Rick Warren’s New Magazine, Purpose Driven Connection, Promotes the New Global Spirituality

Excerpts from



Lighthousetrailsresearch.com

Rick Warren’s new magazine,
Purpose Driven Connection

promotes the New Global Spirituality

By



Editors at Lighthouse Trails

February 4, 2009

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When Lighthouse Trails
reported in November of 2006 that New Age leader
Marianne Williamson came to Rick Warren’s defense regarding
his strategy to bring about global peace, tying it in with
global meditation, it became clear to some that it was just
a matter of time before Rick Warren came out of the “new
spirituality” closet. That day is much closer now with the
launching of the premier edition of his new magazine, the
Purpose Driven Connection.

After subscribing online to the magazine, Lighthouse Trails
received the first issue less than 24 hours later by U.S.
mail. While the customer service and delivery was
remarkable, the content of the magazine is troubling.

The 144 glossy page, high quality magazine has been put
together by a professional team of editors, marketing
engineers, and design directors and will be issued four
times a year at a cost of $29.99 annually or $10 an issue.
Rick Warren is the Editor-in-Chief, and is also one of the
main writers. On a first run through, one thing becomes
quickly apparent – this is a promotional project for Rick
Warren and his Purpose Driven Movement. Aside from articles
written by him and about him, as well as the mention of his
name in numerous spots, there are 18 photos of Rick Warren
throughout the publication.

But a pricey magazine filled with the chief editor’s name
and picture does not constitute serious concern. What does,
however, is the material within its cover. The magazine
reads like a Robert Schuller, Norman Vincent Peale, and
Peter Drucker book all rolled into one with articles written
by contemplative proponents Mark Batterson,
Max Lucado, Bill Hybels, and
Lee Strobel.

An emphasis in the magazine is “connection.” In the
“Editor’s Letter,” Rick Warren says: “YOU WERE CREATED FOR
CONNECTIONS…. Life is all about connecting. A disconnected
life is merely existing” (p.2-3). Warren promises that the
Purpose Driven Connection will give the “power” and
the tools for this connection. “Power flows through
connections…. When you’re a member of the Purpose Driven
Connection, we’ll help you develop the four kinds of
relationships you need in order to grow: mentors, models,
partners, and friends” (p. 3).

In addition to the magazine, an online community, a Personal
Spiritual Health Assessment, and Small Group Study Guides,
Warren plans on offering PDC Courses, Summits, Retreats,
Coaches, Weekends, and more. With so many venues being
offered to members, it is a fair question to ask what
resources and influences will be used to provide all this
training.

Those who have tracked Rick Warren over the past several
years, using biblical discernment, know there have been New
Age implications in his teachings and his persuasions.
Warren Smith, in his book

Deceived on Purpose, laid out many of these
implications and Warren’s tie to New Age sympathizer Robert
Schuller. In the premier issue of Purpose Driven
Connection, Warren has once again brought in New Age
influences, which are given as tools to build Purpose Driven
connections.

In a section of the magazine called “The Scene,” one page is
devoted to popular “Christian” books. Warren has included
books that have contemplative and or emerging slants, such
as Brennan Manning’s Ragamuffin Gospel, as well as
listing
The Shack as a “notable best-selling Christian”
book (no disclaimer or warning provided, which gives the
indication to readers that this is a good trustworthy
book….

Even more troubling, on that same page of Purpose Driven
Connection is a book titled Led by Faith written
by Rwandan genocide survivor Immaculee Ilibagaza with a
foreword written by Rick Warren. Ilibagaza’s story is a most
incredible and heart rending story of her survival, hiding
in a cramped bathroom with a group of other women during the
Rwandan genocide. But Ilibagaza’s message is one that
resonates with New Age leader Wayne Dyer, who has vigorously
promoted Ilibagaza. Her books are published by Dyer’s
publisher, one of the largest and most prolific New Age
publishers today,

Hay House. It is

Dyer who said that

A Course in Miracles would be the way to bring
peace to the world. In Ilibagaza’s first book, Left to
Tell, she acknowledges Dyer’s influence in her life.

This Lighthouse Trails report is not intended to bring
criticism against a woman who suffered so much in Rwanda. It
is rather to show that America’s most popular evangelical
pastor, who few Christian leaders have dared to challenge on
his beliefs and actions, is moving swiftly toward a global
spirituality that will ultimately reject the Gospel message
of Jesus Christ. The Purpose Driven Connection is a
step toward this reality.

Immaculee Ilibagaza, a Catholic, has also written a book
about

Mary apparitions called Our Lady of Kibeho. On
Ilibagaza’s website, it reads:

“After the genocide, and two decades of rigorous
investigation, Our Lady of Kibeho became the first and
only Vatican-approved Marian (that is, related to the
Virgin Mary) site in all of Africa. But the story still
remains largely unknown. Now, Immaculee Ilibagaza plans
to change all that. She made many pilgrimages to Kibeho
both before and after the holocaust, personally
witnessed true miracles, and spoke with a number of the
visionaries themselves.”

Some may feel that for Rick Warren to write the foreword
(and promote in his magazine) to a book that has a story of
such incredible suffering, releases him from any obligation.
But in light of Rick Warren’s major influence on millions of
people and given the fact he claims to be a Bible
believing Christian, he is obligated indeed. To promote a
book and author, in the name of Christianity, that points to
Wayne Dyer (author of Living the Wisdom of the Tao
and Real Magic) and Mary apparitions is misleading
and unruly.

On the back page of the Purpose Driven Connection
sits a full page promotion for an organization called

Hands on Network, which is now part of the Points of
Light Institute. The promotional reads:
“It is Through
People That Change Happens in the World. Take action. Be the
change.” The “Be the Change” theme is prevalent in the
global spirituality efforts. As we have

previously reported, Rick Warren is on the “Leadership
Council” of a liberal organization,

Service Nation (Be the Change, Inc, which is working
toward mandatory volunteer service for Americans. The motto
of Service Nation, “Be the Change,” is taken from Hindu
guru, Mahatma Gandhi and a motto that both Rick Warren and
President Barack Obama would agree upon. Incidentally, in
the middle section of Purpose Driven Connection is a
full page photo of Rick Warren and President Barack Obama,
along with a five page interview Warren did with Obama,
which states that Obama’s “Christian beliefs … influence
his views on faith, abortion, freedom, and evil” (p. 74).

What is most tragic about the Purpose Driven Connection is
that Rick Warren presents stories of those who have truly
suffered in one form or another (persecution, natural
disaster, poverty, etc), but he is using these stories to
further his plans for a Purpose Driven world and has left
much of truth behind, offering a false spirituality in its
place. It is equally disturbing, that in a world where so
many have either rejected Jesus Christ or not heard about
him at all, in what could perhaps be the 11th hour before
the return of Christ, a man who claims to be a Christian and
who many say is the major representative for evangelical
Christians goes virtually unchallenged by Christian leaders
and the majority of Christian pastors and professors. The
question must be asked, is Rick Warren hiding behind the
sufferings of the world in order to masquerade his plans of
a new universal reformation that will include all religious
persuasions and will offer the world a “gospel” that offends
no one, yet for that very reason can save no one?

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter
times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to
seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
(1 Timothy 4:1-3)

See also


Rick Warren’s Clout

From:

http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com

Source article:



http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/newsletter020209.htm#LETTER.BLOCK33

See also

Deceived by a counterfeit “Jesus”
– The twisted “truths” of The Shack & A Course in Miracles