In the article written by Time’s Jeffrey Kluger and Elizabeth Dias, Warren says the plan has helped his congregation lose a collective 260,000 pounds.

The Time writers said Warren launched his “Daniel Plan” health and fitness program in January 2011 at his Saddleback Church.

Oh, and Dr. Mehmet Oz, known simply as “Dr. Oz” nowadays, also weighs in, pun intended.

Oz also is included in the Time, sharing his perspective on Warren and his fitness plan.

Read more on the subject here:

TIME: “Does God Want You to Be Thin?” 

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor   

My teenager alerted me after she began getting numerous tweets about it on Twitter.

Apparently there were plenty of Christians tweeting Bible verses after they learned of the terrorist’s death. Christianity Today has compiled a list of the top Bible verses tweeted during that time period.

Here are the top three (note the third was started by evangelist Rick Warren):

1. Proverbs 24:17 “Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice.”

2. Psalm 138:8 “The LORD will make PERFECT the things that concern me”(KJV). (NIV: “The LORD will vindicate me; your love, LORD, endures forever—do not abandon the works of your hands.”) (Unrelated tweet by Rev Run.)

3. Proverbs 21:15 “When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.” (Rick Warren started this one).

For a complete list, here’s the link to Christianity Today: ” ‘Do Not Gloat’  vs. ‘Joy to the Righteous’ “

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

Well for the curious, Rev. Rick did just that.

Some people may remember that evangelist Franklin Graham ignited a firestorm when he invoked the name of Jesus in his invocation at the 2001 inauguration of George W. Bush.

Franklin G., son of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, was filling in for his father who was ill at the time.

Franklin Graham refused to retract his words after criticism became public. He later wrote a book about the reasons why Jesus’ name incites and draws ire.

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor 

—-

The statement, sent out through Christian Newswire, reads:

“I commend President-elect Obama for his courage to willingly take enormous heat from his base by inviting someone like me, with whom he doesn’t agree on every issue, to offer the Invocation at his historic Inaugural ceremony.

“Hopefully individuals passionately expressing opinions from the left and the right will recognize that both of us have shown a commitment to model civility in America.

“The Bible admonishes us to pray for our leaders. I am honored by this opportunity to pray God’s blessing on the office of the President and its current and future inhabitant, asking the Lord to provide wisdom to America’s leaders during this critical time in our nation’s history.”

——

Stay tuned. This story just keeps evolving. Oh, and you might want to watch Warren’s interview with Ann Curry at 8 p.m. tonight on NBC’s Dateline. I watched excerpts of the interview on the Today show and I think many people, particular the faith community, will be interested in hearing what Warren has to say.

Curry said it was conducted before Warren’s role in the inauguration was made public.

(AP Photo: Sen John McCain, R-Ariz., Pastor Rick Warren and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. stand together at an August forum at Warren’s Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.)

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

Beliefnet.com and Wall Street Journal columnist Steven Waldman offered his views on the issue on huffingtonpost.com. Waldman just conducted a video interview with Warren last week in which he shared his views on some hot button issues including gay marriage. 

Go to Beliefnet.com to view Waldman’s interview of Warren: Beliefnet.com Warren interviews.

To read Waldman’s commentary about Obama’s choice of Warren to deliver the inauguration invocation, click here: Defense of Obama’s choice. 

Read Rabbi Brad Hirschfield’s commentary on the issue here:  Rick Warren’s Selection is Great for Faith …  Hirschfield has a column “Windows and Doors” on Beliefnet.com.

(AP PHOTO:  In this Aug. 16 file photo, then Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill, joins Pastor Rick Warren at Warren’s Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., for a discussion on moral issues.)

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

Meanwhile, the Rev. Joseph Lowery, who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., will deliver the benediction, according to the Religion News Service.

The preachers’ roles in the inauguration were announced today by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.

The news about Warren’s involvement with the inauguration is causing some consternation in some quarters.

In a news release e-mailed today, People For the American Way President Kathryn Kolbert said she was disappointed that Warren was selected to deliver the invocation because of his stance against same-sex marriage, among other issues.

“I’m sure that Warren’s supporters will portray his selection as an appeal to unity by a president who is committed to reaching across traditional divides. Others may explain it as a response to Warren inviting then-Sen. Obama to speak on AIDS and candidate Obama to appear at a forum, both at his church,” Kolbert wrote.

“But the sad truth is that this decision further elevates someone who has in recent weeks actively promoted legalized discrimination and denigrated the lives and relationships of millions of Americans.” 

(AP PHOTO: Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., and author of “The Purpose-Driven Life.”)

 Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

Are you interested in hearing more about the forum and Warren’s thoughts about leadership? Go to Beliefnet.com for Warren’s post-forum interview.

Here’s a wrap-up (from an official news release sent out by Warren) of Warren’s related sermon that he delivered on Sunday:

“I am not an expert on politics, but I know a lot about leadership,” Warren said. “The guidelines for choosing a leader our nation needs and that God blesses are based on biblical qualities found in Proverbs.”

Warren dug deep into the Book of Wisdom, providing numerous Scripture references describing how God blesses leaders who “live with integrity, serve with humility and share with generosity,” pulling from his experience in training more than 500,000 pastoral leaders around the world.

“Today, most leaders are interested in image – what people think they are; but true leadership involves integrity, based on character and confidence, which is the number one need for leaders in America,” Warren said. “Integrity doesn’t mean perfection – no one is perfect – but it does mean being honest, which leads to credibility and trust.”

According to Warren, the second biblical quality for leadership is humility, which is marked by service to others. “True leaders are known by how they serve, not how many serve them,” he said. “Too many leaders start out in service that quickly evolves into ‘serve us.’ Humility doesn’t mean denying one’s strengths, but rather being honest about one’s weaknesses. Humility is not thinking less of oneself, it is thinking less about oneself, and the way to do that is to think of other people.

“The worst sin one can have is pride, which makes us enemies of God,” Warren added. “Humility is a declaration of dependence. Our president needs to be humble, and we should look for leaders who admit their dependence on God.”

With music intermixed between Warren’s points, multi-Grammy and Dove Award winning singer Michael W. Smith gave a warm praise anthem, “I’m Deep in Love With You Lord,” further centering the congregation’s focus on how to apply this morning’s sermon in their lives.

According to Warren, the third characteristic for a leader of influence is generosity. “Generosity is love in action,” he said. “You can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving; it is important that a leader give both his time and his money for others.”

Warren also noted that generosity involves compassion, and urged his audience to look at a leader’s compassion for others. “America is one of the most blessed nations in the world, and we need to be a blessing to others,” he said. “In a leader you are looking for someone who will speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves.”

The purpose of Warren’s sermon wasn’t to tell his congregants how to vote, but to provide them guidance from a biblical foundation in considering candidates for office – not just the presidency, but also senators, congressman, governors on down to electing local officials.

Warren then challenged congregants on things they can do between now and the election in November. “First pray – for the candidates, for yourself and for wisdom,” he said. “Second, check the candidates out – not just their position on issues, but also their character and competence. Third, register to vote. Fourth, and above all, vote.

 “If you are saying, ‘I don’t like either candidate, maybe I won’t vote,’ then I say you need to move to another country,” Warren concluded. “Because if you don’t, you are giving up a privilege which people died to make possible.”

Earlier I shared information about the Civil Forum on Leadership and Compassion being hosted on Saturday by Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church in California.

The forum is to feature presumptive presidential nominees Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama and Warren, Saddleback’s pastor and best-selling author of “The Purpose-Driven Life” will be moderator for the event.

I learned that Saddleback will show the forum live via its Web site at www.saddleback.com.

Since that first posting, I’ve received numerous e-mails from various religious groups and organizations featuring commentary about the upcoming forum and more information. 

Today the Oklahoma City-based International Pentecostal Holiness Church Ministries sent me a news release that says that the forum will also be broadcast live on CNN and Fox News.

According to the IPHC news release, Warren has said the two-hour event will be held in a non-debate format and will be open to all media.

Both candidates have requested that questions be posed exclusively by Warren, instead of a panel or members of the audience. Each will converse separately with Warren for about one hour.

Warren is to deliver a special sermon on Sunday entitled “Making Up Your Mind: Questions to Consider before the Election,” which will be streamed live on the church Web site and made available for use in small group discussions within churches across the country.

Incidentally, the IHPC reports that about 6,500 tickets to the forum will be allotted for seating in six different venues throughout the Saddleback campus.

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor    

 Rick Warren on Aug. 18 edition of TIME Magazine 

Rick Warren, author of the best-selling book “The Purpose-Driven Life,” is featured on the cover the Aug. 18 edition of TIME magazine.

He’ll be the moderator of an Aug. 16 ”civil forum” featuring “presumptive Presidential nominees” Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain.

The forum is to be held at Warren’s Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.

TIME writer David Van Biema calls Warren the country’s most influential and highest-profile churchman. 

According to Christian Newswire, Warren told the writer the he will not give the candidates a “Christian religion test,” but he wants to showcase “what’s good for everybody, not just what’s good for me. Who’s the best for the nation right now?”

Should be interesting at Saddleback come Aug. 16.

Can’t get to Lake Forest to see the forum? No worries.

The church’s Web site says that it will be shown live online. Go to www.saddleback.com for all the details.

Incidentally, Warren and the upcoming forum aren’t the only news of a religious nature featured in the latest edition of TIME.

The magazine also features a poll of Evangelicals that might prove interesting to some.

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor