This week in Christian history: ‘Strange Fire’ conference, Matthew Henry born, Medieval pope consecrated
John MacArthur's 'Strange Fire' conference begins – Oct. 16, 2013
This week marks the anniversary of when Pastor John MacArthur opened a conference focused on the Charismatic movement and the myriad ways in which he and others believe it's “unfaithful” to the Gospel.
Known as the “Strange Fire” conference, which was also the name of a book by MacArthur critiquing the movement, the event was held over the course of three days at MacArthur’s Grace Community Church of Sun Valley, California, and had around 3,000 in-person attendees.
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During his opening remarks at the conference, MacArthur said that the Charismatic movement "dishonors God," "offers nothing to enrich true worship," and has only “brought chaos, confusion, misinterpretation.”
There were many critics of MacArthur’s views on the movement, among them the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, a Pentecostal minister and president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.
"With great due deference to a Christian leader many of us admire, his conclusions regarding the largest and fastest growing of global Christendom, the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement, speaks to a man ignorant of the community's unbridled commitment to biblical orthodoxy," said Rodriguez in a statement to The Christian Post at the time.
"Mr. MacArthur should be focusing on the fact that while many in the church continue to abandon our Christian faith, the Pentecostal/Charismatic community continues to offer the church a legitimate growth mechanism."
