Today, in the tradition of my previous Arminocalvinist Spectrum, Evolution vs Creationism Spectrum and Spectrum of belief on hell and salvation  I present a “Charismatic-cessationist spectrum.”  For some more background on this issue, and a fairly typical charismatic perspective see my series of posts on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.  As usual this may be a bit of a living document for a couple of days as I welcome suggestions for improvement from others.

Intriguingly this spectrum is much harder to label than the previous ones.  There are many differing views about the role of the Spirit in the Church today, but the key differences are really the answers to a series of questions that do not always go together.  Some have tried to delineate the positions something like the list I created below  (and I would be very glad of any further comments), but a number of the following labels are not entirely accurate in that people will “pick and mix” on this issue somewhat.  In fact (and I do try to reflect this in the spectrum below) there are two distinct areas which are often not answered consistently: I call these charismatic beliefs and charismatic experiences.  Before reading the rest of the article, why not scroll down to the bottom of this article and take the following questionnaire to calculate your own personal “charismatic quotient” an idea I have developed from John Piper. My survey deliberately distinguishes between belief and practice, and I would welcome feedback on its validity.  But first, here is my attempt at delineating a charismatic-cessationist spectrum:

1. Strong cessationist  Perhaps this is something of a caricature, but there are a number of Christians who would basically deny that a modern Christian can have any sort of relationship with God today except  exclusively though prayerfully reading the Bible.  God’s word to us today would be entirely  limited to reading the Scriptures, and some would not expect any kind of excitement or emotion about the Christian’s time of worship.  Many in groups below would accuse these people of having a relationship with a book rather than the living God, while they would presumably dismiss all reports of divine activity today as either lies or delusions.  It is debatable how many people would truly be in this group. It should be noted, however, that when Piper wrote about how he heard the voice of God, some did criticise him for sounding too charismatic, when in fact his experience of God speaking to him through the Bible would surely have been entirely consistent for anyone who was a moderate cessationist.

2. Historic cessationist  I have often argued that prior to the pentecostal and charismatic movements, the mainstream view seems to have been one which claimed that God was very much active today, and was aware of the potential for a living relationship with him.  In fact, there have been many documented descriptions of what a charismatic today would call a word of knowledge, or a healing, or a prophecy associated with previous heroes of the faith.  But many of them would have been theologically cessationist, in that they would not have described their experiences with the language of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  There are many today who would also feel comfortable with descriptions of an experience of God, perhaps believing in a “call” to ministry, but who would not believe that gifts continue. In fact, it is very possible for someone in a group like this to have what some would term a stronger so-called “charismatic” experience than someone who would be theologically charismatic.  It is vital to remember that not only charismatics believe in the Holy Spirit, and some of the arguments are about terminology (see this article for example).  It is fair to say that most people who claim to be a cessationist have at least some sense of a personal relationship with God.

3. Aspirational charismatic  This is a term I have shamelessly stolen from Ed Stetzer who seams to have coined the phrase.  It seems to be something of a majority view among many reformed people today, especially younger ones who have read Grudem, and perhaps watched Piper or Driscoll sermons online. People in this group are theologically convinced that gifts of the Spirit are at least potentially available today. Many would not have seen any gifts in operation, or at least not in a safe, controlled environment.  At an emotional or experiential level, many might even have more distrust for the gifts in actual operation than some who call themselves a cessationist.

This is, in my view, despite its popularity, an inherently unstable position.  This is because it is a fact of human nature that our beliefs influence our behavior in every area. It would, for example, be odd indeed if someone claimed to be a baptist but did not practice adult baptism.  I suspect that many in this group of necessity will eventually either have to embrace a pursuit of the Spirit and his gifts more actively, or retreat into historic cessationism.

4. Third Wave charismatic  Popularised by the Vineyard and men like Sam Storms, this position would definitely be open to gifts, and will often have a significant experience of them. It rejects any notion of a “subsequent” Holy Spirit baptism, however.  (See Sam Storms detailed article.) It is perhaps an unfortunate term and I wish I could come up with a better one, but for the record, the term reflects the fact that this view was dominant among a historically distinct movement subsequent to both the charismatic movement of the 1960s and the pentecostal movement of the early 20th century. (see wikipedia on the three waves of the Spirit’s activity in the last century)  Some in this movement have adopted the term “continuationist” to distinguish themselves from other charismatics.

5. Strong charismatic This position advocates an eager pursuit of the Holy Spirit and all his gifts.  It would also advocate a distinct experience of the Spirit’s filling or Baptism with the Holy Spirit.  Prophecy, tongues, and other gifts would be common in these circles, but most charismatics would not insist on tongues as being the only or necessary evidence of the Spirit’s baptism.  Many point to Lloyd-Jones description of the “sealing” with the Spirit which gives assurance, and is associated with the love of God being poured out into our hearts as the root of the experience, with gifts being important but stemming from this anointing in which God visibly acknowledges our sonship. Advocates of this position would argue that receiving the Spirit is a conscious thing that may not happen at conversion. These would agree that every believer is regenerated by the Spirit and in-dwelt by him, but not every believer is conscious of a relationship with God through the Holy Spirit. Believers are urged to seek and “receive” the Holy Spirit as experienced in the book of Acts.

6. Apostolic  In addition to all the points in the “strongly charismatic” position, these people believe that Ephesians 4 ministries are all to be expected, recognized and released in the global Church today.  If this view is new to you, and you want to understand it further, I strongly recommend Terry Virgo’s book The Spirit Filled Church, followed by Dave Devenish’s Fathering Leaders, Motivating Mission, or why not just attend our next 300 leaders conference here in London?  In case you are a new reader, it is this group that I fall into, despite (just like Devenish and Virgo) being firmly in the reformed camp.

7. Traditional Pentecostal or “tongues as the initial evidence” Some traditional pentecostals would agree with the strong charismatic position, and in some cases the apostolic also.  In some cases they have emphasized tongues to such an extent that it becomes a necessary sign that God has granted the baptism of the Holy Spirit to someone.  This position is far from universal among pentecostals, as this interview I did with Jack Hayford makes clear, and sometimes can be misunderstood with to a closely related position that encourages people to expect and pray for tongues, but without making them an absolute requirement.  Again, I am struggling for a label here, so any suggestions very welcome!

8. Extreme charismatic This label is intended for a disparate group of people who emphasise an experience of gifts to such an extent that at least one doctrinal position held by other evangelicals is displaced. Most seriously, some would begin to de-emphasise the role of the Bible in testing gifts, and even in some cases allow a so-called “revelation” to trump the clear teaching of the Bible. Some have argued that since we have a “now” word we do not even need the Bible at all! Clearly this is the way a non-Christian cult can arrise, and it is striking how often “angels” have apparently appeared to people and taught things contrary to Scripture.

Less apparently extreme (and not always stemming from a denial of the Bible), but dangerous nonetheless we see a revaluation of “standard” doctrines among some in this group, perhaps because of a feeling of alienation from mainstream evangelicalism. So, for example, the doctrine of the Trinity can sometimes be denied (eg “oneness pentecostals“), or the notion of God blessing the believer is taken to an extreme where any sickness is a sign of unbelief, or speaking in tongues is seen as necessary for salvation.  Most charismatics and pentecostals would strongly repudiate all of these positions.

So, there are some of the labels, but how charismatic are YOU in your beliefs and practices? Please complete the survey below and let us know what you think of it! You are welcome to remain anonymous if you prefer!

Yesterday I promised to blog about the two other speakers at the next 300 Leaders conference. Dave Devenish should be no stranger to regular readers of this blog, as I have serialised a chapter of his outstanding book Fathering Leaders, Motivating Mission, and interviewed him. His is a remarkable man who gave up a successful career in international banking to serve Jesus. Content to minister alongside Terry Virgo, he has been a massive part of what God has been doing through Newfrontiers for decades. He has seen churches planted in many nations. His recent book, based on teaching he has been developing for years, has helped bring definition to church oversight. If you have ever heard people speak about apostles today and wondered what they mean by that, coming to 300 leaders to hear Dave preach will massively benefit you. If you are already part of an apostolic movement (which Stetzer has observed are growing in influence globally) you will learn how this gift can help you connect with the global mission God has called his church to. Whatever your church background, this next 300 leaders will be a great benefit to you.

Those who have wondered what the future holds for Newfrontiers now that Terry Virgo has laid down his day-to-day leadership of our movement will do well to hear from Mike Betts. Mike is one of a significant number of apostolic figures that were recognised at our final conference in Brighton. Over the last few years Mike has established a group of churches that relate together, and reach out on mission. It is this gathering together of churches to serve the mission of God that is a key gift that we need to see released more and more. The future of Newfrontiers is secure because God is raising up many like Mike who will care for the established churches, and drive missional expansion. Mike has also developed a real strength in working closely with prophetic ministry and will be sharing about how this partnership can propel us into mission.

The need of our nation is urgent. The call for churches to grow and plant other churches is strong. I am convinced that this day conference will help us. I hope to see you there!

It is a real pleasure to me to let you know that Tope has invited our friend Bob Roberts to be one of three speakers at the next 300 leaders event. Bob has a message that the global church needs to hear. The church he founded has grown dramatically. Bob has helped to plant over 100 churches. He travels to places most American evangelicals wouldn’t, including Vietnam and the Middle East. Bob urges both global and local engagement by every church member. He is also still very keen to learn from others, as evidenced by his recent invitation to Terry Virgo to minister freely in his church, and his gathering of church movement leaders from other nations.

