Wednesday, December 22, 2004
A very big thanks to Mrs. Friedrich (www.buriedtreasurebooks.com/) and to Mrs. Lyman (www.icky.blogspot.com) for writing about my blog.
On the road this past fall, someone gave my family a copy of The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren. I read through the first 15 chapters or so, and I thought it was great. But read on. I have changed my opinion.
First off, I don’t think the covenant in the first few pages is Biblical. If it is, please correct me. For those of you who haven’t read the book, Mr. Warren requests that the reader sign a paper stating that he/she will promise to read the whole book, along with Mr. Warren’s pre-printed signature, and a third party’s signature.
Second; I don’t remember every detail about the first few chapters, but I didn’t see the salvation plan clearly stated anywhere. Jesus is everything, and without him there is no purpose! Mr. Warren could not have accidentally overlooked this fact. Is it possible that he didn’t want to offend people? He made this topic less important than it is, and made it virtually invisible. Please, if you have read the book and have found a clear reference to the plan of salvation through Jesus Christ, email me and point it out to me.
It is deceitful to imply that this book is the ultimate authority.
Thirdly, to my knowledge, Mr. Warren uses only paraphrases of the Bible.
paraphrased
rephrase and simplify: to restate something using other words, especially in order to make it simpler or shorter
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Mr. Warren is purportedly trying to get across the most important thing in the world across, and I think the Bible itself, translated in the most accurate and complete way is the best - if not only - way to do this. He’s cutting you short by not giving you the Word in full.
Sooo….I have changed my views quite a bit. Whether Mr. Warren intends to or not, he seems to be misleading many people in that they are encouraged to focus on their own needs, desires, and removing the focus from God.
The world is so incredibly deceptive. Many will claim to be Christians but won’t be. We cannot let ourselves be swept away with the latest fad, the latest revelation, the latest best-selling book.
People are denying the human nature all the time, they are denying the evil desires of man’s heart. It is unbelievable how people brush off negative influences like they haven’t an ounce of power to them. People let their kids play violent video games, people let children be exposed to things they shouldn‘t, claming that they won’t hurt them a bit! How can they do this outrageous thing! People are two faced; they cry ‘peace, peace‘, but they deny the emptiness inside of them and others, and ignore what drives them to violence. It’s coming down to the fact that this society is close to being godless. How long will God allow this to continue?
One of the frustrating prominent issues is the acceptance of Harry Potter in Christian homes. I have had multiple discussions on this topic with a relative of mine, and it comes down to the fact that he denies the fact that this book might influence him in any way. He claims that anything that is well written is a good book, and deserves acceptance. I asked him if a book that glorified murder was well written, and “good”, then would he have a problem with it? He said he wouldn’t. If he is reading this now, I would like to ask him by what standards is he measuring the book? As Christians we should not be using the world’s measuring stick! Just because it has the correct punctuation and the right sentence structure doesn’t mean it’s a good book. Just because interesting doesn’t mean it’s edifying, rather it might imply that it feeds the sinful nature that we have.
Phillipians 4:8 states that whatever is pure, lovely, right, true, lovely, admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. I would contend that witchcraft is none of the above. Most people I talk to have no problem admitting that the book contains witchcraft. They just deny it’s repulsiveness and pass it off as “fantasy” witchcraft, having nothing to do with the reality of what goes on in the dark realm of the devil.
On the road this past fall, someone gave my family a copy of The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren. I read through the first 15 chapters or so, and I thought it was great. But read on. I have changed my opinion.
First off, I don’t think the covenant in the first few pages is Biblical. If it is, please correct me. For those of you who haven’t read the book, Mr. Warren requests that the reader sign a paper stating that he/she will promise to read the whole book, along with Mr. Warren’s pre-printed signature, and a third party’s signature.
Second; I don’t remember every detail about the first few chapters, but I didn’t see the salvation plan clearly stated anywhere. Jesus is everything, and without him there is no purpose! Mr. Warren could not have accidentally overlooked this fact. Is it possible that he didn’t want to offend people? He made this topic less important than it is, and made it virtually invisible. Please, if you have read the book and have found a clear reference to the plan of salvation through Jesus Christ, email me and point it out to me.
It is deceitful to imply that this book is the ultimate authority.
Thirdly, to my knowledge, Mr. Warren uses only paraphrases of the Bible.
paraphrased
rephrase and simplify: to restate something using other words, especially in order to make it simpler or shorter
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Mr. Warren is purportedly trying to get across the most important thing in the world across, and I think the Bible itself, translated in the most accurate and complete way is the best - if not only - way to do this. He’s cutting you short by not giving you the Word in full.
Sooo….I have changed my views quite a bit. Whether Mr. Warren intends to or not, he seems to be misleading many people in that they are encouraged to focus on their own needs, desires, and removing the focus from God.
The world is so incredibly deceptive. Many will claim to be Christians but won’t be. We cannot let ourselves be swept away with the latest fad, the latest revelation, the latest best-selling book.
People are denying the human nature all the time, they are denying the evil desires of man’s heart. It is unbelievable how people brush off negative influences like they haven’t an ounce of power to them. People let their kids play violent video games, people let children be exposed to things they shouldn‘t, claming that they won’t hurt them a bit! How can they do this outrageous thing! People are two faced; they cry ‘peace, peace‘, but they deny the emptiness inside of them and others, and ignore what drives them to violence. It’s coming down to the fact that this society is close to being godless. How long will God allow this to continue?
One of the frustrating prominent issues is the acceptance of Harry Potter in Christian homes. I have had multiple discussions on this topic with a relative of mine, and it comes down to the fact that he denies the fact that this book might influence him in any way. He claims that anything that is well written is a good book, and deserves acceptance. I asked him if a book that glorified murder was well written, and “good”, then would he have a problem with it? He said he wouldn’t. If he is reading this now, I would like to ask him by what standards is he measuring the book? As Christians we should not be using the world’s measuring stick! Just because it has the correct punctuation and the right sentence structure doesn’t mean it’s a good book. Just because interesting doesn’t mean it’s edifying, rather it might imply that it feeds the sinful nature that we have.
Phillipians 4:8 states that whatever is pure, lovely, right, true, lovely, admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. I would contend that witchcraft is none of the above. Most people I talk to have no problem admitting that the book contains witchcraft. They just deny it’s repulsiveness and pass it off as “fantasy” witchcraft, having nothing to do with the reality of what goes on in the dark realm of the devil.
