Why I Left the SBC….Exhibit number….
from Worldview Times:
Rick Warren, John Piper to Keynote at Aspire Conference
The annual Southern Baptist pastors conference takes place June 12 and 13, 2011 in Phoenix. Sharing the stage with Rick Warren, will be Desiring God’s John Piper. Apparently Piper’s holding his West Coast DG conference at Saddleback in April was just a warm-up for greater cooperation. The Purpose-Driven train rolls on.
The conference is called “Aspire.” See the details here.
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the expositor 
Dear Mike, It seems to me a bit strained to speak of Dr. Piper as being part of the “Purpose Driven Train”. There are plenty of people, including the likes of Ray Comfort, who will go anywhere or nearly anywhere to preach if they have the guarantee that they may say whatever the Lord, through His Word and Spirit lead them to preach. Have you specific quotes from John Piper himself that make him guilty of heresy or are you making him guilty by assumed association? I agree with much of the criticism I have seen you promote or publish about Saddleback and Rick Warren. What I question is the assumption of agreement on theology in areas where Warren has made errors in something he specifically said where Piper has said the exact opposite and done so with studied specificity. Because their feet touch the same stage– usually at different times– doesn’t say much about their degree of mutual agreement.
regards and blessings,
Ron
P.S. you may publish this if you wish — or not– as you wish, it is written chiefly as a communication for the benefit of your person, from someone I hope you still consider to be a brother.
hi ron,
of course i still consider you a brother. i have not gone the route of labeling john piper a heretic.
our associations do matter. i agree with you on the point of ray comfort, but as an example, rays theology and practices are clearly biblical and he makes it crystal clear where he stands and what his motivations are.
in the case with dr. piper, in relation to his associations with warren, he said the following:
“.. I do think he’s deeply theological. He’s a brilliant man. He wouldn’t have the church he does or the Peace Plan, or all the influence he does and of course the greatest sentence in the Purpose Driven Life is the first one isn’t it? It’s not about you, it’s about God. The Glory of God. So I don’t think he’s emergent. At root I think he is theological and doctrinal and sound.”
~John Piper, speaking here 35 minutes in on Rick Warren and his invitation to Warren to attend his Desiring God Conference 2010
If nothing else was presented, this alone should cause at least some level of concern. I would refer you to the other posts I have listed on the subject too, as well as the programs produced by Brannon Howse on the subject.
I like what MacArthur said in his messages on How to Treat False Prophets:
False teachers are not to be dealt with lightly, not if you understand their error. And their error is inevitably a blow struck at the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith. It is not a trifling matter.
A good contrasting example is the way Piper has handled it and the way Michael Horton handled it. Horton accepted an invitation to speak on a panel at Saddleback and openly, yet with grace, rebuked Warrens theology and methods. Piper meanwhile has done just the opposite and endorsed Warren and has entered into a spiritual partnership with him.
It is my humble opinion that any contact and dialogue with a false teacher can only be to call them to repentance and to denounce their false teachings. Anything short of that i believe is a failure.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Mike
Mike, I love Ray, he is a brother. I have known Ray since 1981, I have been in his home, I went to the same church, but Mike, Ray is Arminian and a staunch promoter of the heretic Charles Finney. Ray gets people to pray a decisional type prayer (a result of Ray’s Pentecostal roots) that basically guarantees them salvation in the similar vein as Rick Warren’s prayer in the Purpose Driven® Life book. God saves people in spite of all that because Ray does proclaim the Bible vigorously yet with gentleness and respect. God uses His word that Ray unashamedly speaks forth from his lips. Ray will not look at Reformed Theology though. I think that is tragic…
John Piper not on the Purpose Driven Train?
Two years ago we never would have thought the names John Piper and Rick Warren would be used in the same sentence.
Compromise is not static. It is dynamic. It is the proverbial frog in the kettle approach.
When John Piper claimed that Rick Warren was doctrinally sound, he revealed just how far down the Purpose Driven tracks he had already traveled.
May God grant him and thousands other PDL pastors the mercy of repentance.