Bob is someone every church leader should be aware of. He is someone every church leader would benefit from listening to. I have sat with him for an hour or two and massively enjoyed his company, and since then have strengthened my friendship with him over Twitter. I strongly encourage you if you are within a reasonable traveling distance of London (and arguably most cities in the world are!) to consider coming to this remarkable event. Tomorrow I will tell you a bit more about the other two speakers who I am also very excited about learning from.

In the meantime, please do visit http://300leaders.org and book in!

Calling All Leaders

Written by Curt McCutchan

Church leaders have an ongoing need for fresh inspiration in their active lives. As leaders we are constantly in need of renewed vision, training and equipping to lead others in new or better ways and rich times in God’s presence. Leaders also need good friendships that provide joy and strength to their hectic lives. It can be a challenge to find time and resources to get these accomplished.

The Equipped For Mission (EFM) Leadership Conference offered by Newfrontiers USA can be a real oasis for leaders to be envisioned and refreshed by God and other leaders. The conference takes place on September 29 – October 1 in St. Louis and will feature Terry Virgo and Ed Stetzer as keynote speakers.

Why come to EFM?

What makes EFM different from other church leadership conferences? First, you will hear some outstanding messages that are both inspiring and relevant to your life. Terry Virgo who founded the international family of churches called Newfrontiers is one of the outstanding patriarchs of our day. He is a father of a large movement and yet hasn’t lost momentum. He is a marvelous Bible expositor whose love for scripture, for Christ and for the mission of the church has only grown and matured over time. John Lanferman notes, “Terry’s messages are not only good teaching, they will connect with your heart and change your life.” Ed Stetzer is a missional church planter who brings information and tools that are culturally relevant for the church today. He will challenge leaders to get engaged in bringing the gospel into the real life of their community. He will stir church planters and will help established churches move toward a missional approach in all we do.

There will also be practical seminars to help leaders of all levels in serving people. Tim Chambers from Joplin, Mo. will discuss how to help people who are suffering and in crisis. Josh Kouri from Frontline Church in Oklahoma City (an Acts 29 church) will speak on how to bring the prophetic into your church and mission. Wendy Virgo will bring a strengthening teaching for the women.

The EFM conference is a “hands-on” opportunity to experience the Newfrontiers values of the Word and the Spirit. There will be rich times of worship and prayer along with the joy of meeting new and old friends over meals and at the Friday night dinner with its music and fun.

Established and up-in-coming leaders from any movement are invited to join us – you don’t need to already be a part of Newfrontiers to come to EFM. For more information or to register, click here for all the details.

Thanks to http://www.confluenceblog.com for this post.

During Adrian’s month away from the blog, he has hand-picked a selection of the most popular posts of the year so far to re-run.

Today we feature,  “PJ Smyth on suffering, sickness and healing.” PJ Smyth’s practical theology of healing and suffering came out of his personal experience of cancer. This was not just another TOAM talk.  Picked up within minutes of posting by Matt Chandler, who has had his own battle with brain cancer, this post is very helpful and has been read by many poeple.  One day you will face your own suffering.  Prepare yourself beforehand by reading this and/or listening to the sermon itself: PJ Smyth on suffering, sickness and healing

In this interview I ask David about his new book, Fathering Leaders, Motivating Mission.

Desiring God 2011 National Conference

I have attended a DGM conference in the past, and it was a real blessing to me. I highly recommend that you consider attending it.  Among others speaking there is my friend Ed Stetzer, who I think is the Christian speaker with the broadest reach today – he gets everywhere!

The theme of this year’s Desiring God National Conference is “Finish the Mission: For the Joy of All Peoples, Bringing the Gospel to the Unreached and Unengaged.” The event will take place in Minneapolis, MN on September 23 – 25, 2011.

We are pleased to announce that Louie Giglio, David Platt, Michael Ramsden, Michael Oh, Ed Stetzer, along with John Piper will be bringing the plenary addresses at this year’s conference.

For more information or to register please click here: Desiring God 2011 National Conference

A few people have been asking if I could share the TOAM song lists. Ever one to oblige, and thanks to my friends at Newfrontiers, here they are:

It was great to grab a few minutes with Steve Tibbert, another friend of mine who recently had a book published. You can read more about his book here on the blog.

My favorite quote from this interview was “The way you build can hinder growth, but growth ultimately comes from God, God grows things, God saves people.”

I apologize for the audio quality on this one. Fortunately it was the only one I did outside!

TOAM may now be finished, Newfrontiers has definitely not hosted its last conference, however! For those of you who are on the other side of the pond, and have been enjoying updates from Together On a Mission, now it is your turn!  This September, why not join us for a Newfrontiers conference in St Louis?  I am thrilled that I am planning to attend this conference and look forward to seeing you there!

The Equipped For Mission (EFM) Leadership Conference offered by Newfrontiers USA can be a real oasis for leaders to be envisioned and refreshed by God and other leaders. The conference takes place on September 29 – October 1 in St. Louis and will feature Terry Virgo and Ed Stetzer as keynote speakers.

The EFM conference is a “hands-on” opportunity to experience the Newfrontiers values of the Word and the Spirit.

For more information click here: Newfrontiers USA Leadership Conference 2011

It was sad not to have my wife with me this year at Brighton. But I was very grateful to two men who tried to fill her shoes, at least in terms of photography during the sessions. I think you will agree that they did well. So, a big thank you to the two professional photographers who took all the pictures you will have seen on here over the past week. If you are looking for a photographer you could do a lot worse than booking either of them:

• Anthony Hurren
• Chris Johnson

Terry Virgo ‘s blog redesign launched today.  It looks really nice, pop over and check it out. There are interviews, sermons, blog posts, and a calendar of future events. Terry is coming to the USA for several weeks later in the year, you would do well to come and attend one of these events.

Dave Holden began by giving tribute to Terry and Wendy Virgo. We are not saying goodbye to them. As we are going into a new phase together so they are going into a new phase for them as well. They will continue to bring input into us. We choose to turn to them and say “we are so glad you are still around, we want your input, please speak into our lives.” However, we need to release them to be those who shape not only this family of churches, but others all around the world. The more we release them, the more doors will open for them.

We are praying for them, that these next years will be far more fruitful than all the years they have served us put together. This era is over Newfrontiers is in really good hands. If Terry and Wendy can walk away from it, that shows the confidence you can have in those you have fathered. David specifically thanked Wendy for all her hours of love, support and prayer. Her constant enthusiasm and excitement, a childlike faith about everything. If it wasn’t for Terry there are lots of people who would never be in a room like this. He has lead us with such an amazing example and model for all of us how we should lead. “We want to do it the way you have.”

There was then a spontaneous ovation for Terry and Wendy, which is not something we typically do.

Dave used to always be the young guy, which meant he usually opened events like this. Now he is old and he gets to close it. He has spent the whole week listening to amazing teaching and wondering if there is anything left to say. It is important that we end this conference by looking forward. In 2008 Mark Driscoll urged us to consider our future, as there is a danger of a movement like this becoming a monument. One aspect of our response to this is the end of a conference. It is also the end of the way we have worked so far. From now on things will be different. You can go through a whole conference and think things will go on the same. It wont. It will look different, feel different, be different. If people don’t say things have changed something is wrong. Things have to change in the magnitude of what we do.

There are some people who we think of as being in the premier league. We have seen ourselves as little league people. From now on, it is as though we move into the premier league. Play differently, see things differently, different view of ourselves. It is not elitist. But there are a whole load of people watching us. They are wondering whether this transition will work. There is something negative about always seeing yourself in the lower leagues. It is God who is promoting us and saying now it is time to really move forward. We know our past. We are uncertain of our future. As one apostolic ministry multiplies into many it is no well-worn paths again.

Is there a connection between our past and our future? Some remarkable similarities. Going to be obviously Newfrontiers. David saw a picture recently of him at 18. Once David was very thin, he had dark hair, the old picture is like looking at his son Daniel. So much of him that is there in his son. The way he stands, turns. Similar with his sister. We carry into our future a certain DNA, a heritage, legacy, foundation, experience. People will still be honoring the continuity. Are there treasures to be kept alive? Paul takes things from the past and entrusts them to Timothy for a future he knows he will not see. 1 Tim 6:20. Guard what has been entrusted to your care. 2 Tim 2:2. Entrust to reliable men who can teach others. Many other new faces are yet to be added to the picture. This is not a static team that will be the same for ever. This thing called Newfrontiers will keep multiplying.

Philippians 2

Those who have been involved since the beginning would make this our prayer. “Make our joy complete.” The way to do this is how we have stayed together this far. There have always been many strong men with strong calling, and a strong sense of call. Yet we have chosen to stay together and remain one. Now you go and do likewise.

