Barnabas Piper Loves Eastern Mystic Heretic Brennan Manning

2 Tim. 4 ^3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ^4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

It seems the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Then again, when you've grown up on false doctrines and a low view of Scripture, emboldened by your parents, it's not a surprise.

Barnabas Piper, one of John Piper's sons, who was divorced by his wife at the end of last year (it sounds like it was an unbiblical one and it has come up first in January when he announced it and then again last week in a "Christianity Today" interview), has written a post applauding Brennan Manning's book "Ragamuffin Gospel". Manning is a false teacher and was a key factor in the anti-biblical Emergent Church Movement (so really, B Piper is behind the curve). 

He offers 50 of the best quotes, but starts by saying:

I recently read Brennan Manning’s classic work on God’s profound love and grace, The Ragamuffin Gospel. I’d known of the book for years, but it took dozens of recommendations before I bought and read it. Part of me wished I had done so earlier and part of me is grateful I encountered this beautiful book when I did. It is rare or me to read a book that makes me love Jesus and feel loved by Jesus more. This one did, page after page, relentlessly. It is magnificent in its simplicity and depth and honesty and gratefulness and worship. If you have not, please read it. Here are a election of the best quotes from it.

End quote.

Manning is heavily into gnosticism, specifically Contemplative Spirituality and prayer, which is grounded in the Eastern mysticism of the Roman Catholic Desert monks. Worse, Manning denies the penal substituionary death of Christ and thus along with that, the absolute, inflexible justice of God. But there's more.

As Lighthouse Trails Research says:

In Manning’s more recent book, Above All, he says: “[T]he god who exacts the last drop of blood from his Son so that his just anger, evoked by sin, may be appeased, is not the God revealed by and in Jesus Christ. And if he is not the God of Jesus, he does not exist (p. 58).” Manning actually took this idea, nearly word for word, from William Shannon, author of Silence of Fire. But Manning has made a habit of quoting Shannon. Ray Yungen elaborates:

[W]hen Manning quotes from (and even recommends in one interview) William Shannon’s book, Silence on Fire, one would expect to find a common ground somewhere between the two of them. Yet Silence on Fire contains nothing that would inspire a true evangelical. In fact, it is filled with universalist statements that would offend anyone with doctrinally-sound evangelical sensibilities. One portion states, “[T]here is a oneness in God that unites all women and men … The goal of all true spirituality is to achieve an awareness of our oneness with God and with all of God’s creation.”

Alan Jones, whom Manning also repeatedly quotes, calls the doctrine of the Cross a vile doctrine. This rejection of the biblical view of the Cross by Jones and Shannon is similar to that of Brian McLaren who says the doctrine of the Cross and Hell are “false advertising for God.” End quote.

A more anti-doctrines of grace (TULIP and the 5 Solas) you can't find. Mysticism is at the heart, anti-Scripture alone. It does find common ground with the unholy Charismatic movement, though. And that would make sense, considering John Piper's charismaticism himself. When one commits the sin of Adam and Eve by not trusting in God's character and Word but rather, goes outside of His Word to find "knowledge", that is to say, when Scripture isn't enough, people will absolutely fall into error and in many cases, grievous error. Charismaticism (which John Piper holds to) denies the sole sufficiency of Scripture and instead looks to experiences and feelings as if those indicate truth or spirituality. It is nothing less than gnosticism.

As Ken Silva said: As yet another example of the grave danger of spiritual deception for those who persist in CSM’s rebellion against the final authority of God’s Word in favor of personal, highly subjective “experience,” in Reflections for Ragamuffins (RfR) by Brennan Manning the daily devotion for May 8 is based on his lovely lament concerning Isaiah 53. O but of course, first using a methodology so often employed by the Emergent Church, he begins by taking a shot at those of us who adhere to Sola Scriptura as he whines about “how difficult it is to receive anyone who has all the answers.” End quote.

Silva goes on to say:

This next part you really have to read for yourself to believe just how exactly backward Manning’s semi-pelagian ear-tickling centered on the self message actually is:

So Jesus comes in the way of weakness, giving us the chance to love him and making us feel that we have something to give him. Isaiah prophesied that he would be “like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers”(53:7 NAB). Jesus, who understands the human heart, allowed the image of a dumb, helpless animal to be applied to himself. (129)

Because the level of Biblical discernment today is so low this is the kind of trite, pious-sounding, and people-pleasing pabulum that has even begun affecting mainstream evangelicalism in the Chuck Swindolls, the David Jeremiahs, and the Charles Stanleys (the SBC is fine shape). Popular evangelicals like Max Lucado and Philip Yancey long ago succumbed. Lucado writes of Manning that “he does a masterful job of blowing the dust off shop-worn theology” [means: the stuff I don’t like] and Yancey says, “I consider Brennan Manning my spiritual director in the school of grace.” And SBC minister Dallas Willard, who is the Spiritual Formation friend of the aforementioned Foster, tells us that Manning “throws firebrands into your soul and makes you wonder why you are not living stripped, standing in the arctic ‘Sonshine’ of God’s love” (back cover).

O please; it becomes obvious that these men are reading the Bible and then still thinking only as men think. Yes, Jesus came to give man the chance to love Him alright but the Bible is painfully clear in that He was roundly rejected. Christ came “making us feel that we have something to give him”? And what pray tell would we give to Him Mr. Manning; filthy rags? You should have read a little further on in Isaiah — All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags (64:6). The Bible teaches very clearly that mankind was helpless on his own to do anything to please God — when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6).

