Michael L. Brown - Authentic Fire: A Response to John MacArthurs Strange Fire

Authentic Fire by Michael L. Brown, PhD
Published by Excel Publishers
600 Rinehart Road
Lake Mary, Florida 32746

This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwisewithout prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are from the Amplified Bible. Old Testament copyright 1965, 1987 by the Zondervan Corporation. The Amplified New Testament copyright 1954, 1958, 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked NAS are from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations marked NET are from the New English Translation, copyright 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, LLC. http://netbible.com. All rights reserved. This material is available in its entirety as a free download or online use at http://netbible.org/.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NJV are from the New Jewish Version, copyright 1985 by Jewish Publication Society. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked THE MESSAGE are from The Message: The Bible in Contemporary English , copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Copyright 2014 by Michael L. Brown, PhD
All rights reserved.

Visit the authors website at www.AskDrBrown.org.

International Standard Book Number: 978-1-62999-002-6

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors or for changes that occur after publication.

Dr. Brown speaks on behalf of millions who are not adequately trained to express in writing their own encounters with the supernatural power of God. With the skill of a surgeon, Dr. Brown takes the sword of the Spirit to the crippling cancer of cessationist doctrine that has, for so long, paralyzed the Body of Christ from walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirits anointing. Along with personal, scriptural, and historical examples, Dr. Brown presents an impelling case for the reality of the Holy Spirits activity in the Church today. May the message of this book be amplified a million fold and thereby drown out the voice of those, who like the spies of old, kept Gods people from entering into all that He had promised them. Buy a copy for yourself, your friend and your pastor. Theyll thank you for it!

- David Ravenhill,
author of How to Survive the Anointing

I thank God for this biblically-robust, pastorally-sensitive, historically-informed, and graciously-articulated account of the work of the Holy Spirit in the church of Jesus Christ. Michael Brown is a model for us all of how one can be theologically rigorous and a fair-minded gentleman at the same time. His arguments are clear and, in my opinion, persuasive, and will contribute greatly not only to deeper clarity on this important topic but also to increased unity in the body of Christ.

- Sam Storms, Ph.D., Bridgeway Church, Oklahoma City, OK,
author of Signs of the Spirit: An Interpretation of Jonathan Edwardss "Religious Affections"

Dr. Michael Browns Authentic Fire puts the brakes on John MacArthurs crusade against charismatics with irrefutable logic, extraordinary insight, Christ-like graciousness, and an undisputable handling of Scripture. This is the definitive book to give to anyone who asks, Is John MacArthurs denunciation of charismatic Christians fair and accurate?

- Frank Viola,
author of Pouring Holy Water on Strange Fire
and Gods Favorite Place on Earth.

Michael Brown writes with clarity and courtesy as he confronts one of the most explosive issues among all those who uphold the Bible as the plumb line of truth. Dr. Brown convincingly combines faithful exegesis, seasoned insight, and extensive research to show that the resurrected Christ continues to present Himself alive... by many convincing proofs. He points us to a rock-solid faith in Gods inerrant Word and invites us to a Christ-centered life that is animated by His life-giving Spirit.

- David Shibley,
Founder and World Representative for Global Advance

Michael Brown demolishes the weak arguments outlined in John MacArthurs Strange Fire book and conference. He does so robustly but without resorting to divisive or schismatic language. Graciously Brown invites cessationaists to understand the biblical reasons why charismatics believe what we do. Charismatics are also reminded that we do need to be more discerning as there are indeed unhelpful extremes in our movement. This book will help you think through these issues. It will fill charismatics with renewed confidence to boldly follow our convictions. It should also help cessationists to appreciate that the Charismatic movement does have something to teach the broader Church, even as we also have much to learn from others.

- Dr. Adrian Warnock,
author and blogger at adrianwarnock.com

CONTENTS

PREFACE

Five days a week, as I do my live, two-hour radio broadcast, I hear the voice of John MacArthur in my ears, and it is a voice I enjoy hearing. As local radio stations are playing their own ads or announcements during the one-minute or two-minute breaks during the show, I hear a feed from the main satellite network, and it often repeats the same clips over and again, with Pastor MacArthurs one-minute mini-messages being prominently featured.

I can tell you honestly that during the most intense moments of the Strange Fire controversy, or after reading what I considered to be outlandish statements in the Strange Fire book, I have never been agitated in the least when hearing my elder brothers voice. And, when I am able to focus on what he is saying (since those short breaks during live radio are often quite busy), I have almost always enjoyed and affirmed his message.

So, this book is not written out of frustration, nor do I have an axe to grind, nor I am trying to win an argument, nor do I have an allegiance to a particular party or group that would color my sentiments. Instead, I have written this book with people like Jason in mind. He is in his mid-to-late thirties and has been seriously committed to the Lord the last few years. He posted this on Facebook in the immediate aftermath of the Strange Fire conference, shortly before my interview with Phil Johnson, John MacArthurs editor:

Ive been listening to [Pastor] MacArthur in the morning on my way to work and Dr. Browns radio show at night for a while now. Please keep this in mind, both Dr. Brown and MacArthur have been the top two Christian leaders in helping me come to Christ and helping me to not fall away by reminding me to keep my focus on Jesus. Dr. Brown has helped me a great deal with apologetics as well and learning the balance between legalism and grace. This is a dicey topic that in the long run has potential to reveal a greater truth and hopefully help Christians to become even more unified. Im more interested in that than any kind of one upsmanship, and I know for sure that Dr. Brown and I would assume that [Pastor] MacArthur are too.