Evangelical Churches and Ministries: the slaughterhouse of the sheep

Act 20:28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears.

We know wolves will come in, as Scripture says they will. But we're seeing that they come in because the "shepherds" not only allow them in, but worse, some INVITE them in and tell the sheep to just hush and quit making a fuss.

Most of the "evangelical" churches/ministries have virtually become the slaughterhouse of the sheep, with the shepherds holding our heads while the wolves curl thei lips and show their vicious teeth, ready to devour us without mercy. And the shepherd woos and consoles the wolf, while the sheep are battered by the rod!



According to one Canadian website that reports on the Black Wolves attacking farmers' animals: "Fact: The typical wolf killing pattern is for one wolf to grab the prey by the rear and hold it while its partner tears out the throat. In the Autumn, the parents will teach the new crop of youngsters how this is done."

Would a farmer invite the wolf into the barn to devour his sheep? Are not his sheep valuable to him? Does he not protect them the best he can? Surely a farmer (or shepherd) knows what a wolf is and that they are never to be trusted near their land, much less the barn! Or do you think the farmer would think it wise to invite the wolves into the barn?


If this is true in the physical issues of this world, how much more true is it of the spiritual?

Jud 1:4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

What do you think a wolf in sheep's clothing looks like? How would you recognize a false teacher? Would you even bother?

Because we know the voice of our Great Shepherd, we who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, refuse to follow the false shepherds as well as the wolves in sheeps clothing:

John 10:3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."

Do not try to mesmerize us by soft words.
Do not try to trick us by red herrings and strawmen arguments.
Do not try to bully us or shame us into silently following men who are not HIS shepherds nor love HIS sheep.

Telling us the wolves are sheep will not make us follow them. No, we are not fooled. We know HIS voice and will not follow your deadly immitation.

Mat 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Hysterical Over The Wolves Invited In By the Shepherds: you betchya

2Jn 1:9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 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.


This verse explains in part why some of us are upset with Piper and his defiant defense of a false Christian like Rick Warren. The other reason is because Piper has been doing this very thing for at least five years.

And those other "bloggers" of grand ministries, who look down on us for being what they call "shrill" and "hysterical" are part of the problem. Their continued holding on to a false shepherd like Piper while showing distain for those with wisdom and discernment is wrong and hypocritical. I think it reveals their own pride, unteachability, and man-centeredness along with distain for the Truth (the Holy Spirit, apparently couldn't possibly work through other Christians without a seminary degree or huge ministry).

Piper knows he can bank on his old stand-by friends. Why do you think he's so defiant? This too, reveals more about the "conservative" and/or "reformed" types: it doesn't matter what a man does, who he looks to for spiritual teaching, what he reads, or who he offers to his sheep. As long as TULIP is proclaimed, literally, the man can do anything. Just don't YOU dare call him for what he is (leave that up to the big-boy bloggers): a hierling and a man who is incompetent to shepherd, who lacks wisdom and discernment at 64 years of age and being in a pulpit for 30 (oh, wait a minute...the big boys won't dare do that--they will carefully construct their words so as to not offend the big names--just offend the little guys who are oh-so-shrill and hysterical).

It also reveals how many Reformers hold to their views as mere options. Agree to disagree on something you say is biblical? How is that possible? If the Doctrines of Grace are biblical, and they are, then there's no room to agree to disagree, as if one prefers sugar in one's coffee and the other does not. Did Jesus agree to disagree on any biblical doctrine, ever? No. So why such men today do so? They paint themselves are more spiritual, less "emotional" (yet in their own defense of Piper they show their emotions, too), and "balanced".

Folks, we are not in the sandbox; we're are War. The shepherds have let the wolves into the sheepfold and we're told we need to simmer down like a bunch of kindergartners? As if we're the ones off balance, too hysterical? How can one be too hysterical when the wolves are in the sheep pen devouring the sheep left and right?!

If only John the Baptist were far less emotional and far more balanced! If only Jesus did that! If only Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah did too! If only John the Apostle was more accomodating to Diotrophes, and Paul more accomodating to Hymenaeus, Phietus, and Alexander; finding common ground with the brothers in the Lord--telling the readers of their letters to not worry so much and just wait and see what Alexander the Metal worker might do---give him time, let the man grow, give him "grace"! Yet they were not seen as brothers, were they?