The terrible truth is that we have absolutely nothing at all to give God that is even remotely worthy of His incredible gift. Here’s the issue, Manning is mangling the metphor of Isaiah 53 and taking it well beyond its intended meaning. Uh-oh; I just inferred that I know what this passage of Scripture means. What a serious faux pas I have commited because my Emergent “brothers” would tell me I simply can’t know for sure what Isaiah 53 means. Because you see, those who say to us it’s humble to admit we don’t know for sure are in turn *ahem* sure that they themselves in fact know I’m wrong to be…um, sure. Ah Alice, what color is the sky out there in Wonderland? But as has been pointed out well elsewhere: 

Metaphors are often used in Scripture to help the reader understand an abstract concept that might otherwise be lost or to emphasize a particular element. It is dangerous, if not completely off-base, to motivate a position using an element of a metaphor that is not supported or called out by the context. Jesus is the Lamb of God, like a sheep lead to the slaughter… The imagery is that of a blameless sacrifice who willingly, and without protest (see Isa. 5:5), takes upon Himself the wrath of a Just and Holy God in our place.

The context simply does not support the proposition that Jesus wants to be viewed as a “dumb, helpless animal” or did so for the purpose of giving us a “chance to love him.” Manning uses a novel and unsupported interpretation of the metaphor to develop a point he wants the reader to accept. In addition, Manning is a master at building an ambiguous straw man argument on the basis of feelings the reader might have, especially those of inadequacy. The fact that the reader can identify or relate to a particular story becomes the support for the proposition espoused. The methodology appeals to the reader’s experience rather than the truth contained in God’s Word.

Sola Scriptura; Sola Christus!

But therein lies the very grave spiritual danger in following these pied pipers of the postevangelical and Emergent Church rebellion against the authority of the Bible. These fools (look it up in the Bible) have elevated their own corrupt and fallen human reasoning above the text of the Word of God. In simpler terms, these people with their neo-Gnostic mysticism-lite are interpreting the text of Scripture by how they “feel” about it rather than going by what the text clearly says. And it’s a hallmark of the neo-orthodox approach to the Bible. Ever notice how many Emerging Church leaders praise Karl Barth?

End quote.

Read the entire article here.

How is it that Barnabas Piper finds such a heretic like Manning leading him to love Jesus more? The answer is that he's not loving the biblical Jesus. He's not even hearing His voice.

2Jn 1:9  Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.
2Jn 1:10  If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting;
2Jn 1:11  for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.

Joh 10:4  "When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 

Joh 10:5  "A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers."

Joh 10:14  "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me

"The Shack" Artist Regrets Promoting the Book

                                                                         photo source

Artist of "The Shack" book cover regrets promoting book. That's good. However, he still has some issues:

Many will still say that the book was intended as just a work of fiction, but the author himself, William Paul Young, is quoted as saying, “The Shack is theology. But it is a theology wrapped in a story.”
Embracing The Shack, as I did, led me to other books, other authors who had started out on the straight and narrow, having solid Biblical beliefs, but strayed off into apostasy land. Rob Bell, Jim Palmer, Brian McLaren, to name a few of those by whom I was inspired. That "inspiration" led me to the edge of this Universalist belief. I thank the Lord that He pulled me back from that edge.The Shack’s story wonderfully painted this picture to me of an incredibly knowable and loving God, one full of forgiveness, but without being judgmental. The fact is that there are two inseparable sides to God. He is both love and judge.
Again, this thing called “free will” has given us the ability to willfully accept God’s gracious gift of His Son, Jesus, who died on a cross to save us from our sins, or willfully reject His gracious gift. Jesus did die for the sins of the whole world, but tragically most of the world has and will refuse Him.

End quote.

~Dan Aldrich

Bell and McLaren were never ever solid. Also, there is no such thing as "free will" since Scripture clearly and adamantly states that we are all slaves either to sin or righteousness (Rom. 6:16-22). If we are not redeemed and adopted by God to God, then we remain as children of the devil, under his reign. There is no neutrality toward God and sin for anyone. Basically the "free will" doctrine denies the sound doctrine of total depravity.

Rom 8:5  For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 

Rom 8:6  For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 

Rom 8:7  because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 

Rom 8:8  and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 

1Co 2:14  But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 

Rom 5:9  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 

Rom 5:10  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 

Eph 2:1  And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 

Eph 2:2  in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 

Eph 2:3  Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 

Php 3:18  For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, 

Universal atonement is blasphemous as it portrays a helpless god who's will is thwarted, although filled with good intentions. It's pushed by those who don't want to offend sinners, but instead assure the wicked God loves them and thus Jesus died for them all. To say Jesus died for all sinners and yet many won't go to Heaven is a FALSE GOSPEL.

Joh 10:26  but you do not believe because you are not part of My flock.

Acts 13: ^48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

Rom. 8: ^30 And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those he justified, he also glorified

Rom 11:7  What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8  as it is written, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day." 

Eph 1:4  just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 

Eph 1:5  He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 

Eph 1:6  to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 

Eph 1:7  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 

Is. 14: ^24 The LORD Almighty has sworn, “Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand… ^26 This is the plan determined for the whole world; this is the hand stretched out over all nations. ^27 For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back? 

