[alpha-8-25-02]

there was a very good thread on this topic,posted by pikamax on 7/11/04.
title was,how one man's gospel tale became a global best seller.
go into search by title/date.

[stayathomemom]

I really don't know too much about this book. I have seen it discussed on the discussion site called LutherQuest. One of the posters there had written an article, for which he posted a link, about the book . Just from the title of the book it sounds like a confusion of law and gospel to me. That is, turning the gospel into a law which we as sinners can never fulfill.

[drstevej]

When I go to a garage sale I do not load everything into a truck and cram it into my house. In fact, if I find only a few good pieces that fit into my home decore I consider it a good day.

I approached The Purpose Driven Life with the "Garage Sale mindset" and found a numer of useful things therein. I felt no compulsion to buy it all and start a PDL franchise.

Having done it this way, it was worth the price of the book easily.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I thought it was a pile of rubbish.

Becky

[Quix]

There's nothing

MORE purpose driven than The Gospel.

I applaud and cheer Warren on

as,

undoubtedly, does Jesus and Holy Spirit and The Father.

Eventually, you'll learn their attitude on it rather emphatically.

Until then, you might ponder this . . .

jealousy, prissy phariseeism and the like are not wonderful Christian traits.

JESUS SAID those not against Him were with Him when the disciples started finding fault with those not doing it quite to their prissy standards. Jesus rebuked them soundly.

Not sure what words were so hard to understand in that.

Sigh.

Warren and team will undoubtedly end up bringing many 10's of thousands MORE (and that lastingly) into The Kingdom than all those detractors and their entire churches, COMBINED. Given all the angels rejoicing over that, one would think it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to know when to join in the rejoicing.

I praise and thank God that FINALLY there are SOME churches where seekers can explore, investigate The Gospel and corporate Christian expressions of it without running into stuffy, cliquish, pharisee driven, sanctimonious, self-righteous, dead, frozen, hypocritical, harsh, brittle, prickly, sober-faced so-called Christianity.

Given Holy Spirit's responsiveness obviously using it to LIFT UP CHRIST and DRAW SINNERS TO HIM . . . God must approve of it a LOT, too.

[thePilgrim]

No, I haven't swallowed seeker sensitive junk. I actually believe the Bible when it says that there is no such thing as a seeker.

Christian.

[Corin Stormhands]

I got thru about half of it. Quite honestly, some of what he said was good and practical. I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with the book or what's in it. It's the marketing.

Same thing with The Prayer of Jabez, same thing with Promise Keepers. Some good points in all.

Unfortunately tho, some use these books to replace the Scriptures. That's where the dangers lie.

[Commander8]

My church sticks with what works; screechin' 'n preacjin', old-fashioned hymns and the King James Bible.

[Commander8]

PING

[lupie]

I can see no reason to read it, much less spend money on it. I don't have nearly enough time to be spending in the Word, allowing it to work His way in me. I see no Good reason to give up time spent in His word to read someone else's view of it.

[LiteKeeper]

Some critiques of Rick Warren's theology (or lack thereof).

[jboot]

I found the book to be benign, even useful. It had a few glaring flaws. My main point of contention was the way Warren used a mish-mash of translations-some obscure or inaccurate-to get precisely the meaning that he needed out of the text. I found this uncomfortable, and in several cases misleading.

Our church also did the "40 Days of Purpose" tie-in campaign. Much of this material was seeker-sensitive drivel and zero-calorie doctrine, and some of it was pure emotional pap without any spiritual value whatsoever.

My final verdict: read the book (with scripture in hand) and ditch the marketing and the tie-ins.

[Gotterdammerung]

It's supposed to be "All About God" but it's really "All About YOU".

[fishtank]

Rick Warren graduated from this guy's school.

[in2itagin]

This book is awesome. I did not subscribe to the whole 40 days theory, as our church was not involved in it, however my wife and I were reading partners in the book and both thought it to be worthy reading, acceptable to this young seminary student.

[in2itagin]

This book is awesome. I did not subscribe to the whole 40 days theory, as our church was not involved in it, however my wife and I were reading partners in the book and both thought it to be worthy reading, acceptable to this young seminary student.

[RMrattlesnake]

THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIE

Paul Proctor

October 3, 2002

NewsWithViews.com

The latest in a growing list of Baptist Press articles spotlighting Rick Warren is one by Erin Curry promoting the pastor's latest book entitled, ‘The Purpose Driven Life’ - obviously a sequel to ‘The Purpose Driven Church’. My intention here is not to review Warren’s new release but rather address a poignant statement Curry attributes to Saddleback’s founder regarding the goal of the book.

In his September 25th article, Curry wrote the following:

"Warren says the goal of The Purpose Driven Life is to help people develop a heart for the world."

What makes focusing on this particular comment so important is that it reveals the humanist philosophy and psychological manipulation that fuels today’s church growth movement. (CGM) First of all, the bible does not teach that we are to develop anything spiritual in and of ourselves -- especially "a heart for the world". Instead, we are to simply yield to God and His Word -- that is, "let go and let God", as the saying goes. For me to develop something implies that I am in control and affecting my own change. It denotes a psychological transformation that occurs through personal experience, trial and error, human interaction and the praxis (or practice) of Hegel’s dialectic, otherwise known as the Hegelian Dialectic or "Diaprax". Spiritual attributes are not developed like muscles on men but are given like gifts from God. You either have them or you don’t. They are not designed and "developed" over time through human initiative and experimentation. And although the term "developing a heart" is merely creeker-speak for "learning to love", notice if you will, that Warren doesn’t encourage us to develop "a heart for the lost", but rather "a heart for the world". Those who believe the Word of God know that loving the world is exactly what Christians are commanded NOT to do.

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world" -- 1st John 2:15-17

When we focus our affection on a dying world instead of the Living Word, we ourselves become susceptible to its power and influence and over the course of time are seduced by it into compromising our own convictions until we tolerate, then accommodate, then approve, then imitate, then embrace and finally love the very world we were saved FROM. By deception, attrition, peer-pressure and self-gratification we fall prey to sheepish-looking wolves roaming the herd, twisting the truth of scripture into ear-itching lies that transform gullible "seekers" into global serfs instead of godly servants. These charlatans can’t just come right out and tell us to "love the world" because far too many would then recognize their heresy. So, they cloak the lie in fluffy CGM psycho-lingo to avoid setting off any discernment alarms and instruct us instead to "develop a heart for the world".

That’s why at seeker-sensitive, promise-keeping, purpose-driven, churches you’ll always find plenty of Jungian psychology, charismatic clichés, sensual music, tempting dress, irreverent behavior, boisterous applause, celebrity worship, biblical ignorance and smiley-faced pride because everyone there is busy living out the purpose driven lie "developing a heart for the world".

"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." -- James 4:4

© 2002 Paul Proctor - All Rights Reserved

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul Proctor, a rural resident of the Volunteer state and seasoned veteran of the country music industry, retired from showbiz in the late 1990's to dedicate himself to addressing important social issues from a distinctly biblical perspective. As a freelance writer and regular columnist for News With Views, he extols the wisdom and truths of scripture through commentary and insight on cultural trends and current events. His articles appear regularly on a variety of news and opinion sites across the internet and in print. Paul may be reached at watchman@usa.com.

[VxH]

The Purpose Driven methodology is not scripturaly sound.

 

It is marketing based and relies upon psychological conditioning instead of relying on the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word. 

 

Here's a link that does a good job of examining TPDL:

 

http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/2003/1-purpose.htm

 

Note that TPDL relies heavily upon "progressive" translations of the Word -

especially "The Message":

 

http://www.crossroad.to/Bible_studies/Message.html

 

 

 

 

I think it strongly resembles a cult...

 

 

Got Pod?

 

[RUCKUS INC.]

I was pleasantly surprised by the book. The book is a great statement of the Sovereignity of God. Not seeker friendly at all. The first sentence is, "It's not about you" A seeker friendly approach would not include this statement.

[free_life]

I caught Jimmy Swaggart for about two minutes one day while channel surfing. He is very much against this book, that settled it for me - the book has to be good. I looked up the sentence on page ___ JS used to bash this book and he used half of the sentence and still twisted it.

There seem to be those who do like the success of this book the same also speak against unity of the body and preach this unity is the great deception to come drivel.

I read the book, it was good and has Christ centered purpose.