PEACE Plan: The Final Verdict

On A Generation for Truth we have discussed and critiqued Rick Warren's PEACE Plan over the past few weeks. Now comes the time for a summarizing opinion, the final verdict if you will. My personal opinion, simply boils down to that the PEACE Plan misses the mark. Listen to Rick Warren's words regarding his Plan, "The first Reformation was about belief; this one's going to be about behavior." Falling back on my debate training and instincts I would now like to show the advantages and disadvantages of enacting the PEACE Plan.

Observation 1: Definitions

Philosophy of the PEACE Plan: Listen to Rick Warren's words regarding his Plan, "The first Reformation was about belief; this one's going to be about behavior." I would like to comment first by saying that Christians have been trying to influence Godly behavior since before the 1^st century.

PEACE Plan:

Promote Reconciliation

Equip servant leaders

Assist the poor

Care for the sick

Educate the next generation

Observation 2: Harms of the Status Quo

Rick Warren calls these the five "giant problems" that exist today.

Spiritual Emptiness (Aaron finds a major problem with the word "empty." I have a tendency to feel that they just messed up a little bit and should have used the phrase "Spiritual Darkness.")

Self-serving Leadership (Rick Warren hobnobs with some leaders that feel to belong in this category, however, if Warren attempts to truly make some of these socialistic thinkers to truly think about the people they claim to serve, then great.)

Extreme Poverty (As someone who enjoys finding historical patterns and cycles, extreme poverty occurs often when dictatorships arise. God creates both the wealthy and the poor, of those who receive much, much is expected. Also, if someone will not work, neither shall he eat.)

Pandemic Diseases (Diseases are a direct consequence of sin and many sins cause illness. Christians have established thousands of hospitals, clinics and other source of medical care across globe.)

Educate the Next Generation (What type of education are we talking about? A God centered philosophy or man centered ideologies?)

Observation 3: Advantages of the PEACE Plan

First Christians will address these problems and will be living witnesses for Christ although that is not the primary objective (see main disadvantage for further discussion). My church headed up ShareFest in our area and I believe had a positive impact on our community, why not reach out to the whole world if you can?

Observation 4: Disadvantages of the PEACE Plan

If Rick Warren had not made his "2nd Reformation" claim and instead stated that he believed that the church should help people in need, it would be an extremely great plan. But he focuses on the deed as opposed to doctrine. God judges the heart, not the outward appearance. Groups like Samaritan's Purse and Operation Christmas Child provide aid and supplies to countries around the world and the Gospel. The PEACE Plan could do this too.

The Bottom Line: "The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him." Proverbs 18:17

PEACE, Really? Part 1

Rick Warren has become one of the most influential pastor’s in America. He has even been termed “America’s Pastor”. But what does he really teach? And most importantly, is he biblical?
When Rick Warren’s book, “The Purpose Driven Life” burst on to the Christian scene, it rocked the world. It almost instantly became the New York Times number 1 national bestseller. But what was he teaching and was it biblical? And should we follow it. Although we may review the actual book at some point we are not here to discuss it now. However, I will say that his book was very seeker sensitive and contained a very unbiblical gospel. In recent days, Rick Warren become more and more emergent as the movement has become more prevalent.


Recently Rick Warren has unveiled a new plan through which he wishes to begin a new reformation throughout the world. It is called, The PEACE plan. PEACE is an acronym for which each letter stands for a solution to what he sees as the five big problems in the world. Unfortunately what he sees as the big problems of the world don’t deal with the root issue at play in the world, sin. Since he does give five problems and five solutions I am only going to deal with two in this post.


The first big problem that Rick Warren sees in the world is Spiritual Emptiness. This term is completely overused and it really doesn’t describe the true problem. Humans do not have a problem with “spiritual emptiness” but they have sin problem. We don’t need some emptiness in our hearts filled; we need our hearts, which are filthy, wretched, and foul, cleansed and renewed by God who can only do this through our repentance and faith in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross.


