Monday, October 28, 2013

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.

2 comments:

d4v34x said...

Why is it stranger? I'm not sure I see a greater degree (heh) of divergence in that from the general cessationist line.

Or is it because it's done by those who claim cessationism?

Ben said...

Yep, that's exactly what I find so strange about it. I'm not surprised when charismatics act like charismatics. I am surprised when cessationists do. Well, I guess I'm not particularly surprised by it anymore, but I don't understand it.