Time after time Piper has heard the fury of the few that those wolves he offers to the sheep (I guess it doesn't matter if you have a false gospel like Doug Wilson or Rick Warren), yet he repeatedly, boldly, defiantly not only defends them, but he continues to offer more poison.
What's a little poison? If you disagree, that's ok. But leave Piper alone. He's anointed after all.

Right?

Wrong!

If only these men who fill the pulpits today and Sunday School classrooms, would see the egregious sin of spiritual haroltry as they do sexual haroltry.

This kind of "grace" is nothing less than tolerance for false shepherds and teaching.

Hypocrisy

Joh 7:24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment."

Heb 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice TO DISTINGUISH good from evil.

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

William Secker, "The Consistent Christian" 1660. "Having a form of godliness—but denying its power." 2 Timothy 3:5:

Quote:

Formality frequently takes its dwelling near the chambers of integrity, and so assumes its name; the soul not suspecting that hell should make so near an approach to heaven. A rotten post, though covered with gold, is more fit to be burned in the fire, than for the building of a fabric. Where there is a pure conscience—there will be a pure conversation. The dial of our faces does not infallibly show—the time of day in our hearts. The humblest looks may enamel the face—while unbounded pride governs the heart!

A hypocrite may be both the fairest creature—and the foulest creature in the world! He may be fairest outwardly in the eyes of man—and foulest inwardly in the sight of God. How commonly do such unclean swans cover their black flesh with their white feathers! Though such wear the mantle of Samuel—they should bear the name of Satan!

Many appear righteous—who are only righteous in appearance. But while they are deceiving others with the false shows of holiness—they are also deceiving themselves with the false hopes of happiness. The hypocrite would not willingly appear evil—and yet would inwardly be evil. He would gladly be accounted godly—and yet would not be godly.

Man, either appear what you are—or be what you appear. What will the form of godliness do for you—if you deny the power thereof? Those who have the power of godliness, cannot deny the form; while those who have the form of godliness, may deny the power.

Hypocrites resemble looking-glasses—which present faces that are not in them. Oh, how desirous are men to put the fairest gloves—upon the foulest hands; and the finest paint—upon the rottenest posts!

Hypocrites are better in show—than in substance. They are like painted tombs—which enclose decayed bones. That is a sad charge, which the God of truth brings against certain false professors, "I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and are not—but are the synagogue of Satan!" A false friend—is worse than an open enemy. A painted harlot is less dangerous—than a painted hypocrite. A treacherous Judas is more abhorred by God—than a bloody Pilate!

Professors! Remember—the sheep's clothing will soon be stripped from the wolf's back! The velvet plaster of profession—shall not always conceal the offensive ulcer of corruption. Neither the ship of formality nor hypocrisy—will carry a person to the harbor of felicity. The blazing lamps of foolish virgins may light them to the bridegroom's gate—but not into His chamber. Either get the nature of Christ within you—or take the name of Christ away from you.

A bad man is certainly the worst—when he is seemingly the best. We must not account everyone a soldier—who swaggers with a sword. A rusty sword—may frequently be found in a highly decorated scabbard. What good is it to have our hands as white as snow—if our hearts are as black as the bottomless pit! Such professors resemble soap bubbles—smooth and pretty without—yet only filled with air!

A man may wear the Savior's livery—and yet be busied in Satan's drudgery! The skin of an apple may be fair—when it is rotten at the core! Though all gold may glitter—yet all is not gold that glitters. The worst hypocrite may have the color of gold—but not the value of gold!

End quote. [emphasis, mine]

“Discernment is not simply a matter of telling the difference between what is right and wrong; rather it is the difference between right and almost right.” -Charles Spurgeon

I applaud Lane Chaplin's refusal to endorse John Piper anymore. I agree with Daniel Chew on the doctrine of separation (something I've held to but its good to see another person express it well).

Phil Johnson , Michael Horton,and John Piper: respect and restrain for treason

"While our guest Phil Johnson is extremely concerned over John Piper’s discernment in inviting Rick Warren to speak at his 2010 Desiring God National Conference, he is equally concerned and dismayed over the slanderous reactions of some brethren who deem Piper himself to be a heretic, or worse, a non-Christian, over this news."

