Rick Warren

By Tim Tompkins http://theinvisiblehand.typepad.com

Rev. Rick Warren has been picked by Barack Obama to give the invocation at the swearing in ceremony on January 20, 2009. At exactly 12:00 noon eastern standard time, the Chief Justice John Roberts will preside over Barack Hussein Obama's Oath of Office, making Barack Hussein Obama the 44th President of these United States. This is an historic event, probably a little bit more historic than on January 20, 2005 when Rev. Dr. Luis Leon gave the invocation at George W. Bush's second inauguration. This announcement and historic occasion presents a challenge to Rev. Dr. Rick Warren, what shall I pray? I took it upon myself, to help out the good Doctor & Reverend, so I placed a call to the Saddleback Church in California. The receptionist was friendly and pleasant, as I told her of how God laid it upon my heart to help the good Doctor & Reverend with his supplication. As you can assume, I did not get through to the Doctor & Reverend Rick Warren, not is all lost because I have his email and guess who is getting a link to this article? To help the Reverend out, I want to accomplish two tasks, first educate the American People, as you all know by now, the American Populist is not to bright. I mean, when God handed out the brains, the Americans where ahead of the Brits but behind the Chinese, Mexicans, Arab States etc., so the American people need to be brought-up to speed. Second, I do not want to put words in the good Doctor & Reverend's mouth, I want to give him some examples and tips on praying great prayers that get past the ceiling. First, most if not all Americans have no clue what an invocation is? In the words of Forrest Gump, "my momma says," if you do not know what it means use a dictionary.

in⋅vo⋅ca⋅tion [in-vuh-key-shuhn] –noun

1. the act of invoking or calling upon a deity, spirit, etc., for aid, protection, inspiration, or the like; supplication.

2. any petitioning or supplication for help or aid.

3. a form of prayer invoking God's presence, esp. one said at the beginning of a religious service or public ceremony.

I like number three, that is what an invocation is, prayer invoking God's presence. I thought it was interesting to note that in some way or another the Reverend Billy Graham or his son, Franklin has been a part of the Presidential Inauguration since 1953, except for 2005 and now with the emerging Billy Graham of this generation Dr. Rick Warren, oh how I digress.

Moving forward to the second part, style and substance. To accomplish a style and substance that is for this generation, the instant generation, the generation of instant messaging, cell phones, texting, Blackberry, ipod, iphones, etc. etc. etc., you get my point, the prayers of Billy Graham are like hymns to this generation of CHANGE. What you need is hip, refreshing, and meaningful prayer. By this, I do not mean, lets throw away the prayers that came before us, no, no, no, because in each generation there are prayers that reach across generational lines, that are powerful, that are meaningful, that are hip, and they all come from the depths of the heart. Dr. & Rev. Rick Warren, here is your key, pray from the depths of your heart and in the words of Aretha Franklin "Say a little prayer," keep it short.

Dr. & Rev. Rick Warren here are examples of prayers that came from the depths of the heart, from ordinary, everyday men of God. I have purposefully left out the One, who taught us how to pray,but the ones you will examine invoke his lesson of crying out to God from the heart.

JABEZ: A Humble Man of God, found in I Chronicles 4:10

"And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that Thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that Thine hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested."

KING HEZEKIAH: A Great King who relied on God's Strength, found in II Kings 19:15-19

Hezekiah then went into the house of the LORD and prayed. "And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth. LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God. Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only."

MARTIN LUTHER: The Simple Reformer, Here I Stand for truth.

"Grant that I may not pray alone with the mouth; help me that I may pray from the depths of my heart."

PETER MARSHALL: The Man Called Peter who changed a Nation.

"O God, forgive the poverty and the pettiness of our prayers . Listen not to our words but to the yearnings of our hearts. Hear beneath our petitions the crying of our need."

JIM ELLIOT: A martyr for Christ.

"Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me."

ELVIS PRESLEY: A lost soul who found faith in Christ.

"SEND ME SOME LIGHT-- I NEED IT."**

Dr.& Rev. Rick Warren, all the above prayers come from men who were real, even though they have all gone to glory, their words, their utterances, their prayers from the heart are timeless and relevant for this generation as they were when they were first uttered.

