Category Archives: Rick Warren

Southern Baptists Hold Lordship Salvation All-Star Event

Posted on May 29, 2014 by | 21 comments

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is holding its annual Pastors’ Conference June 8-9 in Baltimore. This year’s event is called “Show Us Your Glory”.

We have written several articles at ExPreacherman that document the SBC’s long history of perverting God’s gospel of grace with man-made add-ons. Following is one of the more recent articles:

https://expreacherman.com/2012/12/04/southern-baptists-fragile-detente-the-fight-over-competing-false-gospels-calvinism-and-lordship-salvation/

The SBC teaches that one must “turn from sin” and “make a commitment to Christ” in order to receive God’s free gift of eternal life. This counterfeit gospel has ensnared millions of people over the years, including many of the current16 million members of SBC –affiliated churches.

For anyone unfamiliar with the SBC’s false gospel, following is an excerpt on how to become a Christian from the SBC website (I have put in bold those things that are add-ons to the gospel):

Are you ready to accept the gift of eternal life that Jesus is offering you right now? Let’s review what this commitment involves:

I acknowledge I am a sinner in need of a Savior – this is to repent or turn away from sin

I believe in my heart that God raised Jesus from the dead – this is to trust that Jesus paid the full penalty for my sins

I confess Jesus as my Lord and my God – this is to surrender control of my life to Jesus

I receive Jesus as my Savior forever – this is to accept that God has done for me and in me what He promised

The SBC teaches a false plan of salvation that is known as “bi-lateral contract salvation” or “Lordship salvation”, in which a lost person receives eternal life by promising to exchange future works (in the form of turning from sin and committing to obey and follow Christ) in addition to faith in Christ.

By contrast, the Bible teaches that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone (see Ephesians 2:8-9).

This year’s SBC Pastors’ Conference appears to be a further indoctrination exercise, as the slate of speakers and sponsors is replete with pastors who have made careers of preaching this false gospel, writing books that promulgate their heresies, and otherwise “evangelizing” the world with their false gospel that cannot save lost people and that destroys the assurance of believers.

So, who are some of this year’s “all stars”?

Speakers:

JD Greear – author and Lordship “salvationist” who believes that we must have the right “posture” toward Christ to receive God’s gift of eternal life and to prove that we have received it.

https://expreacherman.com/2013/07/13/southern-baptist-convention-and-j-d-greear-the-posture-of-lordship-salvation/

Francis Chan – pastor and author of “Crazy Love”, a Lordship “salvation manifesto.

https://expreacherman.com/2012/03/27/francis-chans-latest-pronouncement-failure-to-help-the-poor-could-send-you-to-hell/

David Platt – pastor of The Church at Brook Hills, and author of the book “Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream”.

https://expreacherman.com/2012/11/13/latest-news-on-david-platt-calvinist-author-of-lordship-salvation-book-radical-openly-declares-his-lordship-salvation-stance/

Rick Warren – Lordship “salvationist”, ecumenist, new age nutritionist, and author of “The Purpose Driven Life”

https://expreacherman.com/2011/03/03/909/

https://expreacherman.com/2011/02/14/beware-rick-warrens-new-age-daniel-plan-it-sounds-so-good-but-poison/

https://expreacherman.com/2011/01/11/rick-warren-and-his-latest-apostate-health-efforts/

Sponsor:

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association – headed by Billy Graham, internationally acclaimed “evangelist” and Lordship “salvationist”, affectionately known as “the Protestant Pope.”

https://expreacherman.com/2013/10/09/lordship-salvations-billy-graham-sets-trap/

This year’s conference seems oriented toward further galvanizing the pastors of America’s largest protestant denomination into doctrinaire Lordship “salvationists.”

In an online article from May 29, 2014, “The Christian Post” reported that membership among churches affiliated with the SBC has declined for the seventh straight year. That is great news. The bad news is that the SBC still has 15.7 million members who are teaming up with this apostate organization to frustrate grace.

And, with their numbers dwindling, the SBC will be ever more tempted to join hands with other false religions in promoting salvation by works.

https://expreacherman.com/2013/11/07/lordship-salvations-strange-bedfellows-apostate-evangelicals-and-mormons-meet-at-byu-to-build-on-common-ground/

21 Comments

Posted in Billy Graham, Chan, Daniel Plan, David Platt, Lordship Salvation, Rick Warren, SBC

What are The Motives Behind Lordship “Salvation” and Other False Teachings?

Posted on September 21, 2013 by | 144 comments

By Jack Weaver and our friend, John

Are we able to assess the motive of those false teachers/prophets who preach “another gospel”? Galatians 1:6-8

We can certainly assess and discern a false “gospel” message. That would be adding anything to the Gospel of salvation by Grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. If we see or hear ANY teacher, Pastor, CD — or read any books, web sites or articles that tell you any of the following are requirements for eternal life, “the performance of any works, the promise of any future works, or the evidence of any works,” (to quote our friend John), such are teaching a false “gospel,” which is no Gospel at all. (Examples: Repent, turn from sins to be saved, Turn or burn, make Jesus the “Lord of your life” or commit your life to Christ to be saved, persevere to the end, etc.) These are all Satan’s add-on to the precious Gospel of God’s Grace and totally pervert the Gospel (Good News).

We came up with at least four general categories of people teaching false gospels:

  1. Believers who still believe the gospel, but teach error out of a personal motive.
  2. Believers who no longer believe that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (Luke 8:13, Galatians 5:4).
  3. Non-believers, who are counting on their own righteousness to get into heaven (Matthew 7:15 and Matthew 23:15).
  4. Satan’s ministers, disguised as ministers of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:15).

While the first and second groups are saved, and therefore eternally secure, all who preach false gospels are under a curse (Galatians 1:8-9).

To even attempt to discern the motives behind the person doing the false preaching, we must carefully analyze them, their behavior and their statements.

Following are some of the reasons that believers may teach false gospels:

  1. Ignorance or misuse of scripture – includes use of “proof texts”, always out of context, as well as use of poor or plainly false Bible translations.
  2. Sense of belonging – desires to be part of something big and exciting, with lots of structured programs for kids, etc. Willfully blind to obvious error.
  3. Respect for authority – putting the doctrine of men on par with, or above, the word of God.
  4. Social pressure – a desire to hold a position of honor, even it requires compromise.
  5. Financial allure – big churchs, big money, lucrative demand for books, etc.
  6. Family legacy – “my Daddy’s Daddy’s Daddy believes that, and so do I.”
  7. Eat the meat and spit out the bones “theology” – disregarding the Biblical warnings to separate from false teachers/teaching.
  8. Ecumenism – going along to get along.
  9. Fear of “failure” – desiring the praise of men above the praise of God.
  10. Hero-worship – reverence for icons of evangelicalism, such as Calvin, Spurgeon, Billy Graham, etc.
  11. Gatekeeping – They don’t want “nominal Christians” in their midst, so they change the Gospel from Grace to fit their own rules of behavior.
  12. A Feeling of Spiritual Invincibility – Failure to separate from false doctrine – as if they are not susceptible to being misled by false teaching – thus they let down their guard and find no need to put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:11).

It should come as no big surprise that non-believers also teach false gospels for many of the same reasons as those who purport to be believers in Christ — even so, each of them manage to slip in a teaching of Lordship “salvation” (probation).

If anyone claims to believe in a false gospel of works, we should take him at his word. He needs to be treated as an unbeliever, since simultaneous belief in a false gospel and the real Gospel of Christ is impossible! We should lovingly confront such a religious “professor” of faith in Christ with his disbelief. We must proclaim the Gospel, and if possible, show him from the Bible why his false gospel is false. The Lord does not require ANY works to acquire His gift of salvation – it is FREE. Grace and Works are polar opposites and CANNOT coexist as a means of salvation! (Romans 11:6)

The Only Gospel of God’s Salvation <<Click

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Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Bible, Billy Graham, Calvinism, Chan, Christian, Danger, David Platt, Eternal Security, Faith, Free Grace, Grace, Hope, John MacArthur, John Piper, Joy, Kirk Cameron, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Ray Comfort, Reformed theology, Religion, Repentance, Rick Warren, Salvation, Secure salvation, Security of the believer, Southern Baptist Convention

Are All “Christian” Religions Teaching Lordship “Salvation”?

Posted on August 26, 2013 by | 142 comments

By Jack Weaver

It is sadly evident that virtually every “Christian religious” system ever formulated by mankind (men and women) has veered terribly from those four vital Biblical Gospel points. All “Christian religions” now seem to contain the corrupt seeds, if not the full blown growth and fruit of Lordship “salvation” (LS) as the centerpiece of their teaching.

We here at ExP have written and commented on hundreds of articles documenting errors in organizations and churches, Presbyterian, Southern Baptists, Methodist, Episcopal, Lutheran, Churches of Christ, et al; and by teachers, featuring some of the more obvious and egregious perpetrators of LS such as Spurgeon, Francis Chan, Rick Warren, Paul Washer, David Platt, John Piper, John MacArthur, A.W. Pink, R.C. Sproul, Billy Graham, Al Mohler, Ray Comfort, Kirk Cameron, ad infinitum. (Find them.. search Box on the top right column >>)

We will take the liberty of quoting from our good friend, ExP Co-Administrator, author and commenter, Bruce Bauer, and our good friend, author and commenter at ExP, John.

John quotes from Clear Gospel Campaign, one of the very best descriptions of the not-so-subtle lie of Lordship “salvation”: “the perversions of the Gospel of Grace is the performance of works, the promise of works, or the evidence of works as a necessity for salvation.”

We should use that guideline in our critique of all teachers, thus separating those who would twist or change the Truth of God’s Grace-Gift of Eternal Life in Jesus Christ alone.

John quotes further from Clear Gospel Campaign:

“Ultimately, however, there is no theological distinction between corrupt systems of theology that require works, such as water baptism, to be performed prior to gaining salvation, and corrupt theological systems that require the promise of future works in exchange for salvation. Any gospel presentation that makes, as a requirement for gaining eternal salvation, repentance from one’s sins, committing one’s life to Christ, making Christ the ‘Lord’ (master) of one’s life, becoming a disciple of Christ, and other equivalent statements that require a promise of future behavior is heresy.” (Romans 5:8; Titus 3:5)

We would add that according to God’s Word, the teachers pushing these false doctrines are accursed. (Galatians 1:8,9)

Another pearl of wisdom from John:

“Since the Bible unequivocally teaches salvation by Grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, I [we] can readily dismiss any teaching that seeks to introduce works (the performance of works, the promise of future works, or the evidence of works) into the salvation equation.”

And then John commends Bruce on his excellent article on David Platt which really gets to the core of Lordship “salvation.”

Particularly striking [is this] quote from Platt:

“To be born-again, one must repent, turn from sin and self, and believe, trust in Jesus as the Savior who died for us and the Lord who rules over us.”

[John’s] comment: This is really the crux of LS. Platt says we must not only trust in Christ as Savior in order to be born again — no, he says we must also “turn from sin” (works) and accept Jesus as Lord who rules over us (implicit obedience – the promise of future works) in addition to believing. This is exactly what is being taught by Billy Graham and the SBC.

Purveyors of LS have turned the Good News into Bad News!

Our message:

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.“ 2 Corinthians 11:3

As Scripture says — and is frequently quoted by our good friend, Holly Garcia: “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. [honest, suitable, worthy]” 1 Thessalonians 5:21

The Gospel is GOOD News << Click

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Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Bible, Billy Graham, Calvinism, Chan, Christian, Christianity, Danger, David Platt, Eternal Security, Francis Chan, Grace, Hope, John Piper, Kirk Cameron, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Paul Washer, Ray Comfort, Reformed theology, Religion, Rick Warren, Salvation, SBC, Security of the believer, Southern Baptist Convention, Washer