Brian McLaren Rewrites Hymns Because They Don't Fit His Liberal Agenda

"So much about the original hymn is disturbing to me," the "emergent" church leader tells Baptist News Global, citing the example of the 19th century English hymn. "For example, it speaks ambiguously of 'the foe' — which could (in the minds of some) refer to our neighbors outside the Church. It would be very different if it identified "the foe" as, for example, corporate greed, racism, domestic violence, apathy or pride. But the ambiguity leaves room for trouble, I think. The hymn models Christian mission on warfare 'against flesh and blood' — the very opposite of what Jesus and Paul taught …."

McLaren, who is part of a group of songwriters, "Convergence Music Project," has rewritten "Onward, Christian Soldiers," as it reflects a pro-war theology, according to him.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/pastor-brian-mclaren-rewrites-pro-war-church-hymns-as-republicans-talk-carpet-bombing-in-debates-158216/#lHAtLdfyvkGDyuGS.99

As the "Christian" Post reported:

"So much about the original hymn is disturbing to me," the "emergent" church leader tells Baptist News Global, citing the example of the 19th century English hymn. "For example, it speaks ambiguously of 'the foe' — which could (in the minds of some) refer to our neighbors outside the Church. It would be very different if it identified "the foe" as, for example, corporate greed, racism, domestic violence, apathy or pride. But the ambiguity leaves room for trouble, I think. The hymn models Christian mission on warfare 'against flesh and blood' — the very opposite of what Jesus and Paul taught …."

McLaren, who is part of a group of songwriters, "Convergence Music Project," has rewritten "Onward, Christian Soldiers," as it reflects a pro-war theology, according to him.

~End quote.

The arrogant and prideful false teacher is clueless about the real foe to Christians. Thou art the man, McLaren. You. You're a devil who attacks biblical Christianity constantly. You mention pride as a foe and you are a glaring example.  Your battles are only of the flesh. The only racists are liberals like yourself who think in terms of skin color and dare to presume Christians are racist (which is slanderous). His Marxism is nothing but worldliness.

McLaren ignores all the passages about "fighting the good fight of the faith", the "armor of God", and being soldiers in this spiritual battle. Instead McLaren's eyes are ONLY for that of the flesh because he is unregenerate.

Examples of "warfare" language in the New Testament:

Php_2:25  But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need; 

2Ti_2:3  Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 

2Ti_2:4  No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. 

Phm_1:2  and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house: 

1Ti_1:18  This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, 

1Ti_6:12  Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 

2Ti_4:7  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 

2Co_10:4  for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 

Jud 1:3  Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.

Additionally, CP reported in the same article:

Referring to "I'll Fly Away," he continues, "I love the traditional tune, and of course there's nothing wrong with singing about looking forward to going to be with Jesus beyond this life." However, he adds, many songs say this world is not my home "right when this world, our home, is in great peril from human abuse." This, he says, led him to write a song called "I'll Get Involved" to the old tune, which urges people "not to evacuate but to engage and transform."

~article

Again, a liar if there ever was one, but so fitting for most of today's "Christians" who love humanism's Socialism.

1Pe 2:11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.

Col 3:1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Col 3:2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

Col 3:3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Eph 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household,

Eph 2:20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,

Dan Kimball, Rick Warren, and Post-Modernism

Rick Warren's Ministry Toolbox:


Notes & Quotes -- www.TheOoze.com

"Yes, we truly believe there is such a thing as truth and truth matters -- if we did not believe this, we would have no good reason to write or speak; no, we are not moral or epistemological relativists any more than anyone or any community is who takes hermeneutical positions -- we believe that radical relativism is absurd and dangerous, as is arrogant absolutism; yes, we affirm the historic Trinitarian Christian faith and the ancient creeds, and seek to learn from all of church history -- and we honor the church's great teachers and leaders from East and West, North and South.

"Yes, we believe that Jesus is the crucified and risen Savior of the cosmos and no one comes to the Father except through Jesus; no, we do not pit reason against experience but seek to use all our God-given faculties to love and serve God and our neighbors; no, we do not endorse false dichotomies -- and we regret any false dichotomies unintentionally made by or about us (even in this paragraph!); and yes, we affirm that we love, have confidence in, seek to obey, and strive accurately to teach the sacred Scriptures, because our greatest desire is to be followers and servants of the Word of God, Jesus Christ." - Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, Spencer Burke, Brian McLaren, Dan Kimball, Andrew Jones, Chris Seay www.TheOoze.com

Posted Thu, Jun 30 2005 12:07 PM by MTBEditor
Filed under: Notes & Quotes

Scot McKnight At Rick Warren's Church

Latest from Lighthouse Trails Research on Warren's Apologetic Weekend which offered Greg Koukl, Scot McKnight, and Philip Yancy. Here's the part on McKnight:

Quote:

In McKnight’s books Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us (with an endorsement by Brian McLaren on the front cover and McLaren references within) and in his book A Community Called Atonement, McKnight doesn’t necessarily reject penal substitutionary atonement (as does McLaren) but says there are many ways of viewing atonement, likening it to golf clubs–using different ones for different purposes (Prologue). Worth noting, McKnight’s Atonement book was published by the emerging publishing partnership of Abingdon Press and Emergent Village. McKnight is seen by the emerging church as someone who represents it. And McKnight’s website and his books confirm this with numerous favorable references on these issues. In his book Jesus Creed, he recommends a variety of books by contemplative advocates including Gary Thomas’ book, Sacred Pathways, where he instructs readers to repeat a word for twenty minutes (which is mantric like meditation) and several other authors of whom we have already mentioned in this article. One of the books McKnight recommends is Eternal Wisdom from the Desert: Writings from the Desert Fathers. St. Anthony is one of the desert fathers featured in that book. Contemplative teacher, Willigis Jager disclosed the following:

