My reading of "In the Day of Thy Power" by Arthur Wallis continues to stir me to seek the Lord for revival. So I could not resist the temptation to share another very provocative portion of this book with you. This comes from "Distinctive Features", Chapter 5 of "In the Day..."
If we asked some who have truly believed, "Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed?" (Acts 19:2) they would have to confess, "We don't know about the Holy Spirit", or "We thought that He was the same as Christ". How seldom is that gracious unseen Presence truly recognized, relied upon, or given His rightful place in the church which He established. How often is He grieved and hindered because the people of God prefer human organizations and the methods of the world, to that which costs more than money to secure - His own gracious presence and power. But revival ever brings a fresh emphasis upon the person and work of the Holy Spirit. It is a time when believers thirst and are filled, and when the Spirit Himself reasserts His rights, and is given the reins in the worship and service of the church.
So revival has its repercussions even in the realm of the Triume God. It is a time when the rights of humanity give way to the rights of Deity. "God is not only the source of revival - 'Wilt Thou not revive us again?' - but He is also the end of revival - 'that Thy people may rejoice in Thee' (Ps. 85:6 A.V.). Revival comes from God and leads to God, that He may be 'all in all', and that man may learn that of himself he is nothing" (Philip Hughes). Here is the transcendent effect of all revival, and the fulfilment of its highest purpose: "The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low: and THE LORD ALONE SHALL BE EXALTED IN THAT DAY" (Isa. 2:17) If we have a jealous desire for the glory of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, should we not all be thirsting for revival?
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Revival... or Bust!
"The world of mankind has not advanced by evolution but by revolution;..." P.V. Jenness
It is good to be back with you again. Time permits from posting as much as I would like. There is so much the Lord is doing in, through, and around me in this season of life. I hope to share some of those developments in the very near future.
I continue to marvel at the chorus of hunger and thirst for the Lord that the Father is stirring among His people. So many people are so tired of just going through mindless (and Spiritless) religious motions. In that atmosphere there are a few options. We can choose the path of bitterness and cynicism and reject "the church" altogether. We can also be so jaded, faithless and discouraged that we just keep "riding the treadmill", in hopes that someone will just pull the plug and let us off. The optimum choice is to choose the path of Revival and Restoration. We can choose to be thermostats rather than thermometers. We can lay hold of the Lord and not let Him go until...
Along those lines, through Terry Virgo's writing's I've been turned onto the works of Arthur Wallis. I've read "The Radical Christian" several times. (the link for this entire book is to the right under "OK New Forest") Now I'm reading "In the Day of Thy Power". What else can I say but "wow!" Here are just a few short samples that stirred me a great deal today from Chapter 4 of this book, "This is the Purpose":
"Revival as a method of God's working may be justified from the standpoint of divine strategy, first to counteract spiritual decline, and then to create spiritual momentum."
"... in times of spiritual declension there is perhaps nothing more calculated to stay the rot, wean the heart from earth and attract it to heaven, and produce spiritual steadfastness than to experience such a mighty work of God. Again and again, spiritual situations and conditions that seemed beyond recovery have been transformed by such a working of the Spirit. One recalls the pithy definition of revival as "the inrush of the Spirit into a body that threatens to become a corpse"! (D.M. Panton). If counteracting spiritual decline was the only purpose achieved by God in such seasons, His method would be abundantly justified. It is after all but the sound military principle that the best method of defence is attack."
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It is good to be back with you again. Time permits from posting as much as I would like. There is so much the Lord is doing in, through, and around me in this season of life. I hope to share some of those developments in the very near future.
I continue to marvel at the chorus of hunger and thirst for the Lord that the Father is stirring among His people. So many people are so tired of just going through mindless (and Spiritless) religious motions. In that atmosphere there are a few options. We can choose the path of bitterness and cynicism and reject "the church" altogether. We can also be so jaded, faithless and discouraged that we just keep "riding the treadmill", in hopes that someone will just pull the plug and let us off. The optimum choice is to choose the path of Revival and Restoration. We can choose to be thermostats rather than thermometers. We can lay hold of the Lord and not let Him go until...
