{"id":2379,"date":"2006-09-04T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-09-04T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adrianwarnock.com\/2006\/09\/charismatic-debate-responding-to-dan-phillips\/"},"modified":"2018-06-27T23:05:22","modified_gmt":"2018-06-27T22:05:22","slug":"charismatic-debate-respond_115742928156461553","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/adrianwarnock\/2006\/09\/charismatic-debate-respond_115742928156461553\/","title":{"rendered":"CHARISMATIC DEBATE – Responding to Dan Phillips"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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Well, finally I have managed to find time to begin to respond to <\/span>Dan Phillips reply<\/span><\/a> to my smattering of <\/span>charismatic questions for cessationists<\/span><\/a>. In his last post, Dan states so well the main drive behind my commitment to all of this, and it is with this that I intend to start. My second post <\/a>will begin to address some of the specific arguments Dan raises.
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\u201cFirst, I\u2019m struck by how fair and even-handed Adrian clearly strives to be, and I think he succeeds. It\u2019d be a harsh read to hear him as blaming us \u201chave-nots,\u201d or meaning to talk down to us. Adrian believes there\u2019s a wonderful experience out there for all of us, one that all of us should be seeking. He clearly and sincerely feels that we not only rob and impoverish ourselves by not seeking it, but we weaken our ministry, and the impact we might have for Christ. This should concern us all.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He is exactly right. That is precisely what I believe. I am eager to point out that I am not the only person to think this way. Why? It is not that I want to wheel out heavy-hitters to support my position, but rather out of recognition that they have a much better grasp of the Scriptures than I do. I am eager to learn from others, so I will quote from a few of them here as we go through this post. To begin with, let\u2019s hear from Tim Challies\u2019 notes of a <\/span>Bob Kauflin<\/span><\/a> session.
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\u201cToo often we approach God like the subject of a biography. We read about Him, but do not expect to actually encounter Him. We pray, but don\u2019t think He\u2019ll talk back. We read His Word, but see it as lifeless facts and information, not a living Word. But the Bible is not the biography of a dead God! Jesus Christ is alive! God\u2019s presence and power is not only in Scripture, for He can be personally encountered. Our worship is not only to or for God, but is where we encounter and experience God. The One who allows us to encounter God is God Himself in the Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

For me, what I am most eager to contend for in all of this is an authentic, experiential, and relational Christianity.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, coming back to Dan, it seems, at least in part, that while some might accuse him of wanting to rob us of our experiential relationship with God, Dan does recognize the dangers that modern western people uniquely face in our sophisticated society:<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cIt is, beyond argument, all too possible for us to preach and live a hollow, cerebral, naturalistic Christianity.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I have not only seen such a Christianity practiced elsewhere, I am constantly aware of the pull towards it in my own life. The desperate need of the hour is a vibrant, living Christianity which worships a God who is not dead, but acts today!\n

Dan would probably agree with all of this up to this point. Where he parts company is over my call for us to eagerly seek for experiences of God. He repeats a frequent misunderstanding that cessationists often have of charismatics when he removes the last two words of that sentence and claims we are merely seeking emotional <\/em>experiences. For most of the charismatics I know at least, it is NOT mere emotion that we seek; rather we seek an appropriate emotional response to the presence of God, and we seek His activity in our lives and churches to be manifestly present.<\/p>\n

There is all the difference in the world between trying to work up an emotional frenzy (which, of course, we have all seen) and using legitimate God-given means of putting ourselves in an appropriate place where God can meet us.<\/p>\n

God has given us bodies, and it is important for us to at times adopt an open posture that signals to God we are ready and willing to receive a touch from His Spirit. One of the key ways in which we do this, both biblically and in my experience, is by using our hands. Dan criticizes the approach of \u2018reaching out your hands\u2019 seen in meetings. Yet, let\u2019s just take a quick look at what the book of Psalms teaches us about the use of the hands and appropriate passionate longing for God:<\/p>\n

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