The Wartburg Watch » John Piper

John Piper: Women Are Free to Go to the Bathroom Without A Man’s Permission

dee — Tue, 08 May 2012 01:12:59 +0000

To be risen with Christ means not only that one has a choice and that one may live by a higher law – the law of grace and love – but that one must do so. The first obligation of the Christian is to maintain their freedom from all superstitions, all blind taboos and religious formalities, indeed from all empty forms of legalism. -Thomas Merton Folks, when a Christian leader, like John Piper, has to write a post like this, Christianity has gone wacko! The fact that he thinks this is a reasonable post to write is even scarier. I believe that much of the blame can be dumped in the laps of the Calvinistas who seem to have precious little to do with their time since they love to write treatises and go to conferences that pontificate on what women can and cannot do. I contend that complementarianism has been made a primary issue by the Calvinista crowd. Times have changed. Years ago, it did not overly concern me that there were people who believed in a young earth. I subscribed to the CS Lewis philosophy (paraphrased) that people who believe that God has a long white beard will Continue reading →

Written by: dee on Mon, May 07 2012.

Categories: Calvinism/Calvinista, Complementarianism, John Piper

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Complementarians Pushing CBMW at 2012 Together for the Gospel

deb — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 03:58:15 +0000

"cbmw.org will provide you tons of good resources on this [complementarianism]. cbmw.org They have a booth here in the exhibit hall. Recovering Biblical Mahood and Womanhood, a great book you ought to read on this." – Ligon Duncan CBMW Logo Ligon Duncan, in his 'role' as moderator for the panel discussion on complementarianism at this year's T4G, strongly endorses the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW), as stated above. Why is CBMW so important to Duncan? Because until last summer he was the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Now Russell Moore serves in that capacity, although the website doesn't yet reflect the changing of the guard. In the partial transcript of the complementarianism discussion featured in the previous post, it was interesting that John Piper did not remember many details about how "complementarianisim" came into existence. His buddy Wayne Grudem has written a detailed summary of events that led to the invention of this term and theological interpretation of gender roles. Last month we highlighted some of those details, and what follows is an excerpt from that history. Wayne Grudem explains the early history of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. After his first article on kephalē Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Fri, Apr 27 2012.

Categories: Calvinism/Calvinista, Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, Danvers Statement, Desiring God, FBC Jacksonville, Gender Gospel, Gender Roles, John Piper, Ligon Duncan, New Reformed Theology, Role of women in the church, Russell Moore, Satan/Demons, Scott Brown, The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Women and the church, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

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Complementarianism – A Primary Doctrine at Together for the Gospel

deb — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 03:57:14 +0000

"I don't think you have to be a complementarian to be saved." John Piper Adam and Eve Driven Out of Eden Complementarianism was one of the crucial topics discussed at the 2012 Together for the Gospel. (link) Ligon Duncan moderated the panel of three, which included Russell Moore (Al Mohler's protege), Greg Gilbert (who is closely aligned with Mark Dever), and John Piper (who made significant contributions to the Danvers Statement which defines complementarianism). What follows is a partial transcript of some of that discussion that took place in the presence of 7,500 attendees, including pastors and future church leaders. Ligon Duncan: Let me just start by asking Dr. Piper to tell us where the term came from. How can we articulate what the Bible says about this in a term that is not liable to some of the misuses or misnomers. John Piper: I don't have a good memory of the timing, but i can tell you what I remember. Wayne Grudem and I were a part of the production of the Danvers statement, which happened in the late 80s in Danvers, Connecticut, and the Danvers Statement is found…at the Biblical Manhood and Womanhood website in which we tried Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Thu, Apr 26 2012.

