By Dianne E. Butts:
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
A few weeks ago on Easter, Jake Tapper, sitting in for George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week,” talked with Pastor Rick Warren about the Christian faith, politics, and more. You may find God in this interview with Rick Warren on ABC (embedded below).
Rick Warren is pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, and author of The Purpose Driven Life: What On Earth Am I Here For? which has sold more than 30 million copies and been translated into more than 50 languages.
When asked about when he has felt unable to trust God, Warren said, “I think a lot of times God takes away your feelings so you have to depend on faith. And faith is kind of like a tide: it rolls in, it rolls out. You keep on going.”
On Mitt Romney’s Mormonism: A ChristianPost.com article recapped Warren’s thoughts: “The ‘key sticking point,’ for many Christians regarding whether Mormons share their faith is the trinity, according to Warren. ‘That’s the historic doctrine of the Church. That God is three-in-one. Not three Gods. One God in Father, son and Holy Spirit. Mormonism denies that.’”
Warren gave the invocation at President Obama’s inauguration. Tapper asked what’s the state of the union spiritually? Warren said the coarsening of our culture and the loss of civility in our civilization concern him most.
On politics, the Christian Post.com article said Warren “believes in the separation of church and state, but does not believe in the separation of faith and politics.”
“Faith is simply a worldview,” Warren said in the interview. “Everybody has a world view. So we’re saying that only those with religious worldviews aren’t welcome at the table? …I’m in favor of everybody being able to come to the table with a worldview. I do not believe in imposing what I believe on everybody else.”
About Tim Tebow? “The fact that Tebow would get criticized for kneeling and praying? I could give you 15, or 50, other things you should be more worried about in that coliseum than a kid kneeling down to thank God that he played good.”
Asked by a viewer via Twitter if Warren believes faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven, the pastor said, “I do believe that… Jesus said, ‘I am the way. He didn’t say, ‘I’m one of the ways… I don’t think any of us deserve to go to heaven. I think the only way any of us get into heaven is God’s grace… The fact is, it’s available to everybody.”
Listen to the whole interview. You may find God in this interview with Rick Warren.
Rick Warren from Saddleback Church on ‘This Week With George Stephanopoulos’ interviewed by Jake Tapper
Video interview:
© Dianne E. Butts. Dianne is a freelance writer, author, and screenwriter. Her latest book is Deliver Me, for those in an unplanned pregnancy or with one in their past, just won a “Book of the Year” award. Her first book Dear America has just been republished for Kindle. Follow her writing at www.DeliverMeBook.blogspot.com
Thanks, Dianne, for a great piece with much good info to consider.