Well Conrad lives in Africa so he knows better than I do what is going on over there. This is a conference based on sweeping generalizations so why not add one more. Besides Africa is an exotic location many of us will never go to and they look different than us and worship differently so something is clearly amiss there. But maybe we should ask a few questions in return.
When Christians in Africa look to America, what do they see?
- Do they see American Christians in nice cars "going to Bible study" passing the homeless and the widow and the orphan with their $150 calfskin MacArthur study Bibles and $400 iPads with Bible study apps?
- Do they see American local churches bringing in $50,000,000,000 in revenue and using most of it to keep the American local church running as conveniently and comfortably as possible for their givers instead of sending men and equipping men locally to serve in Africa?
- Do they see churches holding "worship services" in opulent temples that combined are valued in the tens of billions of dollars while Africans starve for food and the Word of God?
- Do they see hundreds of their brothers and sisters paying hundreds of dollars to attend a conference in a multi-million dollar "church" to be told that there is no revivial in Africa?
I am thinking they might have a thing or two to say back to the American church, something about a plank in one eye and a splinter in another.
It is all fine and dandy to point fingers at Africa and say that there is no revival there. Maybe there isn't. It certainly seems reasonable to assume that at at least some of the conversions in Africa are real and some of the leaders of the church in Africa, who might just be charismatic, are faithful brothers.
I am a fan and a frequent users of hypberbole to make a point but an entire conference based on hyperbole, borderline hysteria and sweeping generalizations that slander a good many Christians was a bad idea from get go. I guess it will help to sell a few books though.
6 comments:
OUCH! Harsh...but necessary... good stuff, Arthur
The Strange Fire conference overall is a joke. Here's some insights in some of the revivals at the African continent: http://holyspiritactivism.wordpress.com/2013/07/19/when-heaven-invades-africa/
I listened to quite a bit of a couple of speakers last night and was totally shocked as both speakers actually mocked charismatics to the laughter and seeming amusement of the audience. If their concern is as stated in their promo, there would be nothing to mock or laugh at. My take is that this is a marketing strategy to recruit "repentant" charismatics to join their un-biblical corporate churches. It's all about feeding the machine.
Arthur,
Well said! Totally agree!
"paying hundreds of dollars to attend a conference in a multi-million dollar "church" to be told that there is no revivial in Africa?" Strange how people like MacArthur and Driscoll stir up this controversy and then sweep in to sell their book that explains it all "from the Bible." I find it akin to the tele-vangelist peddling prayer towels.
ps. you really have so many comments that you need to robot proof and comment moderate? Who has the big head/ :)
Joseph, for some reason about a year ago I started getting a ton of spam comments, sometimes a dozen a day so I put the robot proofing in. I have always moderated, more so that i don't miss any comments and to weed out a cadre of lunatic cultists in Canada that post random lengthy comments :P
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