Showing posts with label john macarthur. Show all posts
Showing posts with label john macarthur. Show all posts

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Mark Driscoll's Failed Publicity Stunt That Ended With Him Lying About What Really Happened

Posted by Christine Pack


Strange Fire
A dust-up recently occurred at the Strange Fire Conference (a conference exposing the theological errors of the charismatic movement), in which megachurch pastor Mark Driscoll (who is a charismatic) showed up at the conference and tried to hand out his books, probably for the purpose of "correcting" what he sees as the errors of the cessationist movement. Initial reports of what happened (including Driscoll's own Facebook, Instagram and Twitter feeds) were that security had seized Driscoll's materials. They didn't. I was on the phone in almost real time with friends of mine at the conference who were told by a member of the security detail what actually happened.

This is what I was told: Mark Driscoll was NOT a registered participant for this event, and his materials had not been cleared for distribution. Every vendor present at Strange Fire had to go through an extensive vetting process before being allowed to set up their tables. When security explained this to Driscoll, Driscoll continued to try to give out the materials. He was told by security that they would help him take his materials back to his car, and he told them he would like to give them to Grace Community Church as a gift. They accepted this "gift," (Driscoll's words), and when they parted company with Driscoll, Driscoll immediately began broadcasting via social media that his materials had been seized. It was a bald-faced lie.

Mark Driscoll went in with an agenda to kick up a fuss, and get his books into the hands of GTY personnel. Only, the GTY folks were far more kind and gracious in dealing with him than he probably thought they would be, and he literally had to force his books on them.
Mark Driscoll to the GTY personnel: "Why don't y'all just take 'em and do whatever you want with 'em." 
Mark Driscoll on his twitter feed: "Security confiscated my books."

I would also like to point out that Driscoll slandered the security personnel at GTY by claiming they did something that they did not do, and he has yet to publicly apologize for that. By all accounts, the security personnel who dealt with Driscoll are godly, humble men who were just doing their jobs, and as the video evidence proves, they did their jobs with Mark Driscoll very kindly and graciously (you can read more about that here). All of the people who comprise the security team at GTY are real people, and are all members of the body of Christ. Just because nobody in Christendom knows the names of the GTY security personnel doesn't mean that they aren't every bit a part of the body of Christ as all the rest of us no-namers out there. It also doesn't mean that they can just be used as a means to an end for a Celebrity Pastor with an agenda. I might potentially like to see a public interaction between MacArthur/Driscoll at some point (which Driscoll has publicly asked for), but it surely cannot be like this, not with Driscoll gatecrashing an event at which he was not a paid registrant in order to pass out unvetted materials, and then leveraging himself up over the no-name bodies of security personnel to get what he wanted. That's not right.

Video of what happened:



 Additional Resources 

Mark Driscoll: A Timeline of His Downfall
 (Sola Sisters)

Mark Driscoll Repents? Not So Fast, Say Phil Johnson and Chris Rosebrough

Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship

Strange Fire - media

Thoughts On Driscoll and The Biblical Qualifications For A Pastor

Documenting The Problems With Mark Driscoll [UPDATED]

Friday, January 4, 2013

"Has John Piper Lost His Mind?"

Posted by Christine Pack

So said my sister in a phone call shortly after the start of this year's Passion Conference, taking place now in Atlanta, GA (Jan 1-4). I'm sure she said this with all due respect to Dr. Piper, who has long been looked to as a solid teacher of the Reformed tradition. And yet in recent years, Dr. Piper has gone about giving his stamp of approval to various and sundry teachers, many of them solid and trustworthy, but some of them quite dangerous.

This stamp of approval first reared its ugly head when Dr. Piper brought out a young whippersnapper named Mark Driscoll as his keynote speaker at a Desiring God conference, years ago. In 2006, to be exact. This was the same Driscoll who went on later to shock us with his pornographic divinations and his fascist like handling of church members.  And yet, no public rebuking or distancing has gone on, that I know of, between Dr. Piper and his protégé.

Then Rick Warren got Dr. Piper's stamp of approval at the 2010 Desiring God Conference. Yes, that's right, Rick Warren. To paraphrase my friend Pastor Bob DeWaay, what made this particular alliance so very shocking was that Dr. Piper, who has long been regarded as one of the faithful few guarding the flock against false teaching was the very one who had opened the pen gate and ushered the wolf (Warren) right into the fold of his Desiring God conference.
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." Matthew 7:15 
"But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!" Gal 1:8 
"Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what wea have worked for, but may win a full reward. 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. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works." 2 John 1:8-11
"I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them." Romans 16:17
Then, out came the approval stamp again at last year's Passion 2012 Conference, when Dr. Piper stood benignly by on stage as Louie Giglio exhorted the audience members to "(hear) the voice of God speak," during a Lectio Divina-ish type mystical prayer exercise.

And now we have this year's Passion 2013 Conference, currently underway in Atlanta, GA, at which John Piper is sharing the stage with false teachers Jesus Culture. Don't know who Jesus Culture is? Oh well, let me fill you in: Jesus Culture is an offshoot group out of Bill Johnson's heretical Bethel Church in Redding, CA. That's right, the same Bill Johnson of the glory dust and the angel feathers fame.