"“I admire Rick Warren’s zeal for reaching non-Christians and concern for global challenges. I respect him for giving away much of his income for charitable purposes.“At the same time, I believe that his message distorts the gospel and that he is contributing to the human-centered pragmatism that is eroding the proper ministry and mission of the church… While I applaud his concern for social justice, I am concerned that he confuses the law with the gospel and the work of Christians in their vocations (obeying the Great Commandment) with the work of Christ through his church in its ministry of Word and sacrament (the Great Commission)…"

~ Michael Horton of "The White Horse Inn"  Source

Go here for Johnson's praise of Piper despite Piper's inclusion of Warren.

**Update*

I'm going to include Tim Challies into this group, since he, too is a "Reformer" and thinks Rick Warren is a brother in the Lord.

Balanced = not separating from a false shepherd like Piper who has, over the years repeatedly defiantly promoted and defended ungodly, disqualified men at the pulpit.

I have no respect for men who do this or support men who do. To be merely concerned is not enough. To applaud and respect a man who deceives millions, who has hatred for the Gospel, is treason and disgusting. What is there to respect and applaud? That he lies about Jesus? All the "works" Warren promotes are earning the man HELL. What's to applaud about that? Warren does it with wrong motives and a false Jesus.

If Piper is not a heretic, he's certainly a heretic-loving, heretic hand-holding, heretic approving man! What does God say about that?

2Co 11:4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

2Jn 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.

People fall over backwards to excuse or lessen the horror of what Piper has continued to do over the years, and in doing so are sharing in the wickedness of promoting false brothers and teachers.

How is this holding faithfully to the Word as taught? How is this living out what you "claim" you believe? How is this love and loyalty to Christ Jesus and HIS sheep, when you merely disagree with a shepherd who actively brings in and defends the wolves?

Unless you don't see these men as wolves.

So here's the question: do you understand that Rick Warren, Doug Wilson, Mark Driscoll, and Paul Tripp are false teachers?

Rom 16:17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

Phil Johnson and Michael Horton are not only dividing from the Truth on this, he's rejecting what he himself posted recently via Spurgeon:

"According to modern efficiency he ought to have said, "Let him be kindly spoken with in private, but pray make no stir. No doubt the thought was original, and we must not question his liberty. Doubtless, he believes the same as we do, only there is some little difference as to terms."

I'm telling you right now folks; Piper doesn't really believe in the doctrines he claims. Had he, he would not continually bring to your listening ear and your mind false men who corrupt the Gospel, demote Scripture, and justify all manner of behavior under "liberty" and "spirituality". A man who is convinced by the Spirit of the truths of Scripture can see nor bear any other view for all other views are false and are not of Christ, which bring no spiritual food to the soul.

Time to let go of Piper. He's had time to repent and instead he holds fast in his pride and arrogance (while claiming to have pride issues), defiantly promoting and fellowshipping with false brothers. Its been FIVE YEARS at least! WAKE UP.

How does this not cause you to mourn? How can you have such distain for the PURITY of the Gospel and His people and His Word? Holding hands with treasonous men IS TREASON!

Tim Challies: Rick Warren Loves The Lord? Wrong!

2Co 11:4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.


"While I don’t doubt that Rick Warren loves the church and loves the Lord, neither do I doubt that he does harm to the people and to the Name he loves so much. To invite him to this conference is to downplay all of the harm brought about by his unbiblical and pragmatic style of ministry." ~ Tim Challies

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... (go here for the full list and links)

....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.”

A wolfe isn't a sheep. Warren doesn't preach the Lord of Scripture nor His gospel.

Challies has neither wisdom nor discernment, and refuses to seperate from false teachers. He finds "truth" in everyone it seems. This isn't charity nor grace. This is treason. He's as bad as Piper.

2Jn 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.

Such harsh but necessary words of separation and rejection of false teachers comes from the Apostle of Love.

I would suggest Challies take Spurgeon's words to heart (Pink and Tozer said very similar things as well):

"I have not much patience with a certain class of Christians nowadays who will hear anybody preach so long as they can say, "He is very clever, a fine preacher, a man of genius, a born orator." Is cleverness to make false doctrine palatable? Why, sirs, to me the ability of a man who preaches error is my sorrow rather than my admiration.I cannot endure false doctrine, however neatly it may be put before me. Would you have me eat poisoned meat because the dish is of the choicest ware? It makes me indignant when I hear another gospel put before the people with enticing words, by men who would fain make merchandise of souls; and I marvel at those who have soft words for such deceivers.

