Pastor Rick Warren to address American Muslims

Sayyid Syeed remembers an interfaith event several years ago when a Jewish leader went to embrace him, saw someone snapping a photo, then suddenly pulled back.

Times have changed for the Islamic Society of North America and for Syeed, who leads the group's interfaith outreach. In a sign of growing acceptance of U.S. Muslims, one of the most prominent religious leaders in the country, evangelical pastor Rick Warren, will speak at the Islamic Society's annual convention this weekend. Representatives from the two largest streams of American Judaism, the Reform and Conservative movements, will also be there to highlight their recently formed partnerships with the Muslim group.

"The landscape of religion in America is changing," Syeed said. "America itself has reached a certain level of fulfillment in terms of diversity of faith."

The Islamic Society, an umbrella association for tens of thousands of Muslims, has worked for years to persuade leaders of other faiths to attend its convention, a massive family reunion in its 46th year that draws about 30,000 people.

Major American Jewish groups had largely stayed away from the event, mainly due to hostility between U.S. Muslims and Jews over Israel, the Palestinians and the role of Hamas in the region.

Many conservative Christians did the same. They viewed Islam through their experiences with Muslim countries where Christian minorities have been targets of violence and discrimination.

Also, suspicions over the origins of the Islamic Society lingered. The organization grew from Muslim Students Associations, campus groups that had received funding from Saudi Arabia.

I do not think that Warren is part of the emergent crowd, per se. Although, there are several similarities in regard to attitudes toward Scripture and towards the social gospel.

I think that Warren (Hybels, et al) and his Purpose Driven seeker sensitive followers, made straight the path for the emergent church.

They did so by entertaining people to death with the Sunday big show and burned everyone out with their program driven, market study, corporate model big box mega-churches.

This left people craving for something deeper; more relational than the big crowd at the big Sunday circus; something more "spiritual".

In comes the emergent church to fill the void. It has many of the same aspects of Warren's Purpose Driven agenda, and it is still seeker sensitive driven, but it takes mysticism, universalism, false teaching and the social gospel to a whole new level.

On Saturday night, Warren spoke to the Muslim convention and did not give the Gospel of Jesus Christ, BUT he did give the anti-Gospel.

Warren did just the opposite of what the Apostle Paul did in his missionary journeys....Warren minimized the doctrinal differences between Christianity and the Muslim faith, encouraging them to not compromise their convictions (which is just plain unbelievable!), thereby giving ceredence to Muslim false worship and weakening the position of the absolute truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and asked for everyone to find common ground to work together to the slay the global giants.

The ones who couldn't see this coming are the ones who haven't paid attention, and/or who are unable to be discerning on any level, from the beginning of Warren's public ministry.

This is what a Christian Post (http://www.christianpost.com/article/20090705/rick-warren-to-muslims-talk-is-cheap-let-s-work-together/page2.html)recent article recounted about Warren's latest Muslim visitation (he has visited and worked with them over several years...this ain't the first time):

But despite the praises, Warren maintained his religious differences with the Muslim crowd and encouraged audience members to also not compromise their conviction.

“You know as an evangelical pastor, my deepest faith is in Jesus Christ,” Warren stated. “But you also need to know that I am committed not just to what I call the good news, but I am committed to the common good.”

He called on the members of the two largest faith communities in the world to not only figure out how to live in peace and harmony with each other, but also to find a way to work together for the greater good without compromising each group’s convictions.

In his speech, Warren suggested that Muslims and Christians work together to challenge the mischaracterizations and stereotypes in the media about each other’s faith; to restore civility in America by showing that people can “disagree without being disagreeable;” and to promote peace and freedom, particularly freedom of speech and religion, together.

“Let me just say this to those of you who have been in America for many generations now,” Warren said, noting that they were gathered on the Fourth of July, America’s Independence Day. “Part of your responsibility is to help the newcomers learn what it means to be Americans.

“America is a country not built on race, not built on a creed, but built on an idea – liberty and justice for all and freedom for all,” Warren said as he called for citizen education.

He also gave a practical example of how Muslims and Christians can work together by pointing to his PEACE plan, a massive effort to mobilize one billion Christians to combat the five biggest problems in the world – spiritual emptiness, corrupt leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic diseases, and illiteracy and lack of education.

In a western province in Rwanda, the PEACE plan has been implemented where imams and pastors are invited to attend healthcare training sessions. Those religious leader in turn help mobilize their congregants to also receive healthcare training. By the end of this year, Warren said, a province where there was only one doctor for 750,000 people will have over 1,500 trained healthcare workers.

The acronym PEACE stands for promote reconciliation, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Warren acknowledged that it will not be easy to work together because of the criticism from conservatives from both religions, but he urged both groups to work together for the common good.

“You know what I discovered is when you walk down the middle of the road you get hit coming and going,” the evangelical pastor said. “Actually, it is easier to be an extremist of any kind because then you only have one group of people mad at you. But if you actually try to build relationships, like invite an evangelical pastor to your gathering, you’ll get criticize for it, so will I. But that is not what matters,” he said.

JUST PLAIN AWFUL!!!!

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