Christian literature makes reference to many episodes that parallel the
experiences of those going a yogic way. Saint Anthony, one of the first desert
mystics, frequently encountered strange and sometimes terrifying psychophysical
forces while at prayer. (Jager, Contemplation: A Christian Path, p. 72)

What is being described here is the Kundalini experience that can happen during mantric-like episodes. While McKnight does not come right out in his books and recommend practicing this, he recommends those who do. What we consider McKnight to be is a “bridger,” someone who claims orthodoxy but is actually being used as a bridge between orthodoxy and a dangerous mystical practice.

End quote.

LHRT noted in 2007:

"In emerging church leader, Scot McKnight's book, "The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus", McKnight says that Protestant Christians are the only Christians who do not honor Mary. He recommends that Protestant churches all practice an "Honor Mary Day" (p. 144), saying she "leads us to a Jesus who brings redemption ... To listen to Mary is to hear the message of Jesus' death and resurrection as a mega-event whereby God established a new kind of power, a new kind of family, and a new kind of kingdom" (p. 145).
McKnight describes this great event as a time when the world will come together and worship Mary."

This is the same group that JP Moreland and Koukl have been involved with (yes, its a small world). Patton, head of Credo and host of "Converse With Scholars" who is a neo-Calvinist, has promoted a lot of liberalism, Emergent church junk, Eastern Orthodoxy, and denies the inerrancy of Scripture and doubts the Six Literal Days of Creation as Genesis teaches.

List of past guests on CWS here.

John Piper and Rick Warren: inviting Warren says a lot more about Piper than it does about Warren

“Error is like leaven, of which we read, ‘A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.’ Truth mixed with error is equivalent to all error, except that it is more innocent looking and, therefore, more dangerous. God hates such a mixture! Any error, or any truth-and-error mixture, calls for definite exposure and repudiation. To condone such is to be unfaithful to God and His Word and treacherous to imperiled souls for whom Christ died.” - Dr. Harry Ironside, pastor of Chicago’s Moody Memorial Church from 1930-1948

If Warren is teaching a “gospel” that is void of essential truth...and he does
If Rick Warren teaches a “gospel” that makes man the center and not Christ…and he does
If Warren is promoting Easter Mysticism…and he does
If Rick Warren promotes Roman Catholicism…and he does
If Rick Warren shares the platform with homosexuals and their organizations…and he does
If Rick Warren shares the pulpit with Word of Faith heretics…and he does
If Rick Warren promotes the Emergent Church Movement…and he does
If Rick Warren lied about his Syrian trip…and he did
If Rick Warren approves of women pastors…and he has
If Rick Warren steers his followers away from studying Scripture…and he does
If Rick Warren distorts and twists Bible verses taking them out of context and misapplying them…and he does

...then the man is a false teacher. 2 Peter 3: 16b “ There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.”

Is. 8 20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.

A person can be a heretic by what he doesn't say as much as by what he does say.

You can tell a lot about a man by the company that he keeps.

A while back Ingrid Schlueter wrote in part:

I want to warn readers. Rick Warren, the master of the dialectic method, is on an extremely clever public relations campaign. He is moving on to his next phase—the political one. You may have read Warren’s quote this week that the “social gospel is Marxism in Christian clothing.”

Rick Warren uses a key part of the Hegelian dialectic method so foundational to the very Marxism he decries. It’s called the Law of the Unity and Struggle of Opposites. I quote:

"Between the opposites in a contradiction there is at once unity and struggle, and it is this that impels things to move and change.”–Chairman Mao Tse -tung

... Warren believes that contradictory opposites, like the Marxists have said, don’t have to drive the sides apart. Out of this struggle can emerge something new that will save the planet.
This is an irreconcilable difference–being pro-life and pro-death. Rick Warren wants us to believe that out of the two opposing sides, out of the struggle, there can be eventual unity and progress. That there can emerge a synthesis. That you can claim to stand for life while promoting death. That you can claim to oppose Marxism while you follow its foundational philosophical tenants. That you can claim to be opposed to the “social gospel” while being the very embodiment of it.

End quote.

A you read the quotes and look at what Warren says, comparing it to what Piper says Warren told him in a phone conversation, I want you to remember this form of manipulation/indoctrination.

After choosing Tricky Ricky Warren to be a speaker at I-Don't-Know-What-Kind-of-God Conference for October, 2010, he then he asks Warren about the contraversial issues for clarification/defense of his decision. His defense at the end shows that the pride issue he claimed he has in his statement regarding his semi-isolation to work on his marriage, is still intact. This is the thing I knew was alive and well and he confirmed it in this video. He is defiant defense of these awful anti-Christ men (X-rated Mark Driscoll, Federal Visionist Douglas Wilson, Rick Warren, Paul Cussing Tripp) he offers as spiritual teachers to his fans.

Here is Piper's pathetic defense . In it he reflects the arrogance of the adolescent Emergents he loves to "hang out with". I am pulling out some glaring error from this video to show that what Warren supposedly told Piper is not in line with previous things Warren has said or written.

Issue: God's sovereignty. Warren told him he believes in it. Does he really?

The Truth:
Warren in his 2008 interview with beliefnet:"No body works correctly – we all have problems with our bodies. The weather doesn’t work correctly – tornados and hurricanes and stuff like that. It’s the result of living on a broken planet. That’s why we’re to pray “Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven” ‘cause in heaven it’s done perfectly...God’s will is not done most of the time on earth. When people go, “oh, that hurricane must have been God’s will” – baloney! That wasn’t God’s will. God’s will is not done most of the time. If I go out and get drunk and run over a pregnant mother and kill her and her baby, that’s not God’s will, that’s my will." ~Rick Warren

This is such a huge issue, I want to point out some verses that destroy such nonsense right now:

Act 1:16 "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.

Act 4:27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 TO DO WHATEVER YOUR HAND and YOUR PLAN had PREDESTINED to take place.

Ps. 33: 8 Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere him. 9 For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm. 10 The LORD foils the plans of the nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples. 11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.

Isa 46:10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'MY counsel SHALL STAND, and I WILL ACCOMPLISH ALL my purpose,' 11 calling a bird of prey from the east, THE MAN OF MY COUNSEL from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.

Psa 148:7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, 8 fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word!

Rick Warren man-centered:

“At our Easter services in the last three years more than 5,000 people opened their lives to Christ - because YOU [original emphasis] invited them! It's almost guaranteed that if you bring those you care about to a Saddleback Easter service, they will come to know Jesus.” ~Source

Issue: PDL's right! "Its not about you."

The Truth:

Richard Bennett, a Sovereign Grace pastor and former RCC priest, assesses Warren’s PDL gospel:

Although Warren states that the book is “not about you” (p. 17), the main focus is persistently on building up one’s “self worth”. He continually appeals to the reader’s self-interests. The following are some examples,

“The way you see your life shapes your life. How you define life determines your destiny” (p. 41). “You are a bundle of incredible abilities, an amazing creation of God. Part of the church’s responsibility is to identify and release your abilities for serving God” (p. 242). “The best use of your life is to serve God out of your shape. To do this you must discover your shape, learn to accept and enjoy it, and then develop it to its fullest potential” (p. 249).

This equates exactly with the Hinduism in its teaching, “By understanding your true Self, by coming to know one’s own undying soul, one then arrives at the knowledge of Brahman itself…”24 While Warren’s teaching is comparable with Hinduism, the most likely source of Warren’s teaching is Carl Jung. Discovering one’s “power of the inner voice” or one’s fullest potential is what Jung taught, “Only the man who can consciously assent to the power of the inner voice becomes a personality.”25 What is much more serious is that Warren’s teaching has the same basic premise as Roman Catholicism. The Vatican’s official foundational starting point is man himself.

But Warren does not stop here with his adulation of man. The height of his glorification of man is found in the statement that makes the personal worth of the reader the purpose of Christ’s death on the cross. In doing so, “self-worth” is pushed to the point not only of perverting the Gospel but also of insulting the Lord Himself. Warren states, “If you want to know how much you matter to God, look at Christ with his arms outstretched on the cross, saying, ‘I love you this much! I’d rather die than live without you’” (p. 79).

End quote.

Here is a side by side comparison of the PDL against Scripture by Bob Dewaay.

Issue: "I am not a universalist"

The Truth:

“I happen to know people who are followers of Christ in other religions.” —Rick Warren, Aspen Ideas Festival, The Aspen Institute, July 6, 2005, “Discussion: Religion and Leadership,” with David Gergen and Rick Warren

“...You may be Catholic or Protestant or Buddhist or Baptist or Muslim or Mormon or Jewish or Jain, or you have no religion at all. I’m not interested in your religious background. Because God did not create the universe for us to have religion. He came for us to have a relationship with him.” —Rick Warren, United Nations, Interfaith Prayer Breakfast, September 2005

"Warren is part of the ultra-conservative Southern Baptist Convention, and all his senior staff sign on to the SBC's doctrines, such as the literal and infallible Bible and exclusion of women as senior pastors. Yet Warren's pastor-training programs welcome Catholics, Methodists, Mormons, Jews and ordained women." - USAToday

Warren prays in the name if Muslim Isa and asks Allah for forgiveness.

Warren is panentheistic tendency: Lighthouse Trails Research reports:

Quote:

Rick Warren Sends Confusing New Age Message: “God is in everything”Out of the fifteen different Bible versions Rick Warren uses in The Purpose Driven Life, he chooses to cite Ephesians 4:6 from a new translation that erroneously conveys the panentheistic New Age teaching that God is “in” everything. According to New Age leaders, this teaching is foundational to the New Age/New Spirituality.2 Yet of these fifteen Bible versions Warren uses in his book, he chooses the New Century Version that has potentially misled millions of Purpose Driven readers to believe this key New Age doctrine that God is “in” everything. Regarding God, Warren writes:

The Bible says, “He rules everything and is everywhere and is in everything”

The New Century Version quoted by Rick Warren verbalizes what A Course in Miracles and my other New Age books taught me years ago—that God is “in” everyone and everything. This completely misrepresents what the apostle Paul is saying in Ephesians 4:6. In Deceived on Purpose, I explain:

In this Scripture Paul is not writing to the world at large. The book of Ephesians is Paul’s letter to the Church of Ephesus and to the faithful followers of Jesus Christ. In Ephesians 1:1 he makes it clear that he is writing to “the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.”

