{"id":2152,"date":"2013-11-07T14:12:06","date_gmt":"2013-11-07T22:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/?p=2152"},"modified":"2013-11-07T14:12:06","modified_gmt":"2013-11-07T22:12:06","slug":"a-strange-thing-about-strange-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/2013\/11\/07\/a-strange-thing-about-strange-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"a strange thing about Strange Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"
I\u2019m listening to the audio of the Strange Fire conference. Good stuff for the most part. I am sure there are points to quibble with in content from time to time, no one gets it one hundred percent right all the time. I have to say, overall, that this is an impressive effort. I encourage everyone to listen. Having said that, there are two things that stick in my craw, one is perhaps minor, the other may be major.<\/p>\n
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All the messages I listened to so far are interrupted by applause at points. Is it just my cantankerous ornery soul that bothers, or does it bother anyone else as well? I know that in independent Baptist circles we sometimes have the \u201cAmen chorus\u201d interrupting the preaching. That bothers me as well, but to a somewhat lesser degree.<\/p>\n
I have to admit, as a preacher, that I like applause. It strokes my flesh to hear folks speak well of my preaching. When I get with it in one of those really \u201cAmen-ing\u201d churches, it can be gratifying. At least with \u201cAmens\u201d, one can suppose that they are calling out in prayer to God to \u201cmake it so\u201d over something you just said. When it is applause, I am afraid that is just a little too man-centered for me. That goes straight to the preacher, not to heaven, I\u2019m afraid.<\/p>\n
But the real irony of the practice comes when you ask this question: \u201cwhere did it come from?\u201d Isn\u2019t the applause the fruit of charismatic influence in the evangelical churches? Isn\u2019t it part and parcel of the CCM culture, the entertainment model, and all the trappings that charismatism brought into evangelicalism? Does anyone else find it extremely ironic that applause permeates a conference devoted to condemning, in no uncertain terms, the charismatic movement?<\/p>\n
Maybe its just me.<\/p>\n