Lordship Salvationists and Calvinists: Why We Expose Them

Posted on August 19, 2013 by | 87 comments
By Jack Weaver and our friend, John
~~~

We are occasionally asked why we bother to expose Lordship Salvationists and Calvinists. In a few words, we expose them because we love our Savior Jesus Christ and His Gift of Eternal Life by Grace through Faith in Him alone. We simply try to do our best to promote and defend the Biblical Gospel of God’s Grace (Ephesians 2:8-9), to unmask and open to your understanding, those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. (Romans 1:18)

The “Christian” world is running amok with false doctrines proclaimed by Lordship “salvation” (LS) and Calvinist deceivers. We find that most LSers are Calvinists and vice versa. LSers usually include the many faces of Calvinism, i.e. Traditional, New, Hyper, “Moderate,”some Baptists, etc. Thus, since it fits, we use the acronym, “LS” to include all “works salvation” promoters.

We at ExPreacherMan have written many articles about those whose desire it is to advance, promote and subsidize the false message of LS. You may search our numerous, informative articles here.

The objective of this brief article is to clearly define LS, in as few words as possible, so believers in Jesus Christ may be equipped to discern between the truth of God’s Word and the lies being advanced in His name.

At its core, LS is a disbelief in God’s Word which clearly states that salvation is by Grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. (again: (Ephesians 2:8-9)

LS is the unsupportable belief that the performance of works, the promise of works, or the evidence of works MUST accompany faith in Christ in order to make that faith result in eternal life.

LS can be overt (one must forsake all of his sins and follow Christ in obedience and discipleship in order to be saved) or VERY SUBTLE (one’s behavior will change once he is saved).  But, do not be deceived. Trying to add ANY human merit to Grace makes it no longer Grace. (Romans 11:6)

We expose people who promote LS, because they:

• Keep people lost (Luke 8-12;  2 Corinthians 4:4);
.
• Are accursed (Galatians 1:9)
.
• Frustrate grace (Galatians 2:21);
.
• Bewitch believers, rendering the believers ineffective in their Christian lives (Galatians 5:4)
.
• Are to be marked and avoided (Romans 16:17 and 16:18)

In addition to the above, people who believe and teach LS don’t currently believe the Gospel and need to be confronted with that reality.  They need our prayers.

One wonders why so many thousands of seeking souls flock to the false message of LS. Could it be a cultic draw by charismatic personalities who manipulate scripture, relish the attention, fame and (incidentally) the dollars cleverly conned from their followers?

These pitiful followers are striving for an LS “salvation” that is hopeless and unattainable. Pray for them to see and believe The Truth of the Gospel << Click

*Note: Our special thanks to our friend John for contributing his Biblical knowledge, wisdom and thoughts to this article. JW

87 Comments

Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Bible, Billy Graham, Calvinism, Chan, Christian, Christianity, Danger, David Platt, Eternal Security, Faith, Francis Chan, Free Grace, Grace, Hope, John MacArthur, John Piper, Joy, Kirk Cameron, Lordship, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Paul Washer, Ray Comfort, Reformed theology, Rick Warren, Salvation, SBC, Security of the believer, Southern Baptist Convention, Washer

Wiki-Heresies Debut – Exposing Lordship “salvation” In All of Its Vagaries

Posted on August 6, 2013 by | 9 comments

We at ExPreacherMan take great care in proclaiming the Truth of the Gospel of Salvation by Grace Alone through Faith Alone in Jesus Christ Alone. We know the doctrine of Salvation by God’s Grace alone is Biblically verifiable and true. (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Such Great Salvation is absolutely independent of any Biblical mandate for a performance of “good works,” before, during or after a person makes that one-time decision to trust Jesus Christ as Savior. That is Grace.

Of course, every believer in Jesus Christ SHOULD walk in good works, as taught in many, many places in God’s Word  (Ephesians 2:10), but there is no redemptive power or benefit by doing in good works. God’s Salvation is a FREE Gift, by Grace alone in Jesus Christ alone, without work, effort or merit on man’s part. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved..”

Therefore, we at ExP have created a Page whereby our readers may visit and browse a list, of teachers, preachers, writers and organizations who pervert the Biblical doctrine of God’s Free Grace. We include  descriptions, evidence and (in most cases) links to those whom we discuss.

The link has a permanent place as the last line of several links on our Header at ExPreacherMan. It is easy to find. We invite you to visit:

Wiki-Hweresies << Click

Always remember, Eternal Life is a FREE Gift

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Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Calvinism, Chan, Christianity, Eternal Security, Faith, Free Grace, Grace, Hope, John MacArthur, John Piper, Kirk Cameron, Lordship, Lordship Salvation, Paul Washer, Ray Comfort, Reformed theology, Religion, Rick Warren, Salvation, SBC, Security of believers, Social Gospel, Southern Baptist Convention, Washer

Lordship Salvation: Counterfeit Currency Exchange

Posted on June 23, 2013 by | 45 comments

counterfeit

By our friend, John

 Matthew 21:12-13:  And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Jesus was dismayed that His house had been turned into a place of business, including the exchange of currencies.  He overturned the moneychangers’ tables and referred to them as thieves.

Those of us who have traveled to different countries are familiar with having to convert our money into local currency in order to buy things in that country.  We hear about the interactions of different currencies in the world of finance, and the impact of those interactions on global trade and the economy.

In God’s economy, there is only one currency that will pay for our sins:  the blood of Jesus.

Romans 3:24-26:  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

But the moneychangers continue to ply their trade, trying to convince people that other currencies will take away sin and save us.  In God’s economy, currencies other than the blood of Christ are useless counterfeit.

In his sermon of June 9, 2013, entitled “The Enemy is Stalking Us”, Tom Cucuzza put it this way:

And so what does Satan do?

He deals with counterfeit messages.  He deals in messages that sound good or even close to the real thing.  But folks, if they’re not the real thing it’s false.  It’s counterfeit.  It’s from the devil.

And the closer he can get to the real plan of salvation and yet not be the plan of salvation more people will be deceived into that.

So, what are some of the more common counterfeits being offered by the Lordship “salvationists” today?

Repent of your sins to be saved.  Follow Christ to be saved.  Forsake your sins to be saved.  Count the cost.  Put Christ on the throne of your life to be saved.  Surrender your life to Christ for salvation.  Give your life to Christ for salvation.  Allow God to change your life to be saved, and on and on.

So, are the false teachers promoting these various and sundry counterfeit currencies today like the moneychangers that Christ drove out of the temple?

John 10:1:  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

Notice that Jesus uses the term “thief” to refer to anyone who tries to enter into salvation in any other way than through Him – the same term that He used to refer to the moneychangers.

As Christians, we are the temple of Christ.  We must not let these thieves have any place in our temple.

Again, from Tom Cucuzza:

People say:  “well I listen to this guy, I listen to that preacher, and boy what they were saying, it was fabulous.  Pastor, why are you down on them?”

I’m down on them because they are preaching a false gospel that will not save.

Praise God for the truth they do say.  But, I’m not going to praise God for the error that they promote.  And you shouldn’t either.  You shouldn’t either.

You be careful folks of what you take in.  What you listen to.  What you read.  You better be careful!

Here is the True Gospel of Salvation!! << Click

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Posted in Assurance of salvation, Bible, Billy Graham, Calvinism, Chan, Christian, Christianity, David Platt, Eternal Security, Faith, Francis Chan, Free Grace, Grace, Hope, John MacArthur, John Piper, Lordship, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Paul Washer, Ray Comfort, Reformed theology, Rick Warren, Salvation, SBC, Security of believers, Southern Baptist Convention

Sympathy for Rick and Kay Warren at Their Son’s Suicide

Posted on April 11, 2013 by | 62 comments

By Jack Weaver

Rick and Kay Warren’s son, Matthew, committed suicide a week or so ago.

Many of us here have children and, no matter their age or circumstances, we can think of nothing worse than discovering that our child has committed suicide. We have sympathy for the Warrens as they go through their grief and loss. We also know that a parent cannot command the actions of a twenty something son or daughter.

There have been no statements released indicating that their son, Matthew, ever made that critical decision to trust Jesus Christ alone as his Savior, by Grace alone through Faith alone. We see many well meaning Christians speaking of Matthew, that they hope he will RIP (rest in peace). If he ever trusted Jesus Christ alone as his Savior, he will, right now, be resting at peace with his Savior, Jesus. However if he never made that decision to trust Jesus alone as his Savior, he is, like every unbeliever, not resting in peace but experiencing the horrors of Hell. That is Biblical fact! (John 3:18)

However, at this time while our feelings for the Warren family are sincere, we should not allow our sympathy to betray or cloud our Biblical discernment. Absolutely nothing can erase the horrible damage that Rick Warren’s “theology” has done to Biblical Christianity.

We pray that sympathy for the Warren family will not translate into Christians, out of compassion and tenderness, seeking to further investigate, follow and believe his false teachings.

One of Warren’s friends, Beth Moore (a false teacher in her own right), on Warren’s own web site, Pastors.com, used the occasion of Matthews suicide to write a scathing article, critical of any “believers” who would write anything against Warren’s false teaching at this particular time. She called out such Christians as being, relentless, mud slingers, mean, careless, bullies, enemies, hateful, mockers, slanderers, self serving, and snide.

Well, for years we have tried to document some of Rick Warren’s more egregious examples of promoting false doctrine, as well as his efforts to promote ecumenism.  Below are a few examples:

Here is Rick Warren speaking at his World Economic Forum Conference at Georgetown University. He brought in 3 Catholic priests, 3 Imams, 3 “Evangelical” ministers, 3 Rabbis — and asked what can we do about AIDS. He speaks of the Islamic Imams as his “Islamic brothers.”
This video is from the “World Economic Forum” in 2009 with — United Nations gurus Tony Blair (former UK Prime Minister) and Ban Ki Moon. This seems to be an ecumenical run up to the last World Ruling Power and the one world church.
Warren’s Ecumenical Anti-Biblical Video << Click

Quotes from Rick Warren at ExPreacherMan:

His Anti-Biblical remarks about fundamental Christianity:

“Today there really aren’t that many Fundamentalists left; I don’t know if you know that or not, but they are such a minority; there aren’t that many Fundamentalists left in America … Now the word ‘fundamentalist’ actually comes from a document in the 1920s called the Five Fundamentals of the Faith. And it is a very legalistic, narrow view of Christianity.” Quote by Rick Warren, May 2005

He calls Biblical fundamentalism an enemy – compares with Muslim fanatics:

[Fundamentalism is] “one of the big enemies of the 21st century.” “Muslim fundamentalism, Christian fundamentalism, Jewish fundamentalism, secular fundamentalism – they’re all motivated by fear. Fear of each other.” – Rick Warren, January 2006

As believers in God’s free Grace we should sympathize with  the Warren’s in their grief, just as we would with any other human beings. But please, do not fall for the ecumenical gobbledygook being spread by the religious left that we must “feel” for the Warren’s and consequently embrace Rick’s foul teaching.

Eternal Life for You FREE << Click

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Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Calvinism, Christian, Christianity, Danger, Eternal Security, Faith, Free Grace, Grace, HELL, Hope, Islam, Lordship Salvation, Rick Warren, Salvation, Security of believers, Social Gospel

Calvinist and Lordship Salvationist Objections to the Doctrine of Rewards

Posted on March 12, 2013 by | 61 comments

 Contributed by our dear friend, John

In my day-to-day discussions with professing believers, I have found several that have never even heard of the doctrine of rewards (the Judgment Seat of Christ).  When I have tried to explain the concept to them, responses have ranged from mild skepticism (“why haven’t I ever heard of this”) to outright rejection (“that doesn’t sound right”).

