I’d like to call on all the friends of RRF and of Biblical Christianity in general to pray for a situation in regard to the Sufficiency of Christ Conference being held today and tomorrow(April 27 - 28) here in Redding.
Along with a call to prayer, I feel that I need to respond in some way to the situation that has developed regarding the conference. I do this especially for those who may be visiting our blog, probably through our Facebook page, for the first time, and possibly in response to this situation.
This conference is “meant to edify ALL of the body in regards to Christ and the gospel, EXALTING Christ as sufficient in all things” (from the promotional flier). We are excited about the opportunity to pursue this biblical goal.
Earlier this week, the organizers of the conference were contacted and interviewed by our local paper, the Redding Record Searchlight. As a part of the interview, the organizers stated repeatedly and explicitly that the purpose of the conference was not to “bash” a particular local group, known as Bethel Church. Bethel is a third-wave Pentecostal church in Redding which focuses on signs and wonders, and which has a huge following in our area.
The next morning the story hit the front page of the Local section of the Record Searchlight: “Schism emerges between Bethel Church and local pastors’ group.” As a relatively small city, without a plethora of sources of written news, I know that many of you read the Record Searchlight, at least on the weekends.
The article published in the newspaper, from the headline on down contains inflammatory language and misleads the Record Searchlight’s readers concerning the conference and its purpose.
