Quotes By Rick Warren

"Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you," Deuteronomy 4:2.

"Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar," Proverbs 30:5-6.

"For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book," Revelation 22:19.

"The goal of 'The Purpose Driven Life' is to help people develop a heart for the world."
(Rick Warren, "The Purpose Driven Life helps readers determine the focus of their lives," pastors.com)

"Keep your pastoral prayers short in your seeker services...The unchurched can’t handle long prayers; their minds wander or they fall asleep."
(Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Church, p. 256)

"The point Paul is making is that we must be willing to adjust our worship practices when unbelievers are present (1 Corinthians 14:23). God tells us to be sensitive to the hang-ups of unbelievers in our services. Although Paul never used the term 'Seeker Sensitive,' he definitely pioneered the idea."
(Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Church, p. 243)

"During his last year in seminary, he and Kay drove west to visit Robert Schuller's Institute for Church Growth. "We had a very stony ride out to the conference," she says, because such nontraditional ministry scared her to death. Schuller, though, won them over. "He had a profound influence on Rick," Kay says. "We were captivated by his positive appeal to nonbelievers. I never looked back."
(A Regular Purpose-Driven Guy, Christianity Today, 11/08/2002)

"It's a myth that all you need is prayer and dedication to grow a healthy church. Some of the most dedicated prayer warriors I know are pastors of dying churches. It really bothers me that some pastor's conferences promote that myth -- leaving pastors feeling discouraged and guilty instead of encouraged.

We've all heard speakers claim, "If you'll just pray more, preach the word, and be dedicated, then your church will grow." Well, that's just not true. I can show you thousands of churches where pastors are doctrinally sound; they love the Lord; they're committed and spirit-filled and yet their churches are dying on the vine."
(Rick Warren Interview, Pastor's.com, August)

In an interview with Time Magazine March 29, 2004, Rick has this to say, "I'm translating the truth into 21st century language, and evidently a lot of people are listening." He's convinced that the nation is on the verge of a spiritual awakening, as people seek fulfillment they don't get in fast-track jobs and can't buy with gold cards. "The culture is asking, 'How do I fill this hole in my heart?'" he says. "I think religion has the answer."
(Rick Warren, Time Magazine, March 29, 2004)

Warren is part of the ultra-conservative Southern Baptist Convention, and all his senior staff sign on to the SBC's doctrines, such as the literal and infallible Bible and exclusion of women as senior pastors. Yet Warren's pastor-training programs welcome Catholics, Methodists, Mormons, Jews and ordained women. "I'm not going to get into a debate over the non-essentials. I won't try to change other denominations. Why be divisive?" he asks, citing as his model Billy Graham, "a statesman for Christ ministering across barriers."
("This evangelist has a 'Purpose," by Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY, 7/21/2003)

"Everybody knows that Christmas is the idea that God sent Jesus Christ to earth. The big question is, 'So what?' Why did He come? And of course the Bible says, 'He came to, uh, give our past forgiven, a purpose for living and a home in heaven. And that's what this book (The Purpose Driven Life) is about."
(Rick Warren, "The Bill O'Reilly Show, The Factor," Friday, December 17, 2004)
Note: No mention of sin and the Gospel to the millions of viewers of Bill O'Reilly on the Fox Network.

"We have used film clips, we have used some dramas, and we have used some object lessons. One of my favorite features is called "point and play," where we separate the points by music. We always do this at Easter and Christmas Eve. I learned this when I was a consultant on the DreamWorks movie, "The Prince of Egypt," to help keep it biblically correct. One day I was in the hall at DreamWorks, and I noticed something on the wall called an "Emotional Beat Chart." They actually monitor the emotional highs and lows of a movie."
(Rick Warren, "Purpose-Driven Preaching: an interview with Rick Warren," Pastors.com)

"Using sermon titles that appeal to felt needs isn’t being shallow; it’s being strategic."
(Rick Warren, "In Planning Appealing Sermon Titles, I Ask Myself Four Questions:")