Along those lines, through Terry Virgo's writing's I've been turned onto the works of Arthur Wallis. I've read "The Radical Christian" several times. (the link for this entire book is to the right under "OK New Forest") Now I'm reading "In the Day of Thy Power". What else can I say but "wow!" Here are just a few short samples that stirred me a great deal today from Chapter 4 of this book, "This is the Purpose":
"Revival as a method of God's working may be justified from the standpoint of divine strategy, first to counteract spiritual decline, and then to create spiritual momentum."
"... in times of spiritual declension there is perhaps nothing more calculated to stay the rot, wean the heart from earth and attract it to heaven, and produce spiritual steadfastness than to experience such a mighty work of God. Again and again, spiritual situations and conditions that seemed beyond recovery have been transformed by such a working of the Spirit. One recalls the pithy definition of revival as "the inrush of the Spirit into a body that threatens to become a corpse"! (D.M. Panton). If counteracting spiritual decline was the only purpose achieved by God in such seasons, His method would be abundantly justified. It is after all but the sound military principle that the best method of defence is attack."
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Monday, April 6, 2009
Seeds of Revolution: A Preamble
As I have more diligently prayed about this site, I’ve sensed the Lord leading me to go beyond documenting what the Father is doing in our church, church planting family and the body at large. Call to Revolution is an extension of a prophetic message. The purpose is to spread that message and trust the Lord to ignite the vision he is renewing in His people to pray into Revival and Restoration.
I believe Revival is a Sovereign work of a loving God who will answer the cries of His people in His time for an extraordinary outpouring of His Spirit in power. But even as we pray for true revival, we all must be about the work of Restoration. In most cases, the work the Lord wants to do cannot be contained in the “old wineskins” most of us attempt to walk within.
For those of you most familiar with this site, or those who know me best are aware that my life has been profoundly impacted by the ministry of Terry Virgo, especially over the past 18 months. Much of what the Lord has been teaching me over the years was written about in his book “Restoration in the Church”. If you have not read it, please order it today and begin reading what I believe is an apostolic and prophetic blueprint of what the Lord is doing around the globe. In fact, the first major value of Newfrontiers, the church planting ministry Virgo pioneered, is “Restoring the Church”. Implicit in this value is the conviction that we’ve drifted off course and ceased to be who He’s called us to be and walk in the way He’s called us to walk.
But before we get into structure, let me make one thing crystal clear. First and foremost we need more of JESUS! There’s an abundance of religion and church in our land, but the compelling and passionate life of Jesus is not so easy to come by. One scripture the Lord has consistently stirred in my heart is in Matthew 5:6. He says:
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
As I meditated on this during a late night prayer walk moments ago, the Spirit of the Lord prompted me with something powerful, that a hunger and thirst for righteousness is… hunger and thirst for JESUS! Jeremiah 33:16 says ‘The LORD is our righteousness” It is He who we hunger and thirst for. And I believe this is THE plumb line for everything we are and do as true followers of Jesus and as churches. Everything should revolve around getting more of Him!
Now I must meddle. This means our highest pursuit should not be a consumer oriented approach to church. What should draw us to a body of believers above all else is a clear sense that God is there and that above all else there is an insatiable desire and pursuit for MORE OF HIM! This should begin with the leadership of the church. If you’re where you are simply because of good preaching, or the children’s ministry, or the youth program, or any other program for that matter, or all of the above, you may have given up your birthright for a bowl of soup… a lukewarm one at that.
What was the Psalmist captured by in the temple of old? Was it the building or the ceremony or any human element? No! He was preoccupied with one thing!
Psalm 63:1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
His soul was desperate for the Father, for his power and glory! That was the only true source of his satisfaction. He FOUND God’s power and glory? Have we? Or are we simply content to “go to church”? Does God really show up, or do we just go through the motions and find contentment in “doing church”? I would argue that most of us American Christians live lives that are supernaturally deficient. And I would go a step further and contend that most of us live lives that are even substandard by OLD TESTAMENT standards! Look at the story of God’s people and how God’s hand was so clearly visible in their journey, visible to them… and to the unbelieving world around them. (Remember the fear of God Israel’s neighbors experienced after hearing of God’s mighty works on behalf of His people?)
