Update on my speaking engagement in Nashville

Thank you to all who prayed for my talk at the Religion New Association's annual conference in Nashville last Saturday. It went extremely well.For those who don't know, I was invited to take part in a panel discussion titled "The New Revivalists," held at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. Julia Duin,  a getreligion.org writer, served as the moderator. The two other panelists who spoke with me were James Goll, president and founder of God Encounters Ministries, and Paula White, the senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Center and pastor to President Donald Trump. The audience included about 150 members of the media, representing major outlets including the Associated Press, Washington Post,  and the USA Today Network.Here's an overview of the panel in a nutshell. Each panelist spoke for 15 minutes. Goll kicked things off with his talk presenting a positive spin on NAR history. Then I gave my talk on NAR from a more critical perspective. White wrapped up with a defense of herself and President Trump from media attacks. The talks were followed by a Q-and-A session, which ran overtime due to so many questions from the reporters. Feedback was that this panel was one of the hottest sessions of the conference.The reporters' response to my talk was very encouraging, with many of them coming up afterward to talk with me and get my contact information for future interviews. From what I could tell, many of them didn't know about the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR)--and what a massive movement it is--prior to my talk.You can watch a video of the entire panel presentation here.  (This is the Religion News Association's public Facebook page. Scroll down to the September 9 posting titled "Panel: The New Revivalists.") You may notice how the panelist James Goll--a very influential NAR prophet--didn't directly respond to any of the major points of my critique. Rather he diverted by dismissing critics' concerns about NAR as pertaining only to excesses that can be found within the movement. He also implied that their critiques are based on an anti-supernatural bias.I also thought it was interesting that Goll tried to portray NAR as an outworking of the Protestant Reformation. Yet Martin Luther and the other reformers--the leaders of a movement based on the doctrine of sola scriptura--would recoil from the NAR notion of prophets and apostles revealing new truths. The idea that Luther received prophetic "illumination" of the true meaning of Ephesians 2:8-9--something Goll says during the panel--is a common teaching in NAR. But Luther didn't claim to discover a new, hitherto disguised sense of Ephesians 2:8-9. Nor have Protestants ever suggested that the discovery of the doctrine of justification by faith alone happened as a result of prophetic illumination. On the contrary, Protestants have emphasized the perspicuity of Scripture, the doctrine that, in matters concerning salvation, the teaching of Scripture is clear, plain for all to see, if they can but read the Bible for themselves. In short, Goll dishonors the Reformers by claiming continuity with their aims.NAR wasn't the only focus of the panel, as you'll see in the video. Paula White received a lot of media attention due to recent controversial comments she made about President Trump on Jim Bakker's show. You can read more about her comments here.I'd love to hear your thoughts about the panel.And, oh yes, I ran into one of my favorite singers in the hotel lobby and got a selfie with him! : )-----------Holly Pivec is the co-author of A New Apostolic Reformation?: A Biblical Response to a Worldwide Movement and God's Super-Apostles: Encountering the Worldwide Prophets and Apostles Movement. She has a master's degree in Christian apologetics from Biola University.