"I'm never going to deny what I believe, but I've got to say it in a way that makes sense to the MTV generation in a postmodern world. Traditional churches think I'm changing the message, but all I'm doing is changing the method."
(Rick Warren, "A look at pastor and author Rev. Rick Warren," Dateline Alabama, March 25, 2005)

"If you look at most church advertising, it’s obvious that it was written from a believer’s viewpoint -- not from the mind-set of the unchurched. When you see a church ad that announces, “Preaching the inerrant Word of God!” who do you think that ad appeals to? Certainly not to unbelievers! Personally, I consider the inerrancy of Scripture as a non-negotiable belief but the unchurched don’t even understand the term. If you’re going to advertise your church you must learn to think and speak like unbelievers. The spiritual terminology that Christians are familiar with is just gibberish to the unchurched."
(Rick Warren, "We Must Learn To Think Like Unbelievers")

"Today “preaching to felt needs” is scorned and criticized in some circles as a cheapening of the gospel and a sell-out to consumerism. I want to state this in the clearest way possible: Beginning a message with people’s felt needs is not some modern approach invented by 20th century marketing! It’s the way Jesus always preached. It’s based on the theological fact that God chooses to reveal himself to man according to our needs! Both the Old and New Testaments are filled with many examples of this."
(Rick Warren, "Learning to Preach Like Jesus")

"Now I preach on repentance on every single Sunday without using the word because the word is misused today, it is misunderstood. So I talk about changing your mind and I talk about paradigm shift. But really, every message comes down to two words: will you? Will you change from this to this in the way that you are thinking?

Our culture is falling apart. If you are not preaching repentance in your message you’re not preaching. No matter what we cover it has got to come back to change your mind, because your mind controls your life."
(Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Preaching: An Interview with Rick Warren. Sept-Oct 2001)

"Now what I love to do is to teach theology to non-believers without ever telling them it is theology and without ever using theology terms. For instance, I once did an eight-week series on sanctification and never used the term. I did a four-week series on the incarnation and never used the term. I did a twelve-week series on the attributes of God — the omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence — and never used the terms. I just called it "Getting to Know God." I love to teach theology to non-believers without them knowing what it is; I find that a challenge. So it’s a good balance."
(Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Preaching: An Interview with Rick Warren. Sept-Oct 2001)

"It is my deep conviction that anybody anybody can be won to Christ if you discover the felt needs to his or her heart. That key to each person's heart is unique so it is sometimes difficult to discover. It may take some time to identify it. But the most likely place to start is with the person's felt needs. As I pointed out earlier, this was the approach Jesus used."
(Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, pg. 219)

"We must be willing to adjust our worship practices when unbelievers are present. God tells us to be sensitive to the hang ups of unbelievers in our services."
(Rick Warren, quoted in "Church Growth Gone Mad," By Clay Miller, Associate Pastor, Outreach Ministries, Grace Community Church)

"...And of course, that purpose now becomes greater -- and in fact, I think that's really what the message this week of Easter is, is that God can bring good out of bad. That he turns crucifixions into resurrections. That he takes the mess of our life, and when we give him all the pieces, he can -- God can put it together in a new way."
(Rick Warren, "Larry King Live," CNN, March 22, 2005)
Note: Is that the message of Easter? Or is it that Christ, "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures," 1 Corinthians 15:3-4.

"Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, everybody's heard the word "repent" and they don't really understand what the word means. For a lot of people, when they think of the word repentance, they think of a guy with a sandwich sign that says, "turn or burn," or, "you're going to die and fry."

But actually, repent is the Greek word, metanoia (ph), which means literally "to change your mind." And it means that when I repent, I change my mind. First, I change my mind about God, I change my mind about myself, I change my mind about others, I change my mind about life. And a lot of people look at repentance as a negative thing, like I'm going to have to give up this, this, and this, and this, and like it's something terrible. You know, when I repented, Larry, years ago, I basically turned from hopelessness to hope, from darkness to light, from guilt to forgiveness, from loneliness to a family of God, from purposelessness to purpose, from having no meaning in my life to having meaning. It was the most positive change in my life. "
(Rick Warren, "Larry King Live," CNN, March 22, 2005)
Note: Wow! When you repent you will have give up alot of things that you formerly enjoyed but now you realize that they are sinful!