According to modern efficiency he ought to have said, "Let him be kindly spoken with in private, but pray make no stir. No doubt the thought was original, and we must not question his liberty. Doubtless, he believes the same as we do, only there is some little difference as to terms."

~ Spurgeon from "Under Constraint," Sunday morning 28 April 1878 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London

1Th 2:5 For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed--God is witness. 6 Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ.

Rom 16:17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

Calling Warren a brother in the Lord when the man teaches a false gospel, is man-centered, has a gathering of Goats not sheep, praises himself, promotes false religions and homosexuality, is treason. Its disloyal to Christ Jesus and the Gospel. Shame to anyone who would do so. They seek the approval of man, not God, and put up easily with the wolves and call it love. God calls is sin.

Defiance

Psa 50:16 But to the wicked God says: "What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips? 17 For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you. 18 If you see a thief, you are pleased with him, and you keep company with adulterers.


Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary of American English

DEFIANCE, n.

1. A daring; a challenge to fight; invitation to combat; a call to an adversary to encounter, if he dare. Goliath bid defiance to the army of Israel.

2. A challenge to meet in any contest; a call upon one to make good any assertion or charge; an invitation to maintain any cause or point.

3. Contempt of opposition or danger; a daring or resistance that implies the contempt of an adversary, or of any opposing power. Men often transgress the law and act in defiance of authority.

Online Merriam-Webster's dictionary for defiant, adjective: full of or showing defiance : bold, impudent

Luk 6:46 "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you?

Pro 18:2 A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. 3 When wickedness comes, contempt comes also, and with dishonor comes disgrace.

OBSTACLES IN COMING TO CHRIST by A.W. Pink

The question is, are men ever found naturally willing to submit to the humbling terms of the gospel of Christ? We declare upon scriptural authority, that the human will is so desperately set on mischief, so depraved, and so inclined to everything that is evil, and so disinclined to everything that is good, that without the powerful, supernatural, irresistible influence of the Holy Spirit, no human being will ever be constrained towards Christ" (C.H. Spurgeon).

"Now here is a threefold cord against heaven and holiness, not easily to be broken; a blind mind, a perverse will, and disorderly, distempered affections. The mind, swelled with self-conceit, says the man should not stoop; and the corrupt affections rising against the Lord, in defense of the corrupt will, says, he shall not. Thus the poor creature stands out against God and goodness, till a day of power come, in which he is made a new creature" (T. Boston). Perhaps some readers are inclined to say, Such teaching as this is calculated to discourage sinners and drive them to despair. Our answer is, first, it is according to God’s Word! Second, O that it may please Him to use this article to drive some to despair of all help from themselves. Third, it makes manifest the absolute necessity of the Holy Spirit’s working with such depraved and spiritually helpless creatures, if they are ever to savingly come to Christ. And until this is clearly perceived, His aid will never be really sought in earnest!

There are some souls greatly distressed and puzzled to know exactly what is signified by "coming to Christ." They have read and heard the words often, and perhaps many a preacher has bidden them to ‘come to Him," yet without giving a scriptural explanation of what that term connotes. Such as have been awakened by the Spirit, shown their woeful condition, convicted of their high-handed and lifelong rebellion against God, and brought to realize their dire need of Christ, and who are truly anxious to come savingly to Him, have found it a task altogether beyond their powers. Their cry is, "Oh that I knew where I might find Him! that I might come even to His seat!" (Job 23:3). True, there are not many who pass through such an experience, for God’s ‘flock" is but a "little" one (Luke 12:32). True, the vast majority of professing Christians claim that the found "coming to Christ" a very simple matter. But in the clear light of John 6:44 we must assure you, dear reader, that if you found "coming to Christ" to be easy, then it is proof you have never come to Him at all in a spiritual and saving way.

