John MacArthur's Unfriendly Fire

Yup, it's a firestorm. Yup, it's getting pretty ugly.

Nope, I don't want to get too involved except to say a thing or two and leave a couple links.

First off, those who have been with me, like, forever, know that back in the day when Driscoll was ranting and raving and raping The Song of Songs mostly unchallenged, I appreciated MacArthur's voice in the wilderness, calling Driscoll on his misused and abuse of Scripture.

I still appreciate what he has done.

But now, John MacArthur is ranting and raving and shooting off his mouth and pen with his book and conference called Strange Fire attacking Charismatics.

And apparently Driscoll crashed MacArthur's party.

My biggest impulse is to back up and let the elephants trample each other while I figure out how to serve God to the best of my ability in my small corner of the world far and away from these mad men. And I think that is just what I'll do.

But first I'll link a few things here of those taking on MacArthur's unchristian, unfriendly fire.

Wenatchee the Hatchet has a lot to say about some of this stuff (this is just a link to his blog, not any one post because he has several today).

Wade Burleson does a wonderful job addressing this in his usual level headed manner.

And Wartburg Watch, as always, will keep us updated.

So, for those of you who care to pursue this, I've linked these to get you started.

Oh that God would deliver us from the curse of celebrity pastors.

(Edited November 22, 2013 to add a link from WTH concerning the Open Letter to Mark Driscoll I mentioned in the comments below.)

Radical Freedom

The Prodigal Prophet dropped in on my last post to say this:"Often the poor ladies suffer at the hands of authoritarian men who'd have a hard time with Yeshua's liberating view on women."

I appreciate his words and am going to link an old post in honor of him.

People of the Spirit Wind

There is so much freedom in Christ that we are denied by the commandments of men who falsely think they have the mind of Christ.

Off Topic and Completely Spontaneous

Retha made a comment under one of the strong men posts about one of the guys bringing again to my remembrance what he's made of.

As I was composing a response I remembered an old CD by Rich Mullins called "Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth" and I thought of these guys and what motivated them. And part of this title came to me. Actually the words, "Stuff of Heaven" popped into my mind and the thought, "These guys are motivated by the stuff of Heaven." Then I thought of Rich's CD. It's the one that had the song, "Awesome God" on it.

And on a whim I wanted to share the lesser known music (than Awesome God) on "Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth" with people who may never have heard it. This is that Quaker boy from the Heartland who wrote the song about the plains that blessed me so much that I wrote about it back on April 9th.
So if you have time, especially if you haven't heard it before, it's old, but good stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm2A5IJlOWk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_FznQW1xrI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibi7W42N64c

A Deeper Magic

There is another phrase from the Chronicles of Narnia that I feel applies to this whole John Eldredge, "Wild at Heart" discussion.

Just as an explanation, when the Hero, Aslan the Lion, defeats the Snow Queen He does it by applying a "Deeper Magic" than the magic the Snow Queen knows.

What I love about John Eldredge's book, "Wild at Heart" and what Eldredge is trying to do is to heal the deep wounds of the hearts of men. Now, I'm sure most of you know that many men would rather jab their eye repeatedly with a sharp object than to talk about their feelings. Yet, Eldredge is able to open up his heart and get to the heart of many men through his book. So, in the end, this is what I love about "Wild at Heart".

Some of the negative reviews that I have read about "Wild at Heart" accuse Eldredge of being 'shallow'. I could not disagree more. The things of the soul are very deep and hidden from view. "Wild at Heart" deals with the deep places of a man's heart and the deep wounds that a man can acquire as a boy, specifically from his father. And, though he never uses the phrase from the Narnia books, Eldredge appeals to a "deeper magic" than even the level of the soul. He points men to draw on the deeper things of the Spirit and get their healing from God their heavenly Father.

As a person who also looks to the Father, the Spirit, and to Jesus as the Healer, the over all message of Wild at Heart is much appreciated.

The short comings are that Eldredge focuses a bit much on the wounds that a father gives to the neglect of other wounds, like from a mother, or from culture. There are so many things that can wound a child. It can be one or both parents. It can be passed down curses or family dynamics. It can be negative ancestral influences. It can be cultural influences.

My point is this. When a child is conceived and given birth to, there is much foundation building in the early part of the child's life. Anywhere along the way, things can be missed or abuses can be committed. What the child should have been given, in the way of development was withheld. Also what the child might have developed naturally, if just given a stable environment, can be destroyed by someone or something in the child's surroundings.

Anyway, whatever goes on that wounds or even destroys the child, this is a deep wound in a deep place of who the child is. It takes something deep to reach that soul realm. The soul is very deep. But there is "a deeper magic still" that is found in the spirit realm.

And we are encouraged in the Bible to look at and trust in that which is deep an not readily seen.

2 Corinthians 4:8 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds (ages) were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

Sometimes going deeper is intimidating or even frightening. But I believe in the deeper things of the Spirit.

No Yoke of Slavery for You

Galatians 5:1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free, therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Why did Christ set us free? For the sake of freedom.

Note, this is gender inclusive. This isn't just freedom for men, but for women also. There is no pink and blue freedom, different kinds of freedom for whatever gender you are.

This is radical, Spirit Wind freedom that we must continue to stand in and defend.

Paul warns them and us against subjecting ourselves to a yoke of slavery. He warns us against the teachings that say the works of the flesh earn us God's favor.

Yet there is much teaching about submitting and subjecting in the church today concerning women. Who is teaching it? Fearful men who are afraid of radically free women.

Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32)

But all preachers don't preach the truth. Some preachers preach the lie of patriarchy that sucks away freedom from people and makes them people of the Law rather that people of the Spirit Wind. Some preachers preach rigid roles and rules for individuals, legalism. And these preachers suck the life and wind right out of individuals.

No, Paul says to stand firm in our freedom and to not subject ourselves again to a yoke of slavery. We don't have to listen to those preachers any more. The truth in not in them.

John 8:36 If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.

Bewitching Your Freedom Away

Galatians 3:1 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?
vs 2 This is the one thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the words of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
vs 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

Paul here is asking the People of the Wind why they have turned in their status of freedom in the Spirit to become prisoners of the Law.

Paul asks them who has bewitched them, who has cast a spell over them that they would trade in the radical Spirit Wind freedom that Jesus bought for them with His own blood... why would they trade this in for rules and regulations and oppressive structures of religion.

He wants to know how they received the Spirit in the first place. Was is by the sweat of their own brow? And if they did not receive this Freedom by the sweat of their own brow and the carrying of heavy burdens, when did they start thinking they had to start picking up heavy loads and tying them up on their backs?

Who was bewitching their freedoms away from them? Who was demanding that they submit to structures and orders that wound them and break them down?

And this is the question we have to ask ourselves. Who is sucking our freedom away with their doctrine. Who is trying to separate us from the Spirit and freedom we have in Christ?

Jesus said, "Come unto me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest."

Are the teachers you are listening to giving you rest? Or are they wearing you down with their obsession with certain structures?
Are the teachers you are listening to allowing you to be free in the Spirit Wind, or do they require you to be mired in the bog of their doctrine?

People of the Spirit Wind

John 3:8 The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

This scripture is found in the same chapter and same conversation as the famous John 3:16 verse and where Jesus talks about being born again.

And if this verse doesn't speak of the freedom of God's people, I don't know what does. The wind blows where it wills. This is what the people who are born of the Spirit should be like. They are to be free.

This concept is extremely frightening to people who embrace rigid structure. This appears to be a frightening thought to many men when they think of their women, mothers, wives, daughters. What are they afraid of? That their women will abandon them? Fly away like the wind? No wonder some men feel compelled to control. They fear abandonment if their women are given 'too much' freedom.

It's funny. I never hear preachers preach on this verse. You hear about the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus about being born again and about God loving the world so much that He gave...

But who ever talks about those born of the Spirit and how they are like the wind?
Are there no messages about being as free as the wind because men are afraid people will be gone with the wind?

There is some concern over this. After all, wasn't it here, on this blog, that I linked a review for Wild at Heart by a woman whose husband read the book, then he was gone with the wind?

Yes. Radical freedom can be a frightening thing. Perhaps this is why preachers don't preach it. Perhaps this is why, instead of freedom and liberty for the captives, structure and roles and 'divine' order are taught. It's because of fear.

And people are being crushed under the weight of so much order keeping people in their places. People of the Spirit wind were not created to bear such heavy loads. You can't fly free when you are overburdened by structure and order.

People of the Spirit wind need to be released from the oppressive structures of religion so that they can mount up with eagles wings when they wait on the Lord.