowing himself to be used for propaganda purposes by the Syrian regime. But the pastor rebuffed those concerns, stating the trip was not driven by a political agenda, rather simply he was invited by the President as pastor of Saddleback Church. But the Syrian news agencies seemed to tell a different story...

Quote: "Pastor Warren hailed the religious coexistence, tolerance and stability that the Syrian society is enjoying due to the wise leadership of President al-Assad, asserting that he will convey the true image about Syria to the American people.

...he claims he was misquoted by the Syrian news agencies, but refused to disclose the details of his briefings with the President. He deflected criticism of his actions, explaining that he knew more about the Middle East than Joseph Farah of WorldNetDaily, not because he read his Bible, but because he was a member of the New World Order organization, the Council on Foreign Relations...

Quote: "Warren explained that he had also counselled with the National Security Council and the White House, as well as the State Department, before his little courtesy call for a neighbour. ''In fact,'' Warren added, ''as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Oxford Analytica, I might know as much about the Middle East as you.''

That statement alone should be enough to warn every Christian of what Rick Warren's real agenda is. But nobody could have expected the image of Syria that would be presented to the world just shortly after Rick's departure from Damascus, when Lebanese Christian Minister Gemayel was assassinated by pro-Syrian terrorists. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese lined the streets of Beirut today for the politicians funeral, many protesting against Syria and Hizbullah's reign of terror in Lebanon...

Quote: "Angry crowds carried slogans calling on Syrian-backed Lebanese President Emile Lahoud to resign. “Bashar agent, get out of Baabda (palace),” one banner read, referring to Syrian President Bashar Assad .

I'm sure Pastor Rick Warren will be regretting his blunder, not only because of the initial outrage he caused among Christian and Jewish circles, but now recent events in the Middle East of which he claimed to know much, have made him look extremely foolish. 

I have actually read Rick Warren's book, the Purpose Driven Life, on recommendation by my aunty who's church had then adopted the book. At first it seemed good, but I only got about half way through and eventually had to put it down because it seemed too shallow. That was before I heard of Rick's Purpose Driven Church, in which he urges members to destroy God's pillars in their church (meaning the elders), bring in casual clothing and rock music to get the people in, and get rid of all the hymns. It was also before I knew much about this new gospel being preached, which is more psychology than it is gospel. We're not supposed to criticize other Christian's service for the Lord - God will judge that, but we are warned in the Scriptures to mark those that cause division with unsound doctrine and avoid them (Romans 6:17). Paul said he ceased not to warn the church of Ephesus day and night with tears, because he knew that after he died, false teachers would arise in their midst (Acts 20:29). Jesus also warned us that not all those who say "Lord, Lord", will enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 7:21). We need to be extremely careful what sort of teaching we listen to.

Source Sana, WorldNetDaily, YNet News

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