Tope Koleoso was on fire yesterday as he preached this message. It will provoke you. It will encourage you to respect God’s word in a new way. It will thrill you again with the vital role that the church plays in opening our hearts to receive the life-giving power of God’s word. Here a few soundbites from the sermon that will whet your appetite:

• “Nothing prepares your heart to hear from God more than regular consistent fellowship with the people of God”
• “Private devotion is never a substitute for gathering with the saints”
• “You will find God’s power and glory amongst his people” (Psalm 63:1-2)
• “YOU are the preacher your children listen to”

If you have never watched a sermon by Tope, this is a great one to begin with. You can watch it right here or download audio and video at the Jubilee site.

For the last few weeks my pastor, Tope Koleoso, has been preaching a series on grace. It has been outstanding and many have had a fresh revelation of issues like our identity as saints, rather than sinners, of imputed righteousness, and of how we can grow more like Jesus. He finished yesterday with a summary of the series and a clear word on the imperative of forgiveness. I encourage you to watch it here, or visit the Jubilee site for downloads of this and the other messages in the series.

God has been opening doors for Christians in the UK to speak to the media, and to build relationships with local authorities. This evening, my pastor Tope Koleoso was on Sky News. I think he did a great job:

I am getting messages from different members of our congregation who say that gangs are smashing things up yards from their home, or in once case actually at the foot of their flats. Buildings have been looted in Enfield Town, and it seems also on the retail park where our church is based. Please pray for safety for all our people, and for those we live amongst. We do not want any injury or loss of life, and we want the damage to the area we love to stop.

As Tope Koleoso put it on Facebook,

Let us not give our town over to the Enemy but commit it to the hands of God. Let all Jubilee people pray now for Enfield and for the homes and properties of all people, including the Police.

Enfield is not far from Tottenham where scenes of carnage happened yesterday. People ask why is this happening at all? It was all triggered by a fatal shooting of a man they were trying to arrest by police. We were all shocked by the scenes of terrible fires, and by the attempts to stir up racial unrest. We have some members of our congregation who live in Tottenham. All I can say is that it is obviously all a million miles away from the genuine inter-racial unity we experience at Jubilee. Truth be told, Enfield is a very quiet place and I am sure that most if not all of the trouble makers have gone there from outside.

May God deliver us in our time of need. Would you please stand with us right now?

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.

The above sermon will shake you to the core. Tope didn’t mention those who have recently been denying hell by name, but his disagreement with them could not have been clearer. This is a compassionate yet very direct sermon on a painful but important subject. It was my delight to pray with someone at the end who wanted to become a Christian, and I know there were others. But perhaps the real targets were people like me. People who theologically believe this teaching but don’t live as though it was true. I urge you for the second time in two weeks to watch a sermon by my pastor. If you want to download it, visit the Jubilee Church London site.

Tope: I’ve got to ask you. You, are moving to London, and I live in London. You are very welcome to my city! But why are you moving to London?

Terry: Well, it’s fascinating. It’s something I never anticipated happening. I was born in Brighton and when I first left secular work, I really felt God gave me promises for Brighton. Quite amazing to be honest. I can show you whole Bibles with verses underlined and things written in the margin. And I really felt God was going to do something remarkable in Brighton. And I think he has! And I think that I never anticipated the way everything would develop. I’m now based in Church of Christ the King, Brighton, which we started back in about ’79 or ’80. And it’s been wonderful to watch the progress. And we would gather with about 1200 now on a normal Sunday. We’re going into different congregations, and a new generation of elders has come through – outstanding young men. And I have the privilege of seeing my son, Joel, leading that. You couldn’t ask for more privilege – it’s just such a joy! So they’re doing brilliantly, the works prospering and to be perfectly honest, over the last, I don’t know, few years maybe, I’ve felt I’m not sure I’m doing anything apostolic here. I’m involved all over the place, and I’m away a lot. I’m visiting our churches.. I’ll be going over to America and Mexico later this year, we’re in all sorts of nations, which I love doing. But when I’m home, I’d love to be more involved in a more cutting edge way, more pioneering, bit more hands-on. And the process of different things happened.

Another son of mine, Simon, is pastoring a church in Kingston, North London. And there’s about 100 of them meeting in a hall. I became aware that they had their eye on what was a Bingo hall – a 2000 seater. And how God prompted them to believe that they could buy it and they went and offered £1.5m for it. And my heart leapt and I thought ‘Wow, they’ve really got faith for something’. And to be honest there’s a prayer battle to win that property. And to be honest, we’ve been through such things in Brighton. The first building, that was a real prayer battle. Our second building, even bigger prayer battle – believing God for nearly £4m. I’ve been through those battles. And I felt my juices start flowing ‘Yes! I’d love to be involved with that’.

I’ve been there, they’re superb people and I was praying about it all and then I’ve had a number of specific Scriptures, people bringing prophetic impressions to me, it all flows together in a way that I feel, ‘No, that is God. I really feel God’s leading me’. So we’ve put our house on the market and we would love to move to Kingston as soon as possible, and throw in our lot. And I know I’ll keep travelling and Kingston isn’t far from London Heathrow or London Gatwick so we can keep travelling. But to be honest, this weekend has been quite key to me that I’ve been feeling ‘Kingston!’ and I do feel very focussed there. But someone said to me ‘It’s great you’re moving to London’ and recently I’ve spoken in a few South London churches and people have said ‘Oh, you’re coming to London’. Hasn’t quite registered to me. I think today and over the last couple of days and our praying together and praying about London, something’s happened in my Spirit, even over this weekend. And although Kingston will be where you’re focussed, I feel God’s doing something in my heart about London. And mingling with your people at the end this morning, I just loved the people. I loved these Londoners, I love their style, I love the way they’ve been. And I just felt ‘Hey, I’m not only coming to Kingston, joining of heart with you and other guys around.’ I believe there’s something in it, which I’ve yet to see to be honest. It’s like up-to-date, I’m talking about the last 24 hours, I feel Gods done something in my spirit about ‘come on, let’s believe for this vitally important city’, and that maybe there’s something more to do there.

The above sermon was one of Tope’s finest. It had me squirming in my seat from the first sentence. You will do well to listen. You will do well to pray as I have today, “God give me opportunities to put this into practice.” May God use this sermon to wake many of us up to evangelism. Downloads and more sermons available on the Jubilee site.

Now that Rob Bell’s controversial book Love Wins is on sale on both sides of the Atlantic and many other comments have been made, I am feeling like I cannot avoid engaging in the controversy, or at least should read some more material to understand it better. I did not seek out such involvement, as you can see from my post which ironically listed Five Reasons I hadn’t previously blogged about Rob Bell. Since then I have posted a couple of highly relevant articles without directly addressing Bell’s work.  These are:

• Why a belief in hell is so practically important (John Piper)
• The folly of imagining hell is not real and sin is not deadly (Charles Spurgeon)
• Mark Driscoll’s sermon on hell taken from the Rich Man and Lazarus.
• Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the folly of thinking God is only love.

I have now found a very helpful round up post on Gary David Stratton’s blog that lists some of the major posts on each side of this vociferous debate. He says that over 400,000 responses are now available online, so reading every post is clearly not an option! I have been following some of the posts he lists, and have finally succumbed and am in the process of reading the book. If you have been following things more closely, and there are critical posts you think I should read that are not on Stratton’s list, please let me know. There is one additional page that I have found to be interesting, a transcript of an interview by Lisa Miller with Rob Bell.

Finally, also in Stratton’s blog is a suggestion that we should use the Apostle Paul’s blogging checklist. I have adapted this somewhat from his version, which he took from 1 Corinthians 13.  I commend this list as we consider blogging about this issue or others. For not every blog post on either side of this debate has kept within these wise boundaries. So, before you hit send, grade yourself on this list:

Is this blog post I am about to publish

1. Demonstrating patience towards those who disagree with me?
2. Kind in its tone and content? Would my “enemies” agree?
3. Free from envy in it’s motivation? Rather than secretly wishing I was as popular as the person I am condemning?
4. Full of humility and not boasting? Rather than implying I have all the answers and the monopoly on the truth?
5. Wanting others to do well and highlighting good comments elsewhere rather than arrogantly seeking more hits for my blog?
6. Polite and not rude?
7. Not insisting on my own way? Have I acknowledged that there is a chance, however small, that I might be wrong about this?
8. Calm and not irritable?
9. Avoiding even the hint of sounding resentful?
10. Rejoicing with the truth, rather than taking joy from pointing out others error? Have I struck back at those who have been hurtful to me or brushed over and endured any perceived wrongs from them, have I thought the best of others?

If you cannot honestly answer yes to all of these bold questions, it is time to save the draft, pray, go and make yourself a cup of tea, and come back to re-edit the post later. There is a time for boldly speaking the truth.  But we must always do so in love. The above checklist is demanding.  It requires careful examination of our hearts.  We will all no doubt fail at times to follow it fully.  I know I have.

Fortunately there is grace for us, as well as opportunities for public repentance when needed!  I believe that none of us can have the insight into our own sinful hearts to fully achieve such high standards on our own. I do thank God that I have people who watch over both my soul and this blog and are not afraid to point out when they feel I have erred.  I trust that you also have those who can help you to follow Jesus online.  May God help me, and each of you to blog as Christ would want us to, and to treat others online as we would want to be treated.  Those of us that love grace must be sure to demonstrate it to others.

In this final part of the interview we discuss Baptism with the Holy Spirit:

By now you should hopefully be able to watch the sessions from the recent 300 Leaders conference where Dr. Hayford was the speaker and book into our next event with Terry Virgo.

In this second part of the interview, Dr. Hayford speaks about his concerns about modern worship, and we discuss his book Manifest Presence. We also talked about the difference between growing a church and growing people. We discuss discipleship and the Spirit-filled life. In it he explains his view of tongues, which is very similar to mine.

By now you should hopefully be able to watch the sessions from the recent 300 Leaders conference where Dr. Hayford was the speaker and book into our next event with Terry Virgo.

In this video with my pastor, Tope Koleoso, and Dr. Jack Hayford, I first ask Tope how he decides who to invite to the 300 Conference. I then ask why Dr. Hayford has not retired and how he chooses where to minister. We discuss longevity of ministry, the need to learn from others in different wings of the Body of Christ, and the importance of passing on to others what God has given to you. You will enjoy this informal conversation with a true father in our faith:

By now you should hopefully be able to watch the sessions from the recent 300 Leaders conference where Dr. Hayford was the speaker and book into our next event with Terry Virgo.

At the recent Mobilise USA event, Tope Koleoso spoke in a seminar about receiving the Holy Spirit. I encourage you to listen to the audio of the session and some notes follow. Other audio is available from the Newfrontiers USA site.

1. The Mandate

• THE WELL John 4:14
• “Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20:22
• “be filled with the Spirit”, Ephesians 5:18

2. The Means

Jesus is the – Baptiser in the Holy Spirit  John 1:33-34 (ESV)

JOHN 7:37  “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. . . This He said about the Holy Spirit”

3. The Moments

Acts 2:4 “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Peter explains, “This is that”

Their response to the sermon: what shall we do? (Acts 2:37)

What shall we do?

• Repent of your sins
• Be Baptised in water
• Be Filled with the Holy Spirit
• Be Added to the Church

(Acts 2:38)

Acts 8:14-17
Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John,
who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit,
for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:14-17
Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

Acts 9:17
So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 10:44
While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

Acts 19:6-7
“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied

What we can learn

1. There is a separate event of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
2. A distinct evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit is, speaking in tongues.
3. Jesus wanted all believers to be filled
4. The New Testament church expected Christians to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

What about me?

• This is for you (John 7:37)
• He is still here – Today, until Jesus comes back

THE BENEFITS …. What can I expect from the Holy Spirit?

