A Twisted Crown of Thorns ®

Why do few pastors do expository preaching these days? Some pastors will weasel their way around the bible and use passages to promote a health drink, an exercise plan, secret recipe and  even a dieting plan but never the joys and liberty of the gospel of Christ. One particular pastor seems to have read in his bible that there was a secret diet. You see…

Pastor Rick Warren, author of the best-selling The Purpose Driven Life and head of Saddleback Church in Southern California, has always seemed larger than life.

But now he’s a smaller, healthier size. And he’s spreading the word about how he trimmed down on a program he initiated called The Daniel Plan (danielplan.com). It’s a lifestyle program that incorporates healthy eating, regular exercise, stress reduction, prayer and group support from other church members in small home groups.

At 6-foot-3, Warren weighed about 295 pounds in January 2011, lost 60 pounds last year and wants to drop another 30 this year. “I’ve always been a big guy,” he says. “I played football in college. I don’t plan to be a skinny guy, but I certainly needed to lose a lot of weight.”

Warren, 58, says that with the plan, “we were trying to get people to eat healthier, fresher and more natural foods. The line we use is: ‘If it grows on a plant, it’s healthy. If it’s made in a plant, don’t eat it.’ My rule is no snacks, no sweets, no seconds.”

Several thousand members of his flock, as well as other people who have joined the program online, have lost a total of more than 250,000 pounds since January 2011, Warren says…

Now that Warren has been born again to healthier eating and regular exercise, and now that he and his church members have been the “guinea pigs” for the program, he is encouraging others to use the free website. Churches also can download the six-week study guide and DVD series.

And still no gospel….just works, works and more works! Grrr!

It’s like saying do “this” and you will get “that” from God. This is no different from fads like “prayer of Jabez”  or what that weird guy does on late night television when he sells magic miracle water and handkerchiefs in the name of Jesus. It reduces God to our bellboy or genie.

(But thanks for the health tips, pastor. I am actually trying to bulk up as I am really skinny these days.)

Now can we get back to learning about God and less about my gut. Pleeeease?