Second, the word "come," when used in this connection, is a metaphorical one: that is to say, a word which expresses an act of the body is transferred to the soul, to denote its act. To "come to Christ" signifies the movement of a Spirit-enlightened mind toward the Lord Jesus—as Prophet, to be instructed by Him; as Priest, whose atonement and intercession are to be relied upon; as King, to be ruled by Him. Coming to Christ implies a turning of our back upon the world, and a turning unto Him as our only Hope and Portion. It is a going out of self so as to rest no longer on anything in self. It is the abandoning of every idol and of all other dependencies, the heart going out to Him in loving submission and trustful confidence. It is the will surrendering to Him as Lord, ready to accept His yoke, take up the cross, and follow Him without reserve.

To "come to Christ" is the turning of the whole soul unto a whole Christ in the exercise of Divine grace upon Him: it is the mind, heart and will being supernaturally drawn to Him, so as to trust, love and serve Him. "It is the duty and interest of weary and heavy-laden sinners to ‘come to Jesus Christ’—renouncing all those things which stand in opposition to Him, or in competition with Him; we must accept Him as our Physician and Advocate, and give up ourselves to His conduct and government, freely willing to be saved by Him, in His own way, and on His own terms" (Matthew Henry). Ere proceeding further, we would earnestly beg each reader to prayerfully and carefully test and measure himself of herself by what has been said in this and the preceding paragraph. Take nothing for granted: as you value your soul, seek Divine help to make sure that you have truly "come to Christ."

Full article here.

Rom 10:3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

1Th 1:9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God

2Co 4:5 For what WE PROCLAIM is not ourselves, but JESUS CHRIST AS LORD, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. [caps, my emphasis]

Rom 10:9 because, if you confess with your mouth that JESUS IS LORD and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. [caps, my emphasis]

Jesus Christ is called Lord no less than 747 times in the New Testament; 100 times in Acts with twice as “Savior”.

The Lordship of The Lord

Mal 1:6 A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My fear? says Jehovah of Hosts to you, O priests who despise My name.

Scripture teaches that Jesus is Lord of all, and the faith He demands involves unconditional surrender (Rom. 6:17-18; 10:9-10). In other words, Christ does not bestow eternal life on those whose hearts remain set against Him (James 4:6). Surrender to Jesus’ lordship is not an addendum to the biblical terms of salvation; the summons to submission is at the heart of the gospel invitation throughout Scripture. In contrast, easy-believism teaches that submission to Christ’s supreme authority is not germane to the saving transaction. ~Source

Luk 6:46 "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you?

Christian Entertainment by A.W. Tozer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R23HXIz5jrk&feature=related

"In many churches, Christianity has been watered down until the solution is so weak that if it were poison it would not hurt anywone, and if it were medicine, it would not cure anyone!"

A.W Tozer: Modern Evangelicalism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps6182vk3Eo

Holding Firmly To The Word As Taught: one test of the pastor

Tit 1:9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

Thinking biblical doctrine as optional is not holding firmly to the Word as taught. When this happens, they cannot nor will not give instruction in sound doctrine, nor abel to rebuke those who contradict it. This is a priority in what a true shepherd of God's sheep does: feed and protect them from poison and wolves.

Biblical Doctrine is never in the catagory of "personal conviction" or a "matter of personal preference" as in Romans 14. Biblical doctrine is commanded to be believed and obeyed.

Psa 119:140 Your Word is pure and Your servant loves it.

Pro 13:13 Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded.

Pipergate: summing it all up

This comment by Bud Press over at Slaughtering The Sheep in response to Pipergate was so good, I asked Bud if I could repost it here. He kindly agreed.

Quote:

A pastor writes a book. The book becomes a runaway best-seller. The pastor becomes an overnight sensation and influences millions. The book is read, studied, and idolized, and replaces the Bible in church, Sunday School, and Bible meetings.'

Later, when it is learned that the book introduces Christians to a counterfeit belief system, Christians speak out against the book and try to reason with the pastor and his followers. The pastor grins and shrugs his shoulders. His followers rally around him and shout “Stop attacking and judging my pastor!”

To make the truth known, Christians produce articles, books, and videos to warn against the book, but the book continues to sell like hot-cakes. The pastor, the book, and his counterfeit belief system, continue to gain popularity.

The book appeals to a wide variety of non-Christians–from cults to heretics– and is billed as the best thing since sliced bread. It is placed center-stage in online and walk-in Christian and secular bookstores worldwide. Christians complain and warn, but the book helps the bookstores stay afloat financially.