Five phrases that form the foundation of how this will work

1. Being like-minded. You can be an individual with strong views but be like-minded. Agreement, compatible, harmonious, in accord, of one mind, unanimous, en rapport. On the same wavelength. On the same page. Three areas that have aided our like-mindedness that will continue:

a. History You cannot ignore our common story. It is your story now. Full of experiences, challenges, lessons, joys. It is what holds us together. Very foolish to walk away from all those experiences.

b. Values Agreed together. They are biblical values more than they are “Newfrontiers values.” They are not imposed upon us. They are freely embraced by all of us. Values may be worked out differently. Terry’s latest book is saying “Here is the kind of church we believe in, and these are it’s values.”

c. The prophetic These prophecies have never been about one man, one team, or one generation. We carry these words about bows and arrows, being an Armada, millions of pounds, millions of people. They shape us. They have yet to be completely fulfilled. The UK apostolic guys are still going to be coming together. The real purpose of that is because of the prophetic. So for example, 1000 churches will not come from one apostolic sphere.

2. Having the same love Relationships. If these friendships are not there, no future exists for us. Newfrontiers will not survive without relationships. It is our choice to work relationally. We are a relational people joined together. Investing time, energy and money to stay together. Not about meetings. Most done outside of a conference. They go to lots of meetings when they travel. But it is also about being with people and sharing life. If all we do is bounce off one another in meetings we will not see the desires that we have become a reality. Paul’s affection for his churches is quite overwhelming. He talks about brothers, names and a family. People have watched with genuine envy over the years at our relationships. The fun we have, the way we tease one another, the depth of fellowship. It is very attractive. It is such a strong part of our past this affection. So for example when Simon Petit died even those who had never spoken with him felt the pain of the loss. Future relationships is not guaranteed. But it sure is in our DNA. These relationships must go higher in our priority for the future. There are lots of movements that have no relationships. Because we are full of weakness we need one another. You get a lot of fun! Dave was being “bigged up” by someone who was introducing him and his wife tugged on his trousers and said “if half of those things he just said about you were true I would have never married you.” We are all human. Stop taking yourself so seriously! We have had so much fun together. There is genuine sacrifice and cost, it is real. Though that is real so is this as well. 3.

Being one in Spirit Ephesians 4:3 It is the Person of the Holy Spirit. Beyond doctrine, our likes and dislikes, prophetic there is a work of the Spirit. We come from different backgrounds, it is supernaturally held together. It was birthed in the Holy Spirit. It was maintained by the Spirit. This must be part of our future. We want more Holy Spirit rather than less. We are not dialing down on the things of the Holy Spirit. We want to be filled with the Spirit, drenched with the Spirit. 4.

One in purpose We are together on a mission. Transition and multiplication is for us the next phase in us playing our part in fulfilling the Commission. We are only one small part of the glorious church. Have we fulfilled our church planting purpose? No! There is so much to be done. Have we finished making disciples? No. Do we need to train more leaders? Yes! Our purpose goes with us from our past and into our future. 5.

The right attitudes to one another v5 What was the attitude? No grasping equality, making himself as nothing, making himself a servant. It is a kind of death moment. In order for us to do this, we must die to my reputation, my ego, my ministry. It is not about me and mine it is about us. V9 Nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Self-promotion, and being puffed up, building things to me as a person, being territorial. 1 Corinthians 3:4 Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything. The reality can be something different. Who are we? We are servants! There is a godly ambition that glorifies God, there is a selfish ambition which glorifies myself. If there are any of us that have selfish ambition it is time to get rid of it for the sake of what we can do together. We must think of others as better than ourselves. Look to the interests of others. Independent spheres doing their own thing is not the atmosphere of the NT. Mutual interdependence. Not about doing their own thing. Accountability is crucial.

Dave hopes that the new apostolic teams will still feel that they want their teams to know that they can go and talk to someone else if they are not happy with them, that they will have accountability into their lives, marriages, and ministries. A generous spirit is needed. We are meant to be interdependent. People are to be shared between us as well. Away with competition. This attitude that was there in Christ Jesus.

Verse 9 speaks about the resurrection. Because of his willingness to not grasp equality God highly exalts him. The death of something resulted in he is raised from the dead. Death and seed int eh ground produces new life, more fruit and multiplication. John 12:23. If it dies it produces many seeds. We die to something and the result will be increase, life, many seeds. To get to Stoneleigh we had to die to the small minded mentality of “small group of churches in the south of England.” We had to die to close Stoneleigh. All that we are today because we died to something then. Today is no exception. Today we die again, and we will see multiplication again. The small becomes large. An acorn becomes a forest. Of the increase of Jesus’ government and peace there will be no end.

Those who know me well would not be at all surprised that this morning there was nowhere else I would rather be than listening to my own pastor, Tope Koleoso. Lex Loizedes was very warm in his introduction to my leader and dear friend. Tope began by reading some verses on Exodus 25.

He said he was planning to speak on

• The importance of prayer
• The place of worship
• Preaching

The importance of prayer

The atmosphere you are in when you get saved sets you up in the Kingdom of God. In Africa, the theology is not known for its depth. But it knows a few things well: God is big, he is good, there is nothing he cannot do. You learn to be comfortable in an atmosphere of faith.

The preachers would almost dare you not to believe in God. They would boast about God, then you would see that God really was doing what they said. The gap between NT life and what his experience as he was growing up wasn’t so large. In Africa they know of all their small “gods” and so they think this huge God will do stuff. The Western Church spends too long trying to escape the God who did mighty works then, and will do them now. Tope said it was only when he came to the UK many years ago that he came to realize that there is a tame version of God who is very quiet and “behaves himself.” Coming to the West he feels he has learnt a lot of things theologically. He knows that there is a danger of over-realized eschatology, and that we must have the Scriptures in its entirety. We need a balanced walk, but not one that is bringing everything downwards but upwards. We want all that Jesus came to teach and do as the Scripture says. It is not enough to teach, there has to be a doing.

Tope continues to be expectant about what God will do in this land. We have to press into all that God will do. He went to some villages to preach the gospel in Nigeria after university. You explain the simple truth of the gospel, but you have to back it up! Now its prayer time. These people are like children. If you tell them Jesus heals, then they want you to pray for them immediately. They brought the blind man in the village. He was nervous. This isn’t migraine, he can’t see! Trusting God and scared at the same time. Those mixed emotions are inside you. You have to come to the end of yourself. Your job is to have egg on your face on account of Jesus and then he shows up. Having boasted about you Jesus, I am now about to die, but at least I am dying on your account. When the man said he could now see, Tope was shocked. The Lord will move despite you.

Tope’s faith does not just come from those things. There is a theological foundation for faith. You have to either believe this stuff or you don’t. All Scripture is profitable, including the healing and deliverance part. The miracles are crucial. In the book of John the miracles are a sign to point people to a person. Jesus sends messengers back to John saying “tell him there is healing and the gospel being preached.”

Bringing the gospel to people is the pinnacle of it all. Jesus ministry had four aspects. We must capture all those aspects. We need to demonstrate power, but do it in a way that engages culture. Sometimes we can capture a sense of the presence of God but it becomes a holy huddle that unbelievers don’t come to. Our position as charismatics is not just a theological position that we have theoretical acceptance of it. That is not being charismatic, that is not being people of the Spirit. We should not only love the miraculous we need to seek it. It must not, however, be disengaging to the very people that Jesus came to save. It can be unhelpful, untasteful. There is a way that we ought to be that the power of God is there, yet there is nothing happening that the unbeliever can’t stand it. The plan is not to have a happy holy huddle party. We must connect with people who stray into our services who are engaged and say “I don’t get it all, but I want it all.”

There is a tension: how do we do the charismatic without diluting it or despising it but in such a way that culture is engaged.

The Kingdom of God Nothing to do with medieval gothic castles. A better kingdom would come the OT is told. John the Baptist comes and says, “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” Jesus says, “the Kingdom is in your midst, it is amongst you.” When we are hungry for it, we should expect to always see his presence among us. The kingdom is a realm of authority with rulership.

A realm - where you know that God is working here. God is everywhere but there is a focused demonstration of his presence. The lines fall in pleasant places. God is everywhere but there is a specific manifestation of his activity.

A rule where the presence and power of God has rule. His law has sway. If the power of God is here, what will he do? If Jesus is here, what do the “better things” look like? The Kingdom is invisible. You know it exists because of what Jesus does. Things are happening. The invisible kingdom through you and I is constantly being made visible. Everywhere you go you have a realm. When Jesus is in the synagogue someone breaks up the meeting by shouting out. Jesus silenced him. Dealt with him, cast it out. Jesus put the demon out of the man, very often we put the man out of the church. The Kingdom of God goes beyond powerpoint and all that stuff. The presence of the Lord is where it is at. We are agents of the Kingdom. Darkness gives way to light.

The reign of his kingdom there will be know end. It is enduring, unshakable. Matthew 4 says preach, teach heal and deliver. The Western church only wants to do the first two. Often the signs come and then the explanation. If we want to hold to the full-orbed beauty of the gospel then we should embrace this. Salvation is not just a destiny, “I am saved.” That is true, it is everything. But it goes beyond a destination to a destiny. Christ being formed in the inside of you and you become an agent. Not just a lovely church. Not enough to be lovely sheep that get cared for, put to sleep in the evening, woken up in the morning and pastored well. In some churches nothing happens. Sometimes leaders get in the way of what God wants us to do.

How do we do all this stuff?

It is all initiated by prayer

Cultivated by worship

Culminates in preaching that brings it together.

