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We are awash in information about how to have healthy and successful churches. Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven church movement claims to have trained many thousands of pastors around the world. The website for this movement states the vision: “Our vision is to see healthy, balanced congregations producing Purpose Driven lives of all ages everywhere.”1 This movement is being called a new reformation: “Saddleback Church is now but one among thousands of Purpose Driven churches – the vanguard of a new reformation.”2 The churches who most successfully copy Rick Warren’s pattern are honored with a “Church Health Award.”3 As contemporary evangelicals...

October 28, 2009 Note: The following text is a quote: Eleven Members/Associates of Ummah Charged with Federal Violations One Subject Fatally Shot During Arrest United States Attorney Terrence Berg, Eastern District of Michigan, Andrew G. Arena, Special Agent in Charge (SAC), Federal Bureau of Investigation, (FBI), Detroit, Michigan, and Police Chief Warren Evans, Detroit Police Department (DPD), Detroit, Michigan announced a federal complaint was unsealed today charging Luqman Ameen Abdullah, a.k.a.Christopher Thomas, and 10 others with conspiracy to commit several federal crimes, including theft from interstate shipments, mail fraud to obtain the proceeds of arson, illegal possession and sale of...

At least Elizabeth Warren doesn't dismiss it out of hand.

Wall St. Is Winning: Elizabeth Warren "Speechless" About Record Bonuses Posted Oct 16, 2009 10:58am EDT by Aaron Task in Newsmakers, Banking Elizabeth Warren, chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel, is the rare public official who doesn't mince words. But Warren admits to being "speechless" at reports of record bonuses on Wall Street. "I do not understand how financial institutions could think they could take taxpayer money and turn around and act like it's business as usual," Warren says. "I don't understand how they can't see that the world has changed in a fundamental way - it's not business as...

While surfing tonight I ran across this small city website in North Dakota. They are selling lots for homes for $200.00. If I were a hearty soul that wanted to get away, and did not mind the cold, this would be very interesting...

The leader of a Messianic Jewish ministry has written an open letter to mega-church pastor Rick Warren in response to his address to a Muslim group with terrorist connections during its annual convention over the Fourth of July weekend. As reported by OneNewsNow, Warren, who pastors Saddleback Church in California, agreed to appear at the recent convention of the Islamic Society of North America and be part of its main session discussing the convention's theme -- "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." He told the gathering of 8,000 that "Muslims and Christians can work together for the common good...

On July 5 the Washington Times online reported that Pastor Rick Warren told his Islamic audience, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA,) that he envisions "a coalition of faith." Whether Pastor Warren knows this or not, this is just another term for the coming one-world religion outlined in Revelation 13. It is further outlined in Revelation 17. I have not taken on the issue of Rick Warren all that often, but after reading what the Washington Times has to say about his message to a group of spiritually lost Muslims, I feel I must address this in an open...

An Open Letter to Pastor Rick Warren By Jan Markell On July 5 the Washington Times online reported that Pastor Rick Warren told his Islamic audience, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA,) that he envisions "a coalition of faith." Whether Pastor Warren knows this or not, this is just another term for the coming one-world religion outlined in Revelation 13. It is further outlined in Revelation 17. I have not taken on the issue of Rick Warren all that often, but after reading what the Washington Times has to say about his message to a group of spiritually lost...

WASHINGTON Speaking to a crowd of nearly 8,000 Muslims at the Islamic Society of North America's annual convention in Washington D.C., Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren called on Muslims and Christians to form an interfaith coalition to combat prejudice and stereotypes. While Fourth of July revelers staked out seats to watch fireworks at the nearby Capitol Building, Warren addressed convention-goers – some of them from Orange County Muslim student associations – about the need for mutual respect. "Tolerance is not enough," Warren said. "People don't want to be tolerated, they want to be respected, they want to be listened to....

Top protestant evangelist to promote new religion; 'Chrislam' at radical Muslim conventionThe Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), an organization with ties to Hamas and other terrorist groups, will hold its annual convention—the largest yearly gathering of Muslims on the continent—in Washington, D.C. over the Fourth of July weekend. And the keynote speaker will be Reverend Rick Warren, founder and senior minister of the Saddleback Church, an evangelical mega-church located in Lake Forest, California. Rev. Warren has become one of America’s leading Christian leaders. Over 400,000 pastors attend his “purpose-driven” church seminars and his books, including “The Purpose Driven Life,”...

