Today is a big day. An exciting brand new blog has been born. Confluence aims to be a meeting place where the reformed, charismatic, and missional streams coalesce. If like me you, “want it all” then this blog should immediately be added to your reading list. You can subscribe to it today by RSS or by email on the blog itself. It’s posts also appear on Twitter and I have added the feed to my list of Newfrontiers Twitterers.
I have had a sneak preview of some of what is coming, and like it very much! That is why today I make the unprecedented step of awarding this site a “Warnie” on the first day of its launch. The Warnie award is a recognition of blogging excellence which also means the headlines from the winning sites appear in my sidebar (or you can subscribe to the warnie feed, or follow it on twitter. This means that instead of managing your own reading list, if you want to stay in touch with the Christian blogosphere you can simply keep an eye on the links that are appearing on adrianwarnock.com. Only the very best in Christian blogs are afforded such an award, and this new site will not be a disappointment, of that I am sure.Here are some samples from the first two posts on the site.
John Lanferman tells us:
Newfrontiers is a family of churches together on mission comprised of many apostolic spheres joined by shared values, mission and relationship. We are essentially reformed in doctrine, charismatic in practice and take very seriously the Great Commission. We believe and are committed to the integrity of scripture while embracing the full expression of the Holy Spirit’s activity. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of mission, empowering the church community to be effective witnesses to the ends of the earth. We are committed to training leaders and planting churches in every nation and people group in the world. We have a passion for local churches that celebrate the triumph of grace, are secure in the finished work of Christ, full of the Holy Spirit and committed together to our world mission to glorify Jesus among the nations.
The terms “reformed” and “charismatic” can seem to be incongruent since Reformed teachers have tended to be Cessationists and Charismatics are often Arminians. However, it is worthy to note that the Word and the Spirit are not in conflict. In fact, Word and Spirit are quite intimately connected throughout scripture and press us into apostolic mission.
The ideas presented in this blog are designed to both inform and challenge. We want “Confluence” to be a welcome place for those who stand firm on the integrity of scripture and embrace the full activity of the Spirit’s present empowering work, along with a commitment of taking the gospel and planting churches throughout the earth. . . READ MORE
I was honored to be asked to contribute to the blog, here is how my post began:
When I was asked to write for this site it was an easy decision to make. Why, when I have a blog of my own? Quite simply because I believe passionately in this vision of bringing together three often quite separate strands in the modern church. I am eager to pursue being reformed, charismatic and missional.
How then do these three influences come together? The simple answer, would be to say that I believe they are biblical and leave it at that. But the things that I grew up with and took for granted do need explaining. More than 30 years ago, I began attending a church that valued the Bible, believed God was sovereign, worshipped him passionately, experienced and eagerly sought the gifts, and, judging by the constant stream of baptisms, was engaged in mission. To understand why these strands not only can but must come together, let’s look at what happens when we emphasize only one of them. . . READ MORE
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