Prayer

Corporate prayer is dropping out of the diary in many churches. There are different kinds of prayer. We need to learn to grasp intercessory prayer. It is like getting pregnant with something. You travail in prayer until this thing is brought forth. It is not about going strange. The weird stuff comes form the weird one, the devil. It is not all about shouting and gesticulating. However, when you are pregnant with a burden for signs, especially as a leader, it ways you down to your leads and you get to the end of yourself and you have to travail in prayer on and on and being persistant in sustained fervent prayer. The people in church history who moved in the Spirit’s power were all men of prayer. There comes a righteous indignation. Not just vented out as a politician. You do the job in prayer first. The prayer house becomes the engine of the church. IF we forfeit corporate prayer, we forfeit a lot. We will see churches that look like God is there, but he is not. A woman giving birth doesn’t look like Mrs Bucket drinking her tea. It all goes kind of crazy for a moment. There is groaning and weeping. Crying out to God. There will be raised voices. There is a sense of doing business with God. Effectual, fervent prayer. There comes a point where you know it’s done. In side you know it will be fine. When you are crying out to God for the signs and wonders we have to do it like this. HE is God and you are not! That is a good big lesson learn. Do what you say Lord. Sometimes things wont turn out the way you think it will. We don’t always see the full fruit. How long does this take? It can take months. Things we do back at Jubilee are birthed in prayer not just a good idea.

Binding and loosing is Biblical. It was all done at the cross. But we are bringing it down. Hinder, confine the work of the enemy. Ushering in a very concentrated way the Kingdom of God to a place. There can be areas of life that have had demonic intrusion. Jesus dealt with all of these things.

Isaiah 37 shows that you can have the vision but not enough strength to push through. Prayer is the lacking ingredient. Romans 8:26 Spirit helps us. At the very least that verse is about energizing. But a lot of that is done through speaking in tongues. Tope starts counseling sessions with prayer. Sometimes you can speak for one hour but perhaps one line which came from God is what really helps. Pray before worship session. Prayer meeting every Saturday morning 8am. Not the whole church but 120 people or so. We thank God for all that he has done. We seek his face. We worship. We pray for his presence. Sometimes we ask people to walk through the room we meet in and pray. It is not that we are praying for chairs. It came from Tope seeing Jesus walking in the rows. We are saying “Lord come, would you. Someone is going to sit here. If they are a Christian bless them, if they are a non Christian please happen to them, let hands go up.” Prayer is the engine in the background. We also have 10pm to 2am prayer meeting monthly. Pray for the nations, mission, our church, personal situations. That is the travail time. Our people learn how to pray. If you are not careful we do practical things in clever ways and God no longer goes out with our armies.

2. Our worship time

What are you looking for? It is not primarily miracles. You have to go to the miracle maker. You have to go to the real powerpoint! It is Jesus that you want. It is his powerful pervasive presence you want to see. Sometimes non Christians say, I just couldn’t stop crying. God is doing something inside them. They don’t get everything that is going on, but they get enough. And nothing that happened scared them off. Call the people who’s heart moves them. It won’t be all of them. If you build the offering, God says he will come. If you build it for me I will come. Not if you will build it for the miracles. Not if you build it for the unbeliever. I will dwell with you. V22 I will meet you there, I will speak to you there, I will give to you there. Gifts of the Spirit will come. How do you engage the culture? When people come and they sense the presence it is everything. Where his presence is he moves. You don’t have to become a man in a white suit. I am a charismatic with a big C and all that stuff tires him out despite being a Nigerian! It doesn’t have to look like that. You have to get beyond the styles. I don’t want anything that distracts people from Jesus. When it is him it can even look weird, and it doesn’t feel weird. That is the problem with certain kinds of prophecy and screaming out. Nothing will shock him. We do want people to cry out to God, but I want it to be God. When it is the enemy or human flesh it has the tendency to freeze people into their seats. When it is of God it frees them. We must not let anyone make us forfeit the real thing because they are have not been taught right. Focus people back on Jesus. The prophetic changes the climate and moves people on. We need people to be free in the presence of the Lord. Get their hands out of their pockets somehow. People are tougher than you think. You are in a safe place. Sometimes they spend a whole week without touching another human being. That shouldn’t be the case at Church. The expression fo the charismatic need not be foaming at the mouth, to be weird. We are not trying to dumb it down, we are trying to release the real thing. It goes beyond the blessed thought. We should offer to pray for people boldly even back at work.

3. Preaching

Jews want a sign, Greeks wisdom, we preach Christ. It is all about Jesus. Jesus really is better. What is it you are doing? Preaching is not just about communication. It is not just about presentation. It is not just about giving instructions to people. All these things matter. At its root it is a delivery system for the word of God to bring the life of God into people. You are wanting that Christ be formed in them. They know that their redeemer really lives. Jesus is worshiped. There is an atmosphere of faith. When it is just doctrinal cold theology it can be arthritic, calcified and dead. They become students of you and not disciples of Jesus. Draw men to him.

Paul goes to Ephesus in Acts 19 and he finds a handful of believers (which is how some church plants start) He asks “When you believe, did you receive?” He wouldn’t start the church plant until they are full of the Spirit. Then he rents a hall and stays for 2 years. They became disciples, and mouthed the gospels everywhere. The church grew. Its not just clever methods its about a mighty God who says I want my kingdom to come amongst you. These things don’t happen over a weekend. It is accumulated truth over ythe time. If the power goes out and church dies then we know where you get your power from! It was never about that power, it was about Jesus.

In our churches the point is that we need to pray more, and let the power of God be pervasive.

As this is such a historic evening, I decided I would at least attempt to live blog. How you live blog a prayer meeting and worship party is a challenge! I cant really capture the amazing sense of celebration that was there. But it was in this massive sense of jubilation and faith that we united to storm the heavens.

Lee Yarborough who leads the team based in Mexico led us in praying for Latin America. We prayed first for church plants in Rio, Brazil and in Bolivia. In Mexico several church plants are under way. They have also recently sent a lady to be trained in foundations for farming in Zimbabwe. On her return she has planted some land following these principles and soon plans to take them to others. Helping people increase their yield of food is a powerful way of helping the poor and demonstrating the love of God. We then prayed for the whole of the America’s and asked God for a great harvest of souls in all those countries.

John Lanferman who leads the team based in the USA explained that his vision is to plant 100 reproducing churches in the top 100 cities of the world. We focused our prayer on our Newfrontiers church plant in Chicago which has a population of almost 10 million. It is a melting pot city that is crucial for us to see the gospel extended in. The plant has doubled in recent months. We want to see more growth, the release of a larger venue, and more leadership to emerge. There is already a social justice burden the plant is feeling for human trafficking that is a major problem there.

Jeremy Simpkins leads a Newfrontiers apostolic team based in the North of England, but also works into Canada among other nations. He introduced my old friend Rhys and Sarah Scott who are going to move in 8 weeks to plant a grace-filled Spirit-empowered church in Vancouver. It is a multicultural city. Over 50% do not have English as a first language. People call it hongcouver as there are so many Asian people. We prayed for the team to grow and for salvation in the early days of the plant.

David Stroud then led us to pray for the UK who gathers the team of apostles based in the UK. Antonymous apostolic spheres are being recognized, and we are staying together. We need rockets and pilots. One incredible statistic that was shared is that there are 105 people groups in the UK, around 20 of which would be described as unreached. We prayed for a massive increase in the number of churches we have in this nation, which is currently 240.

We cried out for revival in the UK. It was great to hear thousands praying passionately for a massive powerful breakout in this nation. David Stroud then urged churches to be looking for the most intractable problems in our communities, and pray that we could be involved in solving it. We need the grace and wisdom on the church so that we would do our communities good.

We then turned to pray for mainland European nations. We have a great burden to see churches planted into city after city. There are 27 nations in the EU and a total of 40 in broader EU. Lord, would you give us at least one church in each nation? Multiplication of apostolic teams across Europe. Many of these nations have tiny numbers of evangelical people.

We prayed more specifically for Finland, and Helsinki. We believe God will open a door for us, but nothing much has happened. But now there are some people interested in seeing a plant there. We still need a key team leader for that.

Also Stockholm in Sweden. We have a number of churches in Scandanavia. This is a critical place. Phil Whital is flying tomorrow am to Sweden with his family. Aiming for the church to grow. Praying for that to become a bridgehead. One of the leading secular nations. We need to see demonstration of God’s power in that city.

We prayed for Berlin where we have a church plant on the ground. They are in the very heart of the city and going public this autumn. 82.5 million people live in Germany.

We also prayed for St Petersberg where our church plant has outgrown its building in just 18 months. They are already thinking about other towns nearby.

Istanbul was also prayed for where 15 million people live and we have a church planting team. Their goal is to launch publicly this September.

We then prayed for Africa, John KpiKpi who leads Newfrontiers West Africa led us. They have a number of churches, and have a media work with radio and TV preaching. There are Newfrontiers churches in Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Togo, Liberia, and Seirra Leione. In every costal city which tended to be capitals they want to plant churches that will then reach out. We also prayed for Cote DeVoir.

Edward Burio who leads our East Africa team, led us in prayer for Ethiopia where they are seeking to see the church in the capital to grow further into an apostolic base. We celebrated that we have churches in the worlds newest nation: Southern Sudan. We are working into other nations there.

Guy Miller who heads a Newfrontiers apostolic team that supports the work in India led us to pray to this nation with 1.2 billion people. There are 2,223 unreached people groups there. There are 43 cities with more than a million people. India will soon be the largest nation in the world. We have many churches there already with national leadership. Praying for more church plants. There are 34 churches and plants all going on, there are 25 new opportunities. The church in New Delhi is doing well. There are churches of thousands emerging in other movements, God is working in the nation. Vinu who leads the church in Mumbai asked that we pray his church would grow to be a mega church.

