Mark Driscoll is at his very best in the following clip. Ever wondered how family and mission entwine, especially in a growing church where you don’t know anyone? Ever wished for more intimacy and a greater relational feel in your church? Ever felt neglected and rejected in your church? Ever felt like your church was not your home? Watch this clip and be prepared to be blown away. I love the way he begins: Family is a category of relationship that the world knows nothing about. What’s better than friends? Family. It’s a huge painful annoying mess, family is awkward, trying and hard, but you love the family, and you serve the family, and you don’t give up on family. This sermon speaks about our need to find a way to contribute to our church. commit to it, and connect to a small group. Christians must change from being consumers to being active participants in the mission of God. When you are contributing to something, you will feel connected to it.

The full sermon this clip comes from is available from the Mars Hill Website.

These notes reflect my own impressions of what Ed Stetzer had to say at the recent Dwell London event. He was doing a seminar for cross-cultural workers to help them understand the current evangelical movement.  There are many of my own comments entwined with what Ed actually had to say. So blame me, rather than him for anything you disagree with, and credit him and not me for anything useful! Anytime I use the word “I” in these notes, this definitely reflects my opinion, not Ed’s necessarily. And, since this was an hour long seminar, you can tell I only grabbed parts of what he said.

Stetzer showed a remarkable grasp of the modern evangelical movement, among which he moves remarkably freely as a friend of many from remarkably different streams. Ed speaks to a broader Christian constituency than anyone else I can think of. I should also mention also that in private conversation this past weekend, Ed stressed to me the importance of each of these groups continuing to feel passionately about their distinctives. Ed argued that if we all try and minimize the things that mark us out as different to other groups we will loose traction as movements. Ultimately the lowest common denominator approach to unity is a road to compromise and liberalism in my view. So I agree with Ed that our best approach to the many and varied movements in evangelicalism is to be united where we can, learn what we can, but still hold strongly onto our own values, always being clear that as Bible people, we are open to being persuaded away from our perspectives.

Ed began by explaining that there has been a collapse of the methodological consensus. Over the last few decades it is no longer the case that an Anglican church looks like an Anglican or Baptist like a Baptist. Now you have moderators. Eg “Pupurse driven,” “moderately reformed,” or “missional.” It is now the case that a Lutheran church that is Purpose Driven will be more similar to a Pentecostal Purpose Driven church than another Lutheran. Thus, a lot of affinity is atheological, rather it is about what ministry you receive.

Ed then spoke briefly about a number of movements that affect the Church today. The pentecostal movement began in early 1900s. Fastest growing movement in the history of Church if you include the charismatic movement also which is not as distinct from it as some imagine. Some of that growth is the movement within Christianity ie non Pentecostals becoming pentecostal. The charismatic is in some ways distinguished from the broader pentecostal group in that they believe in a separate experience of Spirit baptism but emphasizes all the gifts, and tongues is not quite as essential. The charismatic movement was born late 60s early 70s. Then 80s there was the “third wave“. This tends to be continuationist but most do not believe in a second experience of grace. The whole of global Christianity is now influenced by this broader continuationist charismatic/pentecostal movement. Pentecostals and charismatics won the worship war but lost the organizational one. So raising hands and clapping would be mainstream now but rejected before, whilst many would see the movement itself as past its sell by date, at least in America.  The milder expressions of charismatic worship would be mainstream in what would become contemporary churches.

Just to be absolutely clear, this next whole paragraph is an addition to what Stetzer said: As a charismatic, I myself would argue that we have much more to contribute than body language and music style.  I do not recognize worship as charismatic simply on that basis. So it is a shame if some people now think “we are all charismatics now.” The truth is, Spirit-filled worship can occur while hymns are sung and people are in a state of subdued awe, whilst loud modern music can be accompanied by an un-engaged congregation.  I would argue that the far more important emphasis we can help to restore to the wider church is the personal relationship with the risen Jesus, which is something I speak a lot about in my book.  I personally also strongly suggest that the charismatic movement is far from over, even in America.  The USA itself is ready primed for a fresh wave of church planting, especially by those who would are reformed and yet aggressively pursue spiritual encounter with God and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Grudem appears to have almost won the theological war with many now at least accepting the theoretical availability of the gifts.  But many of those theological converts to a continuationist position have not themselves seen true gifts operating within a biblical framework. It is time for many more models of a sane charismatic church to be founded.  On that note, it might be interesting to watch Chandler and Grudem on the gifts if you haven’t already.

Now there are different wings of the church currently. Traditional, non traditional or pragmatic, 3rd wave and Pentecostal/charismatic.  Of course one reality which no talk like this can really be expected to fully address is that many churches will try and take good aspects from each of these movements. In my own view this is why books that speak about models for the church are so popular. We are each eager to learn what we can from each other, convinced none of us have all the answers for how to do church in a modern world.

