But, I guess you don’t need to do that, there seem to be others doing that latter task…

From another pastor who loves his flock…

Of me you also said: “You and others like you show that a significatn level of un-Christ-like behavior, doctrinal arrogance, lack of love, and downright nastiness has seeped into those who deem themselves doctrinal purists and defenders of the faith. But you (me) and others like you, in reality, are neither.” You accused me of “hate and ignorance.”

You also said about me: “You give your denomination a bad name and perfectly illustrate everything that is so evil about fanatical sectarianims.”

Of these great sins, God will be judge.

However, if I misunderstood your words on the radio and misrepresented you, of that I truly apologize, even though you “know” I would never do that. I reported what I heard and how I understood what I heard. But I cannot argue that you meant other than what you say you meant. Obviously I did err. So, for misrepresenting you I am deeply apologetic.

One caution, my dear brother in Jesus Christ. You don’t know my motives or my heart. You can’t possibly know what I repent of or not. Be that as it may, I never stated that Rick Warren is a heretic. If I did so, I was wrong. I do believe he is heterodox. And I do believe heterodoxy is a sin. And I never, as you claim, stated that Warren was a “deliberate abuser of God’s Word.” I don’t know if his abuse was deliberate or not and neither do you. Only God can judge the heart.

Here’s the thing. I have learned that one man can never judge another’s motives, only his words or actions.

Rick Warren’s book is bad. It hurts people. That’s a fact. I am only a parish pastor. My congregation is small and intimiate. But I have had to repair serious damage Warren’s book has done to people I know. And I will continue to condemn his teachings as long as he errs.

That having been said, my dearest brother in Christ, I do indeed hope you and your family have a most blessed Easter. Forgive me. Christ is risen. God is good.

I am supremely disappointed in you. I cannot believe that you would publicly declare that what you are doing is for God. Under the guise self-righteousness, hypocrisy, and false piety you have blatently misrepresented the teachings of a pastor (i.e., Rick Warren) and a lay Christian who has devoted his life to definding the truth of the gospel (i.e., me).

First, you have twisted and perverted the words and teachings of Rick Warren to fulfill your own agenda of hate and ignorance. Second, you went further, and twisted and perverted my words to do the same thing. And you did this after I attempted to come on your radio prgram and brig some light to the controversy. You give your denomination a bad name and perfectly illustrate everything that is so evil about fanatical sectarianism.

Allow me to tell your readers exactly what I DID say on your show so that I may correct your warped version of truth.

YOU STATED: “the only defense he could come up with for Warren – and this is a strong Warren advocate – was emotional.”
TRUTH: This is a lie. I clearly stated Warren’s orthodox faith, quoted his references to sound teachings, and corrected misperceptions about what he teaches/believes. All of this is appears in my book “Rick Warren and the Purpose that Drives Him.”

YOU STATED: “Abanes AGREED with us about Warren’s inexcusible use of atrocious bible paraphrases.”
TRUTH: I said that I disliked The Message and some other versions. But also pointed out that such versions are among many versions Warren uses. These versions include the King James, New King Jmaes, and New American Sttandard. I DID NOT, as you suggest, interpret his use of certain Bible versions as some deceptive ploy or horrific abuse of scripture. As I have said before, many people use The Message (and similar paraphrases) and are blessed by such versions– i.e., people who otherwise would never read ANY Bible at all.

YOU STATED: “He agreed with us that Warren’s book is
not Christ-centered.
TRUTH: This, sir, is yet again, a bold faced lie. You need to repent. Warren’s book, faith, and teachings are INDEED centered around Christ and he is bringing many people to a saving knowledge of Jesus. What I said was that his most severe critics, like you, simply do not like the WAY he is presenting Christ. It is not the way that THEY would present Christ, which for them is good enough reason to call Warren a heretic. People like you, however, are far more damaging to the body of Christ than Warren will ever be. There are far worse things going on in the Church than Rick Warren’s use of The Message. You and others like you show that a significant level of un-Christ-like behavior, doctrinal arrogance, lack of love, and downright nastiness has seeped into those who deem themselves doctrinal purists and defenders of the faith. But you and others like you, in reality, are neither. You are witch hunters, nothing more. There simply are no answers that could satisfy you. Your minds are made up and you relish the opportunity to attack. It is sad, very sad.

YOU STATED: “He agreed with us that Warren misapplies
Scripture in places.”
THE TRUTH: This is a half-truth that you use very cleverly to deceive your readers and get your agenda across. What I actually said was that Warren, LIKE ALL
TEACHERS, does not get every single biblical verse perfect. All teachers of God’s Word at some point gets some verses wrong here and there or misapply them
(e.g., “Behold I stand at the door and knock” is used for unbelievers, when it is really written to members of a backsliden church; Jer 29:11 is applied to individuals, when it was really written to the nation of Israel; etc.). I did NOT imply, as you suggest, that Warren is a wholesale deliberate abuser of God’s Word.

YOU STATED: “He agreed with us that Warren’s book has
errors.”
TRUTH: Again, a half-truth. Sure, it has errors. All books, including mine and everyone else’s, has errors too — as well as careless phraseology that leaves
doors open for heresy hunters and nit-picky, small minded people to use as excuses to condemn what they do not like. It is reminiscent of the Witch Hunts. In all honesty, I simply cannot understand people like you. How dare you label what you do as a service to
Christ. But the Roman Catholic crusaders did the same
thing. So did the witch hunters of Medieval Europe and the Puritans in New England. So, as scripture says, there is nothing new under the sun.