Warren’s solution to this problem is the first letter of peace: Promote Reconciliation. Although this phrase is not inherently wrong, but we need to look at what Warren means by Promote Reconciliation. On his website he makes it abundantly clear that he is referring mainly to reconciliation between men. This however is not the main issue which needs to be dealt with. The true need of reconciliation is between God and man. This is accomplished only through Christ’s atoning work on the cross. Once the reconciliation between man and God is accomplished the minor issue of men to men reconciliation will take care of itself.



Bottom Line: Ephesians 2:16 “and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

Note from Noah:

An important facet to discuss when addressing the need for reconciliation exists in the fact that different people will attain different positions in life. Life is not "fair" normally when man tries to be fair, major issues arise. Communism/Socialism is a big attempt that parades under the façade of fairness, but in reality represents a totally unjust system. While it is true that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" (The Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America) and that "The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all." (Proverbs 22:2) The key to this view that is that God gives and takes away. In the book of Proverbs we find numerous examples of the importance of diligence and a good work ethic. "But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. (Isaiah 11:4-6) This passage of prophecy from Isaiah depicts a time of true, complete reconciliation, a kind that on Jesus can bring, not man.

A Generation For Truth Podcast Episode 3

In this episode we discuss the Kingdom Dominion Theology of the EC.

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Kingdom Dominion Theology

The word kingdom in the New Testament is written over seventy times. Most of those uses are describing "The Kingdom of God" or "The Kingdom of Christ". Obviously this concept is an important doctrine in the Bible. But how does God describe his kingdom? How is it brought into being and what is our role in the Kingdom? Unfortunately, what the emergents would have us believe is false.



As we discussed in our last podcast a major portion of the emergent's doctrine is the use of the social gospel. Believing that by doing good, helping the poor, and fighting aids you are spreading the gospel, has influenced much of what their ministries are all about. However this idea has also influenced another big part of their ministries, Kingdom Dominion Theology. Kingdom Dominion Theology is the doctrine whereby we, human beings, bring God's kingdom here to this earth. There are many different groups who offer various ways to cause this, but the method the EC promotes is the social gospel.



Clearly the doctrine of Kingdom Dominion is contrary to scripture. The entire book of Revelation is the prophetic telling of Christ's coming and establishing his own kingdom. John 18:36 says, Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” When Jesus said his kingdom was not of this world he did not mean that his kingdom would never be a part of this earth. He merely meant that for right now his kingdom is not on this earth. But why is that? God's kingdom and our world are two completely different places. One is a sin cursed fallen world where Satan is the prince of the power of the air. The other is a holy unblemished realm where Christ is the king. When saying that we must bring the kingdom to this earth, the EC is saying that we must make the world a better place. This however cannot be accomplished. We as sinful fallen human beings cannot bring this world to the perfection it once was. The book of Revelation is the account of Christ destroying the earth by fire in order to create a new heaven and new earth which will be completely without sin and death.



A major reason many of the EC leaders believe that we must bring this kingdom to the earth, is that they have a faulty understanding of heaven. Many have adopted the mindset that heaven is not a place; it is a state of mind. in doing this they completely disregard John 14:2-3 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. By diminishing the idea of heaven they completely demolish the faith. Like Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Paul is saying here that if Christ didn't rise from the dead, then there will be no Resurrection and our faith is in vain.



Many of the emergents will point to what we call the Lord's prayer which states, "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, the kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." They will say, "see, we should be praying for his kingdom to come and for his will to be done on earth". In reality all this verse is saying is that we are to pray that Jesus will bring his kingdom, not for us to bring it for him.



Bottom line: 1 Corinthians 15:24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.

A Generation For Truth Podcast Episode 2

Today we are talking about the social gospel and how the Emergents have replaced the true gospel with this heresy.

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http://swordmaster31.podbean.com/2008/06/09/a-generation-for-truth-podcast-episode-2/

The Social Gospel

"Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary" - Francis of Assisi. This quote is a source of controversy, mainly over whether he actually said this or not. However, in this article I am not going to be dealing with the what Francis of Assisi did or did not say, but rather the idea promoted in the alleged quote. The Emergent Church promotes the "social gospel." Aaron will address "kingdom dominion" which deals with social gospel as well. As a debater, I like to define my terms:

Social gospel - That the gospel is ending poverty, solving AIDs, and helping out people is preaching the gospel. This philosophy entails thinking that Jesus dying for our sins and the Ten Commandments are secondary to to "helping" people.

The key word is social. As in socialism. When the social gospel began to gain momentum, many of the people behind the social gospel would have also been considered progressivists . These people observed poverty brought on by evil capitalists who owned factories and mines. So they promoted big government, labor rights, and socialistic ideas like a welfare state. Before we go any farther, I want to make it clear that I do not relish the idea of having eight-year olds working in coal mines and that some of the factory owners took advantage of their workers. On the other hand, teenagers, the reason why you cannot get a job till you are fifteen or sixteen is because of these people who instituted child labor laws. The free market represents the best economic model and the more the government messes with it, the more off kilter it gets. FDR's New Deal legislation and many other socialistic government programs have created a major bill for myself, you, and your decedents. And for those of who do not enjoy school and learning, the social gospel people/progressivists pushed for more enforced school attendance. All of these measures were an effort to improve the moral lives of fellow citizens.

Many people claim that environment and wealth dictates one's moral standing. They are absolutely wrong. If money plus nice neighborhoods equal strong moral values, what happened in Hollywood? Every moment you turn around, some celebrity is in rehab or court. If you live in Cincinnati, you lost the majority of your pro football team to low moral standards, even though these guys get paid a ton and can live in a good neighborhood in they wanted to. No, morals begin and end with someone taking a personal stand and deciding that they will choose the path of truth.

The Emergent Church takes the alleged Francis of Assisi quote quite literally, they feel that saving the world is all that is necessary for evangelism. But we are commanded to preach the gospel, not promote energy efficient lightbulbs in hope that people will desire God. Think about it, if I drive a hybrid, do you think my friends will say something like, "Noah, you drive a hybrid and you try to save the world. What motivates you to do this? I want the passion that is with in you too." I highly doubt that, although I wouldn't mind the great gas mileage. (By the way, I do not own a hybrid.)

I do not want to discourage people from living a life of service and high moral standards, but rather the opposite. Live a life that is pleasing to God, one of integrity, humility, and love. For instance, during the summer my church is in charge of a community service coalition. Churches throughout the area join together to volunteer and serve the community, from painting buildings, running a completely free car wash, and gratis yard sale. But our church firmly believes in preaching the true gospel as well. Help out your community, but do not rely on your service work alone to spread the gospel.

The Bottom Line: "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works." - II Corinthians 11: 13-15

Contextualization, Why It Is Wrong

Contextualization. What does it mean? Where did the idea come from? Should we use it? Until about forty years ago, the word "contextualize" merely meant "To study something in its own context." However, since that time, a new meaning has arisen. It was transformed into portraying something in the context of the audience you were speaking to. Unfortunately, this meant adopting the world's standard and culture to try to get a point across.



Regrettably the Emergent Church has adopted this definition of Contextualization, and has used it to promote their ideas. And what culture have they decided to mimic? The postmodern mindset that many of today's young people are accepting. The EC has embraced the main teaching of postmodernism, Truth is Relative and no one can be certain of it, and has applied it to the Bible. Many of the emergent leaders have rejected that ultimate and absolute Truth can be found in the Bible, and instead they say they want to "have a conversation" about biblical truths and basically reconstruct everything that that Bible teaches. Emergents such as Rob Bell have begun using terms like Narrative Theology which he describes by saying, "We believe the Bible to be the voices of many who have come before us, inspired by God to pass along their poems, stories, accounts, and letters of response and relationship with each other and the living God." What he has done is reduced the Bible to mere stories which God inspired people to write. Bell has completely removed God as the author and believes that, "discovering the Bible as a human product, rather than divine fiat. ... The Bible is still in the center for us, but it’s a different kind of center. We want to embrace mystery, rather than conquer it".




