Let's begin our look at the Calvinism vs. Armenian debate (through the lens of pragmatism and mission) with a link and a few things of note.

The link is the interview of Rick Warren by John Piper: click here.I do NOT start here as an example of Calvinism v. Armenianism. Please DO NOT misconstrue this context. I'm not starting here to state Piper is Calvinist and Warren is Armenian. That's simply not true. Both are Calvinist to differing degrees. I merely want to point out the following:

1. Rick Warren views his ministry and his church plant through the lens of mission. He saw (and sees) himself as a missionary first. This is critical. It is also why I admire Rick and his ministry. Whatever else you think of the methodology, the bottom line is that both Rick Warren individually and Saddleback as a church has an actual heart for lost people. They put their feet where their faith is. Rick is a pragmatist because of that. The question isn't "what is supposed to work", but "what is actually working"? The root cause of good mission stems because a follower doesn't just want to talk missionally, but wants to actually follow Jesus into the unknown. Jesus stepped into a timeframe when there was a lot of theological talk and tomes written on the Old Testament. What made Jesus radical was that He actually reached people.

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The Humanitarian Jesus Interview Series

Tony Campolo 

If you don’t know Tony Campolo you should want to.  Not because you will agree with everything he says, but because you can’t disagree with his passion and relentless pursuit of doing things better. 

When we sat down in an old hall at Eastern University, I didn’t expect to leave understanding him completely, but I also didn’t expect to leave respecting him as much as I did.  It wasn’t that I agreed with everything he said, but at 33, I was struck by the intensity and irreverence to ideology and labels I discovered in a man of 75 years who had advised at least one president and countless other leaders and students.  The following few minutes of text is how our hour + interview launched off...

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Singer, songwriter, breast cancer survivor, activist, lesbian, wife, mother. These are just a few adjectives that describe Oscar and Grammy Award-winning artist Melissa Etheridge.  In an op-ed piece posted on December 22, 2008 at the Huffington Post, she shares a very personal and honest story about Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, her concerns about his stance on homosexuality and same-sex marriage and their unlikely meeting.  Would love to know what the community here at Conversant thinks about this piece...