YOU STATED: “There is no defense. But, you know,
Warren is such a great guy. He really means well. He’s
very sincere.”
TRUTH: I NEVER said anything like this as a defense of Warren. Scott, seriously, you need to think long and hard about what you are doing and repent. Sadly, even as I say that, I already know it is not something you will do.

YOU STATED: Abanes basically said that Warren’s only
real problem is that he is CARELESS. And my response
is that that is a huge huge problem for a pastor and
teacher.
TRUTH: No. Again, a lie. Warren is a human being, and as such, is subject to flaws, mistakes of judgment, and imperfect writing. I said that at times, Warren is careless. So, too, are we all. Are you perfect Scott? Clearly, not. You need to look at your own “huge huge” problems before condemning others. I think there is a story about a speck of sawdust and a beam of wood that you need to read again.

YOU STATED: Not many should seek to teach for teachers will be judged more strictly (James 3:1).
TRUTH: You condemn yourself with your own words. It is incredible how accurate scripture always turns out to be.

CONCLUSION – Criticize Warren if you want to. Criticize me if you want to. But please, don’t twist and pervert our words to suit your own agenda. Don’t misrepresent me to others. Here are my views – fr everyone to read for themselves. Or, they can get my book. If you want your readers to disagree with them, fine. But at least let them disagree with what I really believe and with what I really said.

Richard Abanes
author, Rick Warren and the Purpose that Drives Him

Luther’s unfortunate writings on the Jews are not endorsed or defended by me at all. In fact, I have done my share to criticize them.

It seems odd that you will use this forum to criticize something Luther wrote while rebuking me for doing the exact same thing to Warren. You can criticize this shortcoming in Luther, but I am wasting time by criticizing a MUCH MORE SERIOUS flaw in Warren.

Warren’s book undermine’s the gospel. I am not, nor do I believe I have ever, criticized Warren’s entire ministry. I’m not. I’m criticizing this book. Just like I would, and have, criticized Luther’s tract on the Jews.

This is not a “blip,” as you said. This blip has sold 35 million copies. That means that tens and tens of millions of people have read it, presumably. I am a pastor. I have had to sweep up spiritual damage caused by Warren’s book. People in my flock have become confused about the gospel by reading his book. That is no blip. That is the welfare of souls.

Who is being divisive? The man who writes a book which seriously undermines the gospel, or the man who criticized him for doing it.

I am curious if anyone wants to abandon all the teachings and good that Luther accomplished because he turned out to be a rather assertive antisemite to say it nicely, something he also preached about, false teachings, yet not a false teacher. Why because all human words are fallible, all human ministries and doctrine are imperfect, I won’t assume to know every ‘heretic’ when I see them, in the end God’s saving Grave is there, SO I will serve, love, know, and work for him, his world, and his people, period. Pastor Scott, nothing but respect, just trying to say my opinion too.
Thanks

I respect you too. But your last post here is truly baffling. I feel like I’m just saying the same thing over and over again here.

First, I am a pastor. That means I have a flock. Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” But the job of a shepherd is also to protect and defend. Members of my congregation (and many others obviously) are reading Warren’s book. Some of them are also reading my blog. They NEED to be warned of his errors. His teachings will cause people to fall from Christ. I have dealt with correcting serious problems, cause by him, myself. My first aim, is to care for the people I know who are being misled.

Did St. Paul go to the Judaizers in Galatia personally? As far as we know, did he write to them? No. What he did was this. He wrote to the churches he founded and warned them.

I read an issue of Christian Research Journal a few months back where they had an article outlining the errors of Joel Osteen (oops, there I go again). And I read the article. Did CRI do something wrong? It appears that you think so.

You seem to agree that reading church history is a good idea. Haven’t you begun to notice a common theme? Correcting error. Public error should be corrected publicly so that all who are susceptible to being miseld may also be shown the truth.

Here is what I am perceiving as the difference btwn you and I here. Tell me if I am wrong:

I think Rick Warren’s book is undermining the gospel; You don’t.

I think people should be warned publicly of this dangerous text; You don’t.

Just so you know, my Pastor, Pastor Scott does do what you say is Christ’s “real” work. He preaches the Gospel; he administers the sacraments, he counsels people with troubled hearts and mind, he ministers to the sick and dying and does this without complaint or hesitation. He has gone on mission trips to the Sudan. He does all of this and more, very well I might add, but his good works will not save him as he knows very well. It is only his faith that Christ died for his sins that will save him. I know he knows this, we hear it, every sermon. You cannot be saved by your works, your works are only a sign of your faith, and it is your faith that saves you. This is not the point of Rick Warren’s book; it leads people to believe that their works earn them something. This is dangerous and can send them to hell if they end up saying their works justify them before God and that they earn their place in heaven. If you ask most people why they believe they will go to heaven, what answer do you get? Usually “Because I am a good person” or “I’m better than these other people” or “Because I Love Jesus”, these will not get someone into heaven if this is all they believe. The only type of answer that will get you into heaven is – I am a poor miserable sinner who deserves death, but I trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus, that he paid the debt for my sins that I could not pay. This is the Gospel in a nut shell. The Gospel is the true work of Christ. Telling the truth of the Gospel and dispelling lies about it are important work so that people will not be deceived. Telling you neighbor how he can gain eternal life, is loving your neighbor, letting him continue in darkness is not.

Sincerely,
John Mainarich