According to properly translated Scripture, God is not “in” everyone and everything, and God’s Holy Spirit only indwells those who truly accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior (John 14:15-17; Acts 5:32).

End quote.

Panentheism:

The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (sic)(1974) identifies the difference between pantheism and panentheism: Pantheism is “the belief or theory that God and the universe are identical”; panentheism is “the belief that the Being of God includes and penetrates the whole universe, so that every part of it exists in Him, but. . . that His Being is more than, and is not exhausted by, the Universe.” ~Source

No need to evangelize the Jews: '“Warren managed to speak for the entire evening without once mentioning Jesus — a testament to his savvy message-tailoring…“Warren told Wolfson his interest is in helping all houses of worship, not in converting Jews. He said there are more than enough Christian souls to deal with for starters....The success of Warren’s second book, “The Purpose-Driven Life” (Zondervan, 2002), demonstrates his ability to turn a particular gospel into a universal one.” ' Source

Pro-Islam:

Warren demands to work together with Muslims on an inter-faith project.

Rick signed the unity letter to the Muslims, declaring that Christians and Muslims worship the true God.

Warren spoke to the terrorist-backing Islamic Society of North America.

Purpose Driven Catholics.

Issue: Rick Warren "is an evangelist".

The Truth:

John MacArthur on PDL: "some significant points where the thrust of the book is [at] odds with the message of Scripture. He pointed out, for example, that the true gospel is a call to self-denial, not self-fulfillment. The gospel is a message about redemption,not about life's purpose. The gospel according to Scripture deals with God's law, His grace,human depravity, redemption from sin, justification, sanctification, holiness, the nature ofsaving faith, and the lordship of Christ. And the true gospel's most essential features are thecross of Christ and the truth of the resurrection. None of those subjects is dealt withadequately or biblically in The Purpose-Driven Life."--Grace To You Statement

“[W]e don’t need to care about redemption, the cross, repentance. All we need to do is redeem the social structures of society and if we make those social structures better the world will become a better place,” explained Warren as he described the beliefs behind those who support the "social gospel," in his interview with Beliefnet.com, which was posted Monday. “Really in many ways it was just Marxism in Christian clothing,” he criticized. “[I]t was in vogue at that time that if we redeem society then man will automatically get better. It didn’t deal with the heart.” ~Source.

Remember that he IS the poster-child of social gospelism. He's pulling that the Law of the Unity and Struggle of Opposites:

Social Gospel is "Marxism in Christian Clothing" Warren said: but consider this:

Marxist use of the dialetic method:

A while back Ingrid Schlueter wrote in part at Slice of Laodicea:

Quote:

I want to warn readers. Rick Warren, the master of the dialectic method, is on an extremely clever public relations campaign. He is moving on to his next phase—the political one. You may have read Warren’s quotethis week that the “social gospel is Marxism in Christian clothing.”

Rick Warren uses a key part of the Hegelian dialectic method so foundational to the very Marxism he decries. It’s called the Law of the Unity and Struggle of Opposites. I quote:

"Between the opposites in a contradiction there is at once unity and struggle, and it is this that impels things to move and change.”–Chairman Mao Tse -tung

End quote.

The Atonement:

Warren's Mulligan Theory of the Atonement: A False Gospel? He thinks Jesus came to give us a "do-over".

Works:

Rick Warren said on Hannity’s show in 2008, on how to get to heaven: “Give as much of yourself as you understand to as much as you understand about Me and then keep growing in it.”

Warren, like a bad used car salesman is trying to sell the gospel via bullet point benefits. Once again Warren skirts the issue of man's sin and rebellion against God and he doesn't call men to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ but instead asks non-believers to "give Jesus a 60 day trial" claiming that "if Jesus doesn't change your life then you can get your money back". - A Little Leaven

Justification by works/ Pelagianism

In his interview with Beliefnet: "But going back to this thing about heaven and getting into a perfect place. Let’s say we got a scale of 1 to 100. Let’s put Hitler at zero and Mother Teresa at 100 OK. And Steve you’re at 85 and Larry’s at 65 and I’m at 45. The truth is, some people are better than others, there’s no doubt about it. Some people are more moral than others, they’re nicer, they’re less selfish, less self-centered, things like that. But the truth is, nobody makes [it] to perfection… And so somebody’s got to make up that difference. And that’s the gift I believe Jesus came to – to make up the difference between my zero and my 100 or my 45 and 100 -- somebody’s got to make up that difference.

This "evangelist" thinks that dirty, secular comedy at Saddleback to bring in more goats.

Issue: He's baptist.

The Truth:

No he's not! He's not even a Christian, much less a Baptist! Real baptists--real Christians--believe that the local church is exactly what God says it is: a local group of saved people called out of the world, to worship and minister corporately together under the leadership of elders/pastors, along with deacons. They proclaim Christ alone, repentance, faith, grace, foresaking all others, dying to Self, hold the Word above all else. That's not what Warren does.

Issue: No Women Elders "Women have all the spiritual gifts, and they have all the gifts of pastoring" - Piper (Warren?). 1:40 "He's totally there". He doesn't believe in women "holding the office of elders."

The Truth:

Note the slight of tongue: "not hold the office" of elders. He doesn't say women can't teach men, even though the Bible makes it abundantly clear they are not to teach nor have authority over women (1Tim 3).

"Warren is part of the ultra-conservative Southern Baptist Convention, and all his senior staff sign on to the SBC's doctrines, such as the literal and infallible Bible and exclusion of women as senior pastors. Yet Warren's pastor-training programs welcome Catholics, Methodists, Mormons, Jews and ordained women." - USAToday

“Dr. Katie Brazelton, Ph.D., M.Div., M.A., is the author of the runaway-selling, Pathway to Purpose™ for Women series (four books and an audio), with her recent, best-selling anchor book being translated into eight languages. She is the founder of Pathway to Purpose Ministry (PTPM), the new international training vehicle for Christian women to become Life Purpose Telephone Coaches® and intensive, two-day life purpose facilitators. For years prior to Katie’s book series’ launch in 2005, she was director of women’s Bible studies, director of Golden Gate Theological Seminary, and a licensed minister, all at Saddleback Church.”~Source

Warren spoke at National Pastors Convention which includes women pastors:
National Pastors Convention 2004 site: Look at the list of names—it includes women speakers and the topics are pro-Emergent Church Movement. In addition they have a prayer labyrinth each year.

Both Kay and Rick Warren taught at the Robert Schuller Institute.

Issue: "He believes in repentance."

The Truth:

I see Piper pushing MacArthur back on this. In fact, this is almost an in-your-face to his "friend". If Warren "totally believes in the necessity of repentance" then why for heaven's sake is it not in a book supposedly about the gospel?? Why is it missing from his church's statement of faith? Warren is tickling Piper's itching ears--the snake is mesmorizing Piper, telling him everything he wants to hear, so he can get his hand into the vast audience of Piperville. Tricky is no dumby; he sees $$$$$ if he can get in.

At Saddleback Community Church's statement of faith page there's no mention of repentance.

[In addition, SCC declares man has "tremendous potential for good". This is a slap in the face of God who declares "There is NONE that is good. No, not one" in Romans 3. This is a bold declaration of the denial of total depravity which Romans 3 and Eph. 2 clearly declare...and supposedly Piper holds to the "T" of total depravity in the TULIP. Has the man never read Warren's church's statement of faith? Same webpage conveniently omits that Hell is a place of punishment, to be thrown into the lake of fire for eternal torment.]

John MacArthur on Warren’s PDL makes mention of...

“... some significant points where the thrust of the book is [at] odds with the message of Scripture. He pointed out, for example, that the true gospel is a call to self-denial, not self-fulfillment. The gospel is a message about redemption, not about life's purpose. The gospel according to Scripture deals with God's law, His grace, human depravity, redemption from sin, justification, sanctification, holiness, the nature of saving faith, and the lordship of Christ. And the true gospel's most essential features are the cross of Christ and the truth of the resurrection. None of those subjects is dealt with adequately or biblically in The Purpose-Driven Life.”

Rather than sin being shown to be an evil of infinite significance because it is committed against the infinite Holy God, Warren’s pop psychology defines sin as acts of people "sabotaging their own success." - Richard Bennett

Issue: "I'm Not Emergent"

Warren supposedly sees Brian McLaren as "off the charts old fashion liberalism" as he tells Piper.

The Truth

Rick Warren pushes Contemplative Spirituality which is a major component of the Emergent Church Movement.

As Bob DeWaay notes in his article:"Warren also promotes 'breath prayers' which are endless repetitions of short phrases (Warren: 89). Jesus forbids this type of prayer: “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words” (Matthew 6:7). It is a pagan practice that has the effect of shutting down the mind. Warren suggests that God will share His secrets with us if we follow Warren’s techniques (Warren: 91). He promises that the meditative techniques he promotes will “let God speak to you” (Warren: 91). He says, “In the next chapter we will see four more secrets of cultivating a friendship with God” (Warren: 91)."

For more on Warren and breath prayers go here.

Warren also endorses other aspects of the Emergent Church Movement including some of its more infamouse leaders like Richard Foster and Dallas Willard.

Rick Warren spoke at the July 2005 Aspen Institute, an organization that promotes the New Age.

Issue: "Zero faith in politics"

The Truth:

Warren also supports Barack Obama, a pro-abortion politician and had him in his pulpit at Saddleback.

Warren supported, then lied about supporting Prop. 8 here in California which was to keep marriage between one man and one woman and not allowing homosexuals to "marry".

Warren's PEACE plan includes interfaith and politics. He joins hands with Tony Blair for interfaith projects.

Let's not forget Warren praying to the false gods Allah and Isa at Obama's inagauration.

Issue: I'm going to need help to know why I should feel bad about this decision.~Piper on inviting Warren

The Truth:

Warren is pro-homosexual

“Endorses radical liberal homosexual activists --Monday, July 31, 2006 Rick and Kay Warren among speakers at AIDS 2006 ecumenical and interfaith pre-conference in Toronto. Faith-based groups plan to deliver at 16th International AIDS Conference after disappointing UN and G8 efforts on HIV/AIDS…The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance provides overall coordination and support for faith-based participation through its secretariat and several international planning committees…The Warrens donate 90 percent of their income through three foundations addressing HIV and AIDS, poverty, and church leader training. " ~ Source

“More than 80 gay and lesbian pastors and lay leaders from the Metropolitan Community Churches participated in this year’s Robert Schuller Institute for Successful Church Leadership at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. Key speakers included the founders and pastors of evangelical super-churches such as Willow Creek Community, Saddleback Valley Community, and Skyline Wesleyan of San Diego. All three books on church leadership that the MCC’s monthly for March recommended are evangelical books, two from Zondervan and one from Thomas Nelson. “ –Source

Rick Warren celebrates homosexual fathers on Father's Day.

