Out of all the critics who have raised their voices against Rick Warren, perhaps the most widely referenced ones are David and Deborah Dombrowski and their Lighthouse Trails Research Project (see my introduction article, Lighthouse Trails: Walking In Darkness).

As I have stated elsewhere, the Dombrowskis research leaves much to be desired. And their shortcomings are perhaps no more apparent than in one of their earliest attacks against Rick Warren—i.e., their 2005 Press Release wherein they attempted to paint Warren as a supporter of the New Age, using his relationship to business management leader Ken Blanchard. Their so-called "Press Release," however, had a multitude of problems.



LTRP #1: "[Warren] has also been teamed up with New Age and contemplative promoter, Ken Blanchard, for some time now."
RESPONSE: First, Ken Blanchard is no New Ager (see this article). Second, at the time of the LTRP, using the phrase "teamed up" was an overstatement, to say the least. At that time of the LTRP Press Release (c. 2005), Warren:

In all fairness, it must be acknowledged that Warren made a few statements during his Nov. 2003 sermon that suggested Blanchard was indeed going to be playing a significant role in training Saddleback Church members or others involved with Saddleback. Warren, for instance, said Blanchard had "signed on to help with the P.E.A.C.E. Plan." He then noted that Blanchard was "going to be helping train us in leadership and in how to train others to be leaders all around the world."

But none of this ever materialized, which is something that any careful researcher should have uncovered by a simple investigating into whether or not Blanchard had indeed ever come to Saddleback to train anyone—he has not. And according to Saddleback Church leadership, there are no plans to have him appear at Saddleback in the future.

The no-show of Blanchard at Saddleback has been common knowledge throughout the church! It was obvious given the fact that the man never made an appearance there since his less-than-60-seconds video clip played in 2003. And when I emailed Saddleback's leadership to confirm the obvious, I received a June 10, 2005 email that told me what i had expected. The email was from Saddleback's chief of operations, David Chrzan—who is also the personal assistant to Rick Warren—that Blanchard has:

1) never trained anyone under the auspices of Saddleback in order to train them for implementation of the P.E.A.C.E. Plan;

2) never taught anyone at Saddleback or even come to Saddleback to speak at all. Moreover, there are no plans to have Blanchard begin any training. He has his own ministry that is doing its own thing.

Despite these facts, LTRP continues to keep their 2005 press release up (as of 2008), declaring that Ken Blanchard is training pastors and leaders, announcing "Rick Warren Teams Up With New-Age Guru Ken Blanchard" (see 2008 update at the end of this section). To continue their propagation of this particular falsehood, the Dombrowskis are still quoting from the now discredited George Mair biography of Warren (unauthorized) titled A Life With Purpose, which they were quoting back in 2005 (see my in-depth debunking of this error-riddled volume, George Mair: Lessons On How NOT to Write a Biography).


LTRP #2: "According to a new biography on Rick Warren, A Life With Purpose written by George Mair, Rick Warren has solicited the services of Ken Blanchard to aid him in training leaders: 'Rick taps the best and most famous to help train church leaders to be like Jesus. He has hired Ken Blanchard. . . . to come to Saddleback to help train people how to be effective leaders' p. 193."
RESPONSE: Mair's book is arguably one of the worst sources of information on Rick Warren in print. To use Warren's own words in a letter he personally sent to LTRP, Mair's book contains "tons of factual errors—and even 'made-up' incidents, stories, and quotes, that are easily proved as completely false. THERE IS ALMOST NOTHING CORRECT IN MAIR'S BOOK. Practically every page has either a factual error, a made-up story, or Mair's weird interpretation of my motives and beliefs." Warren also noted: "Mair claims that he interviewed Saddleback staff members and even members of my family. The truth is, this person never talked to me, nor to any of my staff, nor to any of my family! None of us have ever met him or even had a conversation with him on the phone!" (Rick Warren, Letter to Lighthouse Trails, May 31, 2005).

Clearly, Mair's book is unreliable, and its information is highly suspect George Mair: Lessons On How NOT to Write a Biography). For example, when I directly asked Rick Warren if he had indeed "hired" Ken Blanchard as stated in Mair's book, he scoffed at the assertion, saying quite simply, "no" (see my interview in Rick Warren and the Purpose that Drives Him). And yet the Dombrowskis and LTRP refuse to believe Warren, preferring instead to follow the assertions of sensationalist biographer George Mair, who never interviewed Warren, never spoke to anyone at Saddleback, never talked to anyone in Warren's family, and never listened extensively to any of Warren's many sermons/teachings. (Note: Maier's previous biographies were on Paris Hilton, Rosie O'Donnell, The Judd's).


LTRP #3: "In light of knowing who Ken Blanchard is, this is shocking and devastating news for the church!"
RESPONSE: The truth is that Lighthouse Trails is the one responsible for making it all so "shocking" and "devastating." Rather than providing accurate, carefully-researched, and verifiable information, the Dombrowski's allowed faulty information to be released to the public—information that also has since caused division, strife, and alarm (see my article on the Ken Blanchard issue here).


LTRP #4: "There is countless evidence to show that Blanchard sits on the New Age/mystical/contemplative bandwagon."
RESPONSE: Again, we have more sensationalism going on with words such as "bandwagon" and "countless" being used to stir up dissension and division. The truth is far less insidious (see my article on the Ken Blanchard issue here).


LTRP #5: "Ken Blanchard, Rick Warren and Bill Hybels (Willow Creek) have become team players at the Lead Like Jesus conferences and the Leadership Summit Conferences, which take place across North America. The three also have an audio set they co-authored together."
RESPONSE: At the time this Press Release was foisted upon the public, there had only been a single summit scheduled with these three individuals (August 10-13, 2005) at Columbia International University. They are merely three speakers among many. And Warren had only been to a single Lead Like Jesus Conference (2003). He had not been any "team" player at any "conferences" (note the plural form of the word, suggesting many conferences). And as for the alleged audio package "co-authored" by Blanchard, Warren, and Hybels, this is incorrect as well. It is simply the audio recordings taken from the singleLead Like Jesus conference at which Warren spoke in November of 2003 (see above). 

The propaganda technique being used here by Lighthouse Trails is sometimes called "multiple citings," which is when the exact same source/event/person is cited but in different ways in order to make a connection appear stronger than it really is (a hallmark of "guilt by association"). In this instance, we have a single event (i.e., Warren speaking at the 2003 Lead Like Jesus conference) being mentioned by Lighthouse Trails Research in different ways:

1) "team players at the Lead Like Jesus conferences [note the incorrect usage of the plural form]"—untrue;
2) "audio set they co-authored together" [note the implication that this is yet another project the men worked on "together"]—inaccurate.

LTRP #6: "Did Rick Warren know of Blanchard's sympathies when he brought him in to help at Saddleback? Of course he did."
RESPONSE: This is an assumption/assertion/accusation backed by no documentation. 

First, as previously noted, Warren has never actually brought Blanchard "in to help at Saddleback" (see LTRP #1 response). 

Second, the word "sympathies" suggests an actual agreement of some kind by Blanchard with the false doctrines advanced by the people whose works he has endorsed—despite the fact that Blanchard himself has never advanced any such doctrines. In fact, after learning about the doctrinal problems associated with these individuals he admitted his errors and sought as best he could to make things right and move forward in Christ  (see my article on Blanchard).


LTRP #7: "And do you think that Rick Warren and Ken Blanchard are going to train their 'billion' soldiers for Christ how to practice New Age mysticism and learn how to go into altered states of consciousness? You bet."
RESPONSE: Again, this is nothing but a careless, sensationalistic, undocumented assumptions and accusations. Making such an assertion (even loosely against Warren) is irresponsible, at best. Lighthouse has never shown where Warren has endorsed or advocated "altered states of consciousness." The truth is that he promotes neither.  Nor has Saddleback Church ever taught any altered states of consciousness—and I have been attending the church in a ministerial leadership position for nearly fifteen years (for more on the bizarre accusations by LTRP against Warren's so-called New age leanings, see Lighthouse Trails: Walking In Darkness).

NOTE & WARNING: Concerns over Ken Blanchard's doctrinal views, spiritual discernment, and personal/professional associations with false teachers (most notably, New Agers) have continued to be voiced by many individuals. And, much to my disappointment and surprise, I have received information (c. March 24, 2008) that seems to suggest, at least at first glance, that there might indeed be an ongoing serious problem with Blanchard's ability to discern biblically sound individuals from persons who are known enemies of the cross of Christ. Therefore, in the coming months, I plan on carefully reviewing the material I have obtained. My findings will be made  public after a careful examination of these documents. Until then, I would urge Christians to be extremely cautious when it comes to Blanchard's teachings, being especially mindful of any books, teaching tapes, videos, individuals, or organizations being supported by his name (either through an endorsement, foreword, or review). My hope is to complete ASAP a thorough investigation of the situation, including a look into what has transpired over the last few years between Blanchard and Watchman Fellowship (i.e., the ministry that was supposed to be overseeing his spiritual growth in the area of discernment and doctrine).

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• INTRO ARTICLE: Lighthouse Trails: Walking In Darkness

• Lighthouse Trails: The Blanchard Bashers
   (a look at the Ken Blanchard controversy)

• Warren & Lighthouse Trails: A Futile Attempt At Reconciliation
   (an analysis of the Lighthouse Trails Dismissal of A Warren Email)

• Lighthouse Trails: Rants and Ramblings 
   (a final look at the so-called "research" of LTRP)