Strange Fire - Strangely Familiar
Some of you may be familiar with the Strange Fire Conference but for those who don't, it refers to a conference series hosted by John MacArthur of Grace To You Ministries. The series ostensibly evaluates the doctrines, practices and claims of the modern charismatic movement and is a serious critique of the Charismatic Movement, prosperity doctrine and the spiritual manifestations that are somewhat of a trademark of those types of ministries.
John MacArthur is well known for his reformed theology and remains true to the penchant of some reformists in advocating views in a polarized fashion. By that I mean he eventually gets around to promoting his cessationist viewpoint in such a way as to imply there is no other valid position. In that he even attacks those in his own camp that hold some form of continuationist view such a John Piper. So while much of what MacArthur says is valid and timely, not surprisingly he seems to me to go a step too far.
Having said that, this post is not about critiquing the Strange Fire Conference or the views of John MacArthur, rather I wanted to point out that this is nothing new and not confined to Christianity. For a discussion of Strange Fire, the book and MacArthur's views you can check out the blogpost by Steve Kroeker, YouTube video or Google up any number of articles on the storm that has been created.
Spiritual Manifestations
You may remember the phenomenon of the Laughing Revival or Toronto Blessing that began on 10 January 1994 at Vineyard Church near the Pearson International Airport in Toronto. I remember hearing about it subsequently sweeping through Christian circles in Canada and the US and how it came to Australia some time later.
The video below shows some examples of the phenomenon and you can read a good review of the phenomenon and its roots at this site entitled Holy Laughter - Rodney Howard-Browne and the Toronto Blessing.
The last time I checked I didn't see any testimony recorded in my Bible regarding falling down laughing, making animal noises, spinning, twitching, vocalizing or otherwise moving in an uncontrolled manner. The manifestations of the Holy Spirit that I read about all had definite purpose for God's glory and carrying out the purposes of God in useful ways.
As a Christian I must say that I am astounded at the ease with which this phenomenon has spread. After its initial heyday I mistakenly believed it might go away as a passing fad. Unfortunately it seems that it has morphed like a virus and insinuated itself into mainstream Christianity in many different ways. Having attended an Australian Baptist Church for many years, I was particularly disturbed to note that Kenmore Baptist Church had hosted seminars by Ron Clarke, former pastor of Living Water Church in Tampa, Florida, known for receiving his "special anointing" directly from Rodney Howard-Browne, a South African preacher associated with the Word of Faith movement and generally recognized as the father of Holy Laughter.
Do people no longer read the Bible and test things against the Holy Word of God?
In case you think these manifestations are unique to Christianity and therefore can be safe in attributing them to the working of the Holy Spirit on that basis alone, let us look at some other examples of similar spiritual manifestations.
Qigong
Qigong, literally: "Life Energy Cultivation", is a method of meditation involving breathing, body movement and posture. It is seen as a method to allow the practitioner access to higher realms of awareness, to awakens one's "true nature", and help develop human potential. It has spread worldwide, being promoted as a means of obtaining better health. Traditionally, it has been used by some Martial Arts styles as an aid to achieve great power and performance in their respective arts.
It is an unfortunate reality, however, that this and other forms of meditation come with dangers such as the onset of mental health conditions and for some the experience of what could be described as spiritual possession.
One high level Qigong practitioner who came to faith in Christ reveals the true nature of the forces at work behind Qigong in his account entitled:
Sufi Islam
Sufi Islam or Sufism is described by its followers as:
the inner mystical dimension of Islam. Practitioners of Sufism (Tasawwuf), referred to as Sufis (ṣūfī) (/ˈsuːfi/; صُوفِيّ), often belong to different ṭuruq or "orders"—congregations formed around a grand master referred to as a Mawla who maintains a direct chain of teachers back to the Prophet Muhammad.[1] These orders meet for spiritual sessions (majalis) in meeting places known as zawiyahs, khanqahs, or tekke.[2] Sufis strive for ihsan (perfection of worship) as detailed in a hadith: "Ihsan is to worship Allah as if you see Him; if you can't see Him, surely He sees you."[3] Jalaluddin Rumi stated: "The Sufi is hanging on to Muhammad, like Abu Bakr."[4] Sufis consider themselves to be the original true proponents of this pure original form of Islam.In the video below you will see an Imam responding to spiritual influence during a service.
