The Holy Spirit never points a believer to the Holy Spirit. “Show me a person obsessed with the Holy Spirit, and I’ll show you a person not filled with the Holy Spirit.” John MacArthur (Matthew 7:13) Nowhere does Scripture instruct, compel, or defend the need for a believer to “focus on the Holy Spirit.” In fact, from the highly recommended Strange Fire conference, John MacArthur made the following point: Here is the first evidence that Shirer is serving up wide-path teaching. “Throughout this booklet we will focus on the Holy Spirit’s role in tuning our spiritual ears to the sound of God’s voice.” Priscilla Shirer But there is no Scripture that teaches this mystical “it’s all about me” mode of divine interaction. While her premise seems innocuously agreeable – disregarding the hint of the dangerous “God is love and nothing else” theology – Shirer goes beyond the bounds of Scripture by emphasizing that God will speak to you personally, privately, and specifically. First, however, you must expect and anticipate that the divine voice of God can ring in your ears and heart.” Priscilla Shirer The Lord and and will speak to you if you’ve placed your faith in Jesus. God loved you enough to die for you He loves you enough to communicate with you. That designation stands at odds with silence. The second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, is called the Word (see John 1:1). “Before you read any further, let me assure you of an important point. While not negating Scripture, what Shirer does is a common enough practice acceptable in charismatic, prosperity gospel circles, but is thoroughly disdained by orthodox, Biblical Christianity. It should not require a pastor, or a Bible-imbibing believer, to go much farther than the introduction of this booklet to recognize the spiritual peril Shirer represents. In 2009, LifeWay Press, the publishing and retail arm affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, published Shirer’s booklet, Is That You God? A Taste of Discerning The Voice of God. Jesus, you may recall, was not a particularly popular fellow when He trod the dusty trails of 1st century Galilee. Popularity, however, is no gauge for soundness. But “best” doesn’t mean it is “best” for edifying your soul, “best” for teaching sound Biblical truth, or “best” for providing valid Scriptural encouragement. They are yielding, rather, to the popular embrace that bestselling authors tend to garner. Most prefer, it seems, to keep you engaged with popular falseness, rather than edified and challenged by clear Scriptural truth.) (Indeed, ask yourself the question, what wolves – if any – is my pastor warning me against? It’s a critical part of his role as a shepherd, but one that is virtually absent in the modern evangelical church. (1 John 4:1, Philippians 1:9-10, Colossians 2:8, 1 Timothy 6:3-5, Romans 12:2, Romans 16:17-18) They are not “contending” for the “sound doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:3) of the faith. If you are in a church that will, this fall, promote Shirer’s curricula for women’s “Bible” studies, know this: it is evidence that the pastor and leadership of that church do not practice Biblically-commanded discernment.
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