Charismatic Chaos

The charismatic movement, once considered a splinter group on the fringe of Christianity, has gained steam and entered the ‘90s at full speed. Dramatic new accounts of bizarre, supernatural events are attracting men and women hungry for religious experiences while causing others simply to ask, What is really happening here?, or more important, What should I believe? 

This 12-message album thoughtfully and carefully shines the light of Scripture on teaching that is gaining a massive and loyal television following, leading to disunity on a world-wide scale, and promising to fuel controversy for years to come. Recorded by John MacArthur, these messages will help you gain an understanding of his bestseller Charismatic Chaos in a short amount of time.

    Includes the following 13 messages:

Listen Does God Still Give Revelation? June 16, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-53 Download: High Low

Listen Does God Still Give Prophecies? June 30, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-54 Download: High Low

Listen Proper Biblical Interpretation August 04, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-55 Download: High Low

Listen Does God Do Miracles Today? August 11, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-56 Download: High Low

Listen The Third Wave August 25, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-57 Download: High Low

Listen How Do Spiritual Gifts Operate? September 01, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-58 Download: High Low

Listen What Was Happening in the Early Church? September 08, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-59 Download: High Low

Listen Does God Still Heal? September 22, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-60 Download: High Low

Listen Speaking in Tongues September 29, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-61 Download: High Low

Listen What Is True Spirituality? October 13, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-62 Download: High Low

Listen Does God Promise Health and Wealth? Part 1 October 27, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-63 Download: High Low

Listen Does God Promise Health and Wealth? Part 2 November 03, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-64 Download: High Low

Listen Does Experience Determine Truth? June 09, 1991 Selected Scriptures 90-52 Download: High Low

Suing the Spirit?

The Holy Spirit gets blamed for a lot of bizarre human behavior within the broader Pentecostal and Charismatic movements — barking, jumping, dipping, rolling, laughing, and of course, falling over during church services.

I was reminded of that sad reality recently when I came across this article from ABC News, explaining that a charismatic church was being sued because a bystander got hurt when a church member was slain in the Spirit.

Here’s how that article began:

A parishioner at the Disciple Fellowship Christian Church in East St. Louis, Ill., claims the spirit moved another worshiper so much during service that she caused others to tumble over backwards into her, causing injuries. Now she’s suing the church for damages.

The report goes on to explain that, because of the spiritual nature of “being touched” by the Holy Spirit, lawyers are going to have a tough time proving negligence on the part of the slain church member. Yet, the plaintiff is undeterred. She wants the church to pay for her medical bills. 

Of course, if this church had not promoted such an unbiblical practice in the first place, all of this nonsense would have simply been avoided.

So, what are we to think about being slain in the Spirit? Since ABC News brought the practice to my attention this week, I thought it might be helpful to share a few thoughts.  Continue at Nathan Busenitz

Let's Not Dance Around the Real Issues

Read THIS, then come back.

Let me say to begin with that it's neither the tailored Confederate pants nor the ill-fitting Yankee shirt that makes me want to shoot Doug Wilson. It's those ridiculous tap-dancing shoes.

It takes a very talented two-step artist to hopscotch around the many overturned cans of writhing worms Mark Driscoll's prophetic claims and recent jeremiad against cessationism have left strewn around the dance-floor. Doug attempts some impressively fast footwork, but without the necessary finesse. He comes off looking suspiciously like he's just doing the Curly Shuffle. 

OK, Doug did have several good things to say, including the quote I've put at the top of this post. When he's right, he's capable of breathtaking clarity and remarkable gems of pithy wisdom. When he wants to obfuscate, he does that with supreme skill, too.

The latter is what I think he was doing throughout most of the post I've quoted above.

Remember: Mark Driscoll claims God has put a TV in his head which regularly plays explicit videos of sexual crimes and acts of fornication. Those claims (and Driscoll's other recent attacks on cessationists) have caused (or widened) a rift between Mark and certain stodgy, outspoken cessationists.  Keep Reading...

Satan the Proud and Powerful (Part 2)

In our day there has been a renewal of interest in the work of Satan. Hollywood has given us The Exorcist and The Omen and a host of other films to whet our appetite for the occult. Within Christian circles there has arisen a new concern for ministries of deliverance. Some of these deliverance ministries have developed a bizarre and radically unbiblical view of demon possession and deliverance.

For example, we hear that we can recognize the departure of a demon from a human soul by a manifest sign that is linked to the particular point of bondage. We have people saying that particular demons cause particular sins. There is, they say, a demon of alcohol, a demon of depression, a demon of tobacco, and so on. I have listened to tapes from well-known deliverance ministers (whose names I will not mention, to protect the guilty) in which they teach the signs of departure of the demon. A sigh, for example, indicates the departure of the demon of tobacco. Since the tobacco demon enters with the inhaling of smoke, he leaves us with an audible exhale. Likewise vomiting may be the sign of the departure of the demon of alcohol. There are demons for every conceivable sin. Not only must each one of these demons he exorcized, but there are necessary procedures to keep them from returning on a daily basis.    Keep Reading...

The Bizarre Passions of Worldly Culture, and Why They are Incompatible with a True Passion for God's Glory

There's plenty of passion in the world today. Unfortunately, a lot of it is evil passion—lust, anger, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, self-love, and so on. Even whatever good feelings there are in this world are misspent—squandered on trivial things: sports, entertainment, recreation, and the pursuit of personal happiness. We're expected to be deliriously excited about things like that; and we're generally discouraged from taking serious things seriously.

In fact, it's one of the supreme ironies of our culture that raw passion per se (even if it's utterly irrational) is deemed perfectly acceptable, but devotion to God is generally seen as a sign of serious imbalance.

It's true. An earnest worshiper of God is likely to be regarded by our society as a deranged person—especially if he declares his faith. Meanwhile, young girls are practically expected to scream till they faint in the presence of boy-band celebrities. Men can be as fanatical as they like about their favorite sports team. Students can thoroughly immerse themselves in some mindless fantasy game. Anyone of any age can be wholly obsessed with some celebrity or pop star they have never even met. No one bats an eye at those things. Continue Reading>>>