In this next clip you will see worshipers at a Majali exhibiting actions not unlike those of the Holy Laughter phenomenon after having hands laid upon them by a Mawla or Murshid.
Hinduism
I am well aware that I am oversimplifying things with the above heading but I would like to draw your attention to some aspects of Hindu religious practices such as Yoga and the various Kundalini cults.
In these practices the object it very similar to that of Qigong and it is my opinion that there was cross-pollination of Hindu influence (through Buddhist monks) and traditional Chinese Dao/Taoism and Confucianism that resulted in the Qigong we see in China today.
The object of the meditation is to experience a Kundalini Awakening, an opening of the spiritual channels within the body to allow you to receive enlightenment variously through unlocking your inner power, connecting to the true reality of the universe or being possessed by any number of gods such as Kali, depending on who you talk to. In this respect we are left in no doubt that the phenomenon is spiritual and not related in any way to the Judeo-Christian Holy Spirit.
Once you journey down this rabbit hole, there seems to be lasting effects such as Kriyas or involuntary movements of the body that afflict people who practice these types of meditation. An example of one new-age practitioner experiencing this effect can be seen below.
One resource I found interesting was the video snippets from Andrew Strom, Autor of the book, Kundalini Warning - Are False Spirits Invading the Church?
The next clip is quite long and features a round-table discussion on the Dark Side of Meditation in response to a recent Time article entitled Aaron Alexis and the Dark Side of Meditation.
In these practices the object it very similar to that of Qigong and it is my opinion that there was cross-pollination of Hindu influence (through Buddhist monks) and traditional Chinese Dao/Taoism and Confucianism that resulted in the Qigong we see in China today.
The object of the meditation is to experience a Kundalini Awakening, an opening of the spiritual channels within the body to allow you to receive enlightenment variously through unlocking your inner power, connecting to the true reality of the universe or being possessed by any number of gods such as Kali, depending on who you talk to. In this respect we are left in no doubt that the phenomenon is spiritual and not related in any way to the Judeo-Christian Holy Spirit.
Once you journey down this rabbit hole, there seems to be lasting effects such as Kriyas or involuntary movements of the body that afflict people who practice these types of meditation. An example of one new-age practitioner experiencing this effect can be seen below.
The Dark Side
Those of us who have the slightest bit of discernment will have our spidey-senses tingling about now, and rightly so. While there is a veritable avalanche of material on the benefits these forms meditation, the negative side-effects of them are not as easy to research. Nevertheless they are a well known issue. In his article Breaking Through the Barriers of Darkness, Hsiao Guang tells us that his parents warned him of the possible dangers to the mind when they first introduced him to Five Animals Qigong. Similarly in the video below, Vivek Govekar describes the mental effects he personally experienced following his Kundalini Awakening.
The next clip is quite long and features a round-table discussion on the Dark Side of Meditation in response to a recent Time article entitled Aaron Alexis and the Dark Side of Meditation.
You may remember the story of the shooting of 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard and the article rightly asks:
How does someone who engages in meditation, which is supposed to focus the mind, and is often associated with efforts to diffuse violence, rather than instigate it, perform the acts that Alexis is accused of executing?As it turns out, there are many people who are suffering from the negative effects of meditation, so much so that there is an initiative mentioned in the video. Originally called "The Dark Knight project", it aims to research the phenomena in order to assist the many people who have been damaged by it.
I will refrain from waxing lyrically in conclusion. I am sure you can all think this through in your own time. I would encourage you to do your own research (there is much more material available) and compare what you discover against the Word of God in the Holy Bible.
Test the Spirits1 John 4 (ESV)
4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth andthe spirit of error.
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