News

On Saterday 2 June 2018, celebrity American pastor, John Piper, addressed the London Men’s Convention.  A small group of Christians, including ES Williams, author of Christian Hedonism? A biblical examination of John Piper’s teaching (2017), and Enoch Burke, author of The Pied Piper: Is John Piper and New Calvinism destroying the Church? (2017), held a protest outside Central Hall, Westminster. The protest consisted of several posters, as well as the distribution of a leaflet explaining the concerns around Piper’s teaching.  One poster read, Not Hedonism, but Holiness ‘without which no man shall see the Lord’ (Hebrews 12.14).

John Piper’s Upcoming London Visit Raises Questions and a Response from American and U.K. Pastors

Contact: Cathy Mickels, 360-387-7373, cathymickels@gmail.com

SEATTLE, May 11, 2018.  Pastor John Piper’s upcoming visit to London to address the London Men’s Convention in Central Hall Westminster on June 2, 2018 is fueling an ongoing discussion among conservative evangelicals. In response to the event, they are asking why established Christian leaders in both the United States and the U.K. continue to excuse and accommodate the flawed doctrine of the self-proclaimed Christian hedonist, John Piper.

American Pastor Gary Small of Lynden, Washington, states, “It is a travesty to watch big name pastors carelessly ignore their responsibility to defend the faith. In the case of John Piper, our evangelical leaders remain silent against a false doctrine that seeks to combine Christianity with the philosophy of hedonism. Moreover, Piper’s heretical statement redefining Christ by claiming that ‘Jesus was the best Christian Hedonist who ever existed’ fits Piper’s paradigm, but it is clearly outside the boundaries of Scripture.” (Ask Pastor John,” episode 998, 2/3/2017)

According to Pastor Small, “For years Piper’s man-made philosophy has been embraced without question.” However, he observes that the tide may be changing.

Another American pastor expressing concern is Nevada Pastor Michael Butler, a graduate of Master’s Seminary, California. He has recently written a series of articles to explain Piper’s errors under the title, Cracking the Insidious Code, which has been published in the British publication, the English Churchman.  In great detail, Pastor Butler explains how Piper’s philosophical opinions and contradictions undermine Scripture. Therefore, he warns he must be avoided at all costs.

Also, joining American pastors are British Pastor Chris Hand of Crich Baptist Church, Derbyshire, England, and John Thackway, pastor of Holywell Evangelical church in Wales and editor of The Bible League Quarterly.

Pastor Hand commented, “I have been familiar with the ministry of Dr. John Piper for twenty years. I was unhappy with it then. I am unhappy with it now. How much more evidence do people need before they start to feel the same?”

Similarly, Pastor Thackway has expressed concern regarding the confusion and falsity of Piper’s teaching, and has stated, “…Christian Hedonism is a departure from biblical and historical Christianity, and a dangerous error.”

Conservative evangelicals in both America and the U.K. say they are encouraged by a growing movement driven by local pastors and layman to protect the Church from Piper’s false teaching. Two recently printed books Christian Hedonism?:  A Biblical examination of John Piper’s teaching in 2017, and Is John Piper an Antinomian? (2018) by Dr. ES Williams have become important resources to help them expose Piper’s distortion and misrepresentation of Scripture.

Pastors representing both countries forewarn, “Conservative evangelicals are concerned that the validation of this Piper event in London will serve to further propagate the heretical doctrine of Piper’s Christian hedonism in the United States and the U.K.”

Pastor Small added that although for several decades Christians assumed John Piper was someone they could trust, conservative voices within the Church today say we must face the fact that John Piper’s hedonism has no place in the Christian Church.

For further information, please see:  www.therealjohnpiper.com/

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A review of John Piper’s Desiring God

Is John Piper an Antinomian?, a small 50 page book published by Belmont House Publishing, deals with Piper’s antinomianism.  The book explains the meaning of the term ‘antinomianism’, discusses the moral law of God, and provides clear evidence from his own words that John Piper is indeed a committed antinomian.

Pastor John Piper, author Desiring God; Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (1986), has been invited to be the keynote speaker at the London Men’s Convention planned for June 2018.  Rev. Richard Coekin, Director of the Co-Mission group of churches in south London, has recently announced his invitation to John Piper. Coekin demonstrated his lack of spiritual discernment when he invited Mark Driscoll to speak at the London Men’s Convention in 2011.

Ten Ways To Be A Joyful Believer In A Gloomy World

In our review of Professor David Murray’s book, The Happy Christian, we show that Murray’s concept of happiness comes from the ideas of Positive Psychology.