Jumping Jihad!!! [Rev. Warren goes Wahhabi] byPaul L. Williams, Ph.D.thelastcrusade.org The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), an organization with ties to Hamas and other terrorist groups, will hold its annual convention -- the largest yearly gathering of Muslims on the continent -- in Washington, D.C. over the Fourth of July weekend. And the keynote speaker will be Reverend Rick Warren, founder and senior minister of the Saddleback Church, an evangelical mega-church located in Lake Forest, California.

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   Second Amendment/Right To Arms Self-Defense is a Basic Human Right   As the Supreme Court deliberates whether or not the District of Columbia’s 30-year-old gun ban is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment, a deep background look is critical to understanding what is at stake in terms of our personal liberties and the rights that ensure them.This case--District of Columbia v. Heller--is about whether the Second Amendment is an individual right. And it is about whether such an individual right can be abrogated by government to render it meaningless in word and...

Bigger Than Watergate?By Olivier Garret, CEO, Casey Research Posted Wednesday, 6 May 2009 Reportedly, Bill O’Reilly referred to a recent story out of our nation’s capital as “bigger than Watergate.” Whether the story is bigger than Watergate or not, it is definitely a scandal of huge proportions. To sum it up, on April 23, 2009, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sent a letter to Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Chris Dodd; Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee Barney Frank; SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro; and Chairwoman of the Congressional Oversight Panel Elizabeth...

May 4, 2009 Warren Buffett's Sudden Disenchantment by MrArbitrage

A Washington, DC, pastor and outspoken opponent of same-sex "marriage" says California mega-church pastor Rick Warren has done "tremendous damage" by apologizing for his support last fall of California's marriage protection amendment. Rick Warren said Monday on CNN's Larry King Live that he has "never been and never will be" an "anti-gay marriage activist," and made a point to inform the program's host that he apologized to his homosexual friends for comments he made in October to his church in support of Proposition 8 in California. Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr., with the High Impact Leadership Coalition says he was very...

America achieved its independence and freedom in the 18th century in large part because colonial pastors stood up for biblical principles, preached them, lived them and refused to back down from them – even in the face of death. The American War of Independence has been accurately called a "pulpit revolution" for this reason. It was inspired by great men of God who recognized evil and called it by its right name. What a difference two centuries, combined with affluence and the corporatization of the 501(c)3 church culture has made.

On Monday, March 9th, Billionaire investor Warren Buffett will join CNBC's Becky Quick live from Omaha for a special edition of CNBC's signature morning show, "Squawk Box" (6AM-9AM ET). For three hours, the Oracle of Omaha will answer viewer's questions about Berkshire Hathaway's performance, the markets and the economy. To submit questions email askwarren@cnbc.com or go to CNBC.com and click on "Ask Warren." For more information go to: buffettwatch.cnbc.com.

Double drug-rape disgrace of CIA’s top agent in Algeria Matthew Campbell A CIA station chief in Algeria, who was accused of drugging and raping two Algerian women, filmed the attacks and stored images on his computer, an official investigation has discovered. Andrew Warren, 41, seemed to have all the right qualifications as an undercover agent in the Middle East. An African-American schooled in martial arts, he is a convert to Islam who speaks six Arabic dialects. His disgrace, however, has served only to inflame resentment of America at a time when President Barack Obama is trying to improve his country’s...

The news that Andrew Warren, the CIA station chief in Algeria, allegedly drugged and raped two local Muslim women at his U.S. embassy residence in North Africa would be shocking anywhere around the globe — at anytime. But the fact that this happened in Algeria, presently, could not be worse news for world security. If a CIA presence in Algeria was unwelcome before, no doubt Warren’s actions (Warren is a self-described convert to Islam) have greatly jeopardized the CIA’s legitimacy and credibility in a volatile nation that has become the newest laboratory for al-Qaeda’s deadly biological warfare program. According to...

