John MacArthur On The Free Pass Given To Worldly "Reformers"

John MacArthur says almost exactly what I've (and a few others) have been saying about Reformers especially like Piper and the Reformergents like Driscoll, Chandler, and Keller (he only names Piper, but I've been pointing out the problem with the men I just listed for the some of the same reasons). What a relief that he's seeing the same things I've been seeing.

Here's a bit of what I've said in the past on this blog:

March 26, 2008:

In regard to Driscoll's "Vintage Jesus" book, I stated: "Guess Driscoll gets a free pass because he mouths "TULIP" or "Reformed"? This is absolutely HORRIBLE!"

September 24, 2008:

There is plenty of information on Driscoll for biblical Christians to see how disqualified he is to be a pastor and a teacher of God's HOLY Word. For someone of Piper's fame to deliberately and continually endorse Driscoll (dubbed "the cussing pastor" by Donald Miller, author of "Blue Like Jazz") is wrong.

Yup, I said its wrong. It seems very few people are willing to be clear on this issue. But I don't see how either Piper or Driscoll are living up to the biblical standards of being an undershepherd.

1Co 15:33 Do not be deceived: "Bad company ruins good morals."

Offering putrid, decaying garbage to feed HIS sheep and lambs with, is an absolute disgrace, regardless of the name or label used.

And remember: holding to TULIP doesn't give anyone a free pass. Saying some right things doesn't negate the continual error, either.

End quote.

January 10, 2009:

Challenge: Test all teachers no matter their look (they often "look" nice, innocent, kind, wise), form (your elder, professor, teacher, conference speaker, author), or substance (they might say some biblical things, but are they omitting IMPORTANT things?).

Be ready to throw away the vessel through which error and hypocrisy comes. Be loyal to Christ Jesus and His Word above all people.

Do not play favorites with men who are hypocrits and cowardly (you know: those who secretly agree with you, then publically they side with the enemy).

Do not give them excuses.

Do not drink the filth they have contaminated the water with. Do not allow their position to be their free pass. Some of the most vile men are learned pastors!

Challenge: To be consistant is to strive to live by Scripture in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Pray for a teachable heart and His protection.

Know that to be CONSISTANT means you confess your sins (1John 1) and you test yourself against Scripture.

Being consistant means being CONSISTANT WITH ALLL CHRISTIANS. Differing scales for favorite people is inconsistant and wicked; indeed it is the sin of favoritism (James 2). Its dishonest, disloyal, and unloving.

End quote.

April 17, 2009 :

A note to you Reformers: as pointed out, Driscoll is MAN-CENTERED and pragmatic, wallowing in the flesh and the world, trivializing Christ and Scripture, full of arrogance, and merely pays lip service to his raunchy mouth. You cannot call what he does and says as Christ-honoring or of the Doctrines of Grace at all. I suggest you go read A.W. Pink's " Love Reproving" article if Scripture isn't enough for you.

But saying he's Reformed sure will give him a free pass for all his sin. Now THAT'S greasy "grace".

End quote.

April 30, 2009:

This should not be surprising because Piper has been promoting the ECM for years now via Mark Driscoll the Goat Herder.

I've been saying for years now, much to the Calvinists' dismay, that John Piper IS liberal and IS a cancer within "Christianity".

John Piper continues to offer to his followers Emergent, Mystical, New Age, Foul-Mouthed men unapologetically. But because he and these men he promotes use the Secret Code, "TULIP", they all get a free pass while Charismatic mystics like Benny Hinn don't (however, there is a marriage between Charismaticism/Pentecostalism/ThirdWave and Calvinism via the Sovereign Grace Ministries of CJ Mahaney (throw in CARM's Matt Slick too since he claims two of the three Persons in the Trinity literally came to his conversion but he had no clue Jesus was resurrected for two years AFTER his conversion) so it just depends if you whisper the Code word or not in order to get a free pass.

All manner of excuses are given for what Piper has been boldly doing. Same with Driscoll.

Folks, WAKE UP. Anyone who rejects discernment and wisdom, and rather promotes false teachers and error, is not of HIM. Don't do what Piper does and pretend you can befriend and listen to such people without it staining you.

End quote.

Spurgeon wrote:

Quote:

Is it any wonder that church members forget their vows of consecration, and run with the unholy in the ways of frivolity, when they hear that persons are tolerated in the pastorate who do the same? We doubt not that, for writing these lines we shall incur the charge of prudery and bigotry, and this will but prove how low are the tone and spirit of the churches in many places.

The fact is, that many would like to unite church and stage, cards and prayer, dancing and sacraments. If we are powerless to stem this torrent, we can at least warn men of its existence, and entreat them to keep out of it....

A little plain-speaking would do a world of good just now. These gentlemen desire to be let alone. They want no noise raised. Of course thieves hate watch-dogs, and love darkness. It is time that somebody should spring his rattle, and call attention to the way in which God is being robbed of his glory, and man of his hope.

Numbers of easy-minded people wink at error so long as it is committed by a clever man and a good-natured brother, who has so many fine points about him. Let each believer judge for himself; but, for our part, we have put on a few fresh bolts to our door, and we have given orders to keep the chain up; for, under color of begging the friendship of the servant, there are those about who aim at robbing THE MASTER.

End quote.

Robert Morey once rightly stated:

Quote:

The main problem is that many religious leaders today say one thing and teach another. If you ask Gregory Boyd or the other “Open View of God” heretics if they believe in the “omniscience” of God, they will say, “Yes.” Dumb Christians are satisfied at this point and go their merry way deceived and hoodwinked. But if you force them to define the term “omniscience,” they end up denying that God knows all things! They claim that God does not and cannot know the future.

Just because someone says, “I believe in sola scriptura,” does not mean he really believes in it. If he elsewhere says that the Bible is not the final authority in faith and practice, he has denied insubstance what he supposedly affirmed as a slogan. Heretics have always done this. What they affirm with the right hand is what they deny with the left hand. It does not matter what doctrine is at stake.

End quote.

Indeed, we are seeing Piper's beloved "Christian Hedonism" at work. This is why its so horrific and NOT glorifying to God. The flesh can never please God. The pragmatism we see coming out of the Reformed circles defies the very same who claim "Sovereignty of God" and "Scripture Alone!". They do not really believe in Scripture alone.

John MacArthur says in “Ashamed of the Gospel” about approaches or methods:

p. 81 "Some will maintain that if biblical principles are presented, the medium doesn't matter. That is nonsense."

p. 89 “ …any end-justifies-the-means philosophy of ministry inevitably will compromise doctrine, despite any proviso to the contrary. If we make effectiveness the gauge of right and wrong, how can that fail to color our doctrine? Ultimately the pragmatist’s notion of truth is shaped by what seems effective, not by the objective revelation of Scripture."

p. 92-93 on pragmatism:"Do you see how the new philosophy necessarily undermines sound doctrine? It discards Jesus' own methods---preaching and teaching--as the primary means of ministry. It replaces them with methodologies utterly devoid of substance....In fact it avoids dogma or strong convictions as divisive, unbecoming,or inappropriate. It dismisses doctrine as academic, abstract, sterile, threatening, or simply impractical. Rather than teaching error or denying truth, it does something far more subtle, but just as effective from the enemy’s point of view. It jettisons content altogether. Instead of attacking orthodoxy head-on, it gives lip service to the truth while quietly undermining the foundations of doctrine. Instead of exalting God, it denigrates the things that are precious to Him. In that regard, pragmatism poses dangers more subtle than the liberalism that threatened the church in the first half of the century."

The Reliability of Scripture

I'd like to share what a pastor friend of mine, Joey Rogers of Means, KY, shared in the way of how amazing and reliable Scripture is:

First, you have a religious text unlike any other book. A collection of 66 books with approximately 40 authors written over approximately a 1600 year period of time, and yet you have perfect agreement and continuity. You can't find any two authors of any religious pursuasion that can agree in continuity on anything!

Second, you have an incredible accuracy as far as historical claims are concerned. Archeology and other extra-Biblical records show the people, places, and events recorded in the Bible were real historical people, places, and events. No other religious text can hold this claim with such precision and accuracy.

Third, you have the prophetic uniqueness of Biblical text. The Dead Sea Scrolls were a unique discovery showing us the reality of Old Testament manuscripts. In Daniel you have a perfect description of a coming leader, a young man who will die young after conquering the known world. He will leave his Kingdom to four warriors, and they will divide it into four parts. This is a perfect description of Alexander the Great and his four generals, and it was written hundreds of years before him. The prophet Zepheniah described the crucifixion of Christ, again hundreds of years before crucifixion was dreamed of. Isaiah perfectly described the life, ministry, events, and death of Christ Jesus hundreds of years before many of these possibilities existed. These prophecies did not come in vague mysterious random visions that could be interpreted a million ways. They came with clear attention to the most minute detail. The odds of even a tenth of them being accurate are impossible for human scientists to calculate... ALL of them were perfectly accurate!

Fourth, the philosophical difficulties we face in our own existence and purpose are only properly answered by scripture. Atheist after atheist has been recorded as saying the Biblical text can be argued against in it's description of the human condition. The claims made in scripture about mankind are true and reliable.

Fifth, the Gospel records were public record. There were thousands present at each recorded incident in the New Testament Gospels who could have easily written in length to discredit Jesus. Problem: secular authors in early AD history wrote to add credit to the Person of Christ and His miracles.

Sixth, the Bible and the Bible alone presents a unique perspective on the salvation of human souls. Every other religion in the world is based upon the idea of human achievement. What you achieve morally determines where you spend eternity. Yet, the scripture speaks of Divine Accomplishment, in that Christ Jesus accomplished on your behalf what you could never accomplish. He lived your perfect life for you, and He died in your stead the death you deserved. No other religion can make that claim.

Eighth, the Person and works of Jesus Christ. His claims are true. His life was a reality. His works are attested even in secular writings. What He did for us... Unimaginable.

Psychiatrists Want To Remove Pedophilia From DSM

              
              (photo source)

Some psychiatrists within the APA are trying to normalize pedphilia. Here's the article link. Of course, this is exactly what the APA did with homosexuality in 1973 in order to normalize it. However, both homosexuality and pedophilia are not mental illnesses ("mental" is not to be confused with the brain--"mental" is more about thoughts and emotions, not an organ), but rather the sin of immorality.

Consider the havoc that will play upon the children and the court system. This is utterly sick, but it goes to show yet again, just how arbitrary and subjective psychology is---if its in their little "bible" of the DSM, then its an "illness", if not, its not. Even diagnosing an "illness" is subjective and without any objective medical tests (there are NONE).

I highly recommend reading more at:

Psychology Debunked

"The End of 'Christian' Psychology" by Martin and Deidre Bobgan

"Psychology: The Trojan Horse" by Gil Rugh

1Ti 1:10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and
whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,

1Co 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,11 And such WERE some of you. BUT you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Jud 1:7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Rom 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Rom 1:24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,

Rom 1:25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

Rom 1:26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;

Rom 1:27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Rom 1:28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

It is high time to awake out of sleep!

"Be zealous!" Revelation 3:19

The zealous Christian is sure of . . .
God's blessing,
the approbation of his own conscience,
the opposition of Satan,
the frown of every lukewarm professor,
and the commendation of all godly people.

Let us warm our hearts at the fire of God's love!

Let us quicken our motives by a visit to the cross!

Let us sharpen our weapons by communion with the Spirit!

Let us seek the grace, the courage, the strength necessary at the mercy seat--and then let us zealously fall to work. Let . . .
the work of God be our delight,
the welfare of our fellow-men be our aim,
and the glory of the Lord be our highest object!

Let us live in earnest. Let us live to purpose.

By the shortness of time,
by the solemnities of death,
by the realities of eternity,
by the danger of lost sinners,
by the vigilance of Satan,
by the poor state of the Church,
by the character of the present times,
by the command of God,
by the example of primitive believers,
and by the counsel of the Lord Jesus--
let us stir up our hearts--and stir up one another to "Be zealous!"

Brethren, the time is short, and "It is high time to awake out of sleep!"

By the spread of Popery,
by the activity of infidelity,
by the condition of our cities,
by the needs of the Church,
by the woes of the world,
by the authority of God,
by the blood of the cross,
by the promise of the Spirit,
by the prospect of success,
by the rest of the grave,
by the glories of Heaven,
by the terrors of Hell,
by the rewards of activity, and
by the condemnation of the lukewarm and the slothful
--allow me to beseech you to "Be zealous!"

Be zealous today--tomorrow you may die!

Be zealous in time--and in eternity, you will rejoice that you have been so!

~ James Smith, "The Zealous Christian!" 1864

The Hypocrisy of Piper On Warren

A video that shows yet again the hypocrisy of John Piper regarding his friend Rick Warren. Piper shows his willing ignorance of Warren, who has historically proclaimed a false gospel.

ICR: Excellent articles for this month

Excellent articles from ICR's "Acts & Facts" this month:

"The Donkey Strategy"

"Balaam's Error And Today's Evangelicals" by Henry Morris III, D.Min. *

Excerpts:

How do “good” people become “enemies of the cross of Christ” (Philippians 3:18)?

Of the many passages in the Bible that contain information or warnings about false teaching, there are four key New Testament passages that will help answer that question. In 2 Peter 2:1-3, the apostle Peter lists five characteristics of the leaders of false teaching:

•They will come from “Christian” churches or backgrounds.
•They will deny the Lord Jesus in some way.
•They will become very popular.
•They will cause shame to the ideals of Scripture.
•They will use human greed and hidden meanings to deceive....

The battle is fought and won or lost in our mind. Circumstances, feelings, popular acceptance, and even miraculous signs are all subject to deceptive manipulation and distortion. Our minds can be deceived (2 Corinthians 11:3).

The passage that outlines the “subtlety” of the enemy is Genesis 3:1-5. It specifies a three-stage process:

• Dispute the accuracy of God’s Word: “Yea, hath God said…”
• Deny the ability of God to do what He said: “Ye shall not surely die…”
• Denigrate the actions of God toward man: “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”

Fundamental to all error is the way that one approaches the written Word of God. Doubt about the accuracy and integrity of Scripture, once entertained, is the first step onto a spiritual slide that ends in utter heresy.
All false religions have other writings that attempt to explain what God “really” meant to say....

All of that pales into insignificance when we begin to grasp the insidious inroads of compromising Bible teachers in the seminaries and in parachurch organizations across this nation. Two fundamental positions emerge from analysis of the writings, blogs, and teachings of those who knowingly embrace a hybridizing of God’s foundational truths:

• The message of Scripture must be subject to the “discoveries” of science, philosophy, psychology, history, logic, or academic analysis and scholarship.
• The Bible, therefore, cannot (indeed must not) be taken as a literal or historically accurate document. All of the biblical text must be “interpreted” in light of a theological system, scholarly historical analysis, or “proven” science.

The result is an increasing fear of controversy among pastors to deal with the errors, a growing ignorance of biblical doctrine being replaced by a “love for God” and “one another” that is both emotional and amorphous, and an ever-increasing withdrawal from “absolute truth.”

End quote.

* Dr. Morris is Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Creation Research. Morris III, H. 2011. Balaam’s Error and Today’s Evangelicals. Acts & Facts. 40 (8): 4-6.

For the entire article go here. Dr. Morris also explains how to solve this growing dilemma.

"The Failed Apologetic of the Wedge Strategy"

ICR, while engaged in science and research, its fundamentally doctrinal in nature, starting with a high view of Scripture and testing everything including science, theories, books, "evangelical" teachers/pastors, and academia, by It. I really appreciate their stand to not only deal with science, but most importantly deal with doctrinal issues especially the authority of Scripture above everything and using it in our daily lives. They also have a daily devotional called "Days of Praise".

Spurgeon Speaks: Addressing the Rick Warrens, Joel Osteens, Mark Driscolls Of Today

[I]f the world will not come to Jesus, shall Jesus tone down his teachings to the world? In other words, if the world will not rise to the church, shall not the church go down to the world?

Instead of bidding men to be converted, and come out from among sinners, and be separate from them, let us join with the ungodly world, enter into union with it, and so pervade it with our influence by allowing it to influence us.

Let us have a Christian world. To this end let us revise our doctrines. Some are old-fashioned, grim, severe, unpopular; let us drop them out. Use the old phrases so as to please the obstinately orthodox, but give them new meanings so as to win philosophical infidels, who are prowling around.

Pare off the edges of unpleasant truths, and moderate the dogmatic tone of infallible revelation: say that Abraham and Moses made mistakes, and that the books which have been so long had in reverence are full of errors. Undermine the old faith, and bring in the new doubt; for the times are altered, and the spirit of the age suggests the abandonment of everything that is too severely righteous, and too surely of God.

The deceitful adulteration of doctrine is attended by a falsification of experience. Men are now told that they were born good, or were made so by their infant baptism, and so that great sentence, “Ye must be born again,” is deprived of its force.

Repentance is ignored, faith is a drug in the market as compared with “honest doubt,” and mourning for sin and communion with God are dispensed with, to make way for entertainments, and Socialism, and politics of varying shades. A new creature in Christ Jesus is looked upon as a sour invention of bigoted Puritans.

It is true, with the same breath they extol Oliver Cromwell; but then 1888 is not 1648. What was good and great three hundred years ago is mere cant to-day. That is what “modern thought” is telling us; and under its guidance all religion is being toned down.

Spiritual religion is despised, and a fashionable morality is set up in its place. Do yourself up tidily on Sunday; behave yourself; and above all, believe everything except what you read in the Bible, and you will be all right. Be fashionable, and think with those who profess to be scientific—this is the first and great commandment of the modern school; and the second is like unto it—do not be singular, but be as worldly as your neighbours.

Thus is Isaac going down into Padan-aram: thus is the church going down to the world. Men seem to say—It is of no use going on in the old way, fetching out one here and another there from the great mass. We want a quicker way.

To wait till people are born again, and become followers of Christ, is a long process: let us abolish the separation between the regenerate and unregenerate. Come into the church, all of you, converted or unconverted. You have good wishes and good resolutions; that will do: don’t trouble about more.

It is true you do not believe the gospel, but neither do we. You believe something or other. Come along; if you do not believe anything, no matter; your “honest doubt” is better by far than faith. “But,” say you, “nobody talks so.”

Possibly they do not use the same words, but this is the real meaning of the present-day religion; this is the drift of the times. I can justify the broadest statement I have made by the action or by the speech of certain ministers, who are treacherously betraying our holy religion under pretence of adapting it to this progressive age.

The new plan is to assimilate the church to the world, and so include a larger area within its bounds. By semi-dramatic performances they make houses of prayer to approximate to the theatre; they turn their services into musical displays, and their sermons into political harangues or philosophical essays—in fact, they exchange the temple for the theatre, and turn the ministers of God into actors, whose business it is to amuse men.

Is it not so, that the Lord’s-day is becoming more and more a day of recreation or of idleness, and the Lord’s house either a joss-house full of idols, or a political club, where there is more enthusiasm for a party than zeal for God? Ah me! the hedges are broken down, the walls are levelled, and to many there is henceforth, no church except as a portion of the world, no God except as an unknowable force by which the laws of nature work.

This, then, is the proposal. In order to win the world, the Lord Jesus must conform Himself, His people, and His Word to the world. I will not dwell any longer on so loathsome a proposal… Notice his master’s outspoken, believing repudiation of the proposal.

He says, shortly and sharply, “Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.” The Lord Jesus Christ heads that grand emigration party which has come right out from the world. Addressing His disciples, He says, “Ye are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

We are not of the world by birth, not of the world in life, not of the world in object, not of the world in spirit, not of the world in any respect whatever. Jesus, and those who are in Him, constitute a new race. The proposal to go back to the world is abhorrent to our best instincts; yea, deadly to our noblest life.

A voice from heaven cries, “Bring not my son thither again.” Let not the people whom the Lord brought up out of Egypt return to the house of bondage; but let their children come out, and be separate, and the Lord Jehovah will be a Father unto them. (Online source)

Charles Spurgeon (via Apprising Ministries)