Rick Warren Responds to His Critics

By Justin Edwards

As online discernment ministries continue to blow the horn on Rick Warren's Scripture twisting and Pelagian-rooted satellite speech at DG2010 Sunday, Warren has decided to humbly respond to the criticisms. But instead of addressing concerns that can be found in any of the following articles:

Pelagian Rick Warren Teaches Pelagianism at John Piper's Desiring God,

Rick Warren - Pelagianism - and the Desiring God Conference, 

Warren Teaches Pelagianism at Piper's Conference,

Enough! Scripture Twisting Is Not 'Doctrinal and Sound',

John Piper on Rick Warren,

Rick Warren: Piper Approved,

Desiring God 2010 (continued),

and of course, we must include the excellent review of Chris Rosebrough of Pirate Christian Radio (which is a must-listen): Rick Warren's Lecture at Desiring God, Warren tweeted:

From Ingrid Schlueter

How cute. Warren is referring to Ken Silva of Apprising Ministries and Ingrid Schlueter of Crosstalk America, both of the Christian Research Network and have been following and exposing Rick Warren for years. Why is it that Warren refuses to address Chris Rosebrough's review?

Warren is puffed up and full of pride. If these defenders of the faith were slandering Rick Warren as John Piper has suggested, then why not set the record straight? I can only conclude that Warren has no leg to stand on and his only rebuttal is silly, whimsical tweets.

I can't say I'm surprised.

Rick Warren Teaches Pelagianism at John Piper's Desiring God

By Justin Edwards

From Apprising Ministrie

This year's controversial Desiring God Conference came to a close Sunday evening with a keynote lecture from Purpose Driven Pope Rick Warren. Earlier this year, John Piper's invitation to Rick Warren sparked a firestorm among fundamental and reformed evangelicals as Warren is known for his pragmatic pulpit, Scripture twisting, and man-centered gospel that has served to do more harm to the Body of Christ than perhaps any other modern church movement. While Warren makes no apologies for his unbiblical methods and even heretical teachings, the fact that John Piper believes he is biblical "at root" left many scratching their heads this past spring. Following the public announcement of Rick Warren's invitation, Piper said,

At root I think he is theological and doctrinal and sound. (Source)

I wonder if John Piper still thinks this to be true. I just got a chance to listen to the entire lecture given by Warren at DG2010 through the review of Chris Rosebrough of Pirate Christian Radio. And what has been made clear more than any other material I've heard or read of Rick Warren, his speech on Sunday left no doubt that he is a heretical Pelagian.

In a nutshell, Pelagianism denies original sin and teaches that man is morally neutral. Man therefore has the capacity to choose God through rational thought and free will apart from the grace of God. In fact, man is born with the same moral purity as Adam before the fall, and it is only the influences of his environment and making poor intellectual decisions that leads man to sin and bad behavior. In other words, man has the ability to fulfill or obey the commands of God by his will alone (for more on the heresy of Pelagianism , please see Pelagianism and Pelagianism: Religion of Natural Man).

So what does this have to do with Rick Warren? Well, as Rosebrough said on his October 4th program, Warren's lecture Sunday was Pelagianism run amok.  Warren believes "all behavior is based in a belief" and "behind every sin is a lie I'm believing" (per Rosebrough from Saddleback's 2008 Purpose Driven Community Conference). In other words, sin only consists in the separate act of the will and if we just learn what the truth is, we can stop sinning. If we just change the way we think, we can change the way we behave. The obvious thing missing here is the grace of God and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

Rick Warren's lecture at the DG conference was on "The Battle for Your Mind." Warren asked the audience to listen to his message like their lives depended on it. He makes the claim that "ineffective Christians" are that way because they don't know how to fight the battle in their minds. He even goes so far as to call sin a mental illness and if Satan can get you to believe the lie, then you will sin. What Warren is doing here is denying the total depravity of man and reduces sin to a mental capacity of choosing to do the wrong thing, rather than sin being the very essence of human nature. What's more, Rick Warren outrageously made the comment that we must "put on the fruit of the Spirit". As if this is something that man does in putting on joy, peace, patience, and love, etc. The fruit of the Spirit are the character traits of God manifest in the lives of the born again believer, not something that man can just choose to try out to see if it works ala the Purpose Driven Pope's pragmatic "just try Jesus".

By presupposing a faulty view of sin, Warren believes man can choose to obey God through the Law and thus believes man can be sanctified by submitting to a moralistic list of do's and don't's. Rick Warren preaches a works-based, man-centered gospel that leaves the grace of God, the redemptive work of Christ, and the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit totally out of the picture. As Rosebrough says, this is rank Pharisaical moralism.

If you have been unclear as to why John Piper should have never invited Rick Warren, you must listen to Chris Rosebrough's review. The heresy that was taught at the DG2010 conference must not be left to silence by Piper, Al Mohler, and even John MacArthur who did not speak at the conference. Rick Warren is a hypocrite who says only methods should be changed and not doctrines, while he is doing just that by being at root theologically and doctrinally unsound. To make this point abundantly clear, Warren said the following in closing,

The biggest limitation of your ministry is your imagination...God can't help you reach a goal unless you've got a goal. A goal is a statement of faith and without faith it is impossible to please God.

How much worse can you twist Scripture, Rick Warren? This is what the Scripture actually says in Hebrews 11:6,

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

This is about saving faith, Mr. Warren, not about dreams and visions.

In any case, Chris Rosebrough's review is well worth the full 2.5 hours where he discusses much more than I have laid out in this post. I pray we will hear from John Piper and other leaders soon as the crossless and man-centered law gospel of Rick Warren must not be left to silent endorsement.

You can stream the show through the video below or download the mp3 here: Rick Warren's Lecture at Desiring God

I also recommend Daniel Neade's Enough! Scripture Twisting Is Not 'Doctrinal and Sound'

Salvation

By Mike Ratliff

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16 ESV)

The very first time I raised concerns about the Kansas City Prophets and the International House of Prayer over 10 years ago over their extra-biblical activities, I was rebuked by another Christian with this statement, “You just don’t understand what is going on. If people’s lives are being changed then God is working so you should just shut up.” Back in 2006 when God opened my eyes to what the leadership at our church was doing with the Purpose Driven stuff and I raised the alarm I was rebuked again with pretty much the same argument. I was told that I should just kick back and cooperate so that the church could peacefully go Purpose Driven so that God could work there and people’s lives could be changed. When I began commenting on the old Slice of Laodicea blog about that same time, those PDC apologists who hated our firm stance against it said very much the same thing. If you listen to Rick Warren speak when talking about what a great ministry Saddleback Valley Baptist Church is, he will always try to emphasize the thousands of people whose lives have been transformed or changed. I noticed the very same theme in the advertisements for The World Revival Church in Kansas City. Their ads on our local TV channels seem to always talk about the hundreds of lives transformed or changed through that ministry.


This is the common apologetic thread in all of the marketeers of the  “ministries” who attempt to “sell” them to potential “customers” with the promise of “change” or, if it is made to an already “churched” group or person, then it will be from a “transformation” perspective. Is this what Biblical salvation is all about? This may surprise some, but transformation or the transformed life is not part of the Biblical Gospel. Neither is deliverance or liberation when used in a temporal context. What is the definition of Biblical salvation?

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 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. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (Romans 10:8-10 ESV)

What does it mean that “you will be saved?” Obviously it involves the heart, believing, justification, confessing with the mouth and being saved. Carefully read the passage I placed at the top of this post (Romans 1:16). Here it is in Greek, “Οὐ γὰρ ἐπαισχύνομαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Χριστοῦ· δύναμις γὰρ Θεοῦ ἐστίν εἰς σωτηρίαν παντὶ τῷ πιστεύοντι, ᾿Ιουδαίῳ τε πρῶτον καὶ ῞Ελληνι.“ Here is my translation, “Not for I am ashamed the gospel of the Christ power for of God it is to salvation to all the one trusting, to Judean both first and to Greek.” The word I translated as “salvation” is σωτηρίαν the accusative, singular form of σωτηρία or sōtēria, which means safety, deliverance, and preservation from danger or destruction. It is clear in much of what is preached today that this concept of salvation is either not understood or has been changed into a different concept with less offensive focus. If our salvation is a form of rescue or deliverance then that means that we we’re saved from something. Some tone that down into a “deliverance” from problems or some other “temporal” thing that is totally out of context from what Paul was writing about here.

What is the Biblical definition of salvation? It is nothing like that offered by today’s “new theology,” which is, “liberation from the oppression of this world’s structures.” Instead, true Biblical salvation is the sole act of God whereby He by His mercy and grace eternally redeems His elect believers and delivers them from their sin and the resultant spiritual death through the once-for-all redeeming work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The Apostle Paul would agree with that definition and would say that any other doctrine disagreeing with it, adding to it, or subtracting from it should be cursed (Galatians 1:8-9).

A false Gospel doesn’t have to be really “out there” to be heretical. It can simply be too easy like that of the Seeker-sensitive churches that never talk about the necessity of repentance and preach a Law based works-righteousness with very little Bible centering. Salvation is not about self-esteem or trying harder to do right. It is not about meeting people’s felt needs. It is not about sentimentality. It is not about so-called “spiritual manifestations” that cause goosebumps and people running around screaming, falling on the floor and, jerking and being all about “feelings.” No, the true Biblical Gospel is about sin and the Saviour.

Soli Deo Gloria

Rick Warren Wants Us to Learn from Henri Nowen (Mystic)

By Ken Silva

In posts such as Rick Warren Dangerous Man For The Gospel this online apologetics and discernment work Apprising Ministries has been among those who’ve been reporting on an ill-advised decision by Dr. John Piper to bring Purpose Driven Pope Rick Warren into the Desiring God Conference 2010 as the keynote speaker.

As I’ve pointed out before, sadly, it got even worse when Dr. Piper offered the below defense of his decision; and so, Warrengate is still slowly simmering:

At root I think [Rick Warren] is theological and doctrinal and sound.
(as cited Online source) 

Warren’s Twitter bio humbly informs us that he is a “Radical Christian, Loves&mentors next generation leaders, Saddleback pastor, Leads Global PEACE Plan & church planting network”; in other words Warren, arguably the most visible pastor in the Southern Baptisit Convention—itself the largest Protestant denomination in the United States—influences many, many people around Christian circles.

To give you some further perspective, Warren’s Twitter account tells us he has 153, 661 followers and he tweeted the below not long ago:

(Online source)

The “Nouwen” in the above tweet is the deceased Roman Catholic mystic Henri Nouwen. I told you recently in Christian Broadcasting Network Peddling Contemplative Spirituality—even today—Nouwen remains a leading teacher of the anti-biblical, and spiritually corrupt, Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM) perpetrated in the pretending to be Protestant evangelical by Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster with his trusty spiritual twin Dallas Willard, under the guise of so-called Spiritual Formation.

Here we have Warren sending sheep to an apostate (at best) wolf who gave his life in service to a gospel contrary to the one you received (c.f. Galatians 1:9) in the Roman Catholic Church, which has placed its anathema upon the very Gospel of Jesus Christ itself. Ah, but what’s a little thing like the Protestant Reformation to Rick Warren; he can defecate upon the blood of the martyrs because he’s bigger than the Reformation. And what’s the Scriptures to Warren; only his personal playground where he romps with his Play-Doh Bible to twist in any shape he wishes.

We also have another case o the irrational philosophy gleaned from pagan religions: Hiddenness is the place of purification. Huh; what does that even mean, hiddenness. Yet guru Nouwen, and apparently PDL pope Warren, think ala Zen Buddhism we purifiy ourselves in the practice of “Christian” transcendental meditation in an altered state of consciousness, the so-called “silence and solitude” of Contemplative/Centering Prayer (CCP).

One of the Golden Buddhas of contemplative spirituality, Roman Catholic mystic monk Thomas Merton (1915-1968), had a lifelong devotion to CSM and its crown jewel of CCP would make him more like the Buddha than the Christ, which you can see in Thomas Merton And The Buddhas. Merton talks about this myth of supposed “true self” when he speculated that at “the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth.”[1]

A couple of quick points: 1) This is actually a denial of the doctrine of original sin; and 2) if we are “untouched by sin” in “the center of our being,” then we don’t need a crucified and risen Savior. And following are a couple of the “revelations” Nouwen received after his own devotion to spurious CSM:

One of the discoveries we make in [contemplative/centering] prayer is that the closer we come to God, the closer we come to all our brothers and sisters in the human family. God is not a private God. The God who dwells in our inner sanctuary is also the God who dwells in the inner sanctuary of each human being.[2]

Today I personally believe that Jesus came to open the door to God’s house, all human beings can walk through that door, whether they know about Jesus or not. Today I see it as my call to help every person claim his or her way to God.[3]

I ask again: Why would you want to follow the toxic teaching, and practice the spirituality, of Henri Nouwen when it turned him into a universalist?
________________________________________________________________________________
End notes:
[1] Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander [New York: Doubleday, 1966], 158, emphasis mine.
[2]  Henri Nouwen, Here And Now [New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1994], 24, 25, emphasis mine.
[3] Henri Nouwen, Sabbatical Journey [New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1998], 51, emphasis mine.

(HT: Apprising Ministries)

Speaking the Truth

By Mike Ratliff

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:4-16 ESV)

Biblical discernment is not legalism. It is not being a know-it-all who just rains on everyone’s parade, taking all the fun away from those exploring new ways of “experiencing God” or “expanding their faith.” No, it isn’t that at all. First and foremost it is done from the context of maintaining unity within one body and one Spirit through speaking of truth in love so that all truly in Christ will grow up in every way into Him who is their head. Those who exercise this discernment from this motive may at times appear to be focusing on the shortcomings of certain “Christian leaders” to the chagrin of those who follow them. Well, the reason we do that can be quite exasperating on our part I assure you. Why? Those who are deceived by these deceivers DO NOT LISTEN.

I read a comment thread the other day before I went on my short sabbatical in which people were discussing Rick Warren’s invitation to speak at John Piper’s conference this fall. Within the first 10 or so comments the reasons why he should never have been considered were plainly laid out by several of the commenters. It was in plain black and white. However, the more comments I read, the more I kept encountering those who obviously either refused to read those very well documented reasons or they either had no idea what real apostasy is or did not care. One kept saying that no one could come up with real reasons why Rick Warren should be disinvited when I had just read dozens of them in the same comment stream. I was amazed as I witnessed solid, discerning Christians get attacked by these people for speaking the truth. Truth was seen as an evil affront by these people because all that mattered to them about Rick Warren’s orthodoxy was that Rick Warren said he was orthodox so that meant he was orthodox.

From the passage I placed at the top of this post, here is Ephesians 4:15 from the ESV and the GNT:

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, (Ephesians 4:15 ESV)

ἀληθεύοντες δὲ ἐν ἀγάπῃ αὐξήσωμεν εἰς αὐτὸν τὰ πάντα, ὅς ἐστιν ἡ κεφαλή, ὁ Χριστός,

Here, the word translated in the ESV as “speaking the truth,” ἀληθεύοντες is a nominative plural masculine present participle. This verb tense yields the idea of “continually speaking the truth.” Paul is telling all believers, especially those who are gifted by God to serve in roll in the Church with the speaking gifts to to speak the truth. This is why it is so tragic when Christian leaders compromise and speak that which is anything but. Also, and this speaks to why so many compromise here, speaking truth at all times can actually make enemies of some. The only other instance of a form of this word in the N.T. Is in Galatians 4:16 where Paul asks, “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” It is rhetorical. Yes, the answer is always yes to this. The truth is the only thing the Christian should speak, hence the big fuss about the Ergun Caner “crisis” at Liberty Seminary.

Yes, the truth is to be spoken. Why? Why is it imperative that we never include error or our own opinions in there with it? This is to keep error out of the Church and preserve others from error. However, we all know that this is not the norm and has not been for quite some time. The church’s vocabulary today is politically correct catch-phrases, sentimental expressions, and psychobabble. Instead of confronting false teachers with their error, we embrace them with such schmaltziness, as, “I’m going to ask him to speak and lay his cards on the table and find out what makes him tick.” Never mind that he is a heretic and the gospel he preaches is incomplete and false. “After all, our brother is entitled to his own ideas, and we should be open to it.” Uh, no, we are supposed to speak the truth.

A survey of the visible church in our day will reveal showy churches and glitzy ministries, but shunned is the preaching of truth. I find it amazing that when you hear some of these fellows talk and read some of what they write it becomes painfully obvious that they think they know more than God, more than the inspired Paul, more than many great leaders in church history. What will be the result? We are already seeing it. It’s called shipwrecks.

Soli Deo Gloria!

(HT: Possessing the Treasure)

Evil Pragmatism vs the Christian's Right Focus

By Dan Philips

There's a world of difference between practicality, and pragmatism.

Practicality 

One of my least-favorite classes in seminary gave me an excellent mental image which I may have shared before. The prof asked us preachers to envision a really extraordinary individual in our audience. He said we should make him unmissable — huge, orange-skinned, green suit, hat with a flower in it.

He sits in the front row, squarely in front of us. He only knows three words in English. He repeats them over and over again.

The words?

"Tell me how."

I happen to think that, taken in the right measure, this was an excellent piece of counsel. It could be over-pressed, with the result that pastors would never preach on passages or Biblical themes they judge "not practical," such as the doctrine of God, election, atonement, and on and on. That would be a great betrayal, and a great failure as a pastor.

At the same time, it serves as a bracing caution against those of us who live too much in the ivory tower, too enamored with abstract theology or philosophy. It tells against ivory-tower thinking divorced from the dailiness of life. It wouldn't hurt one bit if we looked over the first draft of our sermon manuscript and envisioned someone asking, "So... what am I supposed to do with that?"

Certainly Jesus and the apostles could never be accused of such baffling, misty abstraction. If Paul gave three chapters of rich doctrine in Ephesians, he follows it up with four three chapters of wrapping the truth in shoe-leather. The Gospels and Epistles deal with money, marriage, parenting, childing, morality, relationships, church polity, and a host of other specific issues.

If I dare whisper the thought, I think this was a shortcoming of Spurgeon's — at least in all the sermons I know of. He preached glorious, timeless sermons on the person and work of Christ, the covenants, and the authority of Scripture. But I don't think I've yet come across a "Tell Me How" sermon opening Scripture on marriage, work, or the like. Those topics must feature in preaching the whole counsel of God.

Practicality, then, is (A) Biblical, and (B) light-years removed from....

Pragmatism

"If it works, it's good" is not a Biblical notion. We can see the inherent, fatal flaw if we bring to light the generally-unstated definition of "works": "achieves our desired results." We identify goals and imbue them with a self-justifying quality. That is, if we achieve the desired result, whatever we did to get there is eo ipso good.

Self-justifying goals Christians have set include:

• Increased "giving" (invariably financial) among churchgoers
• Increased attendance
• Increased professions of faith
• Increased actual (i.e. conversion) baptisms
• Happier people
• People who report feeling closer to God
• Greater book sales
• Compliant children
• Better reputation among the lost

I envision two sorts reading that list:

1. Those who don't see a thing wrong with these as self-justifying goals.
2. Those who have actually read their Bibles.

Speaking of which....

The Bible

I may exaggerate, but not by much. The Bible is absolutely crystal-clear on at least three things, if you'll forgive one last enumeration:

1. The Christian's goal must be to please God (Deuteronomy 6:5f.; Matthew 6:1-6, 33; 1 Corinthians 10:31; 1 Peter 1:13-17, etc.).
2. Doing what pleases God may be the direct cause of temporal disaster.
3. Doing what pleases God will be the direct cause of eternal delight.

Be perfectly clear: doing what pleases God, in the right way and from the right heart, may result in —

• Getting murdered by your brother for honoring God in faith
• Being hated by the most powerful in the land for telling God's truth
• Having people run away from your preaching (i.e. a small congregation) because you preach the truth straight
• Being out of sync with your spouse for remaining faithful to God
• Being framed, slandered, and killed for remaining loyal to your family
• Seeing your good name destroyed because of your love for Christ
• Having co-workers start a vicious slander-and-ouster campaign because of your godly excellence
• Being abused, even physically, to doing right in God's eyes
• Enduring a life of persecution, deprivation, and temporal misery

Of course, that's just a sampling. But it is enough to condemn pragmatism once and for all.

So here's the bottom-line: Christian living is a lot like flying a jet in a deep fog at night. The instruments are your only friend.

Except in our case, the "instruments" are the Word, alone.

(HT: Pyromaniacs)

Rick Warren and Roman Catholics

By Ken Silva

He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:8)


Why Are Evangelical Leaders Silent About Warren’s Sin?

Unfortunately Dr. John Piper made an ill-advised decision to bring in Purpose Driven Pope Rick Warren for the Desiring God Conference 2010 as the keynote speaker. The online apologetics and discernment work Apprising Ministries has been among those who’ve been reporting on Piper Warrengate, which is making some otherwise fragile associations a bit more fragile; especially when one sees who, and what, he’s promoting in Dr. LaVerne Adams And Rick Warren Driven By Destiny?

As another telling example, I have previously showed you Warren’s sinful double mindedness concerning apostate Roman Catholicism in Rick Warren And Purpose Driven Roman Catholics. As one who is myself a former Roman Catholic, whom the Lord graciously delivered from the religious bondage of the Roman Catholic Church into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, I’m going to continue taking issue with Dr. Piper telling us that Rick Warren is “doctrinal and sound.” [1]

Just the other day in Rick Warren Teaching The Law Of Attraction we see, not only has he done the foreward to a book by a positive confession Word Faith flake Dr. LaVerne Adams, who has direct ties to the New Apostolic Reformation, but his own teachings are starting to sound more and more like those of the New Spirituality. That said, in the case of Rick Warren and Roman Catholicism, we begin with an interview for Modern Reformation in 2004 where Warren states, “Theologically, I am a monergist and firmly hold to the five solas of the Reformation.” [2]

With this in mind then I bring to your attention again that Rick Warren has said: “I see absolutely zero reason in separating my fellowship from anybody.” [3] Now consider the following from a USA Today piece from July of 2003:

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. (Online source, emphasis mine)

There have been those who’ve attempted to refute the above statement saying the reporter erred; but Christian apologist Chris Rosebrough has documented that, the very week this USA article in question was released, it was even advertised on Warren’s Pastors.com website. [4] For the sake of argument though, let’s leave out “Warren’s pastor-training programs” with “Methodists, Mormons, Jews”; the problem doesn’t go away. For you see, we’re still told that he is/was training Roman Catholic churches, which according to Reformation theology—which Warren says he believes—are preaching another gospel. [5]
Here’s what Rick Warren believes about the Roman Catholic Church, which long ago placed its anathema upon the very Gospel of Jesus Christ:

“I am talking about the fact that about a hundred years ago, Christianity split into two wings… The small group structure is the structure of renewal in every facet of Christianity — including Catholicism.” (Online source, emphasis mine)

“Now I don’t agree with everything in everybody’s denomination, including my own. I don’t agree with everything that Catholics do or Pentecostals do, but what binds us together is so much stronger than what divides us,” he said. “I really do feel that these people are brothers and sisters in God’s family. I am looking to build bridges with the Orthodox Church, looking to build bridges with the Catholic Church,….” (Online source, emphasis mine)

 “Most readers will be surprised to learn that the largest international network is…the Christian Church. The Church, in all its expressions—Catholic, Evangelical, Pentecostal, Protestant and many others—has 2.3 billion followers.” (Online source, emphasis mine) 

In Rick Warren Awards Purpose Driven Roman Catholics you see that at “the 2006 Purpose Driven Church conference” Warren actually presented a “Church Health Award” to Family of God Church of Tacloban, Philippines; its “denomination” we’re told is “Roman Catholic.” Because this Roman Catholic church used Purpose Driven methods, even though they went about “evangelizing” with the false gospel of the Roman Catholicism, it would be given one of Rick Warren’s 2006 Church Health Awards. [6]

How could an organization that doesn’t preach the Gospel even be considered a “church” in the first place; let alone a healthy one. And so, the question now before us is: Which Rick Warren do we believe?

_________________________________________________________________________
Endnotes:
1. As cited http://tinyurl.com/y3y3rxs, accessed 7/13/10.
2. http://tinyurl.com/y6ovrpd, accessed 7/13/10.
3. http://tinyurl.com/y5dfo7u, accessed 7/13/10.
4. http://www.alittleleaven.com/2007/05/rick_warren_wor.html, accessed 7/13/10.
5. Interesting to note here that in Galatians 1:6-9 the Apostle Paul advocates breaking fellowship with people such as this; and not training them how to potentially make more converts to their false gospel.
6. http://tinyurl.com/y3zfpr6, accessed 7/13/10.

(HT: AM)

10 Scriptural Reasons Not to Be Involved with Rick Warren's "Broad Way" Christianity

By Justin Edwards

The following from Warren Smith lists 10 reasons why Christians should not be involved with Rick Warren's brand of Christianity. If you are one who follows Warren and supports his ministry, please prayerfully consider the information. This is not an attack on Rick Warren or those who follow his work, but rather an attempt to show how he does not line up with the fundamentals of the faith in light of Scripture. When the world loves you, beware. 


10 Scriptural Reasons Not to Be Involved with Rick Warren's "Broad Way" Christianity

By Warren Smith
(from A “Wonderful” Deception)

Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven movement has, in a relatively short period of time, become what TIME magazine has referred to as a “Purpose Driven empire.”1 The word empire is defined in the dictionary as “supreme rule; absolute power or authority; dominion.” It also means “an extensive social or economic organization under the control of a single person, family, or corporation.”2 For all intents and purposes, Rick Warren has become the titular head—the almost emperor-like CEO—of an increasingly apostate postmodern church. But while Warren continues to be embraced by much of the world and much of the church, it is not too late for people to reconsider their involvement with him and his Purpose Driven movement. Here are ten scripturally based reasons why people with any love of the truth should not involve themselves in Warren’s “Broad Way” Christianity:

Ten Basic Reasons

1) Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven movement offers a “Broad Way” Christianity. One of the mysteries of the Christian faith can be found in Jesus’ warning that the way to life is “narrow” and that “few” would actually find it. Jesus is telling us in advance that the “broad way”—no matter how well intentioned—is not from Him. With Rick Warren’s reformation movement based on deeds and not creeds, everyone is invited to partake in this global effort. But biblical principles are watered-down and often cast aside.

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

2) Rick Warren’s “Broad Way” Christianity does not declare “all the counsel of God.” Rick Warren teaches only what he wants to teach from the Bible. As a result, there are many important teachings that he skips over, de-emphasizes, and leaves out—particularly in regard to prophecy and spiritual deception.

For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. (Acts 20:27-31)

3) Rick Warren’s “Broad Way” Christianity does not discern the spiritual signs of the times. Just as the leaders in Jesus’ day discerned the weather but not the signs of the times, Warren discerns many of the social and economic problems, but not the spiritual signs of the times.

O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? (Matthew 16:3)

4) Rick Warren’s “Broad Way” Christianity is ignorant of Satan’s devices. Whereas the apostle Paul stated that he and other believers were “not ignorant of Satan’s devices,” Warren’s “Broad Way” Christianity states that Satan’s schemes are “entirely predictable.”3 By being ignorant of Satan’s devices, this “Broad Way” Christianity has fallen prey to Satan’s devices—particularly in the area of the New Age/New Spirituality/New Worldview.

Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. (2 Corinthians 2:11)

5) Rick Warren’s “Broad Way” Christianity does not expose spiritual evil. Warren’s version of Christianity does not sound a true warning about the deceptive spirit world and spiritual deception. There is much more to evil than the problems that Rick Warren is seeking to remedy with his Purpose Driven P.E.A.C.E. Plan. We are told to expose false prophets and false teachers, not to study under them, spiritually join with them, and further their plans.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:13)

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. (Ephesians 5:11)

6) Rick Warren’s “Broad Way” Christianity does not “earnestly contend for the faith.” By not declaring all the counsel of God, by not discerning the signs of the times, by being ignorant of Satan’s devices, and by not exposing spiritual evil, Rick Warren’s “Broad Way” Christianity is not fighting “the good fight of faith.”

Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. (Jude 3)

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:12)

 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:13)

7) Rick Warren and his “Broad Way” Christianity are loved by the world and its leaders. Jesus loved the world, but the world did not love Him. Jesus warned his followers they would be hated, persecuted, and even killed by the world—just as the world hated, persecuted, and killed Him. In his compromised effort to reach out to the world, Warren and his “Broad Way” Christianity have become the world.

They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. (1 John 4:5)
Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. (Luke 6:26)
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. (2 Timothy 3:12)

And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake. (Matthew 10:22)
If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? (Matthew 10:25)

8. Rick Warren’s “Broad Way” Christianity is engaged in a process of ungodly change. Rick Warren describes himself as a “change agent” but in his attempt to change the world, he and his Purpose Driven movement are actually changing biblical Christianity. The Bible warns about those who push for unbiblical and ungodly change.

My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change. (Proverbs 24:21)
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. (Hebrews 13:8)
For I am the LORD, I change not. (Malachi 3:6)

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. (Amos 8:11)

9) Rick Warren’s “Broad Way” Christianity is frequently “double-tongued” and “double-minded.” Rick Warren’s attempts to seemingly distance himself from the New Age/New Spirituality while simultaneously spiritually aligning himself with New Age sympathizers is “double-tongued,” “double-minded,” and deceptively self-serving. In the Psalms, David refers to those who speak with “flattering lips” and a “double heart.”

Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. They speak vanity every one with his neighbor: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. (Psalm 12:1-2)
Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. (1 Timothy 3:8-9)

A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. (James 1:8)

10) Rick Warren’s “Broad Way” Christianity is “not valiant for the truth.” Warren has demonstrated, in numerous ways, that he is politically and spiritually expedient when it comes to the truth. His “Broad Way” Christianity plays to the world and embraces the world because it is the world. It does not hold fast to the truth because it is not “valiant for the truth.”

And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth. (Jeremiah 9:3)
If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:31) 

The Time is Here

The apostle Paul preached the importance of adhering to God’s Word. He warned that the time would come when believers would not endure sound doctrine but would find teachers who would tell them what they wanted to hear:

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

As Rick Warren’s “broad way” Christianity seems to be headed down the “broad way” of the New Spirituality, it is very clear that his Purpose Driven movement is anything but the “narrow way” that Jesus Christ described in Matthew 7:14.

It is important to understand what is at stake here—the centrality of the Cross as the one and only true Gospel—without which the hope of salvation is lost. Jesus Christ, dying on the Cross for our sins, is the central message of the Gospel. It is the plumb line for ultimately discerning truth from error. But in discerning truth from error, it is essential that we must adhere to all the counsel of God (Acts 20:27).

Jesus is the one and only Savior—the one and only true Christ. Science cannot and will not prove otherwise (1 Timothy 6:20). God is not “in” everything. We are not Christ, and we are not God. What is born of the flesh is flesh. What is born of the Spirit is spirit. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15:50). It is not “as above, so below.” The apostle John states:

He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. (John 3:31)

Jesus Christ is Lord. His name is above all names (Philippians 2:9). He is not the “Jesus” of The Shack, and He is not the “Jesus” of the New Age/New Spirituality. Most assuredly, He is not the “quantum Christ” of a deceived world and an apostate church.

The apostle Paul describes the simplicity of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3). According to many of today’s spiritual and religious leaders, it has taken humanity 2000 years to finally “get it.” They say we need quantum physicists, cellular biologists, Ph.D. mathematicians, New Age channelers, and emerging postmodern preachers to finally understand what Jesus was trying to tell us back in the first century. No, this is not the simplicity that Paul was describing. This is the deceptive work of our Adversary as he tries to transform the creation into the Creator and co-opt God’s creation to himself.

Unfortunately, many of today’s pastors have forgotten that Satan is the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) and that we are to “stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). As a result, the church is now catapulting into great spiritual deception.

For those who still rightly divide and depend upon the Word of God, the Bible warns that the coming deception will be so great that most of the world will be deceived (Revelation 13:13-14). Jesus warned that His way is not the broad way but the “narrow way” of continuing in His Word (John 8:31). And it is His way that leads to eternal life.

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (Luke 21:28)

(HT: LHTR)

Are You Working to Earn Everlasting Life?

by Mike Ratliff

28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” (John 6:28 ESV)

The flesh is still with us all, even those who have been born again unto eternal life. The flesh does not understand grace. The flesh does not understand the relationship to the Christian being born again unto good works (Ephesians 2:10). Therefore, the visible church is ripe with false teaching at this time that emphasizes all the wrong things, and, coupled with rampant Biblical illiteracy, most professing Christians are like those Jesus was confronting in John 6 who could not conceive what our Lord boldly told them in vv35-40 that belief and salvation was a gift from God not something earned or deserved.

On the other hand, many take this too far the other way proclaiming that any work would be a violation and would be an attempt to earn salvation, et cetera.

“Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field . . . let us see if the vine flourish.”-Song of Solomon 7:11,12

The church was about to engage in earnest labour, and desired her Lord’s company in it. She does not say, “I will go,” but “let us go.” It is blessed working when Jesus is at our side! It is the business of God’s people to be trimmers of God’s vines. Like our first parents, we are put into the garden of the Lord for usefulness; let us therefore go forth into the field. Observe that the church, when she is in her right mind, in all her many labours desires to enjoy communion with Christ. Some imagine that they cannot serve Christ actively, and yet have fellowship with Him: they are mistaken. Doubtless it is very easy to fritter away our inward life in outward exercises, and come to complain with the spouse, “They made me keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept:” but there is no reason why this should be the case except our own folly and neglect. Certain is it that a professor may do nothing, and yet grow quite as lifeless in spiritual things as those who are most busy. Mary was not praised for sitting still; but for her sitting at Jesus’ feet. Even so, Christians are not to be praised for neglecting duties under the pretence of having secret fellowship with Jesus: it is not sitting, but sitting at Jesus’ feet which is commendable. Do not think that activity is in itself an evil: it is a great blessing, and a means of grace to us. Paul called it a grace given to him to be allowed to preach; and every form of Christian service may become a personal blessing to those engaged in it. Those who have most fellowship with Christ are not recluses or hermits, who have much time to spare, but indefatigable labourers who are toiling for Jesus, and who, in their toil, have Him side by side with them, so that they are workers together with God. Let us remember then, in anything we have to do for Jesus, that we can do it, and should do it in close communion with Him. – C.H Spurgeon from Spurgeon’s Evening by Evening for May 9.