Now I don’t know about you, but I want much more of this in our midst than I currently see. People who know me have probably heard me express a longing for genuine, authentic New Testament life that looks more like that revealed in the book of Acts. I believe the Lord wants to do just that, but the gentlemanly Holy Spirit will not force that on us. We can be content to live with “what is” and most of the church world will walk in lockstep with us, or we can dare to boldly ask, and seek, and knock, until heaven’s glory falls upon us so we can truly walk out the life of Jesus so the world can see Him.
In Acts 1:1, Luke tell us in the previous book in his name he recorded “all that Jesus began to do and teach”. Isn’t it fitting that this kicks off the story of the church? The church is the continuation of the life of Jesus! He called us to continue that life IN US! That’s where the essence of Restoration begins. We must set our sights there. What was his life? Was there teaching? Yes. Was there discipleship? Yes. But it wasn’t words alone. Our Savior came in power! Jesus walked in the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit… the same Holy Spirit He gives to His church to empower our mission.
Do these words burn in your heart? Do you long to see God’s glory fall: in our prayer closets, in our small group meetings, in our Sunday gatherings? If this is your passion, cry out to God and begin asking for this, with people who share that desperation. I love when Paul spoke of false teachers troubling the church in Corinth. Paul sought the Lord for the opportunity to come to set things straight. He was ready to walk in the authority the Lord gave Him. Did he threaten to come and debate theology with these men? A thousand times no. He said this:
For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power (I Corinthians 4:20)
With that, there’s really nothing more to say other than this. I want to see the Lord reveal His glory in our midst and show us His power, and I’m not willing to settle for anything less. How about you?
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I believe Revival is a Sovereign work of a loving God who will answer the cries of His people in His time for an extraordinary outpouring of His Spirit in power. But even as we pray for true revival, we all must be about the work of Restoration. In most cases, the work the Lord wants to do cannot be contained in the “old wineskins” most of us attempt to walk within.
For those of you most familiar with this site, or those who know me best are aware that my life has been profoundly impacted by the ministry of Terry Virgo, especially over the past 18 months. Much of what the Lord has been teaching me over the years was written about in his book “Restoration in the Church”. If you have not read it, please order it today and begin reading what I believe is an apostolic and prophetic blueprint of what the Lord is doing around the globe. In fact, the first major value of Newfrontiers, the church planting ministry Virgo pioneered, is “Restoring the Church”. Implicit in this value is the conviction that we’ve drifted off course and ceased to be who He’s called us to be and walk in the way He’s called us to walk.
But before we get into structure, let me make one thing crystal clear. First and foremost we need more of JESUS! There’s an abundance of religion and church in our land, but the compelling and passionate life of Jesus is not so easy to come by. One scripture the Lord has consistently stirred in my heart is in Matthew 5:6. He says:
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
As I meditated on this during a late night prayer walk moments ago, the Spirit of the Lord prompted me with something powerful, that a hunger and thirst for righteousness is… hunger and thirst for JESUS! Jeremiah 33:16 says ‘The LORD is our righteousness” It is He who we hunger and thirst for. And I believe this is THE plumb line for everything we are and do as true followers of Jesus and as churches. Everything should revolve around getting more of Him!
Now I must meddle. This means our highest pursuit should not be a consumer oriented approach to church. What should draw us to a body of believers above all else is a clear sense that God is there and that above all else there is an insatiable desire and pursuit for MORE OF HIM! This should begin with the leadership of the church. If you’re where you are simply because of good preaching, or the children’s ministry, or the youth program, or any other program for that matter, or all of the above, you may have given up your birthright for a bowl of soup… a lukewarm one at that.
What was the Psalmist captured by in the temple of old? Was it the building or the ceremony or any human element? No! He was preoccupied with one thing!
Psalm 63:1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
His soul was desperate for the Father, for his power and glory! That was the only true source of his satisfaction. He FOUND God’s power and glory? Have we? Or are we simply content to “go to church”? Does God really show up, or do we just go through the motions and find contentment in “doing church”? I would argue that most of us American Christians live lives that are supernaturally deficient. And I would go a step further and contend that most of us live lives that are even substandard by OLD TESTAMENT standards! Look at the story of God’s people and how God’s hand was so clearly visible in their journey, visible to them… and to the unbelieving world around them. (Remember the fear of God Israel’s neighbors experienced after hearing of God’s mighty works on behalf of His people?)
Now I don’t know about you, but I want much more of this in our midst than I currently see. People who know me have probably heard me express a longing for genuine, authentic New Testament life that looks more like that revealed in the book of Acts. I believe the Lord wants to do just that, but the gentlemanly Holy Spirit will not force that on us. We can be content to live with “what is” and most of the church world will walk in lockstep with us, or we can dare to boldly ask, and seek, and knock, until heaven’s glory falls upon us so we can truly walk out the life of Jesus so the world can see Him.
In Acts 1:1, Luke tell us in the previous book in his name he recorded “all that Jesus began to do and teach”. Isn’t it fitting that this kicks off the story of the church? The church is the continuation of the life of Jesus! He called us to continue that life IN US! That’s where the essence of Restoration begins. We must set our sights there. What was his life? Was there teaching? Yes. Was there discipleship? Yes. But it wasn’t words alone. Our Savior came in power! Jesus walked in the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit… the same Holy Spirit He gives to His church to empower our mission.
Do these words burn in your heart? Do you long to see God’s glory fall: in our prayer closets, in our small group meetings, in our Sunday gatherings? If this is your passion, cry out to God and begin asking for this, with people who share that desperation. I love when Paul spoke of false teachers troubling the church in Corinth. Paul sought the Lord for the opportunity to come to set things straight. He was ready to walk in the authority the Lord gave Him. Did he threaten to come and debate theology with these men? A thousand times no. He said this:
For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power (I Corinthians 4:20)
With that, there’s really nothing more to say other than this. I want to see the Lord reveal His glory in our midst and show us His power, and I’m not willing to settle for anything less. How about you?
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Wednesday, February 25, 2009
A Beautiful Love Song
Its always a blessing to hear the Lord speak to us in the midst of our daily lives. And when he says the same thing to us from 2 sources within a couple of hours, I certainly take notice!
That's exactly what happened Wednesday night. I was talking with a dear friend who has recently gone through some very difficult circumstances. Unfortunately, to the best of my understanding, this friend has rejected the truth of God's word and followed her emotions in a direction that perpetuates a path of disobedience. And yet as we talked,she was very profuse in her praise of me, about how much she appreciates my friendship. As you might expect this is very uncomfortable to me. It is so because there does not appear to be any grasp of spiritual reality... that while praising me as a Christian friend, she's expressed no interest in taking the hard but necessary steps to bring her life into conformity to God's word.
The Lord reminded me of a verse from Ezekiel describing this phenomenon:
"And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say but they will not do it." Ezekiel 33:32
So imagine my surprise when I came home and continued reading Terry Virgo's "A People Prepared", to find this:
"Sadly some Christians have developed such a love and respect for the Word that simply to hear it faithfully expounded can become an end in itself. Delighting in "sitting under" good teaching we can be in danger of becoming Ezekiel's hearers; that is, like those who love to hear a love song sung well, or an instrument played well (Ezekiel 33:32). The fact is that Paul's gospel was with word and power. He reminded the Corinthians, "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power" (I Cor 2:4-5)
I hear people who speak frequently about how "well taught" they are. That's nice. But it really means nothing in and of itself. We learn in James 1:22 that being hearers of the word only and not doers leads to self deception.
My conviction is that we need a dynamic synergy of Word and Spirit. Not one or the other, but both! We need the Spirit of God to confirm His word with signs and wonders to hold the "hellbound spellbound", and to rattle the cages of some of us religious people who are inclined to find contentment in a mere form a godliness, while denying its power.
src="http://www.statcounter.com/counter/counter_xhtml.js">
That's exactly what happened Wednesday night. I was talking with a dear friend who has recently gone through some very difficult circumstances. Unfortunately, to the best of my understanding, this friend has rejected the truth of God's word and followed her emotions in a direction that perpetuates a path of disobedience. And yet as we talked,she was very profuse in her praise of me, about how much she appreciates my friendship. As you might expect this is very uncomfortable to me. It is so because there does not appear to be any grasp of spiritual reality... that while praising me as a Christian friend, she's expressed no interest in taking the hard but necessary steps to bring her life into conformity to God's word.