"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it," Luke 9:23-24.

"You know, the three biggest surprises of 2004 were first, as you mentioned, 'The Passion of the Christ,' which was roundly panned by every media, and yet went on to become the third best grossing movie in history. That was the first bit surprise. The second was my book, where for the second year in row, 2003 and 2004, it was the best selling book in the world. And what in the world is a book by a pastor doing at the top of the best-seller's list for two years."
(Rick Warren, "Larry King Live," CNN, March 22, 2005)
Note: Good question, "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets," Luke 6:26.

"We want to loosen up the tense muscles of uptight visitors. When your body is relaxed your attitude is less offensive."
(Rick Warren, quoted in "Church Growth Gone Mad," By Clay Miller, Associate Pastor, Outreach Ministries, Grace Community Church)

"Worship is a powerful witness to unbelievers – if God's presence is felt, and if the message is understandable. God's presence must be sensed in the service. More people are won to Christ by feeling God's presence than by all our apologetic arguments combined. Few people, if any, are converted to Christ on purely intellectual grounds. It is the sense of God's presence that melts the heart and explodes mental barriers."
(Rick Warren, quoted in "Church Growth Gone Mad," By Clay Miller, Associate Pastor, Outreach Ministries, Grace Community Church)

"I want to state this in the clearest way possible: Beginning a message with people's felt needs is more than a marketing tool! It is based on the theological fact that God chooses to reveal Himself to man according to our needs. Both the Old and New Testaments are filled with examples of this."
(Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, pg. 295)

"We have used film clips, we have used some dramas, we have used some object lessons. One of my favorite is called "point and play," which is separate the points by music. We always at Easter and Christmas Eve do a "point and play" message. For example, with my Easter sermon, I took every point and we divided it up into five sections, and we had a song that went with each point. So there is an emotional punch as well as an intellectual punch at the same time. We layer it: tension/release, tension/release.

I learned this when I was a consultant on the DreamWorks movie, "The Prince of Egypt," to help keep it biblically correct. One day I was in the hall at DreamWorks, and I noticed something on the wall called an "Emotional Beat Chart." They actually monitor the emotional highs and lows of a movie. I counted up and there were nine peaks and nine valleys in this 90-minute movie — about every ten minutes there’s tension/release, tension/release. Well, you can do that in a message: you can do it with humor, you can do it with an illustration, or you can do it with a feature, but it allows us to keep people’s attention longer in order to give them more material."
(Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Preaching: An Interview with Rick Warren. Sept-Oct 2001)

"I believe that one of the major church issues [of the future] will be how we’re going to reach the next generation with our music."
(Rick Warren, SuperConference 2003, at Liberty University)

"Having a separate service for believers and non-believers is a good idea."
(Rick Warren, SuperConference 2003, at Liberty University)

“Edit archaic terms from your songs, use the choir in a contemporary way,” Warren urged. “Encourage members to re-arrange and rewrite. New songs say God is doing something awesome. For 2,000 years, the Holy Spirit has used all kinds of music.”
(Rick Warren, SuperConference 2003, at Liberty University)

“There’s no such thing as Christian music. There are just Christian lyrics. To insist that all good music came from Europe 200 years ago; there’s a name for that - racism.”
(Rick Warren, SuperConference 2003, at Liberty University)

"Saddleback is unapologetically a contemporary music church. We’ve often been referred to in the press as “The flock that likes to rock.” We use the style of music the majority of people in our church listen to on the radio. Years ago, after being frustrated trying to please everyone I decided to survey our church. I passed out 3 x 5 cards to everyone in the Crowd service and asked them to write down the Call Letters of the radio station they listened to...What we discovered was that 96% of our people said they listened to middle-of-the-road adult contemporary music."
(Rick Warren, Selecting Worship Music, July 29, 2002)