The book spawns other books, programs, and curriculums. Corporations and organizations are formed around the book’s teachings. Politicians are effected by the book. The pastor has an open door to prominent leaders worldwide–Christian and non-Christian alike.

Solid, Bible-based Christians meet with the pastor and try to reason with him. The pastor has heard all of the concerns and Biblical references. He continues to grin and shrug his shoulders. He knows that for every one follower lost there will be ten more to come on board.Years later, when the controversial smoke has cleared, a once-thought Bible-based Christian invites the pastor to a conference JUST TO HEAR WHAT THE PASTOR HAS TO SAY.

The pastor, who authored the book, which caused all of the controversy and deception in the first place, grins and shrugs his shoulders, and says, “Okay.” The once-thought Bible-based Christian refuses to listen to the warnings from his fellow Christians. He plays nicer and wiser than God, compromises, lends credibility to the pastor and his book, makes excuses, and endangers the spiritual welfare of believers.

Sadly, and most importantly, the once-thought Bible-based Christian refuses to humble himself, swallow his pride, and heed the warnings of Scripture:

“Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned” (Titus 3:10-11).

“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; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds” (2 John 1:1-11).

“Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting” (Romans 16:17-18).

“DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE UNFRUITFUL DEEDS OF DARKNESS, BUT INSTEAD EVEN EXPOSE THEM; FOR IT IS DISGRACEFUL EVEN TO SPEAK OF THE THINGS WHICH ARE DONE BY THEM IN SECRET” (Ephesians 5:11-12).

Who will be the next in line to compromise? But, who will hold the line for Jesus Christ and the truth of His word?

End quote.

Fellowship With False Teachers Is Treason Against Christ, Treachery to Truth, and Cruelty To Souls: the doctrine of separation

Bring. It. On.

1Th 2:5 For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed--God is witness. 6 Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ.

Rom 16:17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
Gal 4:16 Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? 17 They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them.

The following excerpt is from "Under Constraint," a sermon preached Sunday morning 28 April 1878 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London:

Quote:

I have not much patience with a certain class of Christians nowadays who will hear anybody preach so long as they can say, "He is very clever, a fine preacher, a man of genius, a born orator." Is cleverness to make false doctrine palatable? Why, sirs, to me the ability of a man who preaches error is my sorrow rather than my admiration.

I cannot endure false doctrine, however neatly it may be put before me. Would you have me eat poisoned meat because the dish is of the choicest ware? It makes me indignant when I hear another gospel put before the people with enticing words, by men who would fain make merchandise of souls; and I marvel at those who have soft words for such deceivers.

"That is your bigotry," says one. Call it so if you like, but it is the bigotry of the loving John who wrote—"If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds."

I would to God we had all more of such decision, for the lack of it is depriving our religious life of its backbone and substituting for honest manliness a mass of the tremulous jelly of mutual flattery.

He who does not hate the false does not love the true; and he to whom it is all the same whether it be God's word or man's, is himself unrenewed at heart. Oh, if some of you were like your fathers you would not have tolerated in this age the wagon loads of trash under which the gospel has been of late buried by ministers of your own choosing. You would have hurled out of your pulpits the men who are enemies to the fundamental doctrines of your churches, and yet are crafty enough to become your pastors and undermine the faith of a fickle and superficial generation.

These men steal the pulpits of once orthodox churches, because otherwise they would have none at all. Their powerless theology cannot of itself arouse sufficient enthusiasm to enable them to build a mousetrap at the expense of their admirers, and therefore they profane the houses which your sires have built for the preaching of the gospel, and turn aside the organisations of once orthodox communities to help their infidelity: I call it by that name in plain English, for "modern thought" is not one whit better, and of the two evils I give infidelity the palm, for it is less deceptive.

I beg the Lord to give back to the churches such a love to his truth that they may discern the spirits, and cast out those which are not of God. I feel sometimes like John, of whom it is said that, though the most loving of all spirits, yet he was the most decided of all men for the truth; and when he went to the bath and found that the heretic, Cerinthus, was there, he hurried out of the building, and would not tarry in the same place with him.