The Lord reminded me of a verse from Ezekiel describing this phenomenon:
"And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say but they will not do it." Ezekiel 33:32
So imagine my surprise when I came home and continued reading Terry Virgo's "A People Prepared", to find this:
"Sadly some Christians have developed such a love and respect for the Word that simply to hear it faithfully expounded can become an end in itself. Delighting in "sitting under" good teaching we can be in danger of becoming Ezekiel's hearers; that is, like those who love to hear a love song sung well, or an instrument played well (Ezekiel 33:32). The fact is that Paul's gospel was with word and power. He reminded the Corinthians, "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power" (I Cor 2:4-5)
I hear people who speak frequently about how "well taught" they are. That's nice. But it really means nothing in and of itself. We learn in James 1:22 that being hearers of the word only and not doers leads to self deception.
My conviction is that we need a dynamic synergy of Word and Spirit. Not one or the other, but both! We need the Spirit of God to confirm His word with signs and wonders to hold the "hellbound spellbound", and to rattle the cages of some of us religious people who are inclined to find contentment in a mere form a godliness, while denying its power.
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Thursday, February 19, 2009
The Journey Part 7: Our First Gathering
As I write this, I’ve just wrapped up reading the book of Joshua. One thing I find interesting from Joshua and Deuteronomy is the emphasis on remembering the story the Lord is writing. As Moses anticipated his own death before Israel entered the Promised Land, he reminded them of God’s hand at work, from Joseph’s journey to Egypt, to Israel’s bondage and Exodus ending with the destruction of Pharoah’s army, to the journey and miracles in the wilderness, all the way to the point they were ready to enter the Promised Land. Similarly, Joshua rehearsed the story before his death, recognizing how important it was that they never forget how God’s hand worked among His people. Notice even in the New Testament as Peter ties together the story of God’s involvement with His people all the way up to the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Stephen does the same before stepping into history as the first martyr of the Christian faith.
With these accounts in mind, I believe it is vital that we are freshly aware of the story the Lord is writing in our lives, not just as individuals, but as a people. This blog is an attempt to keep the memory of the Lord’s work in bringing together a new church in Charlotte fresh in our minds.
We pick up in February of 2008. When we decided to leave our old church and begin something new, we did not know what to expect. We took a month off to establishing some stronger foundations in our family. We started a special Sunday morning devotional time and began going through the book of Acts. One of the blessings of this season has been watching the children make connections between what they read and what’s happening in our lives. One example of this is during a recent devotional time we discussed one of the early apostles’ journeys to minister to believers. As we read, one of the children quickly chimed in “oh that’s just like Mr. Carl!”, a reference to Carl Herrington, the apostolic leader from Newfrontiers USA who is actively involved in the Charlotte church plant. Our hope is that our children will correctly understand that Acts is not a mere history book recording the “glory days” of the past, but a preview of what the Lord wants to do in our day, perhaps on a grander scale as we anticipate the day when “the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ”.
I told people that if we started meeting and our home and no one else showed up beyond our family, we were ready for that. But the Lord clearly had other plans. About 2 dozen came to the first Saturday night gathering in our home in February of 2008. We had a time of worship and those in attendance endured a message from yours truly. The theme was about a church with 2 foundational priorities, fellowship with God, and fellowship with each other. And those pursuits would position us for mission, to reach our city with the gospel.
We went around the room and asked everyone why they attended that first meeting. There was a lot of curiosity and mystery in the air. What would become of this gathering? Would it really amount to anything? We weren’t exactly sure what to expect. Our hearts were just to obey the Lord and leave the results to him. Now, exactly a year later, as we expected, we recall the names and faces of people who “dropped in” but ultimately did not sense a call to join us for the church plant. From the beginning, our hearts have always been to welcome in those the Lord brought to us, even if only for a season.
It should be noted that while my wife and I were interacting with Carl Herrington, we began meeting in our home with no promises or guarantees from Carl or from Newfrontiers. We just knew the Lord was in this. I can say that we were very anxious for people to meet Carl and the wonderful people we met from Jubilee Church Atlanta. That would happen just weeks later. And from there a sequence of events that developed faster than many of us imagined. Ahead, details on Carl’s first visit to Charlotte, and our first group visit to Atlanta, as “The Journey” continues…
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With these accounts in mind, I believe it is vital that we are freshly aware of the story the Lord is writing in our lives, not just as individuals, but as a people. This blog is an attempt to keep the memory of the Lord’s work in bringing together a new church in Charlotte fresh in our minds.