So why doesn't Dr. Piper storm out on the stage at Passion like a man on fire and rebuke this madness? Or, he could leave the conference and write an eloquent and heartfelt apology for his part in confusing the flock in his care by knowingly linking with false teachers.  I'd be all for that. And yes, I get that he's just a man, and no man is perfect. I'm not expecting perfection, but what I do desire to see is him seriously taking to heart the admonition in Scripture that not all should teach because those who do are judged more strictly (James 3:1). BUT, if Dr. Piper is unwilling to repent of going around giving false teachers his stamp of approval, then maybe one of our Godly pastors could fly to Minneapolis and wrestle the stamp away from him to keep him from further harming the flock. Just a thought.
"For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 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." Titus 1:7-9
photo credit: SeattleClouds.com via photopin cc
photo credit: jjay69 via photopin cc

 Additional Resources 

Problems at Passion 2013

Mark Driscoll Gets Dr. Piper's Stamp of Approval

Documenting the Problems with Mars Hill Pastor Mark Driscoll [UPDATED]

Rick Warren Gets Dr. Piper's Stamp of Approval

Lectio Divina Lite At Passion 2012 Gets Dr. Piper's Stamp of Approval

Jesus Culture Gets Dr. Piper Stamp of Approval

More About Jesus Culture

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Billy Graham: "There's so much that we have in common (with the Roman Catholic church)."

Posted by Christine Pack

Billy Graham
It will undoubtedly come as a shock for many Christians to realize that revered and well regarded pastor Billy Graham had strong ties to the Roman Catholic church, as well as some startling views on the exclusivity of Christ in salvation. Linking with Roman Catholics simply must not be done. Yes, the Roman Catholic Church teaches about God and Jesus and the Cross and Salvation, but they also add to the finished work of Christ on the Cross by requiring works of their adherents. This is no small thing. In the book of Galatians, Paul rebuked as Peter for allowing the Judaizers to add the "works" of circumcision and law-keeping as additional requirements for salvation.
“When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas (Peter) in front of them all, 'You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.'” (Galatians 2:14-16)
What the "circumcision party" did in this passage was heresy, but let's not just nod and embrace this truth as we read scripture without understanding that this same heresy is alive and well today. This heresy of Faith + Works is at the heart of the Roman Catholic Church and what it teaches, and this is why we must not link to them as brothers and sisters in Christ. Rather, the vast majority of them are as lost as lost can be, and need the life-giving truth of the gospel message. True, born again believers know that salvation comes by faith alone through grace alone in Christ alone. There is no additional work that can be added or must be done for salvation.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)
Now, does this mean that the Christian simply gets a Get Into Heaven free pass by claiming belief in Christ, and then will continue to live in unrepentant immorality? No, the books of James and Galatians (among others) address these fallacies of "decisional regeneration" and "easy believism." A true born again believer who is in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit will bear good fruit, will put away the sins of their former life, and will become more and more conformed to the image of Christ over time. But these actions will flow out of a heart overwhelmed with thankfulness at God's great mercy in salvation, and will be empowered by the Holy Spirit. A true born again believer does not grudgingly put away sin and do good works, as if drinking down bad medicine. Yes, there is a battle with the flesh, but it is a battle. Sin is never truly enjoyed by the regenerated Christian: it is fought against and agonized about and prayed over and repented of. Is this a sad, torturous existence, with the believer looking sadly back at his old "fun" life and doing what he "should" do instead? No, in fact it is a joy and an honor to strive to know God's precepts and pray for God's grace and enabling power to live a righteous life. It is not bad medicine grudgingly drunk down so as to get the benefit of heaven. Good works flow from a heart that is overjoyed to be reconciled to a high and holy God, and thankful for his Word which show us what a righteous life looks like that we might strive for that mark by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is sort of a nutshell view of the biblical view of salvation and the Christian's life, but this is not the Roman Catholic view of salvation, which comes through Faith in Jesus PLUS confession, going to mass, doing good works, etc., etc., etc.

So with that in mind, please read below from portions of an interview that Billy Graham gave with Robert Schuller of Crystal Cathedral (and about which John MacArthur has also commented):
Dr. Schuller: "Tell me, what is the future of Christianity?" 
Dr. Graham: "Well, Christianity and being a true believer, you know, I think there's the body of Christ which comes from all the Christian groups around the world, or outside the Christian groups. I think that everybody that loves Christ or knows Christ, whether they're conscious of it or not, they're members of the body of Christ. And I don't think that we're going to see a great sweeping revival that will turn the whole world to Christ at any time." 
What God is doing today is calling people out of the world for His name. Whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world, or the non-believing world, they are members of the body of Christ because they've been called by God. They may not even know the name of Jesus, but they know in their hearts they need something that they don't have and they turn to the only light they have and I think they're saved and they're going to be with us in heaven." 
Dr. Schuller: "What I hear you saying is that it's possible for Jesus Christ to come into a human heart and soul and life even if they've been born in darkness and have never had exposure to the Bible. Is that a correct interpretation of what you're saying?" 
Dr. Graham: "Yes it is because I believe that. I've met people in various parts of the world in tribal situations that they have never seen a Bible or heard about a Bible, have never heard of Jesus but they've believed in their hearts that there is a God and they tried to live a life that was quite apart from the surrounding community in which they lived." 
Dr. Schuller: "This is fantastic. I'm so thrilled to hear you say that. There's a wideness in God's mercy." 
Dr. Graham: "There is. There definitely is."

 Additional Resources 

John MacArthur Discussing Billy Graham's "Wider Mercy" View

Doctrinal Errors With the "Wider Mercy" Doctrine

A Chart With Christian/Catholic Views Side-By-Side (courtesy of former Roman Catholic priest Richard Bennett)