Here is video of Pastor Rick Warren delivering a prayer to begin the Inauguration Ceremony for President Barack Obama today, January 20, 2009. Warren's prayer was heartfelt, and hit all the right notes. He was clear and bold to end his prayer "in the name of the One who changed my life -- Yeshua, Isa, Jesus." Warren used both the Hebrew and Arabic names for Jesus in closing his prayer. Warren was a totally class act under a great deal of pressure! Obama was wise to choose him. . . . . (watch video)

In this video (Run Time 6:49) you are going to hear Rick Warren asking Christians to be as dedicated to his Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan as the Nazis were to Hitler. Warren wants Christians to commit themselves to do 'whatever it takes' to slay the global giants. The problems with this are almost too many to list. But here are a couple. 1. Jesus has NOT commissioned the Church to go and slay global giants (spiritual lostness, egocentric leadership, poverty, disease, and ignorance). Jesus has commissioned the church to proclaim "repentance and the forgiveness of sins in Jesus' name to all...

The Rev. Rick Warren, the conservative evangelical minister who will deliver the invocation at Barack Obama's inauguration, has extended an olive branch to Bishop V. Gene Robinson. Robinson, an openly gay Episcopal bishop, had reacted angrily to the selection of Warren, who opposes gay marriage, calling it a "slap in the face." But then Robinson was selected this week to give the invocation at the inaugural opening ceremony at the Sunday afternoon concert on the Mall.

Mike Gallagher, God bless him, says something in a promo for his show that I profoundly disagree with. In an ideological double-reverse back flip, he joins the liberal howls of protest at Pastor Rick Warren's giving the invocation at President Obama's inauguration. His point seems to be that Pastor Warren is besmirching Christianity by giving aid and comfort to the pro-abortion enemy. The Apostle Paul preached to the Athenians, and Pastor Rick will preach to the Democrats. When Mike asks "Why would Rick Warren participate in this inauguration?" I couldn't help but recall Matthew 9:11, when the Pharisees asked the...

can absolutely see what Warren hoped to get out of this sordid little trip, the evidence of which he vainly tried to conceal when it threatened to become embarrassing. He wanted to be on video for his open-mouthed followers as he posed "on the road to Damascus." And he didn't care what deals he had to make, with Baath and Toothbrush Central Command, in order to bring off such a fundraising coup. But now it's the sandals of Obama that are being exploited by the same tub-thumper, and one has not merely a right but a duty to object to...

BARNEY'S PASTOR BALONEYLast updated: 2:05 am January 1, 2009 Well, that didn't take long. Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank hasn't quite broken with Barack Obama, but he criticized the president-elect - and in a way rarely heard from a left-wing Democrat. Obama, complains Frank, "overestimates his ability to take people, particularly our colleagues on the right, and, sort of, charm them into being nice." Now, what could have prompted Barney Frank to aim one of his celebrated verbal barbs at Obama? The issue is the prez-to-be's invitation to evangelical pastor Rick Warren, a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, to deliver the...

Megachurch Pastor Rick Warren, Obama’s pick to deliver his inauguration’s invocation, has become controversial because, like most clergy, he opposes same-sex marriage. Getting almost no attention so far is Obama’s choice to deliver the benediction, the far left, conspiracy-minded and verbally intemperate Rev. Joseph Lowery, who is an older version of Jeremiah Wright.

Listening to some of those on the Left you’d think that Barack Obama had suddenly announced he had changed parties and enrolled as a pro-life Republican, while over on the Right some malcontents worry that megachurch pastor Rick Warren has abandoned genuine Christianity and become a member of a heretical sect. All of this hubbub because Obama invited Pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at his coming inauguration ceremonies.

What's the biggest issue facing America these days? The economy? The mortgage crisis? The Iran threat? Iraq? Afghanistan? The War On Terror? You might think it would be one of these, but . . . you would be wrong, at least according to the DUmmies. No, the biggest issue--the biggest CRISIS--facing our fair land is that President-Elect Obama has invited Rick Warren to deliver an invocation at his inauguration. THIS MEANS WAR--THE WAR ON WARREN!!! The homos and the heteros in DUmmieland are having a pissing contest (well, not literally--although some might enjoy that) to see who can be...

The recent furor over President-Elect Barack Obama’s selection of California mega-church pastor Rick Warren to pray at the January 20th inauguration yields a few clues about what evangelicals can expect during the next four years. On the surface, playing the Warren card appears to be a masterstroke by Obama – one that further demonstrates impressive political skills. A day or so after the election, I was asked by someone about what Mr. Obama would do to prepare for his administration. I replied that I thought he would demonstrate significant savvy by – at least for the time being – ignoring...