Categories: Calvinism/Calvinista, Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, John Piper, Ligon Duncan, New Reformed Theology, Russell Moore, Together for the Gospel, Women and the church, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

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Ed Young Jr, John Piper, Mars Hill Reconciliation and “the Wartburg Witches”

dee — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 20:15:08 +0000

"Whoever is spared personal pain must feel himself called to help in diminishing the pain of others. We must all carry our share of the misery which lies upon the world." Albert Schweitzer Salem Witch Trials-Public domain Ed Young Jr's Church "Gets it On" As we have reported in a previous post, Mark Driscoll consulted with Ed Young Jr on how to manage a multisite church. As many readers know, I am a refugee from a couple of years at Fellowship Church in the early 90s. So, when I read that Ed had “helped” Mark, I had a good, long chuckle. Recently, an Ed Young supporter showed up on the blog, extolling the virtues of the Youngs and even this video which follows. I appreciate the fact, in her comments, i was reminded that I really needed to post this video. So, what do you think of "Let's Get it On" being the opening hymn for church? Apparently, this performance occurred at Fellowship Church, Plano, about 15 or so miles from the mothership in Grapevine. They were about to begin their sex series based on the Youngs’ Continue reading →

Written by: dee on Fri, Mar 30 2012.

Categories: Acts 29, Calvinism/Calvinista, Ed Young Jr., John Piper, New Reformed Theology, Spiritual abuse

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John Piper Almost Stepped Down: “Interpretation” Saved the Day!

dee — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:04:11 +0000

All human knowledge takes the form of interpretation.-Walter Benjamin The Buffalo Soldiers Infantry-Wikicommons Yesterday, at our usual post church lunch and palaver, one of my friends, who has been a long time fan of Precepts, expressed her concern over the material she is going to study for Genesis. It appears Kay Arthur is pushing a literal 6-day, 6000-year creation as the only viable, literal interpretation of Genesis. We will be discussing this further in the near future. Literalism is the long-standing bugaboo of the Christian community and not for the faint of heart. Many believe that the Scripture is clear enough for a simple plowboy. They view the ones who see nuances and allegory as heretics. However, fool that I am, I have decided to wade into the shark-infested waters of the literal interpretation of the Bible. Bottom line up front: For all of the yammering about the plain reading of Scripture, there is a heckuvalot of “interpreting” goin’ on, even amongst the Calvinistas. Folks, there is a reason we have so many denominations and so many views. And Continue reading →

Written by: dee on Mon, Mar 26 2012.

Categories: C.J. Mahaney, Calvinism/Calvinista, Disasters, John Piper, New Reformed Theology, Sovereign Grace Ministries, Theological arrogance, Theology

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Memo to Mars Hill: The Suppression of Church Women Is Not the Cure For the Feminization of Church Men

deb — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:02:01 +0000

"Mars Hill men, you had better wake up. A revolution is taking place. Women in your church are waking up to the biblical truth that they are created as much in the image of God as you are. They are realizing they possess the same gifts of the Spirit as you men. They are arousing to the knowledge that when half the body is suppressed, you have as much of a dysfunctional church as when men act like women. Go ahead, Mars Hill men, and act like men." – Wade Burleson Guest Post by Wade Burleson About two years ago two young married men expressed to me their desire to uproot their families from Enid, Oklahoma and move to Seattle, Washington to be a part of the ministry of Mars Hill. Though I was familiar with Mark Driscoll, I was curious why these young family men felt the need to relocate. The reason they gave me was an eye opener. "We want to be some place where the masculinity of God is emphasized in the home, in church, and in leadership." These two men have since left Emmanuel Enid with their families. Their wives have little or no say in family matters Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Wed, Mar 21 2012.

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Acts 29, Calvinism/Calvinista, Eternal Subordination of the Son, Gender Gospel, Gender Roles, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, New Reformed Theology, Patriarchy, Role of women in the church, Submission, Wade Burleson, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

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Former Mars Hill Pastor, Paul Petry, Starts Joyful Exiles – Startling Revelation

dee — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:18:19 +0000

"What do you do with someone who is rebellious, hard-hearted, stiff necked and stupid? You break their nose." Mark Driscoll in his "private" message to his congregation moments before firing Paul Petry and Bent Myer Viking Lander on Mars-NASA (quite a wilderness) Late yesterday afternoon, my inbox started filling up with messages about a new blog Joyful Exiles. Although I was in a bit of a hurry, I visited it and almost choked on my ever-present Diet Coke. I quickly called my fellow glam blogger, and we both agreed we needed to address this topic immediately! As many of our readers are aware, Mark Driscoll rather crudely and coldly fired two pastors a few years ago. "Why crudely?" you ask. Here is the link to a video in which he threatened to punch some guys in the nose. It cannot be embedded because some "coward" asked that embedding be disabled; furthermore, no comments are allowed. Bent Myer, who posted his story at TWW was one of those two pastors. His post generated the most visitors ever at TWW. Yesterday, the other pastor, Paul Petry, along with his wife Jonna, posted a new blog, Joyful Exiles. Along with Jonna's accounts of Continue reading →

Written by: dee on Tue, Mar 20 2012.