The doctrine of rewards is clearly taught throughout scripture, including in 1 Corinthians 3:8-15:

Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.  For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.  According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Following are the top ten reasons I can think of as to why someone might object to the doctrine of rewards:

  1. Ignorance – most churches don’t teach it.
  2. Disbelief in the doctrine of Grace – the doctrine of rewards is in direct conflict with Lordship “salvation.”
  3. Disbelief in eternal security – works must be done to stay saved.
  4. Disbelief in the doctrine of assurance – works are viewed as either the primary or supplemental basis of assurance.
  5. Belief in the Calvinistic tenets of “irresistible grace” and “perseverance of the saints.”
  6. Belief that good works are automatic in the life of the believer.
  7. Misunderstanding of the two natures of the believer.
  8. Confusing the judgment seat of Christ with the Great White Throne judgment or the Sheep and Goats judgment.
  9. Belief in a social gospel – the thought of differential rewards for believers may offend the sensibilities of someone with a socialist perspective.
  10. Confusion between scriptural passages dealing with the gift of eternal life vs. rewards for faithfulness – belief that heaven is the reward (see number 2).

From Clear Gospel Campaign:

“We believe that history unmistakably demonstrates that the lack of a clear understanding of the doctrine of the Judgment Seat of Christ leaves a theological vacuum on the question of human works and divine judgment, and that this vacuum is invariably filled by a corruption of the gospel of grace with some form of salvation by Christ-plus-works.  Accordingly, we believe that the teaching and preaching of the judgment seat of Christ, although not in any way part of the gospel message, is nevertheless essential to the preservation of the purity of the gospel message.”

Eternal Life Free For You <click

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Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Bible, Calvinism, Chan, Christian, Christianity, contemplative, David Platt, Emergent, Emerging, Eternal Security, Faith, Free Grace, Grace, Hope, John MacArthur, John Piper, Joy, Lordship, Lordship Faith, Lordship Salvation, New Age, Once saved always saved, Paul Washer, Ray Comfort, Reformed theology, Religion, Rick Warren, Salvation, Security of believers, Social Gospel, Socialism

Lordship Salvation: Blinded from the Light; Satan’s Devious Campaign Tricks

Posted on September 11, 2012 by | 16 comments

By our friend and Brother in Christ, John

2 Corinthians 4:3-4

“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

Satan, the god of this world, uses the same types of tricks to blind people from the truth as politicians use to get votes.  Here is a sample:

1.     Celebrity endorsements:

Politicians have their shills and Satan has his.   Satan’s shills include a legion of denominational leaders, evangelists, best-selling authors, famous preachers and television ministers who will tell you that something else besides trusting in Christ is necessary in order to be saved.  These are seen as the voices of authority.  So, as Dr. Tom Cucuzza said in his sermon entitled “The Obvious That Isn’t so Obvious”:

“…people automatically want to believe the authority and so what that does is it leads people astray, into something that’s false and they believe that.

And then, when someone comes along with the true Gospel of Grace, that says your sins have been bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ, once and for all, and that all you can do to be saved is to put your faith in Him, trust in Him as your Savior, they say this: “I can’t believe that. That’s too easy. That’s easy believism. That’s cheap grace.”

2.      Card stacking

This approach is used by false teachers, who cite a few verses that allegedly support salvation by works, with no attempt to mention or explain away the 100 plus verses of Scripture that teach that eternal life is a free gift received by Grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.  This is an intellectually vapid exercise that Clear Gospel Campaign describes as follows:

“A few have tried to dismiss the hundred plus verses by the wave of a magic wand, mumbling some idiotic and lexically untenable statement, such as ‘the word ‘faith actually implies works in the root meaning of the word.’ Most, however, don’t even try to answer Scripture.  They simply play the ‘you’ve got your verses, and I’ve got mine’ game. This is what the cults do, placing their hands over their ears, closing their eyes, and repeating their proof texts at the top of their lungs so that nothing else can penetrate the barrier.  And that is not theology.  In contrast, only a few verses in all of Scripture can be reasonably interpreted (in isolation) as teaching that some human work is necessary for salvation.  And when scrutinized, those passages invariably yield to alternative interpretations that are consistent with the doctrine of grace.”

3.      Projection

 This is where the enemy accuses you of doing the same thing he does.  For example, telling you that the 100 plus verses that teach that eternal life is a free gift received by faith are being taken out of context.

4.      Bandwagon

Satan will attempt to convince you that since most people believe something, it must be true.  A good example of this is “repent of sins to be saved”.  Again, from Clear Gospel Campaign:

“The phrase ‘repent of your sins,’ is so embedded in Christian culture that it is hard to hear the word ‘repent’ without mentally adding on the three words ‘from your sins.’  And since the word ‘repent’ is often associated with eternal salvation, this leads to further adding on, either mentally, or verbally from the pulpit,  the words ‘to be saved’ to the end of the sentence.  Together, they form the greatest myth in the history of Christianity . . . ‘You must repent of your sins to be saved.’

This belief is not only wrong, it is an error that threatens the eternal destiny of every man, woman and child on the planet.  For it reduces the gospel of grace to a gospel of works.”

Whether you are an honest seeker, a Lordship Salvation troll or just happened upon this site, please tune out all of Satan’s campaign tricks and see the link below for how you can have eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Eternal Life – God’s Gift to You << Click

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Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Bible, Calvinism, Chan, Christian, Christianity, Conservative, Cross, Danger, Easy Believism, Eternal Security, Faith, Francis Chan, Free Grace, Grace, Hope, John MacArthur, John Piper, Lordship, Lordship Faith, Lordship Salvation, New Age, Once saved always saved, Peace, Reformed theology, Religion, Rick Warren, Salvation, Security of the believer

You Might Be a Lordship Salvationist If…

Posted on August 14, 2012 by | 281 comments

By our friend John

You might be a Lordship Salvationist — IF…

1.      You think that loving Jesus is the same thing as believing in Jesus. .. .

2.      You believe any of the five points of Calvinism. 

3.      You believe that there are marks of true believers. 

4.      You think that an inventory of personal holiness is a litmus test for a believer. 

5.      Your favorite authors are John MacArthur, Paul Washer, Francis Chan or John Piper

6.      You believe that repenting of or turning from sin is an essential component of being or staying saved. 

7.      You believe that good works are an automatic result of salvation. 

8.      You believe behavioral changes (the “I used to’s…”) are appropriate content for a conversion testimony. 

9.      You think that people who have a pattern of  “big sins” must be unbelievers.

10.     You give Lordship “Salvation” (LS) teachers a pass, rather than marking and avoiding them. 

11.     You think you must desire a relationship with Christ in order to be saved. 

12.     You think that a believer must feel more sensitivity to sin in his life, or he was never really saved.

13.     You think that a believer cannot fail to distinguish himself from the lost world. 

14.     You admire the exposition of LS teachers – except for the false gospel part. 

15.     You believe “faith” and “faithfulness” are the same things. 

16.     You are comfortable with non-biblical gospel substitutes. 

17.     Your favorite bumper stickers are  “Surrender All or Not at All” and  “Heaven: Don’t Miss it for the World“.

18.     You believe the “straight and narrow” refers to your behavior. 

19.     You believe that assurance of salvation is based on your own faithfulness. 

20.     You think Spurgeon did not teach Lordship salvation.

21.     You think there is a difference between “head faith” and “heart faith”  – and only heart faith counts.

22.    You refer to Christianity as “easy believism”.

23.    You think the book of James is a diagnostic tool to determine whether someone is saved or not (by their works).

24.    You think Matthew 7:21-23 proves that works really are required to get into heaven after all (therefore making God out to be a liar).

25.    You think that free-grace believers don’t have access to Bibles, so you quote your favorite proof texts to prove to them that faith in Christ alone won’t really save them.

26.    You believe that Biblical truths can become heretical if not “properly balanced”. This is usually code for something along the lines of “the faith that saves is not alone – it’s always accompanied by good works and/or holiness.”

Heaven is a FREE Gift, by God’s Grace << Click

Note: see part 2 of this article, linked below:

https://expreacherman.com/2015/05/09/you-might-be-a-lordship-salvationist-if-part-2/

281 Comments

Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Bible, Calvinism, Chan, Christian, Danger, Easy Believism, Emergent, Eternal Security, Faith, Francis Chan, Free Grace, Grace, Hope, John MacArthur, John Piper, Lordship, Lordship Faith, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Reformed theology, Religion, Rick Warren, Salvation, Security of believers

Mission Impossible “salvation”: Lordship “salvation” — Demanding the Impossible!

Posted on May 10, 2012 by | 85 comments

By Jack Weaver

Occasionally we are asked why we concentrate on exposing the awful and un-Biblical  theory called, Lordship Salvation [LS] or, as I prefer to call it, Lordship Probation. This false message is advancing at lightning speed through too many modern churches today.

Simply put, Lordship Probation (“salvation??”) demands the impossible from an individual who may sincerely be searching for God’s Amazing Free Gift of salvation. Our number one goal is to make the clarity and simplicity of God’s plan of salvation easy to understand and believe.

Our secondary goal is to expose the lies of false Bible teaching — whoever they are and wherever they be, especially the devious tragedy of Calvinism and Lordship “salvation.”

Before we go into detail, I would say that our number one reason for contending against LS is that it contradicts all of God’s Biblical teaching about His salvation by Grace alone through Faith alone in Christ alone by His Word. LS adds and demands good works for one to procure their version of salvation and then they add even more works for keeping one’s salvation. Tragedy!!

We have quoted many LS proponents in previous articles. I will mention some newer ones here to illustrate my point that LS is a growing menace. If you have some LS proponents to expose here, please do so in your comments.

We are thrilled to get to know some of our readers who have wonderfully come out from under the horrible yoke of LS into the Freedom that IS IN Jesus Christ through God’s Grace. You are welcome to comment upon your experience with LS or Calvinism.

Some LS/Calvinist names of disrepute are: Francis Chan, Paul Washer, John MacArthur, John Piper, RC Sproul, Rick Warren, John Calvin, Charles Spurgeon, Arthur W. Pink, George Whitefield, John Knox, Martin Luther, AW Tozer (from Charlie Bing),  etc.  (and we could name more and more).

Pearl, one of our long-time contributors and commenters found that Dave Ramsey (Practical Financial guru) and one of his “Team” members, Jon Acuff  (who recommends Francis Chan) fit into the same camp as those mentioned above. That is a shame because Ramsey and his folks have a great common sense method of helping rescue a family from financial burden. But, in the back reaches of the Ramsey domain, they preach a false doctrine to babes in Christ and the unsaved. So, as we do with others who preach a false message, we cannot recommend them. Please use extreme discernment if you use their services.

Some time back I questioned Dave Hunt at Berean Call Ministries about his recommendation of quotes from Calvinist Gresham Machen. Tom McMahon (Hunt’s assistant) answered me by justifying Machen and many other questionable LS and Calvinists. He declared that their quotes could apply to us today. (I prefer God’s Word that applies to us today!!)

