Just Lookin' Out for Ya

If you're a leader in a very conservative, separatistic slice of American evangelicalism, and you spin a narrative of Al Mohler, Southern Seminary, and the Southern Baptist Convention that omits or distorts the content of this reflective essay, these talks (part 1 part 2), this article, or this documentary (video embedded below), then you really need to know that you're simply destroying your own credibility. You know what they say about half truths, right?

Stranger Fire

For more comprehensive reflections on John MacArthur's "Strange Fire" conference and book, I would direct you to Doug Wilson and Tom Schreiner. I'd just like to hammer home one particular point.

Some of you are members of cessationist churches. Some of you are cessationist pastors. I'll wager that most of you have used or heard used in your churches or camps or Christian colleges the language of "God told/spoke to/led me."(As in, "I was going to preach X sermon, but a few minutes ago God told me I needed to preach Y instead.")

So if you call yourself a cessationist and you've used that language or you welcome into your church those who use it, just know that you're affirming an even stranger fire than what's found in charismatic circles. Charismatics believe God continues to offer new revelation. You deny that he does, but you practice it anyway. I think that's pretty creepy.