Remember Rev. Warren, on January 20, 2009, when you stand before our nation to offer a prayer to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the ONE TRUE GOD, utter those words from the depth of our nation's heart and keep it short and your words will spark this generation of CHANGE, just remember Elvis, "SEND ME SOME LIGHT -- USA NEEDS IT.

**Larry Geller, “If I Can Dream”: Elvis’ Own Story, (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989), Inside Jacket

-LEX REX a.k.a. Tim Tompkins http://theinvisiblehand.typepad.com

Barack Obama's selection of Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inaugural ceremony may seem like a nice overture - a reassuring gesture - to the middle and the Right, but it is stirring up a great deal of grief on the Left.

This is exactly what Obama intends.

Let's back up for a moment: President Clinton went into office in 1993 and quickly alienated the public, resulting in an opposition Congress for the next 6 years.  Clinton's later triangulation conceptually legitimated the policies of Republicans, but it put public approval (and some political capitabl) back behind Clinton.

But Barack Obama faces a much different situation.  He will walk into office with a very solid majority Democratic Senate and House, and with overwhelming public favor.  Obama does not have to seek the best deal he can get out of a Republican agenda; he does not have to moderate his policy agenda for a Republican Congress.  Obama can set his own agenda....as long as he has the public on his side.

Clinton faced an opposition Congress, so he had to moderate on policy.  Obama faces a friendly Congress, so he has to moderate on rhetoric.

I'm not sure why this rhetorical moderation is still a surprise to anybody.  Obama has been doing this for awhile: he praised Reagan, recognized legitimate grievances of opponents of affirmative action, affirmed the excesses of New Deal/Great Society liberalism.  But while each of those set aflutter the hearts of independents, moderates and the Right, none of them involved actual policy changes. 

Most people have only a very superficial intersection with politics, so trivial gestures - like inviting an evangelical preacher to deliver the invocation for a Democratic President - are powerful.  They send the signal to a low-information public that Obama is one of them, sympathetic to them, respectful of them...without actually requiring substantive political concessions of the Obama administration.  And if the noisy Left cries foul at Obama's un-progressive rhetoric...well, so much the better for the substantive progressive agenda.

Rhetorically moderate, politically Left.  Expect to see that over and over again from President Obama.

I’ve been amused by recent speculations that Barack Obama may be the antichrist. After Saturday’s candidate forum at Saddleback Church, I think we can safely say that he isn’t. That would be too far above his pay grade.

Rick Warren is also not the antichrist, though the numerous outcries against him online before the event may have lead some to suspect otherwise. Most will know better now.

And John McCain? He is authentically himself, unmoved by public perception and uniquely unchanged by his candidacy.

Warren could easily have made himself the highlight of the Saddleback event, but he didn’t. He could have easily asked safe questions designed to make his audience love him, but he didn’t. He asked his questions, left very little “wiggle room” for his guests, and neatly stepped out of the spotlight. It was nicely done.

Despite repeated assurances to the press that Warren would stay away from issues-based questions in this forum, he hammered out direct and difficult questions about such issues as abortion, marriage, taxes, and stem cell research without hesitation or compromise. His direct, no-nonsense wording gave the silver-tongued Obama pause, despite the friendly tone in which the questions were asked. If Obama stumbles when answering a jolly and welcoming Rick Warren, I cringe to imagine how he’d do as President when faced with less hospitable interrogators. I have no such fears about John McCain, who had no difficulty in conversing with Mr. Warren. This event was clearly easier for him than for Mr. Obama.

I fully expected Obama to dominate the evening. This was the sort of event that Obama and his brand (for he has been marketed as a brand) have been molded for. His easy-going demeanor and impressive rhetorical skills are ideally suited to this format, often leaving the less polished but more authentic McCain at something of a disadvantage.

I was wrong. Obama’s distinct failure to answer most of Warren’s questions looked shoddy and unprofessional when compared to McCain’s short and direct answers. While Obama gave long, rambling responses and even admitted his inability to answer the abortion question, McCain’s every answer seemed to challenge Warren, as if he were thinking, ‘That was hard? Is that the best you’ve got?’

Obama is polished (though much less so at this event), but McCain is Real. The generation raised on myspace and youtube may be largely unable to make this distinction, but time will show them that Obama’s digital flair cannot compare to McCain’s real-life experience and convictions.

Mr. Obama has talked at length in previous forums about his ability to bring people together. In reality this means that he has an inability to displease his audience. He needs to be liked. This is useful in a candidate, but fatal in a President. He excels in the art of sounding good while saying little, and his refusal to take a firm stance on almost anything in this forum will not help him gain the vote of those who were actually listening.

John McCain has no such qualms. He is well-known for being unafraid of what people think of him. This is not always a desirable quality in a candidate, but it is absolutely necessary in a President. Let Obama remain a candidate for a few more years—he’s good at it. John McCain, on the other hand, is ready to be President.

Here are my first impressions from Rick Warren's Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency. (I admit I was switching back and forth between that and the Olympics. Fortunately, I only missed some track and the women's marathon and just saw Phelps win his 8th gold medal.)

Speaking of marathons, Barack Obama fared about as well as he did in some of the marathon-like primary debates he had with Hillary Clinton. To put it best, I'll leave it to John Kerry's former online fundraising guy who has become an evangelical since then:

"OK - I take back some of my initial over-enthusiasm for Obama’s performance. I think he did not meet the high expectations of evangelical leaders who are secretly plugging for him. Too many of his answers were vague. He just didn’t seem fully prepared. On a lot of those questions, he had wide open doors. He could have nailed them. But he just kind of went around in circles. A little John Kerryesque, I fear to say."

What exactly is Obama's problem when it comes to forums, town halls, debates vs. rallies and speeches? I take it back to a point I've made earlier about the junior senator from Illinois being, at his heart of hearts, an academic. On the abortion issue, Obama didn't come out strong on being pro-choice while supporting other issues related to "life." Instead, he bloviated on a line that Democrats (and moderate Republicans) have been saying since 2006: "let's find a way to reduce the amount of abortions in America" by encouraging adoptions, etc. It's a good point, but one that many Americans really don't care about.

Obama is trying to hoodwink Evangelical voters. And he has a helper. Pastor Rick Warren is enabling this, with his ‘forum’. Now,  this 'Christian leader' (tm - Huckabee) has the first forum, coming up in mid August where McCain and Obama will actually be together in the same stage. And what issues are of importance to Rev Warren for this important first joint appearance?

“I will be raising questions in these four areas beyond what political reporters typically ask. This includes pressing issues that are bridging divides in our nation, such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, climate and human rights.”

Really now. What a disappointing list of topics that will do little or nothing to tell us who is best to lead! Will he expect a candidate to come in favor of AIDS or against human rights? So whats the point - if not to blur distinctions on substance so it becomes a confab about style?  The Elephant (or donkey) in the room are the major social/values issues least discussed in this race so far: Gay marriage, abortion/life, education, and judges.

Marriage: Redefining marriage to include homosexual unions is about to be instituted  if California doesnt protect traditional marriage in its state constitution in the election this November. New York state is about to accept marriage licenses from California, and
so the de facto result will be the spread of gay marriage across many states.
McCain is for the Cali amendment protecting marriage. Obama is against it, and is therefore now in the pro-gay-marriage camp.

Abortion: Obama is a pro-abortion legislator, who has a 100% NARAL record and 0% right-to-life record. Obama even voted against a bill that would protect infants born alive after ‘botched’ abortions. McCain’s pro-life record is almost the opposite; Overall a strong pro-life record, but in favor of embyonic stem cell research. Both men need to be asked about their positions and asked to defend them.

Education: Obama’s opposition to abstinence education should be brought up, and their views on sex ed. McCain and Obama differ on school choice. The vital issue of education should be discussed, especially the areas of sex ed, educating moral values and citizenship, and school choice.

The evangelical movement is changing, and this will have real implications for the GOP. Rick Warren is replacing James Dobson as the political powerhouse of American evangelicalism. And you couldn't come up with a clearer couple of events to express that than what we have seen in the last couple of days.

Within hours of each other, John McCain and Barack Obama agree to attend a forum at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church. (NYT has the story) I suspect that the word got out, and James Dobson got in the game. The NYT's Caucus blog reported yesterday that Dobson would consider endorsing McCain and start explaining how bad Obama is.

But it is pretty clear that Warren and his issues are in the drivers seat. From the NYT:

Mike Huckabee is travelling around Africa with Cindy McCain, a bunch of Democrats, and the ONE campaign.