John MacArthur, Rick Warren etc.

Lately, it seems like every two or three years, some new author/preacher is the hot new guy to listen to. The last guy was Rick Warren who is the pastor of a megachurch in California somewhere. I am happy the Mr. Warren's work inspired people to get together in small groups and discuss the word of God, but at the same time I am always wary of teachings of man that seem to spread with such popularity. When I began looking at The Purpose Driven Life, five pages in Mr. Warren stated everything in life everyday is a test from God. This is simply not true and has no biblical basis so I was then done with believing the tenets of the book without scriptural references and explanation, which were many. I even heard a rumor that Saddleback doesn't allow music in a Minor key to be played in services. Naturally disbelieving I wrote an email and got confirmation that was indeed true.
Now, John MacArthur is the "new" guy everyone is enamored with. Reading a bit of his work, he reminds of the legalistic churches I grew up in. Obedience is his mantra and he is somewhat harsh about his message. He is also a Calvinist, which I am not a fan of. I believe Christ died so that all may come to the Father through Him and he was the propitiation for all sin. Certainly all won't come to Him, but the desire of God's heart is that we all be in Heaven. Mr. MacArthur also believes many spiritual gifts, namely speaking in tongues, are only of the Old Testament. I also disagree with this stance.
My point is that believers in Jesus Christ need not align themselves with the interpretations of man and should instead lean on Christ through His word. Men are fallible and God has not hesitated to show me that during the course of my life through some, at times very painful, lessons. Let me also state that Mr. Warren and Mr. MacArthur have some great teachings when they stick to the word and do great things for the Church, and their communities. This would be contrary to someone like William P. Young's "The Shack" , also becoming popular, which is wholly ridiculous in its interpretations. There is no denomination better than another, an no preacher that can be your saving grace, your church and pastor should be seeking to educate you directly from the word of God and should study carefully the theology of any Author's material they choose to utilize. Look carefully at the material you are using and make sure that some of the interpretations that get thrown in there actually have a scriptural reference and genuinely seek to understand those references. If there is no reference to God's Word then the author injected his opinion at some point, which can be misconstrued by the readers as biblical fact with some of the other material they are attempting to digest.