It is nonsense to recommend a teacher, who preaches lies, in order to “enlighten” believers in any area. I recently received a newsletter from Berean Call. At one time they were a great resource against Calvinism. This newsletter article warned against believers getting involved with the politics of today. The article, “Influencing The Culture” was a wholehearted endorsement of an excerpt from one of John (Calvinist guru of Lordship Probation) MacArthur’s articles. No doubt Berean Call would justify such an endorsement in the exact same manner as they defended their endorsement of Machen and other Calvinists. One of Ed’s statements in his note to me reads, “Further, some of the resources we offer or have offered are authored by Calvinists such as C.H. Spurgeon, John MacArthur, Jay Adams (addressing psychology), Mike Gendron (former Catholic), and William Webster.”

This philosophy seems contradictory to Biblical Doctrine and a far cry from Dave Hunt’s excellent book exposing Calvinism, “What Love Is This?”

We believe none of these mentioned have any redeeming qualities worth recommending for study, even though they may occasionally speak or write “a truth.” The lies they propagate otherwise spoil the entire true issue of God’s Grace. As God’s Word says, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” Galatians 5:9

The rules and dictates of Lordship Salvation and Calvinism or any other false teaching will never cure carnal Christianity — Their teaching only offers confusion.

What is God’s Real Salvation? << Click

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Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Bible, Calvinism, Chan, Christian, Christianity, Danger, Eternal Security, Faith, Francis Chan, Free Grace, Grace, Hope, John MacArthur, John Piper, Lordship, Lordship Faith, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Reformed theology, Religion, Rick Warren, Salvation, Security of the believer

Rick Warren’s Ecumenism. “Chrislam” and Lordship Salvation?

Posted on March 20, 2012 by | 98 comments

Is there a connection?

Most folks don’t necessarily think of Rick Warren as a big supporter of Lordship Salvation — but we have written and documented it here and here.

Think about this idea I propose that Warren may be at the forefront of a world wide ecumenical movement that attempts to incorporate Warren’s idea of New Age Mysticism and Evangelicalism in his humanistic world-wide “PEACE” movement. He is now reaching out to Muslims, not to win them to Jesus Christ but to explore the similarities between their god and the God of the Bible. That is called Chrislam.  An article in the 2009 Orange County Register (CA) shows Warren in full fellowship speaking to 8,000 Muslims at INSA, the Islamic Society of North America’s annual convention in Washington D.C. (Side note, reports are that Warren did not share the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ.. Picture below.)

Article Tab: Sami M. Angawi, left, talks with Evangelical pastor Rick Warren, right, at the Islamic Society of North America�s 46th annual convention in Washington, July 4, 2009. Evangelical megachurch pastor Rick Warren says America's largest Islamic organization showed courage when it invited him to speak at its annual convention.

Sami M. Angawi, left, talks with Evangelical pastor Rick Warren, right, at the Islamic Society of North America�s 46th annual convention in Washington, July 4, 2009. Evangelical megachurch pastor Rick Warren says America’s largest Islamic organization showed courage when it invited him to speak at its annual convention.

Luis M. Alvarez, (OCR)

There is NO similarity between Islam and the Christianity proclaimed in God’s Word, the Bible. Rick Warren is severely misguided, deluded or intentionally giving in to Islam thus aiding the Muslim push for an international Muslim Caliphate (rulership).

This quote below is from a Muslim “ecumenical” web site [submission.nu] — is an attempt to marginalize the cruelty of Islam by comparing it to Christianity and is an effort to merge the two. The word Islam means “Submission.” In the excerpt below, is an effort to make Islam acceptable to “Christian religions.” They carefully substitute the word “God” in place of their god Allah.

The time has come to purify and consolidate all the messages delivered by God’s prophets into one message, and to proclaim that henceforth, there is only one religion acceptable to God, [Allah] “Submission”  [Islam] (3:19, 85). “Submission” [Islam] is the religion whereby we recognize God’s [Allah’s] absolute authority, and reach an unshakeable conviction that God [Allah] ALONE possesses all power; no other entity possesses any power that is independent of Him [Allah]. The natural result of such a realization is to devote our lives and our worship absolutely to God [Allah] ALONE. This is the First Commandment in all the scriptures, including the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Final Testament. [Quran] [Brackets my emphasis]

How many of these dictates sound like the rules set by men for Lordship “salvation” (LS) and/or how many are the basis of LS, Calvinism? Without total submission to Allah the god of Islam, there is no hope for the adherents of Islam (or anyone else they say). And then, there is no eternal hope for adherents of Lordship “salvation” without total submission to the Lordship of Christ (contrary to God’s Word). It is odd how similar these two philosophies seem to be.

And further, to put it in a more personal perspective, why are we as American Christian citizens spending millions of our US tax dollars to save Muslim mosques in the middle east? Watch this short video from Atlanta news. WSBTV Atlanta

Islam does not desire coexistence with Rick Warren or any other religion — they want total Submission – Islam. Wonder what Rick Warren is thinking with his PEACE plan reaching out to Muslims, who ultimately want him to submit to Islam — either now or later? Can he have it both ways with Chrislam?

Do you see this coming to a church near you?

Is this push softening Americans to accept Muslim Shariah Law into our own courts? It is happening today – Shariah Law Cases by State. << Go here and find cases in your own state’s courts.

True Faith — From God’s Word. << Click

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Posted in Assurance of salvation, Bible, Calvinism, Christian, Christianity, Danger, Eternal Security, Faith, Free Grace, Grace, Hope, Islam, Lordship, Lordship Faith, Lordship Salvation, Muslim, Peace, Religion, Rick Warren, Salvation, Secure salvation, Security of believers, Shariah law, Terrorism

Sovereignty: Calvinist and Lordship “Salvation” Catchword or Crutch?

Posted on March 8, 2012 by | 75 comments

By Jack Weaver

First let me note that neither of the words “sovereignty” nor  “sovereign” appear in the Authorized King James Version of the Bible.  The words are simply inventions-with-a-purpose created by the Calvinist/Reformed movement and adopted by Lordship Salvationists (LS) through time. Unfortunately some supposedly clear “evangelical” teachers have likewise adopted “sovereign” and the Reformed meaning of the word into their own vernacular.

The Dictionary.com definition for “sovereign” is “a monarch; a king, queen, or other supreme ruler.”
This is a quote from Chinstitute.org, an extreme Calvinist web site wherein they examine the origin of the word in their own ecclesiastical context from Calvin’s Institutes:

“This idea of the sovereignty of God was Calvin’s most central doctrine. It means that nothing is left to chance or human free will. This is what led him to put such emphasis on the doctrine of predestination – the idea that God, not we, decides whether we will be saved.” [Emphasis mine]

The erroneous concept that the “sovereignty” of God supersedes any idea or decision of man undergirds not only Calvinism and Reformed teaching but also Lordship “salvation” teaching as well. Lest you think LSers avoid the sovereignty issue, John MacArthur, the Calvinist king of Lordship teaching says, “No doctrine is more despised by the natural mind than the truth that God is absolutely sovereign. Human pride loathes the suggestion that God orders everything, controls everything, rules over everything.” [My emphasis]  From John MacArthur’s article, “God’s Absolute Authority,” Grace to You web site.

It is but a small step from proclaiming the sovereignty (as absolute rulership) of God to the false teaching that man is unable or incapable of making a personal decision to believe in or trust Jesus Christ as his Savior.

God is certainly the Creator and Ruler of the universe — but we as humans have always had the will, the ability if not the innate desire to disobey and dispute His Authority by our own free will (which fact Reformed teachers deny). The Bible chronicles countless examples of God’s people being disobedient and deciding to go “their own way” despite the desires, warnings and chastisements of God. Adam and Eve were the first. Another obvious example is represented by the Children of Israel in the desert after they fled Egypt. The Israelites were rebellious, disobedient and railed against God. They purposely did not obey God’s will for them:

“They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel:  But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.“ Psalm 106:13-15

Question: Why, in the far reaches of anyone’s mind, would the Reformed, Calvinist and LS proponents need such a doctrine of “sovereignty” to support their teaching?

Answer: Primarily as justification for their out-of-context and unBiblical use of the words “chosen, elect and predestined,” etc. These concepts are, in their eyes, all wrapped up in (1) their false definition of the words “sovereignty of God” and (2) their false presumption of the inability of man to believe in Christ without such “faith” being caused, planted and finished by God in the individual “chosen by God” from eternity past.

Think seriously about this: Without their devised, invented and concocted understanding of the word “sovereignty,” the whole Calvinist/Reformed/LS theology has no core and falls apart.

Then imagine the conundrum that Calvinist LS folks have when their “believers” do not follow their dictates of behavior. Then, rather than the rule of Grace — it becomes the Rule of Rules such as that of John MacArthur, Francis Chan and John Piper, et al.

God’s Gift of salvation is absolutely FREE for the taking, not just for a “chosen” few but for every individual in the whole world. (1 Timothy 2:4, Ephesians 2:8-9, John 3:16, 1 Corinthians 15, 3-4). The just death penalty for our sin debt was made and completed by Christ Himself on the cross, He was buried, arose from the grave and is alive today. To appropriate that Gift is to trust in Jesus Christ alone as Savior and is a decision every individual must make IF he or she ever expects or desires to live eternally with the Lord Jesus Christ in Heaven. We are not talking about a church to join, it is not a matter of being “chosen or elected to be saved,” it is not being obedient to some religious guru’s set of rules to be saved.. Salvation is only by Grace alone through Faith alone in Christ alone. Period. No good works required!

Yep, Salvation is Really FREE!! << Click

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Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Bible, Calvinism, Chan, Christian, Christianity, Conservative, Eternal Security, Faith, Free Grace, Grace, John MacArthur, John Piper, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Reformed theology, Religion, Rick Warren, Salvation, Secure salvation, Security of believers, Security of the believer

Accursed or Innocent? Lordship “Salvation” Teachers.

Posted on February 11, 2012 by | 178 comments

By Jack Weaver

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. Galatians 1:8

Question: Is a Lordship Probation “salvation-by-works” teacher, preacher or proponent accursed when he perverts the Gospel of God’s Grace — on purpose, inadvertently or out of ignorance? Does it matter?

Question: Why would anyone preach such if he knows and believes the true Gospel of God’s Grace? Should we assume therefore he does not know or believe the Gospel?

These are open discussion questions. I have my ideas but would like to hear yours.

SBC preaching, for the most part, “repent of sin or turn from sin salvation,” on purpose, inadvertently or out of ignorance?

Paul Washer, among other errors, says:
“The Gospel is to repent of your sins and believe the Gospel.” On purpose, inadvertently or out of ignorance?

MacArthur, Chan, Piper et al knowingly preach Lordship “Salvation” that if one does not follow Christ — he can not become or is not a believer in Christ. On purpose, inadvertently or out of ignorance?

Calvinist Teaching —  one must persevere to the end for salvation. On purpose, inadvertently or out of ignorance?

Arminian teaching that one can never have complete assurance of salvation. On purpose, inadvertently or out of ignorance?

Our friend Eddy, in Bruce’s previous article Proceed with Caution: “ONE” Conference Coming to Miami,  has commented and compiled an exhaustive list of Conference teachers who pervert the Gospel. We have written scores of articles on this web site exposing teachers who spoil the Gospel of God’s Grace. It appears there is no end of “popular” teachers/preachers who are willingly or deliberately falling prey to the works based Lordship “salvation” (Probation) lie of Satan.

WHY?????

The list could go on forever.

Your thoughts?