Pete Brooks who leads the pacific rim team, led us to pray for that region. Tom Eaton, a great friend of mine leads a Newfrontiers church in Japan and we prayed for that nation as well as Cambodia.

Then we prayed for all the new apostolic team leaders who are taking responsibility together with their wives.

The people prayed for were:

Andrey Bondorenko, Karen Khachatrynyan, Pavel Savaliev, Valery Seleznev, Yuri Selenznev (not here), Vladimir Gorbochev (not here), Pervez Sohail, Pete Brooks, Mike Betts, John Lanferman, John KpiKpi, Jeremy Simpkins, Edward Buria, Steve Oliver, Scott Marques, PJ Smyth, Stephen Van Rhyn, Guy Miller, and Lee Yarborough.

I found myself thinking at the end of the evening, when you think what God has done through one apostolic team, what will he do through this multiplication of teams?

Terry explained that he felt God say to him that for this session he should “Just sit down and talk to them.” He explained that he had been looking at the last part of Hebrews, and it was good stuff but it wasn’t coming into a sermon form. He felt God said to him “what would you like to stay at this historic moment?” As Ginny prophesied tonight would be “a coming of age party” for Newfrontiers. So Terry wanted to highlight some things that really matter to him. What has been helping him over the decades?

1. Everything is God’s initiative. Its true historically, theologically. It is God who initiated. It is the Mission of God. We are not trying to draw God into our mission. He gives us the chance to get caught up in his mission. God came to us while we were helpless, dead, enemies of God. We weren’t seeking God. God knew you from before time, before he created anything. He chose us, we didn’t choose him. God’s free grace runs through our DNA as a movement. God came to us in amazing mercy. It has given us a sense of destiny. There is a purpose about my life. I didn’t stumble on this. God had an idea before he interrupted my life. God chose us in spite of who we are. “The grace of God upon my life is not dependent on me, on what I have done or deserved.” Terry spoke of a time recently where he was singing that song and couldn’t continue for laughing at the wonder of what God did with him, a backslidden Christian.  God has a purpose for us and he broke in. We should ask him, Lord I want to know what you have called me for.

2. God’s enabling and empowering. The coming on of the Holy Spirit was not just an academic issue for Terry, it was an issue of life and death. Even when he tried to live as a Christian and be a witness he couldn’t do it. Coming on of the Holy Spirit changes everything. He wanted to receive power. When the Spirit came upon someone, the next word is nearly always “and.” He comes on us not simply for ourselves. When power comes on us we are transformed. It changed everything for Terry at the age of 22. He wanted to serve God at that time. God’s Spirit changed things. When you believe in the coming of the Spirit you are wrestling with things like what PJ spoke of yesterday. Terry told his testimony about how he got filled and then shared the testimony with others. It leaves many enigmas and challenges. There are times when our hearts are aching because we don’t see more. But we need to spend more time with the Holy Spirit, get to know him, and experience more power. We need more of the Holy Spirit. We don’t dial down our engagement with the Holy Spirit in order to be more missional!

3. God’s commissioning We want to build on an apostolic and prophetic foundation. We want to build on genuinely sent ones. Not just theologically trained, but actually sent. God must commission. God came to Moses and said “I send you!” It is that call that is critical. Not pleasing men but pleasing God! Matthew Parris urged Christians to stop trying to reconcile their beliefs to this age! We answer to the one who called us. We don’t go with the trend. We stand for reformed theology, for charismatic ministry, for apostles and prophets, for complementary roles for men and women, for grace, etc. We believe God has said do it this way, we will not just copy those who say do it another way. We are answerable to him.
4. Being a servant. We just do what we are told. Doesn’t require explanations. If Jesus says fill the water-pots with water, if you are a servant you don’t have to have an explanation you just do it. The disciples got used to doing what they were told. At key points in the history of Newfrontiers Terry explained they have simply followed the prompting of God. Such as when they were told to stop Stonliegh or this conference. We go through a process, we don’t jump to conclusion. We hear it together. That’s all that’s needed if you are a servant. God is happy when he found David as it says he is “a man who will do my will.” We just trust him with things outside our control. We trust his ability to provide. God has promised that we would help millions of people. We are to be the servant of God. It is a massive honor to be his servant. The world is waiting to see a church that looks like it is answering to God. We are not meant to try to get nearer to the worlds tune. We must be out of step with the world, offering them something other than what is pulling the world down.
5. Faith. God wants him to trust him more than we do. God loves robust faith. Sometimes you look at a ministry that is successful and think, I don’t agree with some of what they say but God loves faith. God is doing phenomenal things in our day. We are little league. God is doing massive things today. The more the China church grows (and it is millions now) their economy is becoming stronger on the back of a protestant work ethic. Beware the danger of a passive Calvinism. Jesus challenged his followers when they couldn’t cast out a demon “its your little faith.” He didn’t say “it wasn’t the will of God.” He said it comes from prayer. We need to get out from cynicism.
6. Prayer is absolutely fundamental. “A move of God will last as long as it retains the Spirit of prayer that brought it to birth.” Prayer must be at the center. Make sure prayer be at the hub of what you do. Do you want to be like Jesus? He prayed a lot!
7. Gathering a team That has been wonderful. Friends, companions. What has he gained? Friendship at a deep level. Not just co-laborers. Partners. Koinonia. Partnership. Same vision. Complementary gifts. People who make up for his areas of lack. Vulnerability makes a team. That’s how it works. Not a lot of yes men. Not clones. “I am not wroth cloning I have a team because I need a team.” Couldn’t exist without drawing on these men and women that God has built around us. Prayer partners. Men of the Spirit. Prophetic conversations. Love one another, on the same page. Want to see what someone is hearing. Get before God together as a team. Love, trust, fellowship, men of the Spirit. Men who will disagree.

Submission isn’t saying yes all the time. Make your point, argue your case, at the end we say “We are in this together” and you all go. Comradeship where we discuss issues. Terry spoke about some of his team, and who will be continuing the work moving forwards taking more responsibility.

David Holdon who he had known since a boy, now a spiritual father. David Devenish who again he has known for decades, has become a phenomenal leader, teacher, travelling into the Muslim and Russian-speaking world. Colin Baron who is willing to travel thousands of miles to sit and talk to key players and unravel stuff. Often out of the light, behind the scene. Perceptive, sees round corners. Simon Pettit was a major contributor, with his passion, love for God, laughter before he died suddenly. David Stroud, who has become a statesman, in God, such leadership skills. Now more UK-based apostlic teams are emerging. Jeremy Simkins who has grown into a man of weight. Just seing all that has happened in the North has been encouraging said Terry, men rallying to Jeremy’s leadership and gift. Mike Betts coming through, young men wanting to be with him, his passion for God. Guy Miller, who has raised up churches in Portugal, Spain, India. God is raising up these ministries.

In Africa when Simon suddenly died, he had already handed his church over to Stephen Van Rhyn who is helping other churches there. PJ Smyth who has such evidence of the hand of God on him, and a great church coming to birth. Scott Marquis, who is hard to keep up with in his work in Southern Africa. Steve Oliver who met with God in Cape Town, planted out in South Africa and saw poor people who were raised up to become pastors. Suddenly called to Dubai. Such a strategic place. Edward Burio… you cant keep up with him! Handful of churches that have grown massively since. Transforming society. Working with the poor. A father to thousands. John KpiKpi who came to Brighton as a student, now working into 7 nations into West Africa. Teams coming out from one team. John Lanferman, overseeing the work in America from coast to coast, with churches being planted. Same values are there, and it keeps growing. Lee Yarboroguh, in Mexico, now a number of churches in Mexico. Right across the nations. There are many others who have been with us for many years. Men like Steve Tibbert, and others who serve.

Terry explained that tonight we are praying for the current snapshot like in a family.  It is recognizing what already is happening. But in the wings are many other young men coming through who are breaking through, he listed men like Matt Hatch, Joel Virgo, Tope Koleoso, and others.  There are growing ranks of them. It is about a transition from one team to many.  There will be more teams in the future. People will rally to one of these band of brothers.

The apostles will often meet together, for a season Terry will still join with them.  Gathering of equal interdependent apostles which Dave Devinish will facilitate. Some apostolic figures will travel between the teams. He sees that the men coming through in Newfrontiers are brilliant skillful men. They can carry the passion and drive. Terry felt he could be in danger of becoming the blunt edge, we need the sharpness of a new generation

Terry believes God has given him great promises for the future. He will still be traveling. Later this year he will be going to 5 places in the USA, where only 2 of them will be Newfrontiers. He is increasingly being invited into other worlds. Going wider.

God is opening doors all over the place. God has given us a voice. God has plenty for Terry and Wendy to get on with. The Newfrontiers Brighton office will close.  Terry Will be going to Kingston to help in a young church there. Will be travelling. Will be going in like a grandfather. Encouraging, the responsibility rolls into the hands of the new generation.  Recently one of his sons said to him its a bit like John the Baptist “You grow less and less, they grow more and more”
Terry said it immediately reminded him of an old prophecy given to him in his first church: “Young men prepare yourself for ministry in this place as Terry will grow less and less, you will grow more and more.” In the context, the prophecy was stating that  whe would go out from that church more and more. This is the same thing that is happening now.