"I will admit that we have lost hundreds of potential members because of the style of music Saddleback uses. On the other hand, we have attracted thousands more because of our music."
(Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Church, p. 285)

"The ground we have in common with unbelievers is not the Bible, but our common needs, hurts, and interests as human beings. You cannot start with a text expecting the unchurched to be fascinated by it. You must first capture their attention, and then move them to the truth of God's Word. By starting with a topic that interests the unchurched and then showing what the Bible says about it, you can grab their attention, disarm prejudices, and create an interest in the Bible that wasn't there before."
(Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Church, p. 295)

Warren cited a study conducted by Columbia University that found, “After 50 times of hearing a song, the human mind quits thinking about the words.” Warren said that the only way to remedy this disconnect of repetition is to revamp the music.
(Rick Warren, SuperConference 2003, at Liberty University)

"Although music is usually the most controversial element of a seeker service it is a critical element that cannot be ignored. We need to understand the incredible power of music, and harness that power by being willing to set aside our own personal preferences and use the music that will best reach the unchurched for Christ."
(Rick Warren, Selecting Worship Music, July 29, 2002)

"You must match your music to the kind of people God wants your church to reach.... The music you use 'positions' your church in your community. It defines who you are.... It will determine the kind of people you attract, the kind of people you keep, and the kind of people you lose."
(Rick Warren, Selecting Worship Music, July 29, 2002)

"If you were to tell me the kind of music you are currently using in your services I could easily describe the kind of people you are reaching, without even visiting your church. I could also tell you the kind of people your church will never be able to reach."
(Rick Warren, Selecting Worship Music, July 29, 2002)

"If they try to change the existing service too much they'll lose some people who are already there. You don't necessarily have to stop what you're already doing. It's like when you're fishing. Instead of just using one line, throw another hook into the water. You might have four or five different worship styles, if that's what's needed to reach different generations that live in your community. I'm not against any traditional method that is still reaching people for Christ - I'm just a proponent of adding new ways and services to reach those who will never be reached by the way we've traditionally done it."
(Rick Warren Interview, Pastor's.com, August)

"The church that claims to reach everyone is only fooling themselves. No style of church can possibly reach everyone. Take a close look and you'll find that every church has a "culture." This culture is determined by the predominant kind of people who make up the congregation. Whoever your church has right now is who you're likely to attract more of - whether you like that fact or not.

What is the likelihood of a church full of retirees reaching teenagers? What is the likelihood of a church full of urban professionals reaching farmers? What is the likelihood of a church full of military personnel reaching peace activists? Highly unlikely. That's why we must start all kinds of services and churches."
(Rick Warren Interview, Pastor's.com, August)

"Seeker sensitive" doesn't mean you compromise the message. It means you take into consideration people's culture in order to communicate that message. Making a service "comfortable" for the unchurched doesn't mean changing your theology; it means changing the environment of the service - such as changing the way you greet visitors, the style of music that you use, the translation you preach from, and the kind of announcements you make in the service. The message is not always comfortable. In fact, sometimes God's truth is very uncomfortable. Still we must teach, "the whole council of God." Being seeker sensitive does not limit what you say but it will affect how you say it."
(Rick Warren Interview, Pastor's.com, August)

Rick Warren speaking to false teacher David Yonggi Cho: "I've read your books on Vision and Dreams - speak to pastors about how you hear the voice of the Holy Spirit?...What advice would you give to a brand new minister?...Do you think American churches should be more open to the prayer for miracles?"
(Rick Warren,"Breakfast With David Yonggi Cho And Rick Warren," Pastors.com)

"What you should do is change the easiest thing first and the things that make the greatest difference. Don't worry initially about the issues that cause the greatest disagreement. The easiest thing to change is the preaching. Any pastor in any church could update his preaching style for the 1990s and see a dramatic improvement. In many churches, we're still using an oratory style what was pre-television."
(Rick Warren Interview, Pastor's.com, August)

"The greatest challenge churches will face over the next five years is developing and adapting our ministry methods to the massive needs of the 21st century. We can't just keep on "doing it the way we've always done it."

