I've just come back from a fantastic day spent in the historical city of Oxford. Scott and I both had the day off and decided to do something "different". Oxford is only an hour's drive away and somewhere I've visited once or twice (once in 2001 to hear John Piper speak at St Aldates and St Ebbes churches) but never to appreciate some of it's historical features.
One amazing place I was fascinated to visit was the famous Bodleian Library. It is the main research library in Oxford, one of the oldest libraries in Europe and second in size only to the British Library (some 11 million items!). I could have spent hours there. Why do libraries thrill me so? I think it is the historical marvel that words written down up to centuries ago can still be enjoyed, read and benefited from now.
Video tapes and audiotapes may erode and the spoken words of the sermon lost (one reason why I transcribe so much). But books manage to survive!
I've spent the last couple of days reading a novel I enjoy greatly - the series of books by Christopher Paolini about the character Eragon and his dragon Sapphira. At one point Eragon (the hero of the story) is severely hampered in his battle against evil because he doesn't have a sword. He tries out many inferior swords but ends up seeking the perfect sword made by elves which he calls "Fire". That always challenges me and reminds me of many Christians and Christian churches. Ephesians speaks of the "Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God". Spirit and Word are seen as an offensive weapon in our fight!
There is much to challenge our generation. I've just been absolutely thrilled to find hidden in the archives of the Martyn Lloyd-Jones Recording Trust - two sessions that Dr Lloyd-Jones held after he had finished speaking his famous "Preaching and Preachers" lectures in the USA. No one knew that after these lectures he held two Question and Answer sessions with the students -and the recordings were SAVED! (I will of course be transcribing them).
But Dr Lloyd-Jones is in glory. Terry Virgo and Stanley Jebb are in their sixties and seventies. Rob Rufus and Greg Haslam are in their fifties. Ern Baxter is in glory. Where are the young men and women of OUR generation ready to rise up and obey the Great Commission set by the risen Lord Jesus;
"Go into the world and preach the good news to all creation!".
Will our generation put down the words God speaks through preaching that can be set down in books for generations and centuries to come (if Jesus Christ doesn't return)? I have got a few things that I feel God is challenging me with that I may share in time - exciting days!
I'm not a very patient Christian bookshopper. Many go into a Wesley Owen or a CLC and browse happily and slowly. I rush in like a whirlwind and sweep the shelves and usually leave without buying anything. I don't have much patience for the majority of Christian books - to me they tend to be either rubbishy Christian novels or dry, dead theology (a misnomer surely). I lament spending lunch hour after lunch hour scanning the shelves and leaving empty-handed.
I think that partly explains why I invest so much time in transcribing sermons. My thought is that there is no point in moaning about a lack of quality Christian books if you don't write your own.
But that's an aside. I was thrilled last week to find a treasure in CLC which I duly brought. Day One Publications have brought out a volume; "C H Spurgeon's Sermons Beyond Volume 63". I'm an avid collector of the "Metropolitan Tabernacle" volumes and have about 20 or so to go. This volume has produced 45 "forgotten" sermons that have been transcribed and edited. Phil Johnson wrote the foreword and made a valuable point;
"Years ago a student just entering seminary visited my office and noticed that two large shelves behind my desk are filled with the New Park Street Pulpit and Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit collections, which he had never seen in their entirety. He was fascinated by the set. Thumbing through a random volume, he observed out loud what almost everyone nowadays would notice first of all; by today's standards the books are very thick, the type quite small and the paragraphs surprisingly long.
The student looked up from the book he was holding and asked whether I had read every sermon in all sixty three volumes. I told him I had not (and still haven't) and that reading Spurgeon is a pleasure I expect to savour with care and patience, sermon by sermon for the rest of my life ... I explained that I don't read Spurgeon chronologically. I select sermons to read based on whatever passage of Scripture I am studying at any given time. I wouldn't think of preaching on a passage until I have seen what Spurgeon had to say about it ... He almost never fails to shine a bright light into some dark corner of the text showing me things I would not have seen otherwise".