1. Direct communication with God (I Cor14:1)
2. You will be edified (Jude 20), 1Cor 14:4-stimulates faith
3. Experience Gods Love like never before (Rom5:5)
4. Power to conquer fears and habits 2Tim1:7; IJohn:4:18.
5. Demolishes doubt: (Eph. 1:13-14; John 16:13,14)
6. Calms inner turmoil and brings peace
7. Boldness (Acts 4:8-13)
8. Gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12-14)
9. Prayer – Romans 8:26
10. Worship – 1 Corinthians 14:2
11. Warfare

How to receive the Holy Spirit

Three requirement (John 7:37-39)

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive…..

Your part to do:
1.Be THIRSTY

2.COME to JESUS the Baptiser

3.DRINK

Why some people don’t receive
Fear

• Bad Teaching
• Bad experiences
• General fear of the unknown

LOVE MUST REPLACE FEAR

DOUBT

• Pessimism
• Feeling unworthy (Lack assurance of salvation)
• Worry about past sins or habits

Faith must replace Doubt

Be THIRSTY
It is for those who are thirsty
Thirsty – desperate for one thing – drink

Come to Jesus
If any thirst, come to me
He will receive you

Drink
By a voluntary act, you will receive within you

Jesus’ part – to give the Spirit
Your part – to actively receive by faith

I was the interviewer for the above Q and A which took place at the last 300 leaders conference. There were lots of interesting questions based on the two videos I posted last week.

I do hope that you will consider joining us for the next event if you are a leader of any level, or aspire to be one.

The above video comes from the recent 300 leaders Conference. It is on a subject close to my heart: diversity. Many argue that churches will only grow if they focus on attracting one demographic of person. We at Jubilee have given our lives to trying, by God’s grace, to prove that statement wrong. It hasn’t all been easy, and this video shares some of the lessons we have learned over the years.

The above video features both David Pask and Tope Koleoso. David provides day-to-day spiritual leadership to Jubilee Church, and Tope is the lead pastor, responsible for vision and preaching. As regular readers will know, I have been part of this church since 1995, and following 10 years of hard work and foundation forming we had around 100 people. Then, God pressed the fast forward button to the extent that at our Easter 2010 service we gathered almost 1000. We have been blessed, and are very grateful to God. We are still learning, but at the autumn 300, Tope and David were eager to share something of what we have seen over these years.

In the most recent 300 leaders conference, they shared this first session. Tope talked about Godward aspects of leadership. David then went on to explain strategic and practical aspects of leadership in the context of the growth that we have experienced at Jubilee. He spoke of four phases we have gone through – the tough review, the gathering phase, the establishing phase, and finally, beyond ourselves.

If you enjoy this video, you will enjoy watching other 300 leaders conference videos or booking in to attend the next one which is with Jack Hayford.

Salvation belongs to the Lord. The whole Bible is a story of deliverance. God delivers his people by miracles. When they came out of Egypt they sung “who is there like you O God” They were also destined by promises. He tells them “I will give you the land.” The slavish mentality needed to be broken. God opens the sea for them. He guided them with heavenly GPS, he made sure their shoes never run out. They were kept by the supernatural.

But God was not pleased with them because they had no faith in His promises. One time God was going to kill them all. Moses has to plead with God. But the generation that left Egypt did not get into the land. Moses had to deal with the red sea, Joshua with the Jordan. Then they hit Jericho. There was a fortified wall that would not shift. In some ways Jericho could represent challenges that people have in their lives today. It was standing between them and God’s promises. We can expect God to give us breakthroughs, and must make sure that when we reject prosperity preaching, we don’t also throw away faith for God to intervene.

All kind of things can be barriers in people’s lives: fears, sicknesses, guilt, bondage to sin. These things can all look as though they will never go away. Jericho said to the Israelites “I am here and I am not going away.” They couldn’t retreat. They couldn’t advance. Many people are like that. Stuck in a rut.

