(Ding-ding!) I was in. That sounded way too interesting and fun to pass up. I was only familiar with John MacArthur as the author of Charismatic Chaos back in my teenage and early charismania days, and even back then, I found his book interesting. I don't get nervous or offended by stuff like that. Why would I? Anyone can say whatever they want; I choose how I am going to respond.
That being said, the responses my charismatic "friends" on Facebook were generating were in agreement with Brown. "Pre-repent MacArthur! You are about to sin!" Without a word being spoken or the accompanying book of the same name even being released, charismatics were freaking out. (Brown had an advance copy of the book and posted some zingers of one-liners from the book, but to be fair, he took many of the one-liners out of context).
I was unable to follow the conference in progress, but I checked the news throughout the weekend, and both sides were joining the smackdown. Quotes from the conference were being tweeted and posted, and charismatics would get defensive and bring out the battle-axes against MacArthur and his cohorts. It was so interesting to watch. I could not understand why so many charismatics were freaking out so much. Nobody can say anything that can put your salvation in jeopardy. I couldn't understand why those opposed to MacArthur couldn't just ignore him and be happy. I even had real friends who joined in the fray. Here is one thing that they all had in common: no one was actually listening to the conference or reading the book. Touchy, anyone?
Fast-forward a few days, and I was ready to sink my teeth into this feast. I try to be fair and to not have uninformed opinions, so I didn't say anything about the conference's supposed content. I did, however, comment on how much everyone was freaking out. Strange Fire had an app, and I downloaded it. Talk about cool! I could listen to it whenever I wanted, and it would save my place in any given message, and it was easy-to-use and well-organized. I listened to the whole thing. I bought the book, even after being discouraged from doing so, because I shouldn't support John MacArthur's heresy with my money. (Not even kidding). #charismaticfreakout
I listened to the whole conference. I was stunned. I have been thinking a lot. I have been in the charismatic church for 15 years. I am a continuationist (got that word from the conference!). I believe that God talks to me. I also agreed with about 90-95% of what the conference and book have said. How is that even possible? It is possible, because 90-95% of what the charismatic church attributes to the Holy Spirit is, in my opinion, actually false. For years I have been growing in dissatisfaction and skepticism with practices and teachings in the charismatic movement. Practice of spiritual gifts has become one of my least-favorite things to ever do, ever. Worship in a charismatic church has become one of my least-favorite things to do, ever. Preaching (not sure if all preaching or just the charismatic kind) has become torture. Church has become torture. Maybe some of the pieces are coming together, and maybe I can start making sense of some of my recent journey. That is what I hope to do with these writings.