There are some with whom we should have no fellowship, nay, not so much as to eat bread; for though this conduct looks stern and hard, it is after the mind of Christ, for the apostle spake by inspiration when he said, "If we or an angel from heaven preach to you any other gospel than that ye have received, let him be accursed."
According to modern efficiency he ought to have said, "Let him be kindly spoken with in private, but pray make no stir. No doubt the thought was original, and we must not question his liberty. Doubtless, he believes the same as we do, only there is some little difference as to terms."
This is treason to Christ, treachery to truth, and cruelty to souls. If we love our Lord we shall keep his words, and stand fast in the faith, coming out from among the false teachers; nor is this inconsistent with charity, for the truest love to those who err is not to fraternise with them in their error, but to be faithful to Jesus in all things.

End quote.

What Christian today would have the guts to proclaim this loudly, boldly, and without a hint of apology, compromise, or cowardice?

What Christian would have the guts to rise against such truth??

R-E-S-P-E-C-T For Piper? Why?

I'm wondering.....

Why must Christians have misplaced respect for hirelings and disqualified pastors?

Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary of American English:

Respect

RESPECT', v.t. [L. respecto, or respectus, from respicio; re and specio, to view.]

1. To regard; to have regard to in design or purpose.
In orchards and gardens, we do not so much respect beauty, as variety of ground for fruits, trees and herbs.

2. To have regard to, in relation or connection; to relate to. The treaty particularly respects our commerce.

3. To view or consider with some degree of reverence; to esteem as possessed of real worth.
I always loved and respected Sir William.

4. To look towards.

Palladius adviseth the front of his house should so respect the south. [Not in use.]
To respect the person, to suffer the opinion or judgment to be influenced or biased by a regard to the outward circumstances of a person, to the prejudice of right and equity.
Thou shalt not respect the person of the poor. Lev 19.
Neither doth God respect any person. 2 Sam 14.

End quote.

Interesting....

Lev 19:15 as mentioned in Webster's above:

(ESV) "You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.

(KJVR) Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

(LITV) You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; you shall not respect the person of the poor, nor favor the person of the mighty; but in righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.

So, considering the definition, why are we to view with a degree of reverence of someone who has thoroughly proven himself to not be a faithful minister of the Gospel as it is written, but rather, has show outright DISrespect of God, His Word, and His Children, in open and unapologetic defiance? Why is partiality being given to such a person?

Jas 2:9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

What is to respect of one who is an impediment to the Gospel and to the growth of Christians?

“Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting” (Romans 16:17-18).

1Ti 5:17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.19 Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. 21 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. 22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.

Could it be that many churches have violated 1Tim. 5? Many pastors, and Piper and Warren are included here, not only have not ruled well, thus earning double honor, they aren't qualified at all, thus not earning any honor as elders. Could it be that seminaries have violated this command by pumping out men who think they are now pastors, when in fact they were not qualified before or when they were accepted into the seminary (seminaries usurp this authority from the local churches which is a factor in this problem)? Such men showed no eagerness to serve as deacons much less be qualified (requires EVERY requirement to be fulfilled) as elders.

Instead, should not the sheep be horrified at the shepherd, so called, who invites the wolf to dine with the sheep? What respect is there for such a shepherd?

Eze 34:2 "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?
Eze 34:3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep.
Eze 34:4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them.
Eze 34:5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts.

Eze 34:8 As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 10 Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.11 "For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.

Joh 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

Offering wolves in sheep's clothing is the slaughter of the sheep. Piper is in this very position, offering the wolves of Warren, Driscoll, Tripp, and Wilson. Instead a true shepherd PROTECTS the sheep from the wolves, which also infers a shepherd knows what a wolf looks like and what he does, and thus can identify him. He doesn't OFFER him to the sheep!

John Piper, Its Not Reformed vs. Non-Reformed, but Orthodox vs. Heretical

I would like to repost a comment made regarding the article, John Piper and Rick Warren: inviting Warren says a lot more about Piper than it does about Warren :

Committed Christian correctly said:

"When I heard about John Piper inviting Rick Warren to speak the desiring God conference I thought it was an April fools joke! I'm absolutely shocked. Based on what I learned so far, I want to note that Piper seems to be trying to skirt the issue by making it in to a "reformed" vs. non-reformed" issue when in fact it is a "orthodox" vs. "heretical, false teacher" issue. Time would tell if Piper is going to dodge criticism by telling the "reformed" Christians that they are being unloving for disapproving of his choice of Rick Warren, because Warren is not reformed, when in fact we disapprove because Warren is teaching doctrines that are not scriptural...period. "

I assume by "orthodox" CC means biblical, so I agree.