At the end of the session Terry also especially honored Nigel Ring who has been so instrumental in building Newfrontiers into what it is today.  It is truly amazing what God has done through the friendship of these two men.  After all the whole thing started when a young Nigel Ring asked if his pastor friend could come and speak to some Christians in his lounge who were beginning to receive the Holy Spirit, and wonder what to do after being thrown out of an evangelical church.  My own parents started attending that church in Haywards Heath very early on.  So I have grown up watching what was a tiny group of people in Sussex grow into an army that spans the globe.  840 churches are now in Newfrontiers according to the latest figures.  What an impact.  What a wonderful way that God delights in using a few to bless the many.  As we now in effect see the beginning of many more apostolic spheres, what kind of a global impact can we all have together?  When you consider that there are of course so many other church groups that God is blessing as well that are nothing to do with Newfrontiers, you have to feel very positive about the future of the Church around the world.

Gideon is instructed by God to lead God’s army, but he is having doubts. Two key stories. Gideon tests God out. He is not convinced, he is nervous. He saw the mighty army that you couldn’t count and it seemed too much for him. He wanted proof that God was with him. It is easy to be quick to speak of his unbelief and cowardice. But the commentator is writing that in a study, it is not really fair! You are not facing the Midianites while you are thinking of the Hebrew verbs. Gideon is facing a superpower without much military experience or force. Maybe we should learn form God’s example. God is very patient with this man! It would be easy to say “Gideon you have had hours of counseling, you should be free by now!” God’s example teaches us to be patient, and observe the processes. God can take longer with people than we think he should: you are proof of that! “Bible study is about learning about what happened to you when you became a Christian” RT Kendall.

God is always so gracious to us, and he gives time and lets us go through processes of change. Conferences are not processes. They are full of crises. You can have that encounter with God that changes everything forever. It can happen like that, but crisis without process is fruitless. We need to go back to the trench-points of ministry where no one is watching and you do not have a strong sense of the presence of God. There is a healthy mixture of encounters with the gradual maturation. Preparation for the extraordinary task ahead. Don’t assume that because we aren’t getting through that is the end of the game. Don’t give up on people, or yourself. Don’t just say “that’s just me!” No, we need to stop it and see genuine transformation. Doesn’t come by avoidance it comes by pressing into peoples’ lives.

The filtering of the army. Chapter 7 God says there are too many people. Goes from 32,000 down to 300. Two different reasons. 1. To do with strength 2. To do with weakness.

Why did God do it at all? Was it because God likes thing small? In some circles in church, smallness is seen as beautiful of itself. Not so! God wants obedience. There are plenty of very big armies in the Bible!

God calls forth strength. He wants to bring strength to the surface. The fearful have a chance to go away. 2/3rds go home. God wants people on the battlefield who want to be there. Who are crossing lines and saying I am in. This is demanding, it inspires fear, but God wants a heart response that says this is where I want to be. Leadership is not glamorous. When you taste leadership you realize that it is challenging in the extreme. The fearful wont help you Gideon, they might harm you. Gideon needs the people who know what the game is and are on the pitch for the right reasons. We need to put challenges before people. The right people rise to the challenge of leadership. People need something to give their life to.

Livingstone wrote back to his supporters “Please don’t send anybody who will only come when the roads are ready.” Calling forth strength is important. People are not to be benched forever. We wont promote people at the expense of the work of God in their lives. Paul said of Timothy he is his “proven son.” There is a time for risk taking in leadership, but there is also a need to trust to someone who has been tested.

The next test God calls forth weakness. Still too many. The ones who lapped, putting their hands to the mouth were 300. The test seems pretty random. All 10,000 were the brave guys who wanted to fight. 9,700 of those men have to be told they cant play because of their lack of sipping skills. Gideon was made strong in weakness. God didn’t contradict Gideon’s low self esteem. He didn’t say “no you aren’t the weakest.” He just said that “I will be with you.” Some people self-deprecate themselves dishonestly. In Gideons case it was genuine. It is like the angel said to Gideon, “I don’t know why he chose you either, but I will be with you.” God is determined to do things through weakness. Jesus was the ultimate weak victor who defeated the devil through death. God has a habit of using the least likely. When he chooses gifted people he spends years getting it into them that they haven’t got it.

Took God 40 years to get Moses to the point where he would say “I can’t do it!” Don’t let it take 40 years to learn that you are weak! You can’t do this! The things God has called you to do you will never do on your own. So many of us try and suggest that we are strong enough, that we can cope. Peter said “I will be there to the end!” but he is the most famous denier. God levels him. He wept bitterly, but he got it though! We are on a journey of discovering just how needy we are, but just how sufficient God is! If we want the power of Christ to dwell in us, we must be weak. Paul boasts in his weakness. We have seen the glory of Jesus. 2 Corinthians 12 tells us that the way that God has chose to make his glory known is in our weakness. The power of Christ dwells when we prepare a temple of weakness and say “God, I haven’t got it, I need you!” Be humbled. Don’t fight him all your life. Don’t be stubborn. Stop fighting him, and acknowledge your weakness. Tell him and your friends you need help. Then the power, the glory can dwell.

When Gideon says “there’s 300 of us, we cant do it!” God says, yes, thank you. Live aware of your need. It is delightful. Know his embrace. Luke 15. I have nothing to offer. That is the moment the Father throws his arms around him. It must be enough for us that God loves us. Don’t have to listen to any other voice than that of God. Loved. Delighted in. You can be broken, you can be yourself. You can share your heart. You can go into bat knowing you can be yourself, and the glory can come among us.

This morning I attended one of the training tracks where my friend Steve Tibbert was speaking. Steve has recently written a book, Good to Grow about what God has done in King’s Church Catford.

He explained that in his view how we build structures and programs around the gospel is critical. Structures themselves will not bring growth and breakthrough. It is God that brings life. God is the only person who can save someone. You will get ideas here, but do not over-egg our own importance or the way we build. Paul says,

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. (1 Co 3:6–7).

We do need both wine and wineskins. We don’t want the wine to run away. We need a flexible wineskin that stretches to accommodate it. We need a skeleton and we need flesh. We need the presence of the Spirit but we need proper structures to contain the growth.

The wrong structure can hinder growth. Acts 6 shows us huge growth and people start to be overlooked. The Apostles redefine their job description and delegate away. The summary of the results of the adjustment is that the word of God spread. The widows were cared for, but the gospel went forth. Sometimes churches stop growing because they hit a barrier and are unwilling to adjust the way the live out their values.

Principles he has learned
1. Church size changes everything Tim Keller has written on this, “the difference between a church of say 100 and 1000 is far greater than the difference between different movements that hold different theological positions.” Steve always asks people if they have come from a smaller or bigger church than Kings.

We must learn to lead the church in a way that is relevant to the size you are and the size you are becoming. How you lead at 40 is different at 200, then different again at 500 and 800. Have to track and care for people. Cant pastor 300-400 new people by osmosis.

2. Philosophy of ministry is really important. More conflict happens over this than anything else. It is the priority you put one value over the other and how you work any value out in practice. So for example, we all want to share Jesus but the way you do that is very different in different places. Alpha is more about taking people on a journey, meet them where they are. Steve lets people come as quickly or slowly as they like. Effects every aspect of church life. It is often unsaid but it is there. Which value you put priority on is critical. Steve says “We are a missional community first, mission trumps everything.” Sometimes people say we must stop on the mission for a while and fill people in. Steve says, “No! We are a missional people first.” Obviously does fill in behind but not at the expense of mission. The church you are a part of will usually reflect the primary gifts of the lead elder. So for Steve he is a leader first, with an evangelistic heart. You can tend to look at church through those eyes. Most of our churches are led by pastor-teachers. Steve has been keen to over-egg mission to keep balance as most people have a pastoral emphasis. You need a strategy of how to implement it.

Rick Warren speaks of how you need to work on the community, crowd, congregation, committed, and the core. Many churches focus only on members and unbelievers. We have a group of people who are on a different phase of their journey. So for example at Christmas they wont to focus their whole service on the community and crowd. Know where on the spectrum you are trying to serve the people.

3. At Kings their primary growth engine is Sunday. The larger they get the more that is true. They run Alpha, but Steve believes that in the UK nothing is more effective than Sundays. Steve has a “high Sunday” strategy. Simple idea, which is that you have focused Sundays when people are going to invite as many people as possible and going to have the best foot forward. We are looking for God to meet with them. Then we provide a next step. They need to encounter God. Don’t just take the strategy and forget the life! There needs to be preaching that is clearly gifted.

Visited integration team at Willow Creek, learnt the following. Most churches get new people most weeks. Lets say you have one a week. How a person joins a church is a big deal for that person. How you care for the new person makes a massive difference on whether they stay or not. If a new person comes, on average 1 in 4 will join. So if you have 100 people, you may have 60 new people, 15 join but what happens if 15 leave you haven’t grown. If you simply make connection with a phone call within 48 hours your retention can go up to 1 in 2. Then suddenly you have grown.

Leading indicators on what is happening. Predicts from the number of new people forms how many will join, and predicts pressure on the church buildings, and the financial projections. Steve projects forward on pervious trends 5-10 years.