Ed spoke about what he called the pragmatic evangelical movement (using the terminology of Robert Webber in The Younger Evangelicals. Ed nicknamed it the Willowback movement- Rick Warren and Bill Hybels. Big global influence. Saddleback is probably the most influential church in the world. They tend to look like a Calvary Chapel or a Vineyard, are continuationist, informal, but mostly leaving behind the ecstatic expressions in a worship service. There is a drive to de-emphasise anything people would find strange. Many think pragmatic is a bad word. But it just means determining what works. In this sense, I believe that there is much that we can learn from these churches, even if we do not want to fully adopt all their methods.

Traditional evangelicals (also from Webber) would have conferences about for example creationism vs evolution. Must prove these things to be true. For example how should we defend the verse that the rabbit chews the cud when science says it is not quite the same way of cud chewing. Rick Warren is a very conservative evangelical on almost all issues but he says “what people really want to know is how God can change their life or marriage”. Many traditional evangelicals rushed into pragmatic evangelicalism as they were so fed up of dry dead theology.

A decade ago, Purpose Driven was the most influential Christian movement in the world. Very broad reaching. In the the USA, these movements are still influential, but not like they were ten years ago. I have not had much to do with Bill, but I find Rick’s tweets very helpful indeed, and strongly supported John Piper’s decision to invite him to speak. Willow Creek originally spoke about being seeker driven. Stage driven. Take into account the local expressions of music and drama. Willow Creek was also influential but less globally. The seeker paradigm of ministry has declined in influence, and Willow itself has changed their own paradigm. When they realized they needed to change their way to disciple, and announced that they were changing, many people went after them in a nasty way, especially online.

Younger evangelicals (again, Webber’s term) are building on or charting new directions. Younger evangelicals can be found among a number of different groups: 1. Hyper-contemporary . Desire for “in your face,” eg series on sex with aggressive titles that get complaints. Gets media attention and they like it. Eg one church laid out a Seven day sex challenge to their congregation to have sex every day for a week. Newspring Church, a rapidly growing church in South Carolina, had an ACDC song “You’re on a highway to hell” at their Easter service. The idea is that in the modern world it is harder to get peoples attention. So the desire is to cut through the noise and get people to notice. In an all consuming passion to reach the unchurched they often offend the Christians. In a way they are a continuation of the seeker movement but “louder.”

2. Emerging Church.  These should be considered as several different groups: Relevants A lot of this is just about being relevant. Appropriate to the culture. Same understanding of the gospel but engage in a different way.  Reconstructionists want to change the way we do church. They believe in the gospel. Believe in conversion. But believe that much of what had been done in church harms the gospel. So we see, House Church, Missional,  incarnational models. The reality is indeed that many churches do need to change.  Revisionists like Maclaren want to rethink the gospel want a bigger gospel, more societal. Some want to ditch the idea of gospel as a transaction altogether.

3 New reformed. These respond to society by wanting to go deeper. Time magazine thinks that this idea is one of the most influential ideas (including secular ones)  in modern America. Different varieties eg charismatic reformed. John Macarthur and Driscoll are very different for example. A lot of younger reformed evangelicals became reformed in response to more vague churches they grew up in.  There is much to rejoice about, but much to be anxious about also. There is a level of anger in some that is so concerning that they are nick-named the “TR” =truly reformed. Fortunately there are also the “WR” =winsomely reformed. Many in more traditional forms criticize. Actually the new reformed have something in common with the emerging in that they want to correct the common gospel, in this case they want a bloodier one with more emphasis on cross and resurrection. There is a growing evidence of dissatisfaction with evangelicalism. People feel that they are not seeing the results that they thought they would. There is much experimentation that is going on, and coming up with new expressions of church. Stetzer calls this Evangelical angst. People are seeking a model. Unsure about who they are. There is a drive to reclaim the centre, because the edges are fuzzy. We live in a time of Tumult. Many are dissatisfied with the results so far, unsure what the future holds. I argue in my book that one of the reasons for all this agnst is our neglect of Jesus’ resurrection:

“Could our neglect of the resurrection be both cause and effect of the alarming state we are in? Certainly the success of liberal theology in taking hold of many churches after the First World War led to an increase in the number of those who denied the resurrection of Jesus and was also associated with the beginning of the decline in church attendance recorded since then. As a direct result of this, Christians have become marginalized by society and feel uncertain about how to share their beliefs with others in a hostile world. The vigor of our faith has waned, and church attendance is believed by many to be in a terminal decline. The general level of biblical knowledge among Christians is appalling. In a world where more study material is available in books, software, and online than previous generations could ever have dreamed, the Bible has never been less understood by members of the church, and even by our preachers.