The world has changed - permanently - and we are never going back to the 1950s. We must start thousands of new churches and services. It will take new churches to reach a new generation."
(Rick Warren Interview, Pastor's.com, August)

"We don't have to make the bible relevant — it is — but we have to show its relevance. What is irrelevant, in my opinion, is our style of communicating it. We are tending to still use the style from 50 years back that doesn't match who we are trying to reach today."
(Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Preaching: An Interview with Rick Warren. Sept-Oct 2001)

"So my cry is: pastors just do more of it. You already know that you have got to apply in people's lives; you have just got to do more of it. If that means cutting back . . . I think sometimes in our preaching we are far more interested in a lot of the details and backgrounds than people are. A guy who spends three weeks on one verse is missing the point of the verse...God didn't mean for it to be read that way. He is missing the point of it."
(Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Preaching: An Interview with Rick Warren. Sept-Oct 2001)

"People don't remember much. If you are motivated you remember about seven bits of information; if you’re not motivated you remember about two. So if they are only going to remember something what do I want them to remember? Well, I want them to remember the application, the lessons. Not a cute outline of text. The alliterated outline is not going to change their lives. So I say make your applications your points because the points are all that they are going to remember."
(Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Preaching: An Interview with Rick Warren. Sept-Oct 2001)

"Rather than threaten sinners with fire and brimstone, Warren says, "We believe in attraction evangelism. We believe in loving people into the Kingdom."
("This evangelist has a 'Purpose," by Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY, 7/21/2003)

"As I go through these things, first I sit down and I start praying. I say, "Who is going to be there?" I start to think of one person...People that I have invited, like my back doctor who was an atheist Jew who came for Easter. I start thinking: "Now what is going to help this guy know about Christ?" (preaching the gospel) and I will go through that little formula and think about the points, which were actually quite simple."
(Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Preaching: An Interview with Rick Warren. Sept-Oct 2001)

"But more than that I believe you need to hear God's word from more than just one personality. I think that is healthy. I think a lot of people, you hear a guy for about six or seven years and he has shot his wad. You’ve heard what he has got to say and you either have to start hearing the same stuff over again or move to a different church. Well, I want people to stay at Saddleback for thirty or forty years, so I’ve built a team of different preachers with different personalities — I do believe preaching is truth through personality, like Brooks said."
(Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Preaching: An Interview with Rick Warren. Sept-Oct 2001)

"I happen to believe that the audience determines God's will for what you are supposed to preach on...So I start saying, "God, who is coming?" If I’m dealing with teenagers that is one kind of message. If I’m dealing with seekers, then that is another kind of message. If I am dealing with mature believers, that is another kind of message. If I am dealing with people who need to be mobilized for ministry . . . We look at that and we pray and then we will do a tentative outline of the series for the year."
(Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Preaching: An Interview with Rick Warren. Sept-Oct 2001)

"The reason most people are floundering- I've probably bought in my lifetime maybe 60 or more books that have Purpose in the title just to see what they're like and almost all of them would be classified as what I call self-help books. They all basically say the same thing, look at your dreams, clarify some values, set some goals, figure out what you're good at, aim high, go for it, be disciplined, believe you can achieve your goals and never give up. All those are good things and they'll help you become a success, but you can be a success in life and still never, ever know God's purpose for your life."
(Rick Warren Interview, Fall 2002)

"I knew that by simplifying doctrine in a devotional format for the average person, I ran the risk of either understating or overstating some truths. I'm sure I have done that. I also knew that I'd be criticized for what I left out of the book and for using fifteen different translations and paraphrases to get the message across. But I decided when I planted Saddleback in 1980 that I'd rather reach large numbers of people for Christ than seek the approval of religious traditionalists. In the past eight years, we've baptized over 11,000 new adult believers at our church. I am addicted to changed lives."
(Rick Warren Interview, Christianity.com)