I know that not everyone is a Spurgeon fan but a few thoughts occured to me;
1. In the Christian book saturated market - have we abandoned the use of "books of sermons"?
2. If you are a pastor/teacher/preacher - have you considered how your ministry will outlive you? It's unlikely that CD's or sermon tapes will do. Do not hide behind the facade of "humility". God gave you a gift for a purpose - do you really believe that only your generation is meant to be exposed to your gift? If you are not then you are robbing future generations. Are you writing? Are you commissioning some to transcribe your sermons?
3. We all know the "classic" books of sermons. C H Spurgeon of course being one of them. John Calvin is another. James Montgomery Boice is a more modern classic. But what about the gifted and modern preachers of today that God is using? Greg Haslam listed his favourite preachers in a recent interview;
"But I regularly try to hear sermons by A W Tozer (a true prophet for today, who died in 1963), Tim Keller (a church-planter in New York, and evangelistic pastor-teacher par excellence), Mark Driscoll (a modern-day Spurgeon!), Terry Virgo, David Pawson (prophetic teachers), past greats like Lloyd-Jones, Eric Alexander and John Stott (great expositors), as well as some people you may not have heard of like Rick Godwin and Ern Baxter".
Ern Baxter for example does not have much in print of his sermons - that is exactly the reason why I try to transcribe the sermons of his that I have. Just the same for Rob and Ryan Rufus.
Let's not forget sermons! They can accomplish much in opening to us the gospel of glory and grace!
The prophetic has always been incredibly important to me since God first started speaking to me. I recalled the other day that my first prophecy after asking God for the gift was a word of exhortation to my old church that they would "remember their first love" and not continue to walk down the road of cessationism! I told my dad that my first reaction was; "Thanks a bunch God!". However I gave the word and it was duly rejected!
But I am so grateful to God for like-minded friends who have stirred me up in the prophetic - namely Pete Day, Nick and more recently my wonderful Ursula! These guys are all fellow prophets and prophetesses as well as having a passion and a hunger for God. I must urge everyone to go to Ursula's new prophetic project and read her post; "Prophecy and Intimacy with God". It is a very mature and outstanding insight into this precious gift that must be read. When we abandon intimacy with God then Old Covenant law begins to creep into the prophetic and the Bride of Christ begins getting condemned.
The other fascinating and stirring resource I wanted to mention was something I found on Westminster Chapel's website (pastored by my hero Greg Haslam). It is called a "Prayer Shield" and contains a number of key prophetic words given about God's heart for the Chapel. Several were given to R T Kendall and the majority to Greg himself from various recognised Newfrontiers prophets including Ginny Burgin and my fab friend Jon Cressey. Ginny prophesied;
"There will be breakthroughs and healings at the Chapel, similar to the time of William Branham. There's coming a weakening then a strengthening to you. You cannot be threatened anymore after a time of strategic change from God. This is a strategic placing for the opening of a whole new era".
Why is it interesting for me what is prophesied to other people and other churches? I remember feeling a bit down at "Glory and Grace" in Hong Kong when Isi de Gersigny was prophesying very specifically to many people by name. Part of me was terrified she would but part of me was devastated when she didn't! Rob must have sensed this prophetically because he got up and encouraged us to seize the overflow of the prophetic promise that is made. Prophecies aren't just to be recorded in a dusty hall and forgotten!
"The prophetic is really important isn't it? Someone said "Would it happen if someone didn't prophesy?". Well - I don't think so! I think the prophetic releases that creative word that brings it into reality. So we need to prophesy over one another! The Bible says that we can all prophesy. There is not some with the gift of prophecy and others don't have the gift. The Bible says in 1st Corinthians 14 that we can all prophesy! We are not all prophets! But we are all priests of God and all priests of God can prophesy. The gift of prophecy is different to the office of the prophet. Prophecy encourages and exhorts and comforts and builds up so prophecy is really powerful".
Many know of my love of the Chronicles of Narnia - I think my great new friend Jon Sidnell referred to it last year. I adore the books (and have done since I was a child) and also love the two films that have been brought out. Me being me - I must buck the trend - I don't like the favourite evangelical phrase that is over-used ("He's not a tame lion" ... yawn - yes we know!). I do indeed love the quote from the Silver Chair that Jon mentioned ("There is no other stream"). Time for another. This one is from the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Here it is; "This is no thaw' said the dwarf stopping suddenly. 'This is SPRING. What are we to do? Your winter has been destroyed, I tell you! This is Aslan's doing'".
