Fox News Christmas Morning Programming

[PopHistorian]

Whatever happened to separation of church and industry? Welcome to the Christian Industrial Complex.

Fox News is broadcasting a Christian service by Pastor Rick Warren (author of The Purpose-Driven Life) from the megasized Saddleback Church in California. It's a huge to-do with a large band, light Christian rock music, and a big choir (mostly blonde). I was just a bit surprised that any news channel would broadcast a Christian service. This guy is good -- I immediately fell under the sway of his confident banter, the church's American wild-west name and imagery and the sense of lovely community all those people with candles seemed to share -- I wanted to call and join up with his organization right away. Of course, that was my emotional reaction, which I've figured out how to check first.

Something had to be fishy, so I looked at some of the writings critical of his work, including The Dark Side Of The Purpose Driven Church by Noah Hutchings, who witnessed the church to which he belonged go through the Warren transformation process (more on that below).

Warren, originally a Southern Baptist, now "more inclusive" and associated with the prosperity pastors (believes that God rewards good behavior with money), leads an enormous network of "purpose-driven" churches (existing churches that he convinces to "transform" themselves to become part of his group), calls himself "Rupert Murdoch's Pastor" and a friend of President Bush, and claims to be a member of the Council on Foreign Relations!

From (http:/)/www.dubroom.org/articles/081.htm

Time Magazine calls him the "Leading Christian in the USA". Rick Warren, a protegee of New Age Industrialist Peter Drucker and Propserity Preacher Robert Shuller, also likes to speak in front of the Council on Foreign Relations and the United Nations about his "Global Peace Plan". The CRC has reported before on this Global Peace Plan.

It's not a coincidence, that the Latin word "Industria" means "Purpose Driven". One could say, that Rick Warren's Christianity is literally an Industrial Christianity. In his paradigm, the Pastor is no longer a Pastor, but a CEO. The Church is a company, Christianity a "product" and basically there are two kinds of people: the "churched" and the "unchurched". "Evangelizing" becomes a recruiting of new members for the Purpose Driven Churches. Welcome to the Christian Industrial Complex!

Obviously, this has nothing to do with true Christianity at all. You don't become a true Christian by becoming a member of a Purpose Driven Church. A "Pastor" isn't the CEO of a company and Christianity is not a product. But in the Purpose Driven Church, it is. And so, churches have to be transformed.[/i]

Check out (http:/)/www.churchtransitions.com.

Apparently transformation, among many other things, involves the use of new "translations" of The Bible, which are edited/censored and re-interpreted to support particular messages. Particularly popular is The Message by Eugene Peterson.

Eugene Peterson's The Message is sweeping into Christian bookstores, homes and churches from coast to coast. In the first four months after its mid-July lease, 100,000 copies of this "New Testament in contemporary English" were printed by NavPress. Seventy thousand books were sold. Thousands were either donated or distributed at reduced prices to youth leaders, Young Life staff, and pastors who could share Peterson's message with their followers. Apparently, most readers were delighted. "The Message is so good it leaves me breathless," writes popular author Madeleine L'Engle[1] in her endorsement.

More about Warren from Wikipedia:

Warren made the claim that he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a good friend of President Bush and most of the top Generals at the Pentagon in an email to WorldNetDaily's Joseph Farah.

Warren was named one of America's Top 25 Leaders in the October 31, 2005 issue of U.S. News and World Report.[4] Warren was elected by TIME magazine as one of 15 World Leaders Who Mattered Most in 2004 and one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World (2005).[5] NEWSWEEK magazine called him one of "15 People Who Make America Great", an award given to people who, through bravery or generosity, genius or passion, devote themselves to helping others.[6]

[...]

Over 400,000 pastors and church leaders from around the world have attended a seminar or conference led by Warren and other pastors who share best practices as they seek to be more effective in fulfilling the Great Commission [spreading Christianity] and the Great Commandment [loving God with your entirety].

Well, I'm still happily "unchurched," but don't tell Rick!