4. There is a relationship between team, building and money. At around 200 you face a facilities challenge. It is a scale issue. The leadership strengths that have got the church to 200 can become the limits that stop it moving on. Most churches never get over this. The leader has to learn to work through other people. We must be aware of our measure in God. The question is what you are called to do. Leadership and building problems collide when you need to raise lots of money to employ new team members and buy a building. Many leaders are unable to make that transition. At around 800 it happens again, with more zeros on the end! You have to adjust again at that point.

Brief notes from the Q and A
Wrong kind of structures that hinder growth: How the team works. Have to work differently. The team members who like being generalists, but in bigger team you need to specialize. Being focused down can be hard. You can have projects that may have a high profile in a church but actually not be fruitful, and so it may even need to be killed because it is draining resources. Or you can put the profile on other things that are more fruitful. Teaching, vision, example are all important. Have a long term aim, but don’t tie it to time. Re-engineering. Very focused on the new people. Took 10 years to get from 200 to 500. “Overnight success takes 20 years.” However very rare for a team to stay static for 15 years. So there will be some movement in the team, and that can lead to planting churches. As you develop as a church, you can develop leaders and then plant out with some of them. 2-500 are a mixture of specialists and generalists. Around 800 you have to go departmental as each area is so large. Must become leaders of leaders.

They use a volunteer to call the person.

This evening during the worship we were encouraged to make the following prophetic declarations that are all part of our history together. Half of the room called out each promise to the other half who replied “We will!”

• Remember we can do more together than we can apart
• Remember we are called to change the expression of Christianity throughout the world
• Remember we are called to plant thousands churches and churches of thousands
• Remember there are no well worn paths ahead of us so keep pioneering
• Remember we are people of the word and the Spirit
• Remember God’s Lavish Grace
• Remember to build on an apostolic and prophetic foundation
• Remember it is too small a thing to restore the church, bring my salvation to the ends of the earth
• Remember the poor

This was a holy moment as we felt commissioned to go with these promises into the next phase of our life together as a people.

In the video that was shown about the future of Newfrontiers, there was a phrase Terry said that stood out for me: “I am praying that God goes on multiplying this so that what was once a single sapling becomes a mighty forest.”

PJ shared with us a kind of practical and systematic theology of suffering and healing.  There is no question in my mind that this is the best sermon on this subject I have ever heard.  Every Christian would do well to listen to this, study it, grasp it, and prepare themselves for the suffering that will inevitably come our way.  

You can download the audio, read my notes below, or download a briefer set of notes PJ kindly let me share here:

8 ways he has tried to live in response to his cancer this past year (Note that at times in these notes I refer to PJ as “I”!)

1. I reflected on the possible sources of sickness

a. The fall Genesis 3:3. You will surely die. The common pattern of this world is live, get sick, die. Romans 8 we are in bondage to decay. There are no 120 year old faith healers!
b. Foolish living. Sowing and reaping. If you crash your car don’t blame others. Poor diet, pollution, etc.
c. Satan (Luke 13, Acts 10:38) The default option of Jesus and the local church is to treat sickness as the work of Satan
d. Sin John 9 Jesus said “Neither this man nor his parents sinned…” He doesn’t say all sickness is caused by specific sin but it can be. Psalm 32 David is sick because of his sin. 1 Corinthians 11 they were sick because of abusing communion. Usually it is not a specific sin that leads to death but it can be. “Sin deserves death and it is because of God’s mercy that we are not each struck down whenever we sin” Carson
e. Direct from God. Actively instigated or actively permitted.

Knowing that God is in control of God’s sovereignty is very comforting. If it was outside of his rule it would mean he cant heal us. If he can’t prevent it how can he stop it. How can he use it for my good either? We would loose Romans 8. If you try and rescue God for responsibility for suffering then you rescue him from being God, and that is about as uncomforting as things can be.

Some say why pray to a sovereign God? But there is no point in praying to a non-sovereign God as he can’t answer! If suffering surprises God then he is no longer able to help us! He is your sovereign father. Jesus prays “My father” even when in the garden of gethseme. Those two words are precious. PJ said he is so glad that his cancer was not some random attack of the enemy that is uncontained. Rather it represents something God has allowed to happen and something he will work for good.

2. I reflected on the possible sources of healing

a. the power of the cross - the place of victory over sin and all its evil relations- sickness suffereing and death. Matthew 8 “This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah” Isaiah 53 is about the cross, so there is a clear link between the cross and healing. Some feel it is automatic. Some say that Christ purchased healing for us and by faith we apply for divine health now automatically. Others say the cross is the source of all healing power but if someone is not healed it is not a failure in the cross or faith because it is not automatic. Believing the automatic link is the primary source of confusion and dissilusionment when healing doesn’t happen. PJ believes completely that God heals today but he does not believe the automatic link. We can have success in healing without believing in this automatic link.

Why doesn’t he believe in “automatic healing” from the cross?

1. it undermines spiritual healing as so often believers are not healed now. Maybe by his stripes I am not actually spiritually healed now. Terrifying
2. It undermines common sense. Most Christians die fo a sicknessfrom which they don’t recover
3. It undermines the gift of healing why is it needed if it is just by faith in the cross?
4. It makes faith impossibly high as so many apparently high in faith don’t get healed
5. It contradicts how Paul dealt with sickness in his friends. Phil 2:27 linked healing to Gods mercy rather than man’s faith in the atonement. 1 Tim 5:23 He doesn’t say no need for medicine boy get your faith up, stop getting sick so often you are a pastor! Galatians 4:13-14 Despite Paul’s illness they didn’t treat him with contempt. If it was simply a case of having enough faith it would indeed by contemptuous. 2 Tim 4:20 he didn’t see it as a disastorous failure of the atonement. They all got sick at one time or another and he did not assume that divine health is our divine right.
6. Contradicts NT teaching on suffering. 1 Tim 3:11 he uses the word persecution and suffering next to each other must be both 1 Peter 1:6, James 1, James 5 shows multiple types of trials. Job is illustrated there, making clear that sickness is in this chatagory.
7. The lack of the use of the divine health now as a right being used in the NT. So seldom is it taught in anything like that way. We are told more about faith in Jesus.
8. Undermines the biblical commendation of physicians. It is Luke the beloved physician not that idiot who had to get another job when he got his theology right!
9. Contradicts now and not yet. Mark 1:14, Revelation 12:10. Here, but coming! 1 Corinthians 15:24 Christ reigns now but opposing authorities are in play. 1 Cor 15:52 death will be destroyed THEN. John 16:33 you will have trouble Rev 21:4 there will be no more trouble then. Romans 8:22. “pains of childbirth” There is definite new life NOW but it has not yet been fully delivered. Matthew 13:28. Wheat and weeds together. You are a soldier of Christ you are supposed to be surrounded. Jesus is leaving us in this place to shine like stars. “If you are looking for easy comfort look for a bottle of port not Christianity” C.S. Lewis

There are succusseful healing ministries that teach this automatic link. God loves faith. He blesses faith because he loves it. But it is possible to have great faith without this automatic link.

b. The power of the kingdom
The Kingdom is here now, not fully but the waves are breaking on the shore now! We have tasted of the power of the coming kingdom and we are authorized to dispense the future kingdom of God here now. The future kingdom can rush out on earth now. We are to pray that what happens on earth now is what happens in heaven. There is no sickness in heaven. Lay hold of the future kingdom and courageously dispense it now!

c. The power of the Spirit

Why would God place the gift of healing as one of the nine gifts? Because God is into healing now! James says “the prayer of faith will raise the sick person up!” It is part of an elder’s job description to pray and anoint with healing. Keep healing front and center, elders. We have a mighty theological basis for faith and action in healing now.

3. I relied on the church

At one of his lowest moments he couldn’t walk much and was feeling down. Said he felt he had nothing to offer. His wife said “stop trying to be superhero pastor dude lie still on your mat and enjoy others carrying you to Jesus.” She also remind him of Ephesians 6 and his need to stand.

4. I refused to doubt God’s goodness

It wasn’t heroic. Romans 8 says “he who did not spare his son…he will graciously give us all things” When God doesn’t answer your prayer for healing, in view of his previous gift to you of your salvation you know it is not because he doesn’t love you. In the really dark days he just could not bring himself to doubt God’s goodness because Jesus has already proved that to us!

5. I reached for both forms of God’s power:

• Power to be on display through my deliverance from the trial
• And power to be on display through my perseverance within the trial.

Power to bear up under a trial is not as evervesant as deliverance from it but it is no less potent. Paul pleads with God to remove a thorn in his flesh. God says “my power is made perfect in your weakness.” Paul says I will boast about my weakness.

Yes we want God to take us out of trials. Paul says “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection!” But the second half of the vers says “and the fellowship of his sufferings” We can embrace Gods power to get us out of suffering, but we must also embrace God’s power to persevere. What this means is that we get to stick it to the devil either way!

6. I resisted and requested

PJ resisted any Satanic element. The early church treated it that way. But he also requested healing from God. Resist hell and request from heaven. He cursed cancer, he welcomed healing, he was forceful and vigiliant. Yet wary of giving the devil more credit than he dserved and wary of shouting faith healing verses at heaven rather asking God to heal him and  listening to God.