 

New Book Exposes the Errors of Popular American Pastor John Piper

SEATTLE, Sept. 12, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ — A newly released book titled “Christian Hedonism? – A biblical examination of John Piper’s teaching,” written by respected British author Dr. ES Williams, is sure to spark discussion and debate among American evangelicals. Examining the teachings of one of America’s most well-known pastors and conference speakers, Dr. Williams, a member of Charles Spurgeon’s London Metropolitan Tabernacle Church, shows how Scripture is being compromised and provides clear evidence that antinomianism is the underlying error upon which Piper’s Christian Hedonism is built.

Moreover, William’s book argues that this “is an insidiously destructive system of false teaching that wrecks the authentic Christian life and shamefully distorts the Word of God.”

Sharing the concerns of Dr. Williams is evangelical leader, John Thackway, pastor of Holywell Evangelical Church in Wales, and editor of The Bible League Quarterly who has written a foreword to the book. Thackway concurs Piper’s Christian Hedonism is a departure from biblical and historic Christianity and a dangerous error saying, “To those who have accepted this Christian philosophy as orthodox…I warmly commend this book.”

Support also comes from a network of American Christians, which includes Cathy Mickels, co-author of “Spiritual Junk Food: The Dumbing Down of Christian Youth.” Mickels says, “The message John Piper delivered at Lou Giglio’s 2017 Atlanta Passion Conference in an atmosphere of a worldly rock concert is an example of Piper’s Christian Hedonism and the dumbing down of college-age students in the extreme.”

Mickels states, “His talk gave God’s Word a new spin by dogmatically declaring ‘the fall of Adam and Eve was not that they disobeyed a commandment’ of God.” Furthermore, she says, “Piper suggested if they were taught to believe Adam and Eve did disobey, they were taught wrong. Hence, he gave thousands of young adults a taste of falsehood rooted in his Christian hedonistic philosophy.”

Christian researcher, Denise Gumprecht, who has worked behind the scene on many projects detailing a compromised American Church and a growing carelessness amongst American Christians, added, “This book is a gift to the Church. If men take the time to read it, they will begin to understand why Christians can no longer blindly follow the teachings of John Piper.”

The book is available at Amazon.

Dr. ES Williams is also the author of many books, including “The New Calvinists,” “Ecumenism: Another Gospel” and “Holistic Mission: Weighed in the Balances.”

For further information, please see: www.therealjohnpiper.com/

 

This book will be available for purchase in early September.

Many people sense that there is something profoundly wrong with combining the Christian Faith with the philosophy of hedonism, but few people are able to explain why Christian Hedonism is a false doctrine. This short book sets out to evaluate John Piper’s teaching in the light of Scripture. We see how he amends the Westminster Shorter Catechism to say that ‘the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever’. We see how he creates a new commandment, ‘Delight yourself in the Lord’, from Psalm 37.4, and then tells Christians that the vocation of their lives is to seek maximum pleasure in God. We observe how he extols the worldly worship of a Passion Conference. We learn of his new definition of love as ‘holy, divine Eros’. We note how he cleverly ‘digs up’ Scripture to find a ‘happy God’. We see how Scripture is twisted to make the claim that the apostle Paul and the Lord Jesus Himself were Christian hedonists. This book provides clear evidence that antinomianism is the underlying error upon which Christian Hedonism is built.  

A book on John Piper’s Christian Hedonism, written by Dr ES Williams, is due to be published in August 2017.

Christian Hedonism?

Many people sense that there is something profoundly wrong with combining the Christian Faith with the philosophy of hedonism, but few people are able to explain why Christian Hedonism is a false doctrine. This short book sets out to evaluate John Piper’s teaching in the light of Scripture. We see how he amends the Westminster Shorter Catechism to say that ‘the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever’. We see how Piper creates a new commandment, ‘Delight yourself in the Lord’, from Psalm 37.4, and then tells Christians that the vocation of their life is to seek their maximum pleasure in God.  We hear how Piper extols the worldly worship of a Passion conference. We learn of Piper’s new definition of love as ‘divine, holy Eros’. We see how Scripture is twisted to make the claim that the apostle Paul and even the Lord Jesus Himself were Christian hedonists. This book provides clear evidence that antinomianism is the underlying error upon which Christian Hedonism is built.

Dr Williams was the Director of Public Health for Croydon Health Authority for many years.  He is the Author of many books, including The New Calvinist;  Ecumenism: Another Gospel and Holistic Mission: Weighed in the Balances.