God, By His Grace,, Offers Heaven Free To You.

178 Comments

Posted in Bible, Calvinism, Chan, Christian, Christianity, Danger, Faith, Free Grace, Grace, Hope, John MacArthur, John Piper, Lordship Salvation, Reformed theology, Rick Warren, Salvation

Andy Stanley’s Catalyst “Leadership” Now in SoCal with Rick Warren

Posted on October 20, 2011 by | 55 comments

As if Andy Stanley’s big Catalyst Leadership shindig a few weeks ago in Atlanta, featuring speakers Cornell West, Mark Driscoll, et al was not enough, Andy has expanded his CatalystOneDay Leadership Conference to Orange County, California. meeting with Rick Warren in Rick’s Saddleback Church.

Another Andy Stanley Catalyst Meeting: Now with Rick Warren

After this, they move to South Barrington, IL in November then from one venue to another monthly – My dear friends, this is simply indicative of Creeping “fundamental” Ecumenism.

Here’s our Article On the Catalyst Leadership Conference in Atlanta October 6, 2011. If you have not read it, please do.

Beware: Catalyst Conference 2011, Chan, Driscoll, et al.

With this latest bash being held at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, we see “fundamental Christian” ecumenism at its worst. If you are unaware of the “Rick Warren problem,” we have written extensively about him and his jaunts into various errors.

Here are just a few articles — but Warren’s errors are too many to mention here:

Rick Warren, Tony Blair, John Piper – Togetherness?

Beware Rick Warren’s New Age Daniel Plan. It sounds so good, but… POISON

Rick Warren Speaks to Islam Muslims – No Gospel

This is terribly sad — so many are falling for the Emergent ecumenical error. Where have the proponents of Biblical Discernment gone?

The True Biblical Free Grace Gospel << Click

55 Comments

Posted in Calvinism, Christian, Christianity, Danger, Daniel Plan, Emergent, Emerging, Faith, Free Grace, Grace, New Age, Reformed theology, Religion, Rick Warren, Salvation

Similarities Re: Dominionism, Calvinism, Replacement “theology,” and Lordship “salvation”

Posted on September 20, 2011 by | 62 comments

I propose a few questions based on observations and comments on some of our more popular recent posts. Shall we discuss Questions and Similarities Regarding Dominionism, Calvinism, Replacement “theology,” and Lordship “salvation” (LS)?

1) Can we blame any or all of these four errors on a lack of clear Dispensational teaching of God’s Word?

2) Aren’t Old Testament verses taken out of context, in many cases, to justify virtually every one of these four philosophies?

Example for Dominionism: “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” Psalm 72:8

Many use this and other  verses to justify a Dominionist “theology” — but due to a lack of dispensational teaching and understanding — they wrongly assume that verse and many more apply to today. One can see how they take verses about God’s earthly Dominion in the future and misplace them into today. This teaching  also seems to be similar to certain versions of “Kingdom Now” teaching.

3) Or, are these teachings deliberately pushed to glorify a selfish teacher or church rather that God’s Salvation by Grace through Faith in Jesus Christ alone?

4) Could we say that Calvinist/Reformed “theology” is the teaching which holds the greatest responsibility for Replacement “theology“?

5) Aren’t all Lordship “salvationists”  — Calvinists? Are there any exceptions? Is it not true that LS, Dominionism and Calvinism use the Calvinist catchword “Sovereignty” to justify their theory of God’s Sovereign Dominion today and likewise the Replacement “theology” of today?

I have posed these as questions, as I believe most are true. We will be interested in your respectful comments. Thanks

Eternal Life — No Cost to You! << Click

62 Comments

Posted in Atheist, Calvinism, Chan, Christian, Christianity, Danger, Dominionism, Emerging, Faith, Free Grace, Grace, John MacArthur, Lordship Salvation, Reformed theology, Religion, Replacement theology, Rick Warren, Salvation

What?? A Permanent Salvation?? Are You Serious?

Posted on May 14, 2011 by | 86 comments

Dr. Tom Cucuzza has granted me permission to post this sampling of his wonderful pamphlet, The Permanence of Salvation. Although a scholarly and eloquent treatise, it is easy to read, simple to comprehend and one of the best I have ever seen detailing God’s Grace in Salvation. It effectively destroys all the “isms,” like Calvinism, Arminianism, Lordship Salvationism, Catholicism, etc. Below are some of my favorite quotes from the article. Tom has included a plethora of Scripture references to illustrate the Truth he presents:

“Salvation is permanent because the Eternal God does not give birth to temporary children.” Priceless!!

“If everlasting life could cease, then it would not be everlasting!  It would be temporary.”

 “Salvation is an event that happens only once in a person’s lifetime.”

“Jesus said, ‘Ye must be born again.’  He did not say, ‘Ye must be born again, and again, and again.’  Once you become a child of God, you are henceforth and forevermore a child of God!”

 “This is an amazing fact!  The believer is already seen [by God] as being in Heaven with the Lord.”

A believer “Being ‘sealed’ with the Holy Spirit can best be illustrated by examining the historical function of a king’s signet ring.  …..”

 “So it is evident that the entire Trinity is involved in keeping the believer saved.  He is held in the Son’s hand, enclosed by the Father’s hand, and sealed by the Holy Spirit.”

“The thought of [The Body of Christ] parts ‘coming and going’ is inconceivable and even preposterous”

“[E]verlasting life is a gift–not a reward.”

“[I]t is God who keeps us saved.”

“And so it is clear that when you put your faith in Jesus Christ you are saved forever.  You are safe and secure for all eternity.  This is God’s way of salvation and His promise to you. “

“[I]f it were up to each of us to keep ourselves ‘preserved’ for Heaven, then we are in very feeble–even impossible hands”

You may obtain the entire pamphlet when you go to the link below. Download the PDF file, read it and print it out. Give it to your friends so they may see how simple and permanent God’s Salvation in Jesus Christ really is. Tom will be using this as a bound pamphlet handout for his church members.

By Dr. Thomas M. Cucuzza
3686 County Road 8 S.E.
St. Cloud, MN 56304
Phone: 320.252.5677
 Copyright © 2009 by Thomas M. Cucuzza
All rights reserved.  St. Cloud, MN 56301
 All Bible quotations are taken from
the Authorized King James Version
 
UPDATE*** Just heard from Tom and the finished product is also available from their church in a beautiful booklet form for a $3.00 donation. This includes shipping and handling. 
For the printed booklet, Call Northland Bible Baptist Church 
320.252.5677 ext 0
 

 The Permanence of Salvation PDF << Click here

86 Comments

Posted in Atheism, Atheist, Calvinism, Chan, Christian, Christianity, Conservative, contemplative, Cross, Emergent, Emerging, Faith, Free Grace, Grace, Islam, Jews, John MacArthur, Lordship Salvation, Mormonism, Muslim, New Age, Reformed theology, Religion, Rick Warren, Salvation

Discernment Ministries Gone Wrong

Posted on April 8, 2011 by | 61 comments

I am usually the optimist, yet somewhat suspicious and skeptical at times.

It pleases me to find many friends commenting on our posts who are fellow discerning believers in Jesus Christ. We thank the Lord for you.

There are times when we find links to some great clear Grace Blogs and Conservative web sites.

Some web sites we independently investigate claim the “Grace” title, and yet upon close examination they turn out to be either “Calvinist grace” or Lordship faith blogs like John MacArthur’s – Grace to You.”) While I admit Mac is an avid opponent of the terrible ecumenical Manhattan Declaration, New Mysticism, Yoga and Contemplative Spirituality, etc, he still promotes his theory of “lordship or commitment faith” for salvation.

And then we see many Discernment Ministries, which I have recommended on this Blog, promote some bad doctrinal errors.

Apprising Ministries, Ken Silva: Advertises MacArthur’s Web site, Grace to You as well as Alpha and Omega Ministries, an extreme Calvinist web site, plus many more.

The Berean Call, A great resource for sound Biblical Doctrine yet – they frequently and favorably quote John MacArthur. I sent a note and questioned Dave Hunt “Why??” Tom McMahon gave the answer as — MacArthur frequently has great thoughts that should be repeated (and credited to Mac?).  Hmmmmm. That is rubbing shoulders with and promoting an enemy of the Gospel of God’s Grace.

Lighthouse Trails Research, Another excellent resource on the wrongs of New Age, Contemplative Spirituality, etc, yet they frequently and favorably quote MacArthur, either purposely ignoring or oblivious to Mac’s Lordship/Commitment “salvation” message.

Ingrid Schleuter – While great on the Emergent Church, Warren’s Purpose Drivel, New Age, etc she strongly promotes Calvinistic and or lordship teachers, such as MacArthur, Paul Washer, John Piper, Ray Comfort, etc.

These are just a few examples that really disappoint me and it hurts that there are many more.

I am at a loss for a solution except that we who are discerning believers in Jesus Christ must be Bereans and search the Scriptures daily, “whether those things were so.”

“And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These (Bereans) were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:10-11

Do you, dear readers, have any ideas or solutions?

Eternal Life IS Free

61 Comments

Posted in Calvinism, Christian, Christianity, Conservative, Faith, Israel, John MacArthur, Lordship Salvation, Marxism, New Age, Reformed theology, Religion, Rick Warren, Salvation, Socialism

Paul Washer, Lordship Salvation and Repentance

Posted on March 24, 2011 by | 326 comments

A very dear friend posted a link to an excerpt from a Paul Washer speech. She appreciated it but when I questioned Washer’s doctrine, she sincerely asked me for my understanding and explanation. This is an adaptation of my note to her.

I went to the link and listened to Washer. I found him to be a very appealing and charismatic speaker. But he confirmed my opinion from previous videos that he preaches a false repentance message and very obviously preaches Lordship Salvation.  Here is the link: Paul Washer Video

I transcribed these few excerpts from the video, and since I’m 3/4 blind and deaf there may be some slight difference between this and what you hear. I listened to it twice, stopping and starting it, doing the best I could typing with two-fingers. (But I thank the Lord for one almost good eye and two fingers).

Washer started the video by saying: (In Bold Red)
It is impossible to be embraced [???] by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and not to be changed at the very core of your being and it not be manifest to those around you.
He starts out with an un-Scriptural statement. He apparently either ignores or does not understand the two natures (old and new) of the believer and the free will we have to be obedient to the Lord or not. A believer will not necessarily automatically “manifest” that he has been “changed at the very core of his being.”

However, he nailed Billy Graham (not by name though) with his analysis of a false “come down an aisle method” and with psychological manipulation; I agreed with that. But Washer neglected to condemn the Graham “turn from sin” repentance message, but as I listened further it became abundantly clear that he agreed with Graham’s false repentance message.

Washer:
Those who have professed Christ and are living in continuous state of carnality without the least evidence of Holy Spirit convicting them of sin – it is because they are not saved…
Again Washer sets himself up as the Lord and judge, determining whether or not he can see a person is a believer by their actions, even after the person has professed his faith in Jesus Christ. He completely ignores the clear teaching of the carnality of the Corinthian believers,  contentious, etc.
“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:1),
“What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness? 1 Corinthians 3:1
“It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.” 1 Corinthians 4:21-5:1

Washer’s message is essentially preaching the Lordship salvation message of John MacArthur (and others), which is, if a believer does not turn from sin before and after he trusts Christ and does not live the “Christian life,” according to their rules then he cannot be a believer.

Washer says:
The Gospel is to repent of your sins and believe the Gospel.
Not true – God’s Word never says we must “repent of our sins” for salvation. Repent means to change one’s mind — and then we believe/trust Jesus Christ as our Savior, that He died for our sins, paid our debt, rose from the grave and will give us the FREE gift of eternal life!. That is God’s Grace.

Washer says, speaking of becoming a believer:
Evangelists say, it takes only 5 minutes. Washer says, NO my friends, it will take your life.
This is simply the exact Lordship/commitment salvation message, and is absolutely contrary to the message of God’s Grace.

Washer is critical of evangelists who would “share the Gospel in 2 minutes and go for the sale.”