Presumably as a direct result for many who attend church today, there seems to be little observable difference from the world in terms of personal lifestyles, values, and beliefs. The old accusation that the Western church is a mile wide and an inch deep has never been more true. . .

There is still a silent majority in the general population who claim to believe in God. At the same time, there is widespread ignorance about the Christian message. . . Many are proposing solutions for the challenges that the Western church faces today.  Some lack confidence in the message of the gospel, arguing that we should speak less about our beliefs in the hope that the world will be less offended. Others go further and quietly deny core Christian values. Some look to marketing techniques, changes in worship style, or modern management strategies. An industry has arisen offering solutions to struggling pastors in the form of leadership books and programs. We should learn everything we can without compromising the Bible, but no single solution will cure the multiple ailments of the church. In spite of this general decline, there are many encouraging signs. This book is written in the hope that if we will faithfully proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus and work out the implications of that message in vibrant, grace-filled churches, the tide will turn.”

Read more in RAISED WITH CHRIST.

This is the second session of the recent leadership conference ran at Jubilee. There is also a fantastic Q and A session is also available. My notes follow the video:

watch on vimeo

2 Tim 2

When Chandler was proposed to the Village as a prospective pastor, he was (and still is) a Charismatic complementarian Calvinist with no college degree. So wasn’t expecting to get the job.

There’s a way that seems right to man that ends in death. He showed them the Bible way, and found that they wanted that.

Pursue righteousness.We all need to put sin to death. What stirs you up towards God?  Pay attention to our hearts and minds. Dig into the feelings of your heart and thoughts of your mind and let God do business.

Pursue faith Organizers cannot be allowed to run the church. The “priests” and “prophets” must run the church with help from the “kings”. God will often ask you to jump of a cliff before he gives you the parachute.

Pursue love. Are you still growing in your compassion? Peace is not as peaceful as it sounds. Biggest problem in pastoral ministry is cowardice. Confront the problems early on. Trust others don’t isolate yourself. Are you pretending that you are the one man in the history of Christendom that hasn’t the need to be challenged?

Despite a staff of 100, Chandler keeps open relationships with them. He believes that the benefits of doing life together outweigh the risks of being betrayed.

Use a scalpel not a club. Don’t be quarrelsome. Be respectful and kind.

People don’t know as much as you think they know. Explain it well, teach it to them. Attack the world view by teaching.

Patiently endure evil. Sinners when confronted on their sin will almost always lash out at the people who are trying to help them.

Pursue Gentleness.

Practical applications to shepherd people to truth

1. Give them texts to read. Bible is better than theological books, as good as they are.
2. Go after the heart not the mind.
3. Listen to them not looking for a chance to respond
4. Be patient. Sanctification is a dirt path not a superhighway.

Once we are digging in the bible I’m not worried any more. Some doctrines he said he knew they were right before I liked them. If it took you years to get it, how dumb are you to demand they love it immediately.

Work diligently and passionately concerning your own spiritual life.

Your people will mirror you. That should terrify you and push you into the Lord.

Engage people as individuals and lead them into all God has for us in the Scriptures.

The second session of Saturday’s Dwell conference was based on similar material to the most popular video I have ever hosted here. Although I have heard that material before, this was adapted for church leaders, and it did me good to listen to it live and again. I think I will need to hear Terry often on prayer. For I need him to remind me of how essential it is for me to withdraw and wrestle with God.

Prayer is essential to church planting.

Elijah had seen his nation turn from God. 58 years after Solomon it is mow illegal to worship God.

The Queen of England made incredible vows before God. She spoke about ruling under Christ. Now we find in our nation you mustn’t wear a cross or pray for a patient because it is illegal. It’s amazing how a nation can turn so rapidly. If Elijah was here today he’d have prayed that the banking system would collapse. He prayed for no rain. As we are planting churches we plant praying communities. The 1859 revival happened in the background of financial collapse. We can pray that God would do the same again.

Now Elijah is praying that rain will come. 1 Kings 18.

Fire has fallen from heaven. Then we see him withdrawing from the crowd. He refused to allow others to set his agenda. He frequently withdrew to be with God as Jesus also would. Similarly the Apostles devoted themselves to the word of God and prayer. You are not to be shaped by the euphoria. Don’t allow people and things to do to rule you.

Go to the inner room. Familiar place. Shut yourself in. Be with your Father who is in secret. Shutting the door doesn’t shut the world out. Terry finds having a piece of paper with him to write something down helpful if the mind wanders.

Genesis 4 speaks of men calling on a name. Lots of names in the Old Testament, but there is none like Father. Huge privilege to withdraw even from even the breakthrough. Away from the applauding crowd and get close to God.