Gushes over lesbian activist at Muslim gather. Yup, he didn't bother to proclaim Jesus Christ as God the Son, the Only way of salvation nor did he tell the Muslims they were lost and earning Hell.

The Missing Holy Spirit in Warren's PEACE plan:

"What is startling about Rick Warren's Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan is not so much what it contains, but what it does NOT contain. There is no mention of our Adversary in spiritual warfare. There is no mention of the Holy Spirit in Rick Warren's Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan. Bob DeWaay exposes this fatal flaw in his new book Redefining Christianity, Chapter Nine, Understanding the Purpose-Driven Movement, 21st Century Press, 2006.

Rick Warren and his wayward sheep, porn-promoter Rupert Murdoch:

Quote:

Mega-pastor Rick Warren is being challenged by other Christian leaders for not disciplining a prominent member of his California Saddleback Church flock for being one of the world's leading pornographers.

"Rupert Murdoch is a born-again Christian and Rick Warren claims to be his pastor," says Chris Rosebrough, head of the Christian Accountability Network. "As a Christian, Murdoch is committing an egregious sin by owning, expanding and profiting from pornographic channels, and Rick Warren, his pastor, has a biblical duty to call Murdoch to repentance and/or put him out of the church."

In a Nov. 12, 2006, Orange County Register story, Warren was asked about pastoring a man who publishes tabloids featuring topless women. He responded: "I don't have to agree with 100 percent of what another person does in order to work with them on the 20 percent that we do agree on."

The article also points out Murdoch was among the first patrons to support Warren's PEACE plan, contributing $2 million.

End quote.

He's a liar:

Rick Warren was caught lying about his promotion of a “Christian tolerant” Syria by WorldNetDaily news organization. He lied about the video tape existing, when in fact it was not only show on YouTube, but at his own church, causing a ruckus among his own fans.

WND exposes Warren in Syria saying it’s a place of tolerance.

Warren shows video of Syrian clip he earlier denied.

Let's not forget Rick's manipulation for $900,000 on December 31,2009. He got over $2 million only to put in a bid for Schuller's Cyrstal Cathedral's retreat property a couple of months later.

As for Piper's hate of the doctrine of separation, let's look at what Scripture says:

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

Pro 4:14 Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil.

2Th 3:14 If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed.

Mat 18:17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

1Co 5:11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler--not even to eat with such a one.

2Jo 1:10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.

1Cor. 14 38 If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored.

2Tim. 4: 14 Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. 15 You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.

2Co 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,

3 John 9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. 10 So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church. 11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good.

*****

Pro 1:28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
Pro 1:29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,Pro 1:30 would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,Pro 1:31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.
Pro 1:32 For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them;Pro 1:33 but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster."

Brian McLaren, Emergents, and Jesus

Ken Silva's latest on Brian McLaren: --he just might turn away some of his Emergent fans. However, the way I see it, Evangelical mentality is to find truth in everything, so there's no need to totally jettison a false teacher. No, rather they will take the "good" from anyone and anything, ignore the bad, and consider themselves spiritual and fair and balanced, and most of all, loving and tolerant.

Scripture of course, teaches just the opposite. Matthew 7 tells us to reject false teachers. Here are some thoughts from John MacArthur's latest book, “The Jesus You Can’t Ignore” p. 206-208:

Excerpt Quotes:

1Th 5:21 “but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.”

John7:24 “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment."

We are also called to be soldiers for the cause of truth. The spiritual conflict between the forces
of darkness and the truth of God is, after all, WAR.

That means, among other things, we have some fighting to do. As we have seen throughout this
book, the popular notion that conflict is always to be avoided is simply wrong. There are timeswhen we MUST be confrontive rather than collegial. Tit 1:10 For there are many who areinsubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. 11 Theymust be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain whatthey ought not to teach. “

If you wince at that or think there’s no way such an aggressive attitude could possibly be a sanctified response to doctrinal error in a postmodern culture, you need to review and rethink what the entire NT says about false teachers and how Christians should respond to them—especially from Jesus’ point of view.

In His final recorded messages to the church, given to the apostle John in a vision of several decades after Christ’s ascension into heaven, we see that the silencing of false teachers was still one of our Lord’s primary concerns, even from His throne in heaven. He addressed seven churches….Only two of the churches, Smyrna and Philadelphia, were commended for their faithfulness without any qualification or hint of rebuke. Both of them had remained true to Christ despite the influence of “those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan”(Rev. 2:9). All five other churches received various measures of rebuke, based on how corrupt, unfaithful, or spiritually lethargic they were.

A prominent theme in practically all Jesus’ messages to those seven churches is the issue of how they responded to false teachers and rank heretics in their midst.

It is clear from those letters to the churches in Revelation that battling heresy is a duty Christ expects every Christian to be devoted to. Whether we like it or not, our very existence in this world involves spiritual warfare—it is not a party or a picnic. If Christ Himself devoted so much of His time and energy during His earthly ministry to the task of confronting and refuting false teachers, surely that must be high on our agenda as well. His style of ministry ought to be the model for ours, and His zeal against false religion ought to fill our hearts and minds as well.

End quote.