# "Purpose Driven Life" Would you recommend? If not



## strictestsect (Mar 18, 2004)

What is so destructive about this book?


[Edited on 3-19-2004 by webmaster]


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## Bladestunner316 (Mar 18, 2004)

5 copies explode when you open them

I wouldnt Id stick to the regulative principle.

blade


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## strictestsect (Mar 18, 2004)

OK, but please tell me why?


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## KayJay (Mar 18, 2004)

I would not - the purpose driven life only perpetuates the problem of modern Christen&quot;dumb&quot;. That is, it is man-centered. Reading the book is like reading a self-help book by some popular psychologist. Or...its like watching Oprah  ...

The book is not about God and knowing Him - the book is about how we can use God to attain our goals.

Sure God can use it...just like he can speak through a donkey - but I wouldn't go around telling people they need to own donkeys either...


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## Bladestunner316 (Mar 18, 2004)

it perpetuates that surefer dude image of god they have implanted in our minds.

blade


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## C. Matthew McMahon (Mar 18, 2004)

Take the very first page.

The very first page is a covenant that youa re to make with 7ourself and the book (as if that could be done) and vow to take up the 40 days of purpose. Now its interesting to me that a &quot;spiritual leader&quot; in the church would press someone to take a rash vow on doctrinal material they have yet to encoutner!

Find a passage in the book that deals with repentance and the glory of God in a sinner's regeneration. (Doesn't exist...)

As I have said in the past, so again, all of Rick Warren's stuff should be &quot;purposely driven&quot; off the nearest cliff and trashed.


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## Len (Mar 18, 2004)

One time I saw this book stick out its tongue at a box of kittens.


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## mjbee (Mar 18, 2004)

Somebody told me Reformed people were stuffy and humorless. They obviously never visited this site! Rule of thumb: If it's a bestseller, it's probably bad. And deserves to be heaved off a cliff. 

Bee


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## Bladestunner316 (Mar 18, 2004)




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## brymaes (Mar 18, 2004)

[quote:fcccb4e7ca][i:fcccb4e7ca]Originally posted by mjbee[/i:fcccb4e7ca]
Rule of thumb: If it's a bestseller, it's probably bad. And deserves to be heaved off a cliff. 
[/quote:fcccb4e7ca]

Amen!


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## Bladestunner316 (Mar 18, 2004)

But isnt the Bible the all time bestselling book??


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## Gregg (Mar 18, 2004)

My main purpose is to put up more on this forum.


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## humble_soul (Mar 18, 2004)

Here's a review from a site that I order books from sometimes:

http://www.discerningreader.com/puliriwa.html

It has 3 reasons to avoid &quot;Purpose Driven Life&quot;

Thanks,
Chris


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## pastorway (Mar 18, 2004)

Warren's stuff is man centered, market driven, and misdirected. As John MacArthur stated in a recent interview (paraphrase), &quot;The seeker-sensitive church growth movement is diametrically opposed to the Biblical presentation of the Church.&quot; He evenb said that those churches motivated by this movement should stop referring to themselves as churches!

I agree. It runs counter to what the Bible teaches about the church and how it is to be structured and how it is to work. 

Phillip


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## Scott Bushey (Mar 18, 2004)

With so much good, good stuff out there to read, why read something that is remotely questionable?


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## Chaplain (Mar 18, 2004)

*The Purpose Driven Life*

Our Church is going to do the 40 Days of purpose starting in late April. I do not see anything in the book that hints or suggests that we somehow learn to &quot;Use God&quot; to advance our own selfish agenda. Thats reeks of some of the kind of stuff I hear some of the more &quot;Prominent&quot; Televangelists do.


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## Me Died Blue (Mar 18, 2004)

While I haven't read any of Warren's stuff, I want to second humble_soul's recommendation of www.discerningreader.com. It's the best online Christian (yes, [i:5698620bc3]actually[/i:5698620bc3] Christian!) bookstore of which I know.

Chris


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## Chaplain (Mar 18, 2004)

Also,concerning the purpose driven life, What is God's goal for all His Children? To be conformed more and more to the image of Christ. I am for anything that will help me be more Christ like. God does use &quot;means&quot; to accomplish his will.I read a scathing article about the 40 Days in THE SWORD OF THE LORD. Anyone familiar with that publication? They are EXTREME RIGHT WING FUNDAMENTALIST BAPTISTS. They believe that ANYONE who does not do Church their way is apostate.


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## pastorway (Mar 18, 2004)

Just because a group we suspect of being &quot;out there&quot; sees the danger in a book/program does not mean that the danger does not exist.

While there may be good elements to the program, Warren's whole philosophy is off base.

He is making sinners comfortable at church. As soon as the lost are comfortable without conviction, etc, we have stopped preaching the gospel!

Phillip


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## Bladestunner316 (Mar 19, 2004)

All this is is seeker sensitive trash that is just like the papal passion which so captivates the so called evangelical church to drive people in to church not based on SCRIPTURE but on man made traditions so that people will fill the pews because that looks spiritual and people give money to there so called shephards so that they have a job. its marketing pure and simple it caters to an allready biblical illeterate laxidasical society.

blade:flaming:


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## FrozenChosen (Mar 19, 2004)

I was thinking just last evening, in particular about this SS movement that's taking everyone by storm.

I've been at Baptist Campus Ministries at Auburn recently, but now I'm attending the venerable RUF and I'm probably going to ditch the former next semester. Anyways, at BCM, a lot of people support this 40 Days of Purpose/PDL/PDC kind of stuff.

Knowing some of these people, I don't think the Seeker-Sensitive movement is going to die out. It's totally based on growing the church in terms of numbers, and in terms of numbers alone.

This makes me think that the SS church will not die naturally, no, I think it will be slaughtered by the vehemently anti-religious. Many denominations have stalwart defenders of its faith and critics of society; for the reformed, Greg Koukl comes to mind. Many point back to C.S. Lewis.

Perhaps there should be a book, Purpose Driven Apolgetics.


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## Chaplain (Mar 19, 2004)

*The 40 Days of Purpose (Again)*

THe 40 Days of purpose simply drips with Scripture. I thought Calvinist's believed that God can and does what He wills with whatever or whomever He pleases. I too deplore the &quot;man centered&quot; notions in religion today. I do not believe it is our job to help make sinners comfortable in their unbelief, but neither is it our job&quot;to get them saved&quot;. It is our job to help bring them under the influence of the Word of God. Many people have come under the influence of God's word through the 40 Days of Purpose,and have come to Christ. Its not about &quot;MY PURPOSE,OR MY CHURCH OR DENOMINATIONS PURPOSE,IT'S ALL ABOUT GOD'S PURPOSE FOR ME AND OTHERS.&quot;


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## blhowes (Mar 19, 2004)

[b:b132452113]Dan wrote:[/b:b132452113]
I don't think the Seeker-Sensitive movement is going to die out. It's totally based on growing the church in terms of numbers, and in terms of numbers alone. This makes me think that the SS church will not die naturally, no, I think it will be slaughtered by the vehemently anti-religious. 

I've been to a couple of seeker sensitive churches briefly and don't have much good to say about them. I liked starting the day with a cup of coffee, but other than that, I really had to wonder why they bothered.

I'm hoping that the seeker sensitive thing is just a movement that will go by the wayside eventually. I don't know how much more the gospel can be watered down - hopefully this is as watered down as it'll get. Listening to the &quot;sermons&quot; was more like sitting through a children's story time than anything else. Learn the principles about Jesus, realize that we all make mistakes and that you've made mistakes too, and then come up to the front after the service and talk to one of the leaders if you think you want to know more about being a Christian. 

I wish these churches would truly become seeker sensitive. Not sensitive to what would make non Christians (oops, I mean &quot;the unchurched&quot; ) happy, but sensitive to the desires of God's people. People who desire and yearn to hear God's word, to learn of His majesty, love, mercy, and grace and of our depravity and what our saviour went through on our behalf.

Psa 119:20 My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.

Psa 63:1-4 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

[Edited on 3-19-2004 by blhowes]


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## C. Matthew McMahon (Mar 19, 2004)

&quot;Matthew 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.&quot;

Matthew 4:6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. &quot;

&quot;Matthew 4:8-9 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. &quot;

The devil can quote Scripture too, twist it, and use it for his own tactics.

The means NEVER justifies the end in these cases.

How long does it take for heresy to come into the church? One book. One sermon. One conversation. It takes YEARS to get it out. It would be better if men like Rick Warren stop writing books altogether so that the people who are truly converted that remain in some forms of ignorance would be spared the theological heartache and daily pain of bad theology ruling their lives.

We either love the truth and want to see it presented in light of the Bible, or we compromise. Compromise is the language of cowards (Oliver Cromwell.)

Let's use the other thread on this instead of having 3 of them running at the same time. I will merge this one with the other.

[Edited on 3-19-2004 by webmaster]

The merge worked great. it is one long thread now.

[Edited on 3-19-2004 by webmaster]


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## Doodle Bug (Mar 19, 2004)

[quote:49776c0398][i:49776c0398]Originally posted by webmaster[/i:49776c0398]
As I have said in the past, so again, all of Rick Warren's stuff should be &quot;purposely driven&quot; off the nearest cliff and trashed. [/quote:49776c0398]

I'd disagree in one case. He wrote a book a few years ago- 81, before this seeker junk, called Dynamic Bible Study Methods. It's actually a very sound book, as shocking as it that may be.
As for his other books, I think they and all the Jabez junk should be categorized with Benny Hinn and TD Jakes.


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## Doodle Bug (Mar 19, 2004)

[quote:6591c2bacb][i:6591c2bacb]Originally posted by Chaplain[/i:6591c2bacb]
Also,concerning the purpose driven life, What is God's goal for all His Children? To be conformed more and more to the image of Christ. [/quote:6591c2bacb]

No our purpose is to glorify God. Now you could say that we do that by becoming more like Him, or that by glorifying God we become more like him. *Edited to add- I think this book does anything but glorify God, it glorifies Man.

[Edited on 3-19-2004 by Doodle Bug]


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## Doodle Bug (Mar 19, 2004)

[quote:595b808605][i:595b808605]Originally posted by Chaplain[/i:595b808605]
Many people have come under the influence of God's word through the 40 Days of Purpose,and have come to Christ. Its not about &quot;MY PURPOSE,OR MY CHURCH OR DENOMINATIONS PURPOSE,IT'S ALL ABOUT GOD'S PURPOSE FOR ME AND OTHERS.&quot; [/quote:595b808605]

So, it doesn't matter what tatics are used, even if they are unbiblical, as long as we rack up numbers in the end?


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## Gregg (Mar 19, 2004)

After almost a week without shaving, I may be purposly driven to apply a razor to my face tommarrow......ouch :yawn:






[Edited on 3-19-2004 by Gregg]


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## mjbee (Mar 19, 2004)

Yes the Bible is the best-selling book of all time, but it IS NOT on the New York Times' list. 

Even Dave Hunt's ministry realizes that there is something terribly wrong with the seeker movement. His March issue of &quot;The Berean Call&quot; addressed it. 

Don't lemmings purposely run off a cliff because they have an inner drive to do that?


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## Bladestunner316 (Mar 19, 2004)

Even dave hunt eh?

blade


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## SolaScriptura (Mar 19, 2004)

Something interesting... a friend of mine is a Sunday School teacher in a church that is going through this series. There is a video that is shown for about the first 10-15 minutes of class in which Warren talks about whatever topic is the focus of that day. 
Anyway, my friend - who generally likes it- didn't even need me to point this out... it was so obvious that he was able to see it... Warren was going over the &quot;gospel&quot; and he kept talking about Jesus dying for you and about how you need to let him lead you (or whatever word he used, but it wasn't &quot;save&quot. Anyway... Warren never once said the word sin, or any synonym of it... and my friend was right on the mark when he commented: Warren is trying so hard to be inoffensive that he doesn't give any reason why Jesus died for me and why I should believe in him.