Well, if I only have 2 minutes to share the Gospel, that is exactly what I will do. The Bible does not put a time clock on presentation of the Gospel nor on how short or long a period of time it takes a person to understand the Gospel and trust Christ as Savior. Washer’s  statement is ludicrous, ridiculous and wrong.

Washer on evidence of true conversion:
Profession will be continuing on.. Is God a reality in your life? It MUST be obvious (to others) that God is finishing a good work in you. If you have indeed repented of your sins [sic] and believed, the evidence is that you will continue repenting and believe.
What a mixed up Lordship Salvation statement! He is again setting himself up as the judge, by his standards, of who is a believer by demanding the “evidence” of having “repented of your sins.”
God is the only one Who can determine whether a person has trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior. I must admit I could have heard this phrase incorrectly but I listened twice.. Again, “repenting of your sins” is not a Biblical salvation message.

Most discerning believers in Christ know the Christian life and Obedience is not automatic but are works which we as believers SHOULD do “walk,” “put on (clothe yourself )with the new man”., etc, not for salvation but because we ARE saved. (Ephesians 2:10) The Bible is full of instructions about how believers should behave. IF living the “Christian Life” were automatic, there would be no need for the plethora of Bible instructions detailing what we should do now that we are believers in Jesus Christ. We are told in:
Ephesians 5:15-16
“See then that ye WALK circumspectly (carefully), not as fools, but as wise, REDEEMING the time, because the days are evil.” [Not automatic but something we should do as believers]
Colossians 3:10
“And have PUT ON (clothe yourself) the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him (the new man):” [Not automatic but something we should do as believers]

Now, as believers in Jesus Christ, we accomplish this by Bible Study, fellowship with solid Bible believers and being instant in prayer to the Lord and sharing our faith. If we ignore these things we can easily slip into being carnal believers and as such may incur the Lord’s chastening and discipline. (Hebrews 12:6)

Thanks for indulging me in this… but I have seen so many friends falling for the new age, emergent, Lordship message that I have to shout it out.

Washer is preaching a message that can very easily make folks doubt their salvation. He says, in effect, “You do this and that or you are not saved.” Tragic!!!

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Posted in Atheism, Atheist, Calvinism, Christian, Christianity, Conservative, Danger, Faith, John MacArthur, Lordship Salvation, New Age, Reformed theology, Religion, Rick Warren, Salvation

Are We Under The Law?

Posted on March 19, 2011 by | 81 comments

gavel

I recently had a very interesting and distressing back-and-forth commenting session with a “friend” and others on Facebook. The subject was “Are we under The Law”?

Most of the spelling, that my tired eyes could find, were corrected and I will use synonyms to protect my friends. I pray this format of reporting and what was said is clear.. And I apologize for the extreme verbosity, but I have cut some of  the less pertinent statements out.

== Begin the post and comments ==

“Charlie” the original poster wrote the following:

(Christ said) Matt.5:17-19 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
(Apostle Paul says) Roman 7:15-16 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
(Paul says) 1 Timothy1:8 We know that the law is good,if a man use it lawfully.
So “Charlie” then concludes: Hmmmm. ……… Sounds like we are still under the Laws.

A reader then said: No, but many people act like they are above it…

I, Jack then quoted the following verses:
“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” John 1:17
“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Romans 3:20
“And by Him [Jesus Christ] all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” Acts 13:39
“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” Galatians 3:24-25
“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” Romans 3:28
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” Romans 10:4
And many more!! Believers in Jesus Christ are not under the Law but Grace for salvation.

Then “Charlie” wrote: Jack, if you knowingly BREAK the commandments and are unrepentant, are you telling me you will be saved anyway? While you can do nothing to be saved, you can do a lot of things to NOT be saved, would be my poor understanding.

“Charlie” continued: To put a point on it, a friend of mine up north was a drinker and womanizer, as in he would go out partying and wake up the next morning with a new “friend”. When I suggested it was the wrong way to be he gave me understanding that he believed in JC so didn’t have to worry about the small stuff. So how does that work Jack??

Then I wrote: “Charlie”, we never know a person’s mind.. only what Jesus Christ says – that He gives us ETERNAL LIFE (without end) when we trust Him – and he guarantees discipline – not hell for disobedient believers. It is called eternally secure in Jesus Christ.

Then “Charlie” answered: Jack, any references for this??

Than I said in answer to “Charlie”: All the references above speak to that. What specifically do you mean, other than the verses I have quoted above? Jesus says in John 10:28″And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”

Then a lady reader “Clara” wrote: To have eternal life you have to be saved and live a Christian life.

“Ginny” shouted: AMEN “Clara”!!

Then “Charlie” wrote: Jack, that doesn’t say that you can’t jump out of his hand. People apparently are getting the idea that the ten commandments and the Noaide [sic] laws are meaningless and they can do whatever they want once they have given themselves to Christ. What they don’t understand is that accepting these Laws IS part of giving themselves to Christ as that is accepting his teachings along with believing in him. How can you believe in someone and not accept their teachings?? I don’t know, but, some of this new wave [stuff] seems to teach that and my friend seemed to believe it.

Then I wrote: Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Titus 3:5 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”
I continued: The very meaning of Grace is “undeserved.” If, as “Clara” says, “To have eternal life you have to be saved and live a Christian life” then we are depending on our works (Christian life) to be justified before God.
I continued: “Charlie” there is no scripture that says we can “jump out” of God’s hand. That statement would mean God would be lying when He said we have eternal life when we trust Jesus Christ as Savior.
Ephesians 2:10 says we should do good works — because we are saved — not to be saved.
We don’t give our life or anything else to God in exchange for eternal life.. it IS FREE! (Ephesians 2:8-9 above). We simply and honestly believe/trust in Jesus to be our Savior and then entrust our eternity to His care and then He does the keeping for all eternity. (1 Peter 1:5)
I am glad the Lord does not judge anyone’s salvation based on their Christian life, but only on their faith in the SAVIOR, Jesus Christ. HE alone saves — and we can never save ourselves (or even help save ourselves).
With your philosophy could a person ever say, “I have eternal life”? No. Because this person would be depending on their good works which will never suffice and never save.
I continued: Read my Blog from yesterday, “Am I Presumptuous?”:

Then “Julia” chimed in: I was saved at the tender age of 6 yrs. old. I was raised as a Baptist. All my life I believed, “Once saved always saved”. I do not believe that any more. So many times I saw and I joined in to a re-dedication of my life, at our church. What’s the difference in that and being saved again? I could never figure that one out. John 17:1-5 Says that Salvation includes gaining a relationship with GOD. and Acts 2:37-38 Is saying receiving salvation means, WE MUST TURN FROM OUR SINS [sic]. Also, there is a difference in believing there is a God and believing in God…Asking Jesus to forgive us of our sins and asking HIM into our hearts to be our “Personal” savior is believing IN God… From my own experience, I can not be saved and live in the world, or hang with people that do live in the world. Our salvation was obtained by Jesus’ blood. He rescued us from Satan’s dominion, which is the world. As Christians, we are suppose to serve HIM. Please HIM worship HIM.. If we can’t give up the thing of this world, we can’t do what God wants us to do. We are to be a witness for HIM. Living in the world, is a stumbling block. Our walk and talk lets others see what we really are. If we live for the Lord and do the Lords work, they shall know us by our fruits. If we live in the world and do as the world does, we are not gratifying our Lord and Savior, we are gratifying ourselves and Satan. BTW, the Old Testament Law was done away with when Jesus died on the cross for our sins. We are no longer under the old law. We are under the blood bought grace of Jesus Christ our Lord!

[Jack – I did not answer this because of so many doctrinal errors that it would require pages to explain].

Then “Charlie” retorted: Jack, you are confusing the idea of qualifying and disqualifying. I can’t qualify. There is nothing I can do that could save myself. I can still disqualify myself by ignoring his words. What you are stating, taken to an extreme, says that every individual no matter how much he rejects the Lord will be saved anyway. What then of the scripture telling us of those who will not be saved??

The I answer “Charlie”: “He that believeth on Him [Jesus Christ] is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:18 When we trust Jesus Christ, He saves us — not we ourselves. Everyone has the choice to believe in Jesus Christ or — reject Him. The difference between Heaven and Hell is whether or not we have put our trust in Him to SAVE us and thankfully it never depends upon our life or works.
If it were not for the Lord giving us the opportunity to trust The Savior to eternally SAVE us and give us His righteousness, we would all go to hell. A believer is one who has become a Child of God by faith, imbued with His righteousness. God will never send His child to hell or He would be sending his own indwelling Holy Spirit to hell.. A disobedient child of God may be chastened or taken home to the Lord because of disobedience, but never hell. If our performance or obedience to the law could get us to Heaven, then Christ died in vain. Galatians 2:21 “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”

“Willie” says: “Clara” It sounds like you mean limited Grace and perhaps that our righteousness before God is worth something as long as we live up to an unknowable standard. How do you reconcile “under the blood bought grace” with losing salvation. At what point is the” blood bought grace” worthless?

“Charlie” then says: Willie, you and everyone else are more than welcome to put in your beliefs or opinions,. This is an area that I am very confused about. I may argue this way or that but I do not know.

“Dinny” chimes in: In that case… I agree with “Charlie” here. I am confused by the once saved method. What about the possibility of being blotted out of the “lambs book of life”. It seems in order to be blotted out our name would have to be written in. Paul says to be vigilant, what reason would there be if our salvation can’t be stolen from us? Good thread, sorry to dissent, “Willie.”

“Clara” says: A former employer of mine said she was saved, however made it a routine to go out drinking, and living in the world. She believed in God and said she was saved. Jesus said,” IF YOU LOVE ME, FEED MY SHEEP” keep my commandments…How can we be saved and NOT serve HIM? I will reiterate, we are to restrain from the world and thing of the world. We can not serve God and man. If we are truly Saved, we will not go out into the world and do worldly things. Matt.7:21 (true disciples). Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as Lord, but they still won’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. Colossians 3:5-8 So, put to death the sinful earthly things lurking within you. Have NOTHING to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust and shameful desires, Don’t be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is idolatry. 6. God’s terrible anger will come upon those who do such things. 7. You used to do them when your life was still part of this world, 8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander and dirty language. Vs. 16..Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise, Use HIS words to teach and counsel each other. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs TO GOD with thankful hearets. 17..AND, whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the LORD JESUS, all the while giving thanks through HIM to GOD THE FATHER! If we say we are saved and live in the world, we will not see the kingdom of heaven. Not everyone that says Lord Lord, will enter the Kingdom of heaven. If we are truly saved, we will want to serve the Lord and HIM only will we serve! you cannot walk with the world and with God.. therefore, maybe you can lose your salvation, or perhaps, there was no real commitment to God to begin with…..????????????
==== End of discussion ====