How does a Christian get out of unfilfillment? Jericho is not Cannan. How can a Christian break out of these traps? What can we learn from their breakthrough?

1. Acknowledge God afresh
Joshua sees a huge soldier. He wants to know who’s side this man is on. The answer is simply “no!” Most commentators believe this is a preincarnate appearance of Jesus. We must see Jesus, high, lifted up, all powerful.

He is sufficient for us! We must daily say, you are Lord of my life

2. Learn to walk by faith again
We don’t live by planing. There is a place for the pragmatics, but ultimately we must trust the one who called you. Bible tells us that the walls of Jericho came down by faith, not by outstanding hammers and drills. He wants us to diligently seek him. Not give up, not give in, not break down. Often unbelief masquerades as common sense. The only way to live by faith. The spies who said “don’t go, coz it is too scary” had the effect of killing faith.

Four faith killers

Negativism – the disposition to project to the worst case scenario
• Criticism – the disposition that is preoccupied with the incomplete or imperfect
• Skepticism – the disposition that is determined to always question but never commit
• Cyncisim – the disposition to reject any human enterprise as selfishly motivated

Faith says “as for God his way is perfect, and his works are flawless.” Faith is stirred by remembering the God we serve. We must take God-infested, well prayed through, discussed with leaders, risks.

2. Obey the last command. “Obedience is better than sacrifice” Faith is demonstrated by works. If we just sit there, nothing happens. Joshua tells the people we are going to march around a wall. Doesn’t sound very sensible, but they follow him. They had to do it continually. They did it the way God said it, even though it didn’t look like it made a lot of sense. He told them not to talk. Which was probably just as well. If they had talked about it, would they have continued? To do it six days in a row, then on the seventh day they did it seven times. Often before a breakthrough happens you go through the toughest times. Then at the end they shouted, and the walls came down. It is really worth trusting this God.

This is how faith works. You acknowledge God, you start walking by faith, one step at a time, then you obey the last command. What God is looking for is the obedience. Will they do what I said in the way that I said it?

Almost 500 raucous students and twenties just created a whole lot of noise in this place. But, as a hotel guest who was not part of the conference noted, it was not because of too much drinking. The music sounded at times like it would not have been out of place at a party. There was dancing, there were hands lifted. We celebrated our Great God. There is truly no one like our Jesus. Our God really does reign. We were served well by a band that enthusiastically led us into God’s presence.

Tope Koleoso spoke about the text “Watch your life and doctrine closely , . .” (1 timothy 4:16)

He began by asking, what is it all about ? His answer was simply, that your life may glorify God. He explained that Paul wanted Timothy to be an example to the other believers, despite his relative youth. He urged the crowd to follow Piper’s advice: Don’t waste your life. Live a God centered live.

Your life is a gift. Use it wisely lest you throw it away. How do you handle a life carefully? How do you live a God centered life?

1. An anointed life – Set apart for a particular role. The one who anoints you is saying, my presence will be with you. You have an anointing from the almighty. You live for an audience of one. God has set you apart. He called you when you were in a messed up state. The only thing I added to my salvation is my sin. Because of grace, you want to live for him.

2. Abide in Christ – Enjoy him. John 15 tells us that Jesus is the vine. We must stay in Christ, live in him, and he in us. We must value Jesus, love him. Take the word of God and so read it, study it, so it is inside you. That Christ may be formed in us. The goal is that we don’t have the word, the word has us. Your advice comes from the Scriptures. Your worldview comes from the Bible and not the world. Abiding is also about worship. How long will you live between two kingdoms? Choose one and live in that one.

3. A Spirit-Filled Life. Every Christian has the Spirit, but at some point an in-filling happens. No longer led by your own ideas but by God almighty. We need ongoing encounters with God. Salvation is not just a destination that we have arrived at, it is a destiny set before us. Not just about your position in Christ, but finding your purpose. The heart becomes tenderized.

4. Godly Character – We live in a world that is anti-authority. Many do not want to listen to the Bible. Psalm 2 could be paraphrased “God is in his holy temple, let everybody shut up!” Watch your life closely. You need someone above you who cares for you and loves you enough to tell the truth. People want to hear what they want to hear. Don’t be like Samson who was anointed but had a flawed character.
Proverbs 6 tells us the things that God hates.

5. An ordered life - Ephesians 5:15 tells us to be careful how we walk. Discipline and order. If you just go with the flow, you will end up in the gutter.

6. A Trusting life – Trust God. Numbers 16. They had to learn to trust him after the manna stopped. Trust in him every day for everything in your life.

7. A life of gratitude – Learns to say thankful to God. Be grateful and thrilled with what God has done for you. We do not deserve what God does for us. The more you thank him, even when things are tough, the more he paves the way for your future.

So they not only let me into the country, they also let me into the students and twenties conference! Back home in the UK I am routinely banned from going to students and twenties events, even when they call it twenties PLUS as our guys back at Jubilee London do. I suppose that as I do actually turn 40 in just a couple of months, I should not be surprised. Shh…don’t tell my American friends or they might throw me out! Gonna feel a bit old over the next few days, unless I just pretend to be young again . . .

I am actually really excited about today’s conference. To my mind America represents a massive opportunity for churches like ours. I have met over the years many delightful American brothers and sisters from all kinds of church backgrounds. But one thing they often say is that many of them have not really ever seen a good model of a charismatic church that is also solidly reformed in doctrine. It seems America needs many more of such churches. Who knows how many churches might in some ways have their conception at this event as God puts his hands on young people for future service?

Such churches do exist this side of the pond. It is just that, unlike in Britain, there are relatively few churches that have partnered in a nationwide family of churches that is explicitly charismatic and reformed. There are some, however, and I am thrilled to be meeting up today with some very dear brothers and sisters, some of whom I met last year, and some of whom I have yet to meet in the flesh. Wherever in the world I go, connecting with brothers and sisters from the Newfrontiers family is always a real joy. I am also glad that on this trip I will also get to connect with some other non-Newfrontiers friends.

If you are an American reformed charismatic looking for fellowship, you could do a lot worse than attending a Newfrontiers event. I know that there will be a number here today who are not actually members of Newfrontiers. If you are at the event, do come and say hi!

I am here with Tope Koleoso and I will be live blogging most of the sessions. The conference will include material on watching your life and doctrine, prayer, the life of the Spirit and other things. If you can’t be here, I will give you as much of a flavor as I can. Hopefully it will make you want to come to another event, such as for example the International Newfrontiers conference that will be taking place in the UK this July. People will be coming to that from all over the world. If you are a regular blog reader, I would love to see you there!

Do you live in the USA? Are you reformed, and theologically persuaded that the charismatic gifts continue? Perhaps like many you have not seen a positive model of how they can be expressed in a Bible-loving environment. Are you longing for a more dynamic experience of the Spirit’s power?

If the above describes you, please come to St Louis January 14-16 2011 for the Mobilise student and twenties conference. I will be there live blogging this exciting conference, and my pastor Tope Koleoso will be one of the main speakers. Tope is an engaging preacher who is sure to inspire and inform in equal measure. It has been a real delight for me to be in the same church as him since 1995. After a church planting phase of ten years, Jubilee moved to a cinema with 100 people. Since then God has granted remarkable growth, and almost 1000 people gathered on Easter Sunday 2010. It is thrilling to see what God is doing, and it is such a privilege to me to follow Tope’s leadership.

Take a look at this description of Tope’s seminar track to whet your appetite, and the video that follows. This conference could alter the direction of the rest of your life. Can you afford not to come?

The Holy Spirit – Living a Spirit-Filled Life (Tope Koleoso)
The Christian life was never intended to be solely characterized by an academic approach to theology, but by the Word of God made alive by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit-filled life should never be perceived as an optional extra for the Christian, but become the daily pursuit of the disciple. In this seminar we will look at the components of a Spirit-filled life, church and walk.

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