In his new book, "Everything Must Change" Brian Maclaren, another emergent leader, states that we must change everything that we do to reach the world. But we must remember that words do have meaning, so what is entailed in the words "everything must change"? Justification. Must the central doctrine of justification change? How about the doctrine off Christ's imputed righteousness? Must that change as well? Regrettably much of what Brian Maclaren and other emergent leaders say does change these fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. And sadly many of today's youth are being drawn into what these teachers have to say. Noah and I will discuss these changes when we talk about the social gospel in our posts next week and in our second podcast.



But many emergents will say that Paul used contextualization to preach the gospel to the Greeks on Mars Hill, and that is a fair point, one that must be addressed. In order to reach some with the gospel, you must "contextualize" to some extent. If you want to reach Russians, speak Russian. If you want to reach the Chinese, speak Chinese. You may even have to speak some of the phrases that people recognize (but not swearing or blasphemy as some emergent leaders are prone to do). Paul did exercise this to an extent. Yet the emergents will take this simple and appropriate use of "contextualization" and twist it to mean what they want it to. They have adopted the cultures ideas and philosophies, forced them into the Bible, and then used these new doctrines to connect with an unsaved world. And the world is buying it. Because sinful fallen man sees these ideas in the church, and cool relevant pastors who can relate to them, then then accept what these so called pastors are saying. All the while the EC would have us believe that their approach is biblical.



Bottom Line: 1 John 2:15 "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

The Emergent Church Overview

A new perspective on the church has revealed itself to the world. This new movement is known as the "Emergent/Emerging Church" (Occasionally, Aaron and I will refer to it as the EC). Promoting a "a church for people who don't like church" mentality. Using espresso and talented praise teams to bring in the masses, while simultaneously watering down the Word of God to "tickle" the ears of the audience. The Emergent Church is attempting to deconstruct the traditional church and reshape the church in order to reach a anti-Christian world. According to John Macarthur, by eliminating the unpopular morals and systematic theology of our forefathers, the Emergent Church undermines the charge and duty of the church.
"I believe the church has one function, and that is to guard the truth, to proclaim the truth and to live the truth. So you take the Word of God, you teach it, you proclaim it, you protect it, you defend it, and you live it, and that’s a church. The Word of God rightly divided, rightly understood." - John Macarthur



A Generation for Truth will be addressing the topic of the Emergent Church in a series of podcasts and articles. So this post is going to be in a "Big Picture" as opposed to the "Little Picture" opinions that will be coming later.




As you can guess, truth is pretty important to us at A Generation for Truth. As I mentioned before they are watering down the doctrine in clear contrast to Paul's writings in II Timothy 4:3, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." Aaron will be covering the "contextualization" of the Emergent Church in depth, so I want to get into how their "marketing" strategy strongly grabs teens or college students.



Some people feel that you need to run a church like a business, and to some degree you do. However, if the church gets caught up with having the biggest church and attendance, then the church really needs to change it's focus. There is nothing wrong with a large building and a lot of people in your church, just do not get depressed if your church is small. The most important objective of a church lies in having "salty" salt (Christians) in your salt shaker(church). "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men." - Matthew 5:13. I feel that as long as churches can continue to produce disciples that are committed to living out the Word and truly seek after God that your church can be as big as you want it to. However, when a church gets rid of solid doctrine because it makes people feel guilty or the do not understand the deep stuff, just so attendance numbers go up. With the big self esteem movement that most of our peers have grown up in, a pastor telling everyone how desperately wicked, immoral, and destitute they are before God does not attract a lot of churchgoers. When some guy (or even a lady) gets up in a pair of jeans and talks about how Christianity is all about love, peace, and how everyone is special, people like that. Really, who doesn't like it when people say good things about you? And to some degree Christianity does involve love and peace, but our God is also one of justice, jealousy, and wrath. Bet you haven't heard that message in a long time!


The Bottom Line: "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." - Romans 12:2