Strange Fire

 "Not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ." Galatians 1:7

In Leviticus 10, two of Aaron's sons, who like their father, were priests of the Lord. They were consumed by God's holy fire for the act of offering "strange fire" to the Lord. They had burnt before Him a different kind of incense then He had commanded them to bring. They had disregarded His command, a command they fully knew, and brought a different incense. God called the result, "strange fire." It was fire He did not, would not accept. The severe example with Aaron's sons serve as an example of how seriously God takes not just obedience, but what it is we present before Him, and present to His people in His name. 

To some degree, the church has always had among it some who have tried to offer up "strange fire" before Him and before His people. Doctrines and teaching that run contrary to His revealed and authoritative Word as given in Scripture. Paul, Peter, and all the apostles were confronted with it throughout their ministries. Those who have followed them have as well. Today, in His church, I think more "strange fire" is being offered up than perhaps we have ever seen, and they are doing exactly what Paul wrote of in Galatians; distorting the gospel and troubling the church. Many are being led astray and away from His Truth. This despite repeated warnings in Scripture to neither add nor take away anything from the revealed Word of God and it is happening as concerns nearly everything that has been seen as orthodox belief down through the centuries. Human sexuality, sin, the means of salvation, heaven, hell, what is meant by holiness, the role of repentance, even the very Person of Christ. At root, they distort, undermine, and reject the authority of Scripture. They give unto Christ attitudes that He never possessed, and see Paul, Peter, and other writers of the New Testament letters as ignorant men held captive by the values of their culture. They have ruptured many denominations, causing great damage and strife. They'll continue to do so. In the end, they will fail, because God will always have His witness, and His witness will prevail. But oh, the pain and heartbreak caused to the Body of Christ and to the heart of the Father.

Upon my ordination back in 1987, the man who ordained me, Charles Strickland, as he prayed over me, gave me what I believed was a commission. He said that strange winds (strange fire) were blowing through our denomination. My task was to preach the Word. Proclaim it. Be true to it. Let no other word or words diminish it. I have sought to be true to that. I hope I have been. I know I am not alone. As those who do distort the gospel grow louder, I believe there will be a stronger response in the church. I believe we will see a reformation, a coming out of that which is falling in upon itself and forming a fresh, new move of His Spirit. Strange fire will have no place there. Christ as He is, not as we would make Him will be exalted. His Word will be the final authority in all things.

I write this last after a break of a couple of hours. At that time I read an article by a man named Michael Brown who lays out how many are now comparing Bible believing Christians to the Taliban of Afghanistan. It seems the popular thing for celebrities in particular to do. The Taliban, a group that beheads Christians, murders gays, rapes women, burns their prisoners alive, drowns them in cages, and seek to kill any and all who oppose them. Meanwhile, Christians, the Church, seek to save the lives of unborn babies, feed the hungry around the world, drill wells in places where there is no clean water, be among the first to respond to natural disasters, and seek to serve and show love to all people, including those we disagree with. We don't seek to force anyone to believe in the Savior we follow, or live according to the Word of the God we love. We simply will not be forced to accept beliefs and forced to participate in activities that violate that in which we believe. For this we are accused of being hate mongers and extremists. None of this is going to diminish. If we are truly His, we are going to have to stand firm on our foundation of Jesus Christ. There can be no place for strange fire among us. We must continue to proclaim and follow Christ as He is and trust in His transforming power. There will be a cost. Jesus told us clearly there would be. May we, who call ourselves His, trust in His strength to carry us through it all....to the ultimate victory He promised us and still promises us.

Blessings,
Pastor O