7. I rested in the assurance of Romans 8:28. When everything is going wrong everyuthing is going right. This verse is a fortress. Some think of the resting as weakness. Resist and request and rest are two truths that are equally true. And they build each other up. Three men who face suffering (Dan 3:17) say “he will rescue us!” it is kicking. My God is willing and able and will rescue me from this trial. Full stop! But verse 18 says “even if he does not, we will not worship you!” V18 faith is a right hook to the devil! It is not just faith in God and the outcome you want, it is faith in God and the outcome I didn’t want. I don’t want you to think that it is a faith failure when verse 18 kicks in. If you die without receiving your healing it is not a failure. Don’t say “our faith didn’t work” In Hebrews 11 we read about believers who escaped death by faith and who died by faith. “We have a hope that goes beyond the grave…his name is Jesus!” If we only have hope for this life we are to be pitied more than all men. Death is not the end, it is just the end of the beginning.

PJ is convinced that his cancer will not return, he has been told it is in remission. But. if you were to get news that PJ has died, don’t say “Oh..he wasn’t healed!” Because the angels will be crying “Look at him he is completely healed!”

Heaven is the ultimate deliverance. It is the ultimate healing. Do your worst death, all you do is promote us! Death is not our executioner, he is our gardener thanks to the resurrection.

Listen, it is ALL true! God is true. The comfort of God is true. Healing now is true. Healing in heaven is true.

If he had to sum up his expereice of the last year he would say “Its all true!” Before I l knew it was true, now I KNOW it is true. Sometimes when you suffer it is like your voice breaks. It works things in you.

8. I really connected with Jesus One of the greatest thrills for suffers is that God is with us. The psalmist said “I fear no evil because God is with me” It isn’t just poetry. Daniel 3:23 There are four men there! The forth man was Jesus. O the privilege of standing shoulder to shoulder with the fourth man. When a furnace is rightly revived and God is with yo, the furnace doesn’t consume it refines. The furnace of suffering doesn’t shout out forsaken by God it shouts out loved by God!

Jesus came to them in the storm. God will not abandon you in your hour of greatest need. The forth man will come to you in the forth watch. If you feel far from the shores, in the darkest of all watches he will come to you. He is coming to you right now.

In the cellar of suffering the great King keeps his choice wine. There is kind of wine he doesn’t serve up at the regular times. He invites you into the dungeon and personally serves you the choice pickings. He washed my eyes with tears that I might see him. Job said he had heard of God. After suffering he said “I have seen him”

God takes the stage at the end of Job and you are expecting him to explain why. But he doesn’t. He takes four chapters to talk about himself. That’s because comfort is never found in the why, it is always found in the who. He always comes and reveals himself to us.

Job 38:3: I am just a man 38:4 “were you there when I laid the foundation of the earth?” Job 38:35. Do the lightening bolts report to you? Job 38:21: when God resorts to sarcasm you know its time to quit! God will do something you don’t understand. How will you respond? Will you be haughty or will you just say “your ways are higher than mine.” We don’t understand a lot of what happens to us. I don’t understand why you are going through what you are going through.

The mystery of this last year, PJ treasures. Lord it is a source of worship to me that you are God and I am not! It prompts me to worship. Its treasurable.

Job 41:1, 5. Can you make a pet out of the crocodile? If we cant nail a croc how can we nail God? 41:11 “Who has a claim against me that I must pay.” God owes me nothing. The real mystery is not why has bad happened to me, it is why has anything good ever happened to me.

Jesus turned round a question “why does bad happen” and basically turned it around and said “why does good happen at all?” God is replacing PJs sense of entitlement and replacing it with a sense of priviledge and gratitude and worship. He is the God of all comfort. The father of all compassion.

Terry began by speaking about his own book, Spirit-Filled Church, having first made the point that there are also many books in the bookstore here that he recommends that are written by writers outside our movement.  Bob Roberts, Ed Stetzer, and many other names familiar to readers of the blog are represented here.

Terry preached on Hebrews 12 once more. You can download the audio, or read my notes here:

We saw yesterday what it means to get started in the race, and how to get rid of things that tie us down. But in the race we can get weary. Now we are told to consider him. It is a pondering.  Keep your eyes on him.  Christ genuinely is the answer.  Paul said we don’t preach ourselves, but Jesus preached himself all the time “come to me!”  He presented himself as the answer.  He inspires robust faith. Terry spoke about an old Chinese believer he once met who had suffered prison, but said, “nothing compares to the cross.”

Don’t forget the word that addresses you as sons. God sent Jesus to demonstrate what sonship looks like to us, and to bring many sons to glory.  He is looking for many people like Jesus. He will shape them, mould them, grow them.  We are not just sinners who found our way to heaven, we are sons of God!

He is working for our holiness.  God is looking to bring us through. When we feel pressure it is not because he has lost us from his gaze, it is proof that we belong. The true believer knows that God has his hand on him, that he is taking him through trials.  It is evidence of God’s love for us.

When the eagle stirs the nest she is very focused and has a goal.  She wants her young to fly. It is proof she has ambition for her young.  She wants them to catch the breeze.  God disciplines his sons, that’s the evidence of his love.

God says Jacob I loved, Esau I hated.  But look at his life, does he look like one specially loved? He has to run away from home, sleeps in the open air, falls in love, is given seven years later the wrong one.  Esau was rich without the hassles Jacob had.  But Jacob knows how to bless Pharaoh.  Jacob is put through all sorts of trials. You are to know that God who begun a work in you will complete it.  He uses things that happen to us.  The Bible teaches us, but experiences also get under our skin and into our inner person.

People might steal stuff.  They might steal your reputation, perhaps blog stuff about you things that are not true.  People suffer the loss. Disappointment, delay, things we don’t understand.  There is something in us that wants to know (see Adam and Eve’s temptation).  God lets things happen to you that make no sense at all.

He is doing these things because he loves us like a father.  God does it that we might share his holiness.  God has set an incredible goal for us.  What kind of privilege is that? We can get smug and think we have our doctrine straight.  But God keeps on disciplining us so that we continue to grow us.  We need shake up experiences that wake us up.  He does it to save us from pride.  The Bible says of the people of God that he led them through the wilderness to humble them.

King David was anointed, became the darling of Israel through his defeating the enemy, then finds himself hiding in a cave.  God cares about us. He wants us on course.  It is so that we don’t trust in ourselves but in him who raises from the dead.

Sometimes God breaks us to make us. Brokenness is not everything.  But the Bible does say that God will look at the one who is humble and contrite and trembles at his word.  Sometimes we have to be softened so we can more sensitively serve those you serve.  The psalmist says, “it was good for me that I was afflicted.”

People who suffer don’t automatically become holy. Some of them do, but some of them become bitter.  It is only those who are trained by the experience who benefit from it.  It is very possible to go through a tough time and not discern.  Some people shake off suffering, and didn’t learn a thing.  Don’t despise it.  Don’t miss the point.  Don’t faint.  Don’t regard it lightly.  Don’t say, “Oh, you don’t love me!”  Don’t go down the tube when God starts dealing with you.  Don’t allow a root of bitterness to grow up, spoiling many.

God sometimes uses people to humble us. We need to obtain grace.  God uses agents in our lives, we mustn’t focus on them.  We must ask God what are you teaching me?  Don’t let bitterness shape your character.  Instead obtain grace.  It is the only alternative.  There will be waves of difficulty.  You either let them pile up and become bitter or obtain grace and let them go.

Jesus learned obedience. How does the perfect one learn? It was through the things he suffered.  He learned to be a man, to stand where we stand.  He learned from people treating him shamefully.  He was perfected through the things that he suffered.

When bad things happen, sometimes even family members mistreat us badly.  We must get free of it. I don’t want to keep going over that letter. I want to let it go.  We need churches to be free from people who are carrying bitterness.  Don’t carry the hurt.  Maybe a leader bullied them before, now they respond to the new pastor badly.  You can mess up Gods great plan in your church.  Let God deal with you as a son so I can share your holiness.  Right to the end, Jesus said forgive them.  He wants many sons in glory.  He wants us all to be like that.  Obtain grace. Refuse bitterness.  Let God purge it out of your soul.

The word dialogues with you, addresses you, reasons with you.  It is saying “come on enter into understanding my son, my daughter, I love you, I am for you!”  “God is not getting even, he got even at the cross!” RT Kendall.  He never turns against you.  God is not trying to loose you.  God hasn’t forgotten you.  God is in control.  He is handling this.  God doesn’t want you to be lame.  Not godly to just dismiss people.  He wants to set you free from the way you are.  So that you can be healed.  If you are trained by it.  Gods goal was to fix it, but if we misinterpret then we will be weaker still.  You are the apple of his eye, his workmanship.  Learn, humble yourself.

Is there anything in your life where you are touchy? Maybe theres something in you that hurts.  You think people are getting at me again, they don’t understand me.  Loosen it up.  Let God deal with you. Face the pain, don’t have no-go areas.

Pursue peace with all men. It is an active word.  Strive for.  Make every effort.  Afterwards you will understand.  What is happening now you may not grasp.  But sorrow endures for the night and joy comes in the morning.  God is on your case.  If you don’t know the discipline of the Lord, it is then that you should be worried!  Those whom the Lord loves he disciplines.  He is looking after you.  Don’t be a grumbler.  Walk in freedom.  Don’t carry bitterness for another day, leave it here.  Obtain grace.  Pursue peace.  Make straight paths.  God wants to engage with you right now.