"What must the people of God do in view of the existing situation? Ephesians 5:11 supplies the Divine answer: "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them," and everything opposed to the light of the Word is "darkness." It is the bounden duty of every Christian to have no dealings with the "evangelistic" monstrosity of the day; to withhold all moral and financial support of the same, to attend none of their meetings, to circulate none of their tracts. Those preachers who tell sinners they may be saved without forsaking their idols, without repenting, without surrendering to the Lordship of Christ, are as erroneous and dangerous as others who insist that salvation is by works and that Heaven must be earned by our own efforts." ~ AW Pink "Signs of the Times":

Ingrid Schlueter on John Piper and Rick Warren

Commentary – Ingrid Schlueter

Excerpts:

It has been confirmed that Rick Warren will be a speaker at the prominent Desiring God 2010 Conference. According to Jonathan Parnell at the offices of the conference, John Piper reportedly met Rick Warren at the funeral for Ralph Winter, and that is how the invitation came about....

Jonathan Parnell was quick to tell me that Dr. R.C. Sproul and Dr. Al Mohler would also be speakers, as if to assure me that things couldn’t get too out of hand with them there. It appears that Rick Warren is going to be given the opportunity to respond to charges that he is non-doctrinal in his messages. Parnell told me that Rick Warren is “more doctrinal” than he appears. That would be news to untold numbers of Christians who have seen their churches abandon the biblical Gospel by jumping on the Purpose-Driven bandwagon.
Additionally, one wonders exactly what doctrine undergirds Mr. Warren’s latest outrage, his involvement with Tony Blair’s Faith Foundation and its “North American offensive”, as Blair put it, with a purpose of “uniting all faiths.” That would be the doctrine of anti-christ....

Whatever Piper’s thinking is, it is plain that inviting Rick Warren to speak at his conference, giving him prime time to manipulate hearers and present himself as just another misunderstood leader, is a serious mistake. Piper’s years of credibility as a trustworthy minister of Gospel truth are being undermined by this decision. I was one of several who were personally invited to Saddleback by Mr. Warren to speak with him in a private meeting last year. The PR offensive was clever, but it failed. Warren rests not, day or night, in his attempts to bring his critics on board and end the troublesome dissent that always plagues him. To win over Piper and his followers would be a victory indeed.

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."

John Piper Defends Inviting Rick Warren To His Dg Conference

John Piper defends his inviting inter-faith, man-centered, Christ-hating,Roman Catholicism loving, Muslim-friendly, anti-Sovereign God heretic Rick Warren to his puplpit. Here's the confirmation and video.

I hope more people would align with Lane and Ingrid from Crosstalk blog/Slice of Laodicea, and myself when we say we can't endorse Piper. I couldn't since five years ago he started pulpit-sharing with X-rated Driscoll.

So what will it take for Christians to reject a man who is not faithful to Scripture and offers his audience absolute poison?

Jesus did not say sift the leaven from the Pharisees' teaching, now did He? Rather, He called the disciples to follow HIM. He condemned the pharisees across the board, as a whole, entirely, without exception, without qualification, full stop. Period.

Jesus did not EVER "agree to disagree" with the Pharisees of His day. So do you?

Why?

Biblical doctrine is not an issue to agree to disagree on. Its not a matter of opinion or view. Either what you hold to is biblical or its not. If its not, its sin. And we have Scripture and the Person and work of the Holy Spirit (via the Word and the local church/Christian brothers and sisters) to correct our wrong thinking. Phil. 4 says "think on whatever is TRUE" and John says "no lie is of the truth."

Time to utterly start rejecting false teachers, folks. Regardless of intentions (recall 1Chorn. 13 and the death of Uzzah) God demands us to do things HIS way.

I'm afraid more people will embrace Tricky Ricky Warren because Piper is endorsing him.

Piper endorses men of filthy mouths and false gospels. What do YOU think that says about his view of the Gospel? Compare that to Gal. 1:8-9.