"There are some types of people that your church will never reach because they require a completely different style of ministry than you can provide."
(Rick Warren, quoted in "Church Growth Gone Mad," By Clay Miller, Associate Pastor, Outreach Ministries, Grace Community Church)

"Explosive growth only occurs when the type of people in the community match the type of people that are already in the church and they both match the type of person the pastor is..."
(Rick Warren, quoted in "Church Growth Gone Mad," By Clay Miller, Associate Pastor, Outreach Ministries, Grace Community Church)

"The problem is the longer you are a believer the less you think like an unbeliever. Your interests and values change. Because I've been a Christian for most of my life I think like a Christian. I don't normally think like an unbeliever, and worse than that I tend to think like a pastor and that is even further removed from an unbeliever's mindset."
(Rick Warren, quoted in "Church Growth Gone Mad," By Clay Miller, Associate Pastor, Outreach Ministries, Grace Community Church)

"Music is an integral part of our lives. We eat with it, drive with it, shop with it, relax with it, and some non-Baptists even dance to it! The great American pastime is not baseball - it is music and sharing our opinions about it!...When I read about biblical worship in the Psalms, I see that they used drums, clashing cymbals, loud trumpets, tambourines and stringed instruments. That sounds a lot like contemporary music to me!...Saddleback is unapologetically a contemporary music church. We’ve often been referred to in the press as 'The flock that likes to rock.' We use the style of music the majority of people in our church listen to on the radio."
(Selecting Worship Music by Rick Warren)

"Worship has nothing to do with the style or volume or speed of a song. God loves all kinds of music because he invented it all -- fast and slow, loud and soft, old and new. You probably don't like it all, but God does!"
(Rick Warren, "The Purpose Driven Life," pg. 65)

"Meditation is often misunderstood as some difficult, mysterious ritual practiced by isolated monks and mystics. But meditation is simply focused thinking – a skill anyone can learn and use anywhere."
(Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, p. 90.)

Note: Anyone? If anyone can do it it must not be meditating on Gods word.

"Read Scripture from a newer translation. With all the wonderful translations and paraphrases available today, there is no legitimate reason for complicating the Good News with four hundred-year-old English. Using the King James Version creates an unnecessary cultural barrier. Remember, when King James authorized the new translation it was because he wanted a contemporary version. I once saw an advertisement that claimed if King James were alive today, he’d be reading the New International Version! That’s probably true. Clarity is more important than poetry."
(Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p. 297.)

"Also, since the verse divisions and number were not included in the Bible until 1560 A.D., I haven't always quoted the entire verse, but rather focused on the phrase that was appropriate. My model for this is Jesus and how he and the apostles quoted the Old Testament. They often just quoted a phrase to make a point."
(Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002, pg. 325)

"Jesus drew large crowds yet he never comprimised the truth. No one accused him of watering down the message except the jealous chief priests, who criticized him out of envy (Mark 15:12). Frankly, I suspect that same ministerial jealousy motivates some today who criticize churches that attract large crowds."
(Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, page 53)

"Third, never criticize what God is blessing, even though it may be a style of ministry that makes you feel uncomfortable."
(Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, page 62)

"How do you define faithfulness? Are you being faithful to God's Word if you insist on communicating it in an outdated style?"
(Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, page 65)

"We discovered four common complaints about churches from our survey in the Saddleback Valley. Church is boring, especially the sermons. The messages don’t relate to my life. This is the complaint I heard the most. It's amazing how churches are able to take the most exciting book in the world and bore people to tears with it! Miraculously, they’re able to turn bread into stones! The problem with boring preachers is that it causes people to think God is boring! From this complaint, I determined to learn how to communicate God’s Word in a practical, interesting way. A sermon does not have to be boring to be biblical, and it doesn’t have to be dry to be doctrinal. The unchurched aren’t asking for watered-down messages -- just practical ones! They want to hear something on Sunday that they can apply on Monday."
(Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, page 191)