At this point, sadly, I gave up, seeing I was approaching a dead end where most of these folks paid no attention to Scripture but their own preconceived ideas of their religion.

It is such a shame that so much of the “Christian” world believes that good works, etc will qualify them to have or keep eternal life. Obviously we need more Biblical, doctrinally sound missionaries to “Christian” churches here in the US.

Do you have an opinion??

Heaven is REALLY Free.

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Posted in Atheism, Atheist, Calvinism, Christian, Christianity, Conservative, Danger, Faith, John MacArthur, Lordship Salvation, New Age, Reformed theology, Religion, Rick Warren, Salvation

Rick Warren, Tony Blair, John Piper – Togetherness?

Posted on March 3, 2011 by | 65 comments

Apostate Ecumenism at its worst?  Peace at any price, without the Prince of Peace? How long will the followers of these men continue to swallow the lies. Look at the amazing combination of Catholic dogma, New Age, Reformed/Calvinist drivel emerging from Rick Warren’s Mega Church in California. Will the sheep at Warren’s Southern Baptist Saddleback Church ever wake up or have they been so brain dirtied and blinded that they will never see Truth?

Tony Blair

By Ingrid Schlueter – CrossTalk

Rick Warren believes the world can have peace without the Prince of Peace. He is awarding Tony Blair, a pro-abortion, Roman Catholic convert with a peace prize in a few days at Saddleback Church. Click here for Warren’s details. As we see Dr. John Piper’s open embrace of Warren at his Desiring God conferences, one of which will be held at Warren’s church in April, we are reminded of the emergence of a new spirituality that is without the cross of Jesus Christ (just ask Tony Blair about his plan to unite world religions), of “peace” without the author of peace, Jesus Christ, and of an apostate evangelicalism that has now linked arms with the United Nations to push Agenda 21 goals.

The followers of John Piper are in deep denial. They believe that because Piper has never written or spoken anything heterodox, that he must be trustworthy for all time. That is why I wrote my piece on evangelical bridgers. These are the most dangerous men of all. Blinded by pride and their own sense of importance in the scheme of things, (and ironically, often claiming newfound humility), they end up bridging the gap between false teachers like Rick Warren and biblical Christianity. John Piper has chosen to become a Bridger. My prayers are with those who will blindly cross that bridge while loyally carrying their Piper banners all the way.

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Posted in Calvinism, Christian, Christianity, Conservative, Danger, Daniel Plan, Faith, Lordship Salvation, New Age, Patriotism, Reformed theology, Religion, Rick Warren, Salvation, Socialism

Lordship salvation, Calvinism and One Naturism: Do Christians Still Possess a Sin Nature?

Posted on February 21, 2011 by | 57 comments

Tulip petals

I would like to propose a question or two to my readers about One Naturism, so called. Thanks for the suggestion from reader JanH.

Having written extensively about the problems with Lordship Salvation and Reformed/Calvinist teaching, it appears to me that these two false doctrines spawn the further error of “One Naturism.” This teaching (to my best understanding) is that upon “coming to the knowledge of Christ” (whatever that might mean to some) the old sin nature is eradicated or destroyed thus leaving nothing remaining but the new nature provided by Christ which WILL automatically produce good works — or you are not “saved.”

My understanding says that this teaching, however surreptitiously hidden by modernist teachers, is patently and obviously false and totally contrary to God’s Word.

We have some excellent Biblical minds who frequent this Blog and I will appreciate your thoughts whether I have analyzed this teaching correctly.

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Posted in Calvinism, Christian, Christianity, Conservative, Danger, Faith, John MacArthur, Lordship Salvation, Reformed theology, Religion, Rick Warren, Salvation

Beware Rick Warren’s New Age Daniel Plan. It sounds so good, but… POISON

Posted on February 14, 2011 by | 39 comments

Lighthouse Trails has a very interesting and disturbing article on Rick Warren’s New Age “Daniel Plan.” I have included some excerpts from the article along with my comments .

Do these names and terms sound familiar? Are they names and terms you would associate with a world wide Christian “evangelistic” movement?
Peter Drucker (friend and mentor to Rick Warren), Michelle Obama, Bill Gates (Warren friend and World wide Health Care Reform Advocate), New Age Physicians, Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Daniel Amen (New Agers all), the concept of Social Transformation, Wellness, Success Statistics, “Human Capital,” Church member’s personal, confidential health records kept in Rick Warren’s Daniel Plan Data Bank.

Quote from Rick Warren:
“The search for self becomes a search for health, for wholeness….”

My friends, this is, without any doubt, a primary New Age, Mystic Teaching.

Quote from the article:
“Rick Warren has now plunged into a role as Change Agent for health care reform in America. It is significant that he chose some genuine New Age gurus to be his partners.” (Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Daniel Amen)

If you ever wondered about the ultimate goal of Rick Warren, it is obviously NOT to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to unbelievers. Here is another ominous quote from the article:
“With Rick Warren at the helm, the CHURCH is now in the BUSINESS of health care REFORM. This is the 3-legged stool. It is the integration of church/state/corporate that business guru Peter Drucker (Rick Warren’s mentor) proposed as the method for restructuring Society.”
[…]

It appears that the premise for Warren’s wholesale sellout to the New Age movement was described in:
“Marilyn Ferguson’s The Aquarian Conspiracy, published in 1980. This book was ‘an important New Age manifesto [that attempted] to announce and popularize what the New Agers chose to publicly display in their Movement.'”
[…]
“Three decades after Ferguson’s book came out, the evangelical world has comfortably adopted the ‘body-mind-spirit’ worldview of the New Agers. Many eastern mystical ‘holistic health’ ideas were simply re-written into biblical terminology and passed off to evangelicals as higher forms of spirituality. Today, meditation, contemplation, drumming, etc. are becoming commonplace. This is the face of the seeker-sensitive church. By accommodating itself to the eastern worldview, the Church fools itself into thinking it is more ‘culturally relevant.’ So the next step in the seeker-sensitive journey is for the Church to become an ‘agent of ‘cultural renewal.'”
[…]
[Warren’s vision for the Church] “is acting as a Change Agent working in collaboration with the State and Corporate Business to facilitate transformation.”
[…]
“In [Obama advisor] Peter Drucker’s utopian world only those who possess “human capital” are deemed worthy citizens, and those assessed without it have no safe place in Society. Scary. . .”

Could this be the same as ObamaCare Death Panels?

Believers in Jesus Christ MUST be aware of the way Satan uses “pastors” for his devious ends.

Warren’s Video of the “Daniel Plan

Therefore, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Ephesians 6:11
“The Truth: ‘And Jesus said unto them, ‘I am the Bread of Life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger’. . .” (John 6:35)

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Posted in Christian, Christianity, Communism, Conservative, Danger, Daniel Plan, Faith, Health Care, Lordship Salvation, New Age, Obama, Obama Advisors, Patriotism, Religion, Rick Warren, Salvation, Socialism

Rick Warren and His Latest Apostate “Health” Efforts

Posted on January 11, 2011 by | 4 comments

Has anyone else noticed Rick Warren’s new health kick.. utilizing three “doctors” to minister to his church.
They are Dr. Daniel Amen, Dr. Mark Hyman, and Dr. Mehmet Oz, all three New age gurus, two of whom worked with Oprah’s religious efforts.
If they follow through with their books and prior teaching,  apparently they will be teaching Reiki, tantric sex, meditation and other abominations under the guise of helping Warren’s church to better health.
Their video explaining the “Daniel Plan” is here: Warren’s Video of the “Daniel Plan

[An update on Warren’s Plan here:

What a shame that so many folks will be taken in by this deception.

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Posted in Christian, Christianity, Conservative, Danger, Faith, Health Care, John MacArthur, Lordship Salvation, New Age, Reformed theology, Religion, Rick Warren, Salvation

Outlandish Quotes by “Religious” Leaders

Posted on April 19, 2010 by | 54 comments

If you ever suspected that the “Religious” Left is perverting the Gospel of Jesus Christ.. these quotes should convince you.See how many you know…

Unbelievable — and these are the “Leaders” of the modern Church. Pitiful.

Today there really aren’t that many Fundamentalists left; I don’t know if you know that or not, but they are such a minority; there aren’t that many Fundamentalists left in America … Now the word ‘fundamentalist’ actually comes from a document in the 1920s called the Five Fundamentals of the Faith. And it is a very legalistic, narrow view of Christianity.” Quote by Rick Warren, May 2005

[Fundamentalism is]”one of the big enemies of the 21st century.” “Muslim fundamentalism, Christian fundamentalism, Jewish fundamentalism, secular fundamentalism – they’re all motivated by fear. Fear of each other.” – Rick Warren, January 2006

“Christianity IS an eastern religion. It has all its roots in the East! It’s a bit baffling to me that people lose sight of this, and insist on creating a false separation [see note below] between eastern religions and (apparently) western Christianity.” Mark Oestreicher, Youth Specialties

“Emergent doesn’t have a position on absolute truth, or on anything for that matter. Do you show up at a dinner party with your neighbors and ask, ‘What’s this dinner party’s position on absolute truth?’ No, you don’t, because it’s a nonsensical question.” Tony Jones at the 2005 National Youth Workers Convention

“My goal is to destroy Christianity as a world religion and be a catalyst for the movement of Jesus Christ,” McManus, author of a new book called The Barbarian Way, said in a telephone interview. “Some people are upset with me because it sounds like I’m anti-Christian. I think they might be right.”—Erwin McManus, from The Barbarian Way

“With practice, you can develop the habit of praying silent ‘breath prayers‘” Rick Warren, from his book (p. 299)

“[U]se ‘breath prayers‘ throughout the day, as many Christians have done for centuries. You choose a brief sentence or a simple phrase that can be repeated to Jesus in one breath.”—Rick Warren,  The Purpose-Driven Life, p. 89

“Does Buddha have anything to offer non-Buddhists in the workplace? My answer is a wholehearted, ‘Yes.’—Ken Blanchard, co-author of the One Minute Manager, from the foreword and front cover of What Would Buddha Do in the Workplace?

“Spiritual ecstasy. The third phase of contemplative prayer … a supernatural trance state …” Charisma magazine, Oct. 2004

“Contemplative prayer is nothing other than coming into consciousness of what is already there.” Brennan Manning, The Signature of Jesus

“Brennan (Manning) is my friend, walking ahead of me on the path toward home. As I watch him from behind, I am drawn to more closely follow on the path…” Larry Crabb, endorsement of Abba’s Child

“I began practicing meditation, specifically breath prayer, once again. I integrated the use of Tai Chi and yoga” John Michael Talbot, Interview with Christianity Today 10/22/2001

“[Y]ou and I may have strong opinions on double predestination, supralapsarianism, and biblical inerrancy, but these should not be considered evangelical essentials.” Richard Foster

“We’re rediscovering Christianity as an Eastern religion, as a way of life.”– Rob Bell, Teaching Pastor Mars Hill Bible Church from The Emergent Mystique, Christianity Today

“Today I personally believe that while 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 own way to God.” Henri Nouwen, Sabbatical Journey

“Isn’t it a pity that people are going into LSD to have spiritual experiences, when we have a tradition in the Church [contemplative prayer] which no one knows anything about?”source Thomas Merton

“My acquaintance with eastern methods of meditation has convinced me that … there are ways of calming the mind in the spiritual disciplines of both the east and the west [and] many serious seekers of truth study the eastern religions,…”
Thomas Keating

Lies, Lies and more lies.

DISCLAIMER: We have referenced and linked to Lighthouse Trails Research [LTR] for direct quotes from these teachers. We appreciate LYR’s research on New Age Emergent and Contemplative trends in religion — However we regret to say that they do not take a position opposing the lie of Lordship “salvation” or Calvinism.

The Truth — FREE Eternal Life for YOU.

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Posted in Christian, Christianity, Conservative, Danger, Faith, Religion, Rick Warren, Salvation, Socialism