It will be up to President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team whether Pastor Rick Warren’s prayer at the inauguration is vetted in advance, a spokeswoman for Warren’s Saddleback Church tells CNSNews.com. The spokeswoman would not say whether Warren would object to having his prayer reviewed or edited in advance by Obama.

Tis the season of empty gestures! Inaugural pastor Rick Warren rewrote his website so it no longer says gays are poison to his congregation. In fact a whole long lecture about gays was deleted. Here's the old content, via AmericaBlog, via Dave Winer, where Warren explains why gays can't join his church: This was from a website section called "Small Group Questions About Saddleback Church." The above is part of an answer to the question "What does the Bible say about homosexuality?" Also part of the answer, in the original, was a description of homosexuality as "an enormous sin" and...

Choices Rick Warren 65% Liberal Critics 19% Can't decide 16% votes 6,480

Taking Yes For An Answer Dish readers will know my own conflicted feelings about the selection of Rick Warren for the Inaugural Invocation. But feelings must at some point cede to reason. And I sense an understandable but, the more I think about it, misjudged response on the part of my fellow gays and lesbians. ...we may be pushing away from a real opportunity to engage and win hearts and minds...I think Obama is different. ... Do gays and lesbians want to be a part of this - or sit fuming on the sidelines at symbolic slights? I know the...

WASHINGTON -- Aretha Franklin will sing, the Rev. Rick Warren will pray and more than 11,000 U.S. troops will be watching over inauguration ceremonies in case of an attack during President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in on Jan. 20.But not everyone is pleased with the president-elect's selection of Rev. Warren.Joe Solomnese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, sent a blistering letter to the president-elect, accusing him of delivering a "genuine blow" to the gay community in choosing the reverend to give the formal invocation at next month's inauguration."[W]e feel a deep level of disrespect when one of architects and promoters of an...

LAKE FOREST, Calif. — Pastor Rick Warren is set to deliver the invocation for President-elect Barack Obama's inaugural swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 20, Saddleback Church officials confirmed Wednesday. Kristin Cole, a spokeswoman for Warren, said church officials were waiting on Obama's team to make the announcement. Just this past August, Obama and John McCain were guests at the two-hour Saddleback Church Civil Forum on Leadership and Compassion where Warren questioned them about issues that ranged from abortion and same-sex marriage to the nature of good and evil.

As much as I appreciated what Rick Warren did in his faith presidential forum several months ago, his appearance last evening on one of my favorite programs, Hannity and Colmes, was disappointing. What Pastor Warren responded with to some of host's Allan Colmes simple yet important questions was not the biblical gospel of salvation or even a reasonable defense of the gospel. One of his responses? "Try Jesus...?" As Colmes sarcastically quipped in response: "Like the book of the month club..." Beloved, why can't evangelical leaders just speak the truth in love and give the gospel of the Lord Jesus...

*snip* The Obama transition team released the names of 13 people on Wednesday who will direct a top-to-bottom review of federal agencies and another six who will lead teams that will review Treasury, State and Defense department policy, budget and personnel issues. *snip* It includes four former lobbyists, three top campaign fund-raisers and two former employees of troubled mortgage giant Fannie Mae, with some overlap among them. Four people in the group have ties to the consultant McKinsey & Co. and two have experience leading high-tech start-ups. Mr. Obama's transition advisers include Tom Donilon, a top lobbyist for Fannie Mae,...

According to a new survey by Prince & Associates, voters worth $1 million to $10 million are favoring Sen. John McCain, while voters worth $30 million or more are favoring Sen. Barack Obama. The survey of 493 families showed: More than three quarters of those worth $1 million to $10 million plan to vote for Sen. McCain. Only 15% plan to vote for Sen. Obama (the rest are undecided). Of those worth more than $30 million, two-thirds support Sen. Obama, while one third support Sen. McCain. ... Link

One of the statements that surprised me the most at the Purpose Driven Community Gathering was when Rick Warren said that he believed that “Repentance was the central message of the New Testament”. Even more shocking was hearing Warren claim that the primary goal of all of his sermons was ‘repentance’. Up until I heard Warren say these words I believed that Warren’s sermons were completely devoid of repentance. The reason why I believed that is because in all the sermons I have heard Warren preach (I listen to them all), I couldn’t recall as single time where I had...

It's still hard to say which will do more damage to the nation over the long term: the politicization of religion, or the religionization of politics. I shouldn't have to type this sentence because it's so obvious and well-established, but the whole idea of America is supposed to be about keeping religion and government separate so that both will remain strong and protected. The Founders would be astonished to see how far we've drifted from that brilliant principle. They certainly wouldn't have understood what went on at the Saddleback Church last weekend, when John McCain and Barack Obama sat down...

Suffice it to say that I was not very hopeful about the Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency held at the California megachurch last Saturday night. In the first place, I am not really comfortable with the idea of hosting such a politically charged event in a church. No matter how the event is planned and projected, once the event starts it can turn into something far more politically volatile than planned. That is a truth I have learned by hard experience. Secondly, the advance publicity about the event touted it as a platform for a kind of "third way"...

Enjoy and share it ! What about an Operation Chaos II for the Dems Convention ?

Many Americans watched Pastor Rick Warren question Senators John McCain and Barack Obama at the Saddleback Civil Forum late last week. Frankly, I was amazed Obama would agree to be questioned by a fundamentalist minister. It's no secret Obama is one of the most liberal, if not the most liberal, politicians on the national scene today. And it is testimony to the hubris of the junior Senator from Illinois if he thought the interview would benefit his campaign. It is clear, since Obama became the Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nominee, he has been tacking towards the political center. Obama has...

Warren provided McCain and Obama with the four subject areas, Ross said -- leadership, stewardship, worldview and international compassion -- and provided them a sense of the themes he would ask about, including topics such as energy and taxes. He also offered three examples of questions he planned to ask: What is your greatest moral failure? What is America's greatest moral failure? Who are the three people you rely on for wise advice?

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Yep, it was a disaster. It was a total disaster.  It could not have been worse, and the thing is, everybody on Obama's side knows that it was a disaster.  That little forum they had Saturday night at Saddle Sore Church or whatever it is, I'm telling you, folks, I have so much to say about this.   Now, Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life is a pastor. He's a preacher. He's sold 35 million books.  He had this forum on Saturday night with both Obama and McCain.  They got basically the same questions; Obama...

UPDATE: ABC News' Ron Claiborne, traveling with the McCain campaign, reports that McCain senior adviser Charlie Black would not say whether people around McCain while he was en route to Rick Warren's forum had access to blackberries and cell phones from which they could have tipped off Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., about the questions. "There's no reason we would do that," was all Black would say, though quite obviously there is a reason.

This is just too good! The Obama Campaign, in their desperation to explain away John McCain's masterful performance at the Rick Warren "Civil Forum on the Presidency" Saturday night, have allowed their minions in the press to put forth the vile assertion that John McCain cheated by listening in on Obama's time with Rick Warren. Byron York is now reporting that actually it was Barack Obama who had more information going into the questioning than did John McCain! It turns out that Rick Warren shared a third question with Obama, in addition to the first two he shared with both...

Americans have never expected our public servants to be perfect. In fact on many levels it can sometimes be comforting to know they are not. Foibles, mistakes, faux pas all remind us that while they are called upon to lead us through times of tremendous challenge, that at the end of the day they are one of us. They are not from some line of tyrannical despot royalty allowed absolute power. Realizing this however also causes us to understand that while they may make mistakes certain qualities are particularly more helpful, attractive, and necessary when vetting the nation's leadership. Honesty,...

It is now clear why Barack Obama has refused John McCain's offer of joint town hall appearances during the fall campaign. Mr. McCain is obviously better at them. Pastor Rick Warren's Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency — two hours on Saturday night evenly divided between the relaxed, tieless candidates — was expected to be a sideshow. Messrs. McCain and Obama would make their specialized appeals to evangelicals as if they were an interest group such as organized labor or the National Rifle Association. Evangelicals would demonstrate, in turn, that they are not rubes and know-nothings. And Americans would turn...

Saddleback Church, and its pastor, Rick Warren, were the bigwinners of last night’s presidential forum. Warren sponsored the evangelical version of the Al Smith dinner, the quadrennial white tie event hosted by the Catholic archbishop of New York at which presidential candidates appear, albeit with tougher questions. Playing host to candidates was not the only, or even the most important, analogy to be drawn between the contemporary megachurch and American Catholicism. Saddleback is one of the nation’s largest megachurches with over 20,000 members at several campuses scattered across the suburbs of Southern California. They function in the contemporary suburbs in...