Dr Paul Allen

John MacArthur, Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship (Thomas Nelson, Nov 12, 2013) 9781400205172. While offering some very needed points, John MacArthur’s Strange Fire, unfortunately, extrapolates from those points to an entire “movement.” As I note below, I also believe that MacArthur suppresses some biblical truth on the basis of a postbiblical doctrine, the very offense with which he charges others. Nevertheless, there is much to be learned from his criticisms; he has brought again to our attention some serious errors that charismatic churches must be on their guard against. I start with some agreeable points in the book and then move to points where I believe MacArthur has clearly overstepped the bounds of reason and Christian civility; there my tone cannot be as conciliatory. (All pagination in this review refers to the uncorrected page proofs that I received shortly before the book’s publication.) Introduction On the positive side, addres...

It is a constant struggle for Gospel preacher to convince Christians to share the Gospel with their Catholic neighbors. Sometimes, it is difficult to explain to people the fact that we are dealing with two different religions. The devil, of course, wants to exalt man over God; therefore, all of his religions end up being the same–works-based. But with certain religions, he is able to mask it better than others. Roman Catholicism is perhaps his greatest masterpiece. Sometimes though, the truth is brought out more clearly than at other times. Recently, The Daily Wire—a website run by Ben Shapiro—had two guests on their show, and the difference between the two could not be starker. Both spiritual leaders and both with a big influence in their particular religions. Pastor John Macarthur and Bishop Robert Barron. If you have two hours of time to spare, you can watch the whole Macarthur interview here and the Barron one here and judge for yourself, but for those with less time, l...

Larry King Live title card (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) BIBLE COLLEGE TRAINING Here are some excerpts from MacArthur’s counterpart to Osteen’s Larry King Live interview: KING: John MacArthur , what happens when you die? MACARTHUR: Well, when you die, you go to one of two places. According to Scripture . You go out of the presence of God forever, or you go into the presence of God forever. KING: Depending? MACARTHUR: Depending upon your personal relationship with Jesus Christ , which is, according to the Bible , the only way to enter heaven. KING: So therefore a Jew or a Muslim or a Buddhist will not go to heaven? MACARTHUR: Christian theology and the Scripture says that only through faith in Jesus Christ. KING: And you — when we say what happened, what happens? Do you go somewhere as a body? MACARTHUR: No, your body stays. We go to the funeral. We see the body. It goes into the grave. It decays. Your spirit immediately goes either in the presence of God or out, waiting the fina...

It got no small notice online and has been posted all around the internet (and ‘the internet’ means ‘Facebook, Twitter, and WeChat’).  I listened to the sermon a few days ago and, like many, found it to be a biblical breath of fresh air in what is quickly becoming an unsettling age. MacArthur placed the recent supreme court decision in the light of spiritual reality.  He commented on how Satan is behind the attack against the family in all its fronts (feminism, the sexual revolution, abortion, same-sex marriage, transgenderism, etc.).  He reminded Christians that what they’re seeing is neither new nor abnormal.  He went through several sections of the Old Testament and commented on how all the issues that we see today were all issues in Israel: homosexuality, transvestism, etc.  He talked at length about various sexual issues as they were addressed in both the Old and New Testaments, and then commented on how those same issues have arisen to the forefront of...