"Using information we gathered through the survey, we mailed an open letter to the community addressing the major concerns of the unchurched and announcing a church service designed to counteract the most common excuses they gave."
(Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, page 193)

"Some pastors today criticize "life-application" preaching as shallow, simplistic, and inferior. To them the only real preaching is didactic, doctrinal preaching. Their attitude implies that Paul was more profound than Jesus; that Romans is "deeper" than the Sermon on the Mount or the Parables. I call that heresy!"
(Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, page 229)

"Sadly, isolationists have been extremely judgmental of seeker sensitive churches in books and articles. Most of these criticisms are unfair characterizations made out of ignorance (very judgmental) and do not represent what actually happens in seeker sensitive churches. Trailblazers always get arrows shot at them. Translating the truth into contemporary terms is a dangerous business. Remember, they burned Wycliffe at the stake for doing it."
(Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, page 238)
Note: Comparing himself to Wycliffe?

"Most pastors do not understand the power of preaching. But even more important than that is they don't understand the purpose of preaching. I probably have the largest library of books on preaching in America. I've read over 500 books on preaching. Maybe some seminary might come close to that, but I am sure that no pastor comes close to 500 books on preaching. And as I've read them, the vast majority do not really understand that preaching is about transformation, not information."
(Rick Warren, "Purpose-Driven Preaching: an interview with Rick Warren," Pastors.com)

"I hear people talk about life application preaching as if it were a genre or type of preaching. But I think if you don’t offer life application in your sermon, then you’re not preaching. It may be a lecture, it may be a study, it may be a commentary but it is not preaching...So, my goal is not to inform, but to transform. Unless you understand that, your messages tend to be based on the traditional style of teaching."
(Rick Warren, "Purpose-Driven Preaching: an interview with Rick Warren," Pastors.com)

"What is irrelevant, in my opinion, is our style of communicating it. We tend to still use the style from 50 years back that doesn't match who we are trying to reach today."
(Rick Warren, "Purpose-Driven Preaching: an interview with Rick Warren," Pastors.com)

"A lot of guys need to start where they end their sermon. They will do about 80 to 90 percent explanation and interpretation in background study, and then at the end there is a little 10-minute application. Now, that is OK if you have a highly motivated group of people who just love Bible knowledge. But the Bible says there are a couple of problems with Bible knowledge. In the first place, it says that knowledge puffs up but love builds up, and the Bible says that increased knowledge without application leads to pride. Some of the most cantankerous Christians that I know are veritable storehouses of Bible knowledge, but they have not applied it. They can give you facts and quotes, and they can argue doctrine. But they’re angry; they’re very ugly people."
(Rick Warren, "Purpose-Driven Preaching: an interview with Rick Warren," Pastors.com)
Note: These are some pretty serious personal attacks "But they’re angry; they’re very ugly people."

"Now understand that I am pastoring a church in California, a church where maybe 77 percent of the people were saved and baptized at Saddleback. Without question, Saddleback is the most evangelistic church in America. We baptize more than 1,000 people every year."
(Rick Warren, "Purpose-Driven Preaching: an interview with Rick Warren," Pastors.com)

"Every small group has at least one 'difficult' person in it. If you don't immediately recognize who that person is -- it's probably you!"
(Rick Warren "Saddleback Sayings," Pastors.com)

"I think we should let culture determine the worship style (and you know I'm not talking about compromising the truth here). Paul said, "I become all things to all men that I may, in some way, save some." So, if you're in California, you should have a California culture church. If you're in Ohio, you have an Ohio culture church. If you're in Mississippi, you should have a Mississippi culture church."
(Rick Warren, "Why Do You Gear Your Weekend Services Toward Seekers?")

"And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matthew 16:17-18

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled." 2 Corinthians 10:3-6