Rick Warren's upcoming Radicalis Conference will feature Pete Scazzero. In case you're not familiar with Pete Scazzero, he could easily be described as Protestant/Roman Catholic Mystic. He spends one week per year in a Trappist Monastery practicing Monkery and he's recently re-packaged the Roman Catholic Mysticism that he's been learning in order to make it more marketable to Purpose-Driven / Seeker-Driven Churches.
I recently reviewed some of Pete Scazzero's work on my radio program including his repackaging of Roman Catholic Mystic, Brother Lawrence's Practice of the Presence of God. These Roman Catholic practices contradict the clear teaching of the word of God and are incompatible with Biblical Christianity. I'd like Rick Warren and Saddleback church to answer some basic questions:
• Why on earth are is Rick Warren allowing these Roman Catholic Mystical Monastic practices to be taught to other pastors at the upcoming Radicalis Conference?
• Does Warren even remotely care about sound Biblical doctrine or has he become so pragmatic in his thinking that he's abandoned any pretense of teaching & defending the truth?
• Isn't Warren supposed to be a Protestant Southern Baptist Pastor?
• Does the Southern Baptist Convention have a formal process for bringing a pastor up on charges of false doctrine? (it may be time to file them because Rick Warren's promotion of Roman Catholic Monastic Mysticism contracts the established doctrines of the SBC and has no business being taught at any church, especially one officially affiliated with the SBC.)
You can listen to my review of Pete Scazzero's Monastic Mysticsm below.
Click on the Menu button on the player above and you can embed this radio segment on your blog or website.
>>Does Warren even remotely care about sound Biblical doctrine or has he become so pragmatic in his thinking that he's abandoned any pretense of teaching & defending the truth?
I can answer that already. $$ > Biblical truth, in the minds of many. You'd be surprised at how well stuffing hundred dollar bills in your ears works at blocking genuinely insightful and Biblically-grounded criticism.
Posted by: Ariel | January 25, 2010 at 12:08 PM
well, some of it's a bit weird for me, but we Christians need to stop making all this US versus THEM. We'll never be able to share truth in love while we're making fun of the practices of others.
Posted by: annie | January 28, 2010 at 12:34 PM
Annie means well but has the wrong perception. As believers we are supposed to value God's truth and defend it against the deceiver and enemy of our souls who is Satan. The Bible tells us that we are to expose the deeds of darkness. Why? Because Satan's lies are destructive and an affront to our Lord. It is the loving thing to do!
Posted by: Rae | January 28, 2010 at 05:00 PM
Many things, but two for this post. 1 - We don't "get along" with false teaching, it has to be rebuked and stopped. This is the stuff that drags helpless sheep into the mud without hope. 2 - RW has not been orthodox in over 12 years, so why the surprise. Let us preach the truth and call out the goats and shoot the dogs.
Christ is King. Scripture is the dividing line of teaching and those who don't teach it, the judgment is God's.
As for the SBC, the national convention IS the churches, the SBC is not an entity by itself, so all the other churches would have to bring Saddleback as a non-baptist church and ask for their resignation from the convention: not going to happen.
John teaches that there are those who will deceive and that the true children of God will see the error. So, I'll let John's 1st epistle be the guide there.
Let's pray for Dr. Warren, he does have a heart for souls, however, he is misguided on how to reach them with truth. Felt needs are not the answer.
Thanks for the blog.
James H. Tippins, Th.M.
Posted by: James H. Tippins | March 15, 2010 at 02:54 AM