I remember when I had been a Christian about 5 or 6 years and was looked to by many in our church as very mature and a good Bible teacher, but I assure you that I was still struggling with some sins and was not very mature in Christ at all. In any case, during that period I still pondered these things in my heart about what role my works would play in my salvation. After all, I attended churches that consistently taught from the pulpit that salvation was a decision and regeneration came as a reward for making the right choice, et cetera. Think about that. Think of what that sort of theology does to the rest of what our Lord and His Apostles taught. I was in such bondage! I saw my inconsistencies. I heard how I was once saved, always saved, but I also could not believe that God would put up with the mess I was making of everything. Well I was right about that second part! God was not putting up with it and He did not allow me to remain in that stagnate cesspool of works righteousness forever. He caused me to go through some ghastly trials that humbled me and caused me to stop trusting in myself completely more and more as each trial was worse than the one before until I came to that place where I saw what good news the Gospel really is and what a worthless piece of merchandise I really was that He purchased with Christ being my propitiation (Romans 3:25). It was from those shattered remains that God rebuilt my ministry and my walk before Him so that it is now ALL according to His grace and mercy. Like Mary, I work, but not for my salvation, but to be in close communion with my Lord, to serve Him and bring Him glory.

To those reading this who are of the emergent persuasion, if you have made it this far then I am very surprised, but if so, I pray that you will also understand that much of the stuff you are chasing after and hearing from your leaders is in rebellion to the clear teaching from God’s Word. Sorry, but that is the truth. That also means that those doing the teaching are false teachers and you need to separate from them. Mysticism and other religions cannot be mixed with Christianity. God will judge.

To those reading this who are of the church growth persuasion, I am very surprised you have read this far, but if so, then God be praised. Church growth is not always the goal you should pursue. Obedience to an expositional preaching of the Word of God should be your goal. Do not use the gimmicks of the world to try to influence people to come to your church. That is worthless. It is also dishonest. The Holy Spirit is the one who will cause the increase and that will come with your obedience to your true calling. Will using worldly techniques cause church growth? Sure, just look at Rick Warren’s empire; however, it is a house of cards. I would love to debate Rick Warren or one of his people on doctrine. Even better, let’s have Dr. James White debate Rick Warren on the Doctrines of Grace. Some would say that Rick Warren would simply do his chameleon thing and there would be no debate, but I doubt if it would fool Dr. White. We can only pray… In any case, if you are so sold on the truth of the church growth paradigm, then of what do you have to be afraid? Why not debate?

To those reading this who are desperately seeking to be right in the middle of God’s will for your life, to be that Christian who is both not working for their salvation and is doing the good works that brings God glory and brings them into close communion with the Saviour, I suggest you start by reading the following passages: Colossians 3:1-5; Romans 12:1-2; Hebrews 4:9-16; John 15:1-17. Start there. Learn to prayerfully apply these to you life. Remember, the transformed life is not the Gospel; it is the fruit of the Gospel.  More to come…

Soli Deo Gloria!

(HT: Mike Ratliff - Possessing the Treasure)

Rick Warren's Forked Tongue?

By Justin Edwards

Those who blindly endorse Rick Warren especially need to watch this:

If you choose to comment in defense of Rick Warren, please include your defense of the evidence in this video.

We Must Follow Christ, Not Men - Purpose Driven Deception

By Mike Ratliff

37 For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; 38 but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. (Hebrews 10:37-39 ESV)

Nearly every day I receive contact from a dear soul or a couple or a family who have ‘lost their church.’ They were part of a vibrant, obedient, Bible preaching church then something changed. The leadership changed for some reason and there was some sort of hostile takeover by those who are consumed by Rick Warren’s ungodly Purpose Driven deception. Gone are in-depth Bible studies. Gone are expository sermons. Gone is ministry to the Body of Christ. Instead, the whole “enterprise” is all wrapped up in ministering to the “unchurched.” It becomes church for the world. Some of the contact I have received is couched in deep, hot anger or raw hurt. These people feel betrayed. What happens in most cases is that in certain areas, these take-overs wipe out all good churches  there and leave nowhere for these people to go to be fed or to minister.


We should view this as tragic. We should view this is as part of the cause of judgment being heaped up on these evil men who are culpable in this. However, as we saw in this post earlier today, we should also understand that God does allow the spirit of the Antichrist to attack His Church for His own purposes. The cost of following Jesus is high no matter what false teachers like Joel Osteen say. As true disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, our role in the Kingdom is to obey Him, to be where He wants us to be, to be doing what He wants us to do.

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, ”Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, ”Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, ”Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, ”No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:57-62 ESV)

Here is one that is forward to follow Christ, but seems to have been hasty and rash, and not to have counted the cost. If we mean to follow Christ, we must lay aside the thoughts of great things in the world. Let us not try to join the profession of Christianity, with seeking after worldly advantages. Here is another that seems resolved to follow Christ, but he begs a short delay. To this man Christ first gave the call; he said to him, Follow me. Religion teaches us to be kind and good, to show piety at home, and to requite our parents; but we must not make these an excuse for neglecting our duty to God. Here is another that is willing to follow Christ, but he must have a little time to talk with his friends about it, and to set in order his household affairs, and give directions concerning them. He seemed to have worldly concerns more upon his heart than he ought to have, and he was willing to enter into a temptation leading him from his purpose of following Christ. No one can do any business in a proper manner, if he is attending to other things. Those who begin with the work of God, must resolve to go on, or they will make nothing of it. Looking back, leads to drawing back, and drawing back is to perdition. He only that endures to the end shall be saved. – Matthew Henry

So many seek to be a Christian on their own terms. We are witnessing the devastation of that with the carnage wrought by the Purpose Driven paradigm and Emergence Christianity. Both drive people away from God’s truth as the central core of our faith. Both are man-centered. Both are all about shaping God to please men. Both are false forms of Christianity that are in rebellion to the true cost of serving Christ.

As I said at the top of this post, I receive communication continually from people who are being ministered to through this blog and others because their churches, from where they should be fed spiritually, have been decimated by wolves. I would like to affirm to all reading this right now that I will continue to serve my Lord as He directs. I pray that He will draw those who are in spiritual need here to be fed and ministered to as He wills. Let us draw together in His truth and commit to one another by His grace to love an serve one another in love as long as He wills.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Rick Warren's Guests of Honor at Easter - The Jonas Brothers

From Crosstalk Blog:  Jonas Brothers Rock Rick Warren’s Easter Service

Commentary – by Ingrid Schlueter

The girls were screaming, biting their fists and swooning as the Jonas Brothers took the stage for Rick Warren’s Saddleback Easter service at Angel Stadium. The reportedly smokin’ hot boy band sang some well-known Easter hymns like “Hold On”, “A Little Bit Longer”, and this doctrinally heavy number:

Everytime I think I’m closer to the heart
Of what it means to know just who I am
I think I’ve finally found a better place to start
But no one ever seems to understand
I need to try to get to where you are
Could it be you’re not that far?
You’re the voice I hear inside my head
The reason that I’m singing
I need to find you
I gotta find you
You’re the missing piece I need
The song inside of me
I need to find you
I gotta find you
Oh yeah
You’re the remedy I’m searchin’ hard to find
To fix the puzzle that I see inside
Painting all my dreams the color of your smile…

Joe Jonas apparently thinks that Jesus Christ is his girlfriend as you can see in this video where he performs the same number in a non-Easter venue. But none of this bothers Rick Warren, of course, who is clearly too thrilled with his new fan, popular Reformed author and teacher, John Piper, to worry about whether Joe Jonas and his own church members actually know who Jesus Christ is.

There is something almost surreal about seeing someone like John Piper now openly endorsing Rick Warren as “doctrinally sound.” Rick Warren and his Purpose-Driven version of Christianity has taken on the flavor of French farce. Boy bands, thousands of girls and women screaming in lust, secular pop songs instead of Christian hymns, Rick Warren tweeting about his “baptisms” live from the scene of the Easter comedy—you could not possibly make this up.

Yet now we have someone internationally respected for his serious books on theology and the Christian life, grinning like crazy on video as he defends the Grand Circus Master of the First Church of the Jonas Brothers.
Whatever personal crisis has led John Piper to this tragic and horrifying turn in his ministry, he should be held accountable for the incredible damage he is doing to the Gospel by this very public meltdown. The time to take a sabbatical is before embracing the guy in the pastoral clown suit, not after—unless the sabbatical is intended to become permanent.

Those of us with young people to raise in our homes are now further challenged to try to explain just how someone with the vast biblical knowledge of John Piper can openly endorse one of the most damaging false teachers of our time. Rick Warren is not damaging because he lacks the right answers theologically. He is damaging because those biblical answers have had no influence on his public ministry. Orthodoxy is worthless if it never leaves the realm of the books on his shelf. Right theology needs to be the bedrock of a pastor’s preaching and ministry life. Anything less leads to a corrupt view of Jesus Christ and a false gospel. Just ask Joe Jonas.

Note: Please read this excellent piece by Daniel Chew regarding Rick Warren’s failed orthopraxy.

John Piper Explains - March 31, 2010

By Justin Edwards

John Piper took some time yesterday to explain why he has invited ecumenical ear-tickler Rick Warren to his Desiring God 2010 conference. While I disagree with Piper's decision to invite Warren, I will remain in prayer that Rick Warren is exposed for who he is, that the truth about him will be revealed and he won't be able to slither out of tough questions, that the Holy Spirit convicts him unto repentance, and that God use this time for His glory.  Until then, we will have to wait to see how this pans out.

John Piper’s Reason

April 1, 2010 by pastorboy

 
Here, John Piper gives a detailed explanation as to why he is inviting Rick Warren to speak. A lot of my friends who agree with me about what rotten fruit the purpose driven life is, and the whole pragmatic approach to church growth are very angry about this whole idea of inviting Warren to speak. I have to admit, it is not a choice that I would make if I were inviting people to speak.

I am not, however, going to judge Piper’s whole ministry according this move, or even the Driscoll or Wilson move. As a Pastor, I have personally bungled many things and made poor decisions that I have later regretted (and even had to repent of some). But the whole of Piper’s ministry over time, and the respect he has among peers such as RC Sproal, and Albert Mohler, I personally must cut him some slack concerning this decision.

That means that I will not cut off affiliation with John Piper, and I might still attend the conference with a critical ear towards seeing if Piper does in fact ask the hard questions and Warren does in fact satisfactorily answer them. But just like in the Christian walk, we must do more than say words and what we believe, we must walk them out. I am eagerly anticipating to see Warren walk out his beliefs and use his huge worldwide pulpit to declare them, even hoping against all hope that he repents publicly of his pragmatism, his ecumenism, and, indeed, his system which he has intended for good, but has been used to take over and to decimate churches, turning Pastors into CEO’s and Elders into board members of a fortune 500 company.

There is much that has been written and documented about Warren, and his beliefs. There is much more that has been recorded both on video and audio that demonstrate how those beliefs translate into the public sphere. The man Piper believes he is inviting is 167 degrees different than the public presentation; which I believe demonstrates what he (Warren) really believes.

I am going to cut Piper some slack. I am still going to read his books. I am still going to listen to his sermons. I am not going to break fellowship with him because he invited Warren. But I will have a keen eye to see if this will change the public personna of Warren, and a listening ear to see if Warren throws off the pragmatic, man centered approach to ministry. Here is hoping that he does.