Well, at least it was true in that bit of the video that we watched.


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## Bladestunner316 (Mar 19, 2004)

cant we all just get along I mean God forbid we tell people the TRUTH!!

blade


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## C. Matthew McMahon (Mar 19, 2004)

Life is too short to read the garbage that is saturated with poor exegetical work - Warren, Lucado, Swindoll, - shall I get out my CBD top 25 book list??

You have MANY MANY far BETTER books to be reading. If you want to deal witht he &quot;purpose&quot; of a &quot;driven&quot; life before Christ, why not some of the following:

A Treatise of Earthlimindedness, by Jeremiah Burroughs

Heaven Taken by Storm, by Thomas Watson 

The Almost Christian Discovered, by Matthew Mead 

The Practice of Piety, by Lewis Bayly 

The True Christian's Love for the Unseen Christ, by Thomas Vincent 

Charity and Its Fruit, by Jonathan Edwards

Gospel Fear, by Jeremiah Burroughs 

The Christian in Complete Armour, by William Gurnall

The Christian Warrior, by Isaac Ambrose

General Directions for a Comfortable Walking with God, by Robert Bolton

Gospel Conversation, by Jeremiah Burroughs

Love to Christ Necessary to Escape the Curse at His Coming, by Thomas Doolittle 

Pressing into the Kingdom, by Jonathan Edwards

The Saint's Encouragement to Diligence in Christ's Service, by James Janeway 


STOP WASTING your time with all the drivel that is published today. It is a big-fat waste of time. If people had half an inckling to what solid biblical material was written long ago and has been recently been published, they would never waste their time with any of the popular writings of men today.

USe Warren's book as a book stop, or kindling for the fire, pick up Burroughs or Edwards. Those men loved God and his truth. Warren needs to buff up on what the Biblical God is all about.

I have thought about writing another critique of his book, but why beat a dead horse? Just bury it.


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## Bladestunner316 (Mar 19, 2004)

good list

blade


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## JKLeoPCA (Mar 19, 2004)

*Howdy*

When did it happen, that so many lost confidence in God to work by His Holy Spirit through His Word preached, read, and studied, with prayer and participation in the sacraments, that we need to try other &quot;techniques&quot; to grow or be stimulated in the Faith.

in my opinion the whole seaker movement stands to say that the users of such techniques have lost faith in the means already given. 



Peace and Grace in Christ!
Numbers 6:24-26
John


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## cupotea (Mar 20, 2004)

Plus Warren uses so many different translations, paraphrases to support his material. Many of these paraphrases are completely different to the KJV.


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## C. Matthew McMahon (Mar 20, 2004)

Thanks Josh, that was helpful!


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## cupotea (Mar 20, 2004)

Here are the various Bible Translations he uses in his book.

The Amplified Bible
Grand Rapids: Zondervan (1965)

Contemporary English Version
New York: American Bible Society (1995)

God's Word Translation
Grand Rapids: World Publishing, Inc. (1995)

King James Version

Living Bible
Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers (1979)

The Message
Colorado Springs: Navpress (1993)

New American Bible
Chicago: Catholic Press (1970)

New American Standard Bible
Anaheim, CA: Foundation Press (1973)

New Century Version
Dallas: Word Bibles (1991)

New International Version
Colorado Springs: International Bible Society (1978, 1984)

New Jerusalem Bible
Garden City, NY: Doubleday (1985)

New Living Translation
Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers (1996)

New Revised Standard Version
Grand Rapids: Zondervan (1990)

New Testament in Modern English by J. B. Phillips
New York: Macmillan (1958)

Today's English Version
New York: American Bible Society (1992)
(Also called Good News Translation)


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