Prayer was based on God’s promises. He had said he would send rain. Easy to be passive and think if God is sovereign he will do things without our prayer. He’s in charge. But his sovereignty does not take away the responsibility of prayer. Our praying is based on what God has said.

Elijah prays in line with God says. Jeremiah 29. Prayer is stressed as a vital prerequisite for the release of Gods power. Lay ahold on him. We have a God we can cry out to. Daniel had a bible in one hand and a calendar in the other. When he saw that the seventy years were coming to an end, he prayed rather than simply waiting. God loves to engage with us when we take him seriously.

Prayer is about fellowship and communion with God, but it is always about asking and receiving. God chose you to be an asker. We can be very specific with what we ask for. Live relationally with God.

Elijah prayed fervently. Great power. Mighty punch. Pray yourself into prayer says Carson. Praying in the Spirit as another energy kicks in. Another energy. Freedom. Eloquence. I care about this more than I realized I cared. More urgency.

Jacob wrestled with God. He had a passion to get ahold of God. God disowns the people In Exodus 34. He calls the people Moses people. He says “no” they are YOUR people. God offers to start again. Moses won’t leave him alone to judge them. He prevails. He gets through effectively arguing for the honor of Gods name. Loose the idea of wrestling and the idea of a battle of wills you loose the reality of prayer. Prayer is actually about a conflict of two volitions: ours and God’s. We must not neglect that aspect of prayer and move too a passive form.

Elijah persisted. Seven times. The easiest thing about prayer is giving up. Carson says we area like the boy who rings a doorbell and runs away. One of Jesus parables was that someone would give bread because the person wouldn’t give up. He said keep on insisting.

Learn to pray. Cultivate. Don’t let go. Andrew Murray says God longs to give but holds the blessing back. If we are going to plant churches we must lay ahold of God. We provide an earthly base for the heavenly purposes of God.

All authority is given to Christ. He tells us to go. The Sanhedrin tells them to stop. They withdraw and cry out to the “despot”.

CCK Church in Brighton had a 100% refusal from a planning committee for the change of use of their new building. On a TV interview Terry Virgo found himself saying “we are going to appeal and get it.” Then he called everyone to pray! Don’t let go. Sure enough they did get it!

Elijah refused to let the pressures stop him from withdrawing.

Build prayer into the program of your church. There is growth happening in the UK. So for example there were 1000 new churches in seven years in the UK.

Last weekend’s Dwell conference was kicked off by Steve Timmis. He entitled his talk “To boldly go,” basing it on Romans 15.13

This verse is not just a benedictory prayer. This approach to it fails to take account of it’s true place in this sometimes overlooked chapter. Rather Paul is praying these great themes into the hearts of believers so he can take them to where he wants them to be.  Biblical hope is a firm confidence in the ability and willingness of God to keep his promises.  God has eternal purposes to catch people up as trophies of his grace. To achieve his expansive aim he chooses one man. Our hope is that we might be numbered among Gods people, through God keeping his promises to one man Abraham.

Hope is not the puny thing we understand it to be!

Hope is huge and God centered. Believe in this expansive purpose of God with joy and peace.  That hope drives us to boldly go where no man has gone before. There is no final frontier. There are multiple frontiers.  Beyond the frontier is wilderness.

Gospel wildernesses.  There are many areas even in the UK that are bereft of true vibrant gospel witness. Especially in the cities.  Especially in the UPAs (Urban Priority Areas).  Economic decline, physical decay and social disintegration.  Reputation is also a problem,  they are no-go areas. People who live in those places feel that everyone have abandoned them. We must make them gospel priority areas.

Verse 19. He has planted in major areas. He had fulfilled the gospel in the sense that this is what the gospel is for!

What are we meant to believe? The gospel itself is that God will bless the nations through the people of Abraham. It compels us to the ends of the earth.

In this sense mission is the gospel!

It’s not just about me going to heaven. Its not just about getting people like me into heaven.

This is the first part of an interview with Matt Chandler filmed here in London. I commend it to you, and in this first session we speak a lot about the Prayer and Fasting event he attending with Newfrontiers and his own sense of the importance of prayer. Here is a quote to whet your appetite: “Its my understanding from Scripture and experience that I am a very flawed person, redeemed by God, and that connection with pushing into the one thing I really need is imperative, especially for pastors”

Watch Matt Chandler Interview on Vimeo

Quite simply, you absolutely have to watch this. Chandler is in the UK this week, and will be addressing the Newfrontiers prayer and fasting event, a 300 leaders gathering, and next Sunday will be preaching at Jubilee Church.  Try and come to hear him live if you possibly can. But please do watch this, and ask yourself, am I preparing myself and those dear to me for suffering?

Watch on vimeo