ARE CHARISMATIC PREACHERS CHRISTIAN WITCH DOCTORS?

John MacArthur's Strange Fire conference in October of 2013 touched off a veritable firestorm of condemnation from Charismatic proponents. Having read the objections of a few who condemned the conference, I find no validity in their accusations. In fact, the antics of those "signs and wonders" preachers resemble, as one speaker put it, the practices of witch doctors.

I believe Pastor Conrad Mbewe is correct regarding the comparison of today's faith healers and African witch doctors. In his talk called "Are We Preachers or Witch Doctors," he said that both groups practiced their arts in similar ways. The only difference between the two is that charismatic preachers, often seen on TBN, use Christian terminology.

There was a time in my life when I would have objected strenuously to Pastor Mbewe and the rest of the Strange Fire speakers. I attended an independent house church led by a lay minister. He took many aberrant doctrines from a variety of cults and merged them into his theology.

Worse yet, he claimed that his teachings were on par with Scripture and nobody should oppose him. He even had the audacity to claim that he had the power to turn his opponents over to Satan. Like a fool, I believed him and his teaching for more than fifteen years.

What led me to finally reject his church and its beliefs? The elders kept criticizing me for lacking the faith to be healed. They also accused me of lusting for sight and having hidden sins that I needed to confess. Never did it enter their minds that they and their ideas might be the problem.

The reason I keep blogging on this topic is to warn people about these frauds who claim to be working for God. I've learned during the past seventeen years that God is sovereign and that he often works through disabilities. For those who trust completely in him, he works out all things to his glory and for our betterment. Therefore, thinking that ailments, disabilities, misfortunes and the like are punishments for lack of faith is at best absurd and at worst cruel.

My How I Was Razed book is an object lesson for pastors who neglect to disciple new believers. It's also a testimony of God's providential guidance. Read more about this remarkable story at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Virtual Bookworm Publishers.