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Acts 29, C.J. Mahaney, Calvinism/Calvinista, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church

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Masculine Christianity and Its Knock Out Effect on Christians

deb — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:59:22 +0000

"God has made Christianity to have a masculine feel. He has ordained for the church a masculine ministry." – John Piper John Piper – Wikipedia When I think of Reformed Theology, I immediately think of John Piper. As the pastor for preaching and vision at Bethlehem Baptist Church where he has served for over thirty years, Piper and his church host an annual Pastors Conference. This year's focus was God, Manhood & Ministry: Building Men for the Body of Christ. Here is the promotional video tor that conference which was held January 30 – February 1, 2012. The Christian Post provided an excellent summary on this "manly" conference, including some revealing quotes from John Piper. Here are the highlights: "God's intention for Christianity is for it to have a "masculine feel," evangelist John Piper declared… "God revealed Himself in the Bible pervasively as king not queen; father not mother," Piper said at this year's annual pastors conference hosted by the Desiring God ministry. "Second person of the Trinity is revealed as the eternal Son not daughter; the Father and the Son create man and woman in His image and give them the name man, the name of the male." Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Thu, Mar 15 2012.

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Calvinism/Calvinista, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, New Reformed Theology, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

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Christian Celebrity – An Oxymoron

deb — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 04:51:34 +0000

"It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:26-28, Mark10:43-45 (NASB) Julius Caesar – from the bust in the British Museum (Public Domain. Courtesy of Wikipedia) Where are the servant leaders Jesus described in Matthew 20:26-28? Mark includes an identical description in his Gospel, which leads me to conclude that servant leadership is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to God. Where are today's servant leaders? Pastoral authority is on the rise in Christendom, while servant leadership appears to be on the decline, based on my observation. As pastors elevate themselves and their colleagues, the flock is being trampled on and injured spiritually, emotionally, and sometimes even physically. Jesus instructed Peter "Feed my sheep". Tragically, God's flock is often being neglected by those who have been charged to protect them. The rise of Neo-Calvinism over the last decade seems to be a huge contributing factor to the scourge of Christian celebrity we are currently experiencing. To illustrate this Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Mon, Feb 13 2012.

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Al Mohler, Authoritarian leadership, C.J. Mahaney, Calvinism/Calvinista, John Piper, Joshua Harris, Mark Dever, New Reformed Theology, SGM, Sovereign Grace Ministries, Together for the Gospel, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

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Passion 2012 – A Recap

deb — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 04:50:46 +0000

“Our heartbeat is to see the campuses of this nation awaken to God.” Louie Giglio Courtesy of NASA The Passion Movement, which held its first conference in 1997, continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Passion 2012 – a three-day event – concluded yesterday and attracted around 45,000 enthusiastic attendees to the Georgia Dome. For those like me who were not familiar with this huge event, here is a brief overview as well as a recap. The Passion Conferences are restricted to those between the ages of 18 and 25. As explained in the previous post, Louie Giglio is the founder and architect of the Passion Movement. His student ministry at Baylor, which spanned a decade, prepared him well for his role in motivating college students to pursue their faith. Giglio has assembled a team of speakers, and those who joined him in speaking at Passion 2012 included John Piper, Francis Chan, Beth Moore, and Christine Caine. Music is a HUGE part of the Passion Movement, and the groups who performed included: The David Crowder Band, Chris Tomlin, Hillsong United, Matt Redman, Lecrae, Kristian Stanfill, Charlie Hall, and Christy Nockels. Bios for the Passion speakers and musicians are featured here. Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Fri, Jan 06 2012.

Categories: Beth Moore, Evangelism, John Piper, Louie Giglio

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