We pick up in February of 2008. When we decided to leave our old church and begin something new, we did not know what to expect. We took a month off to establishing some stronger foundations in our family. We started a special Sunday morning devotional time and began going through the book of Acts. One of the blessings of this season has been watching the children make connections between what they read and what’s happening in our lives. One example of this is during a recent devotional time we discussed one of the early apostles’ journeys to minister to believers. As we read, one of the children quickly chimed in “oh that’s just like Mr. Carl!”, a reference to Carl Herrington, the apostolic leader from Newfrontiers USA who is actively involved in the Charlotte church plant. Our hope is that our children will correctly understand that Acts is not a mere history book recording the “glory days” of the past, but a preview of what the Lord wants to do in our day, perhaps on a grander scale as we anticipate the day when “the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ”.
I told people that if we started meeting and our home and no one else showed up beyond our family, we were ready for that. But the Lord clearly had other plans. About 2 dozen came to the first Saturday night gathering in our home in February of 2008. We had a time of worship and those in attendance endured a message from yours truly. The theme was about a church with 2 foundational priorities, fellowship with God, and fellowship with each other. And those pursuits would position us for mission, to reach our city with the gospel.
We went around the room and asked everyone why they attended that first meeting. There was a lot of curiosity and mystery in the air. What would become of this gathering? Would it really amount to anything? We weren’t exactly sure what to expect. Our hearts were just to obey the Lord and leave the results to him. Now, exactly a year later, as we expected, we recall the names and faces of people who “dropped in” but ultimately did not sense a call to join us for the church plant. From the beginning, our hearts have always been to welcome in those the Lord brought to us, even if only for a season.
It should be noted that while my wife and I were interacting with Carl Herrington, we began meeting in our home with no promises or guarantees from Carl or from Newfrontiers. We just knew the Lord was in this. I can say that we were very anxious for people to meet Carl and the wonderful people we met from Jubilee Church Atlanta. That would happen just weeks later. And from there a sequence of events that developed faster than many of us imagined. Ahead, details on Carl’s first visit to Charlotte, and our first group visit to Atlanta, as “The Journey” continues…
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Thursday, February 12, 2009
Evangelism Mode
By now you know I am very much affected by the ministry of Terry Virgo. Terry is the visionary founder of the church planting ministry, Newfrontiers. What has captured my attention is his "big picture" thinking. His book "Restoration in the Church" was the first time I saw in print the things the Lord had been stirring in my heart for years.
Having just drifted into somewhat of a passive lull, the Lord recently prompted me to re-read "No Well Worn Paths". It chronicles the ministry of Terry Virgo and the development of Newfrontiers. What encouraged me so much when I read this in the fall of 2007 was one of the values the Spirit of God was drawing my attention to from the New Testament. I like to say "the church God is building is nimble". In other words, its not a static, bogged down, committee driven organization immobilized with paralysis by analysis. The church the Lord is building is on the move! It is a movement! So you can understand my profound distate for what to me appears like the discussion of and dissecting of theology for theology's sake. All too often this kind of "religion" never catches fire. The result of this is most evident in our lack of evangelistic fruit.
One section of "No Well Worn Paths" that grabbed my attention was a place where Terry explained the decision prayerfully made to end a conference called "Stoneleigh". He talked about all the time, energy and resources required throughout the year to pull off the event, and how this could hinder evangelism in the way the Lord was calling them to pursue:
"God led us to get ready; to clear the ground for what he was preparing. Like Joshua, we were about to cross Jordan. We were to move out of dwelling in tents and into invading cities. It was time to mobilise."
So in explaining what the Lord was doing in that season, Terry Virgo sums up the decision to close Stoneleigh with these soul stirring words:
"Conferences can be helpful, but they are not essentially what we are. They help us on our missions, but they do not constitute our mission. Our mission in the world is to go and make disciples of all the nations. God has brought a group of churches together in Newfrontiers to accomplish what we as individual churches could never accomplish alone. He has developed strong bonds of love and friendship, and he continues to raise up the Ephesians 4 ministries of apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor/teachers through our ranks.
We also acknowledge our indebtedness and dependence up on the whole body of Christ, having received so much from people form many diverse backgrounds. Across the UK, a growing tide of expectation grips many and the need for the nation to be evangelised and for hundreds of churches to be planted must take priority. We must become more mobile and embrace mobility as a lifestyle. Pastoral mode and 'celebration' mode must give way to evangelism mode.
So what do you think? I welcome your comments on this one.
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Having just drifted into somewhat of a passive lull, the Lord recently prompted me to re-read "No Well Worn Paths". It chronicles the ministry of Terry Virgo and the development of Newfrontiers. What encouraged me so much when I read this in the fall of 2007 was one of the values the Spirit of God was drawing my attention to from the New Testament. I like to say "the church God is building is nimble". In other words, its not a static, bogged down, committee driven organization immobilized with paralysis by analysis. The church the Lord is building is on the move! It is a movement! So you can understand my profound distate for what to me appears like the discussion of and dissecting of theology for theology's sake. All too often this kind of "religion" never catches fire. The result of this is most evident in our lack of evangelistic fruit.
One section of "No Well Worn Paths" that grabbed my attention was a place where Terry explained the decision prayerfully made to end a conference called "Stoneleigh". He talked about all the time, energy and resources required throughout the year to pull off the event, and how this could hinder evangelism in the way the Lord was calling them to pursue:
"God led us to get ready; to clear the ground for what he was preparing. Like Joshua, we were about to cross Jordan. We were to move out of dwelling in tents and into invading cities. It was time to mobilise."
So in explaining what the Lord was doing in that season, Terry Virgo sums up the decision to close Stoneleigh with these soul stirring words:
"Conferences can be helpful, but they are not essentially what we are. They help us on our missions, but they do not constitute our mission. Our mission in the world is to go and make disciples of all the nations. God has brought a group of churches together in Newfrontiers to accomplish what we as individual churches could never accomplish alone. He has developed strong bonds of love and friendship, and he continues to raise up the Ephesians 4 ministries of apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor/teachers through our ranks.
We also acknowledge our indebtedness and dependence up on the whole body of Christ, having received so much from people form many diverse backgrounds. Across the UK, a growing tide of expectation grips many and the need for the nation to be evangelised and for hundreds of churches to be planted must take priority. We must become more mobile and embrace mobility as a lifestyle. Pastoral mode and 'celebration' mode must give way to evangelism mode.
So what do you think? I welcome your comments on this one.
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Friday, February 6, 2009
The Mission
I have met so many people in recent days who are hungry for God and eager to get on the front lines of our mission to carry the gospel to our city, the region, the nation, and the "uttermost parts of the earth". They have lives to offer. They have money to give. They have property they want used for God's glory. But how do they go about it? These are people who are ready to put their feet on the gas, but their leadership doesn't seem to have a direction to give them in discipleship and mission. So it makes sense that the words I will share next would leap out from the page at me today. I sensed the Spirit prompting me to re-read Terry Virgo's "No Well Worn Paths" again some weeks ago.
Terry is the founder of church planting ministry Newfrontiers, based in Brighton, England. There are around 600 Newfrontiers churches around the world.
The Father has been faithful to use my reading to stir fresh passion and vision in my heart. And there are those provocative quotes I come across that I just can't resist sharing. So here is one of those. I welcome your comments in response.
"Jesus did not invite fishermen to leave their nets simply to study systematic theology, but to accompany him immediately on his mission to establish his kingdom in the world. He taught them truth as they went with him. So devotion to Christ is in the context of mission and teamwork among churches that help to open doors and create contexts for service as God leads."
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Terry is the founder of church planting ministry Newfrontiers, based in Brighton, England. There are around 600 Newfrontiers churches around the world.
The Father has been faithful to use my reading to stir fresh passion and vision in my heart. And there are those provocative quotes I come across that I just can't resist sharing. So here is one of those. I welcome your comments in response.
"Jesus did not invite fishermen to leave their nets simply to study systematic theology, but to accompany him immediately on his mission to establish his kingdom in the world. He taught them truth as they went with him. So devotion to Christ is in the context of mission and teamwork among churches that help to open doors and create contexts for service as God leads."
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