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August 16th 2008     

Setting RedState Right

Posted by: Laer at 10:59 am

Shame on Rick Warren for allowing [Faith in Public Life] to participate and discredit what could have been a noteworthy event about faith in this race.

By the way, real social justice can only happen with the saving grace of Jesus Christ. But I suspect that won’t be the message coming out of this event.

S

o writes Erick Erickson at RedState about this afternoon’s McCain/Obama questioning at Saddleback Church. Erickson is peeved because Warren asked Faith in Public Life “to help him come up with the questions to ask McCain and Obama.” (Faith in Public Life is indeed a representative of far-Left, liberal faith, a group that finds a way to support gay marriage, Palestine and abortion within a Christian framework.) Conclude Erickson:

So don’t really expect serious questions related to faith and Christianity. These people are more interested in gay rights and abortion rights than evangelism.

Actually, you can expect just that when you turn in. Evidencing some incredibly sloppy reporting, Erickson never paused to consider who else Warren asked to help suggest questions. Erickson has focused on one tiny element and blown it into the whole element. Based on this post, I wouldn’t trust much of anything he writes.

Warren is unarguably pro-life. His messages on God’s plan for your life extend into the womb. I’ll always remember the powerful emotions I felt the first time I music pastor Rick Munchow play the hymn “He Knows My Name,” DC Talk’s praise song that emphasizes the message that God knows everything about us because he created us. On the church’s big screens appeared a series of beautiful images of newborns, infants and pregnant women. The meaning couldn’t have been more clear.

I can’t say that I remember Rick ever preaching about Israel in a modern context, but he is a fundamentalist and interprets the Bible quite directly, so to him Israel is the land where God’s chosen people live, and where God’s plan for us will work out. I’d say that makes him pro-Israel.

And as for gay marriage, Rick has a Christian’s love for all people, including gays. But his church will not marry a straight couple that is living together prior to marriage, because it doesn’t believe in sex before marriage - or to use the quaint old-time language, “living in sin.” Care to hazard a guess regarding its position on marrying gays?

So, why did he invite Faith in Public Life to participate? Because Warren is two things: incredibly curious and open to input, and wholly dedicated to Christ and the literal word of the Bible. As is his habit, coming into the event, he asked many, many people for input - including me, for cryin’ out loud! After receiving this human input, he will be spending a lot of time in prayer leading up to the event, so he can get God’s input as well. He’s looking for an event that he believes is true to God - in a conservative, not liberal, Christian sense.

I doubt very much that Faith in Public Life will be very influential, but don’t be surprised if you hear something that reflects something of their POV in one or two questions. If Rick thinks their questions will shine a light on the character of the candidate, he’ll ask it.

I was brought to Christ at Saddleback and attended the church for many years, getting to be pretty friendly with Warren since I was a Celebrate Recovery leader, gave my testimony in front of four services, and was periodically called on to help the church with PR issues, like handling the international media that converged on the Lake Forest campus when FloJo’s funeral was held there.

Warren’s hardly perfect - none of us are. I was disappointed when he jumped on the global warming bandwagon, for example, and it’s likely he’ll ask some questions this afternoon that’ll be clunkers. But when all is said and done, I imagine that Erickson will realize that he was too hasty and too ill-informed when he worried through his post yesterday.

hat-tip: JoshuaPundit

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  1. Cheat Seeking Missiles » Live From Saddleback

    August 16th, 2008 at 7:24 pm

    2. Comments

  2. Roy Lofquist

    August 16th, 2008 at 1:14 pm

    Dear Laer,
    I agree completely.
    I carry no water for Pastor Warren. I am hoping that he is so successful that he shows us just how awful recent moderators have been.
    I’ve watched every debate since Nixon-Kennedy. The modern ones have been a total farce.
    Regards,
    Roy
     
     
     
     

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« Russian Attack’s Brutal Nature | Live From Saddleback »

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For all 'Media Bias 2008' – Click Here