I was struggling to find a way to convey the emotions of my heart over the past few days. I've been absolutely blown away by the kindness and the compassion of the comments in response to my post; "Grace Demands Radical Change ... !". I was fearing the worst. But through you I encountered the passion and the kindness and the love of God and I can't thank you all enough. Depression is quite frequently described as "the winter of the soul" and having experienced depression it's something I can identify with. So why do I take a step of faith to suggest that this is no thaw but spring has broken, not only in my heart and life but also in the world?
Firstly I am thrilled to be able to say that I've finally left my place of work at Acorns Childrens Hospice. I will always be grateful for the experience I had working there for a year. To see children facing death with the bravery they do is a life-changing experience. What is tragic is when they do not receive the care and the love that they are entitled to because there is more of an obsession with rules, policies and outward appearance. I handed in my notice on Tuesday and I cannot describe the feeling of relief that swept over me when it was done! Truly a cloud of darkness was lifting!
I then went out to town and indulged in some retail therapy to celebrate. Now for some people their idea of retail therapy may involve couture and labels! Mine tends to involve Christian books (I confess I did indulge in some underwear - but hey saves washing!) I brought three - one was called "A Radical Encounter with God" by Greg Haslam (a hero of mine). The second was called "The Gift of Prophetic Preaching" by Michael Eaton and the last was by Joseph Prince and was called; "Destined to Reign". I haven't read any of Joseph Prince before but I can tell he's going to become a hero - a true grace preacher in the shape of Rob Rufus. I haven't read Eaton's book yet but both Greg Haslam and Joseph Prince brought resounding messages into my life that I need to hear right NOW!! (I've posted a selection of quotes over on the "Post-it Notes" blog).
The second "event" was the sharing of a prophetic word from another really amazing individual I am proud to call friend - Ursula from Sydney. She read my post and had a prophetic insight into exactly how wonderful (NOT!) "fear" is! Here essentially is what fear is and what it does to the believer;
"During worship, one Sunday morning, I looked around and on about half of the church were these black demons. I'm going to try to describe it here. They were almost tar like, sticky, and they held onto the upper half of the peoples bodies. They clung with their legs around the bodies of their victims, their faces plastered over thier victims faces, covering their faces with black tar like goo, and their hands were plastered over their ears. I was so confused, and really concerned. I cried out to Jesus, "Jesus, what is this!!" I closed my eyes and tried to block it out, it was so disturbing, and spiritually the entire atmosphere was killing me! Everytime I opened my eyes I was confronted with these creatures. Then the Holy Spirit answered me, in His beautiful voice of rushing waters He said to me, "Ursula, that is fear". I was like, "WHAT?". He explained to me that the demon I was seeing was fear. It clung like sticky tar, and stuck to everything that touched it. It was contagious. Transferable and imprisoning His people. He showed me that fear covered the faces of the people for various reasons. It covered their mouths and shut them. It covered their nose's and suffocated them. It covered their eyes, and closed them to things of the spirit, as well as ensuring that the people could not see past their fear. And it covered their ears, shutting them from hearing the truth and His voice. People that touched these people, were infected by this same fear, because it was so sticky, it just stuck to them! It was terrible, but showed me the truth of fear".
But she ends so biblically by reminding us that we are told simply not to fear! Simply this;
"The Holy Spirit reminded me, there is a reason He tells us not to fear. This demon imprisons people, and they can't see past the lie of fear itself. They can't see truth".
And the truth of the matter? Well let Joseph Prince answer what the TRUTH really is!
"Did Jesus die on the Cross to free us from committing sinful actions or harbouring sinful thoughts? If He did then allow me to conclude with reverence that He failed ... When David described the blessed man as one to whom the Lord will not impute sin, he meant that even when this man sins, God will not count his sin against him nor punish him for his iniquity. Too good to be true? That is why David defined this man as a blessed man! And this blessed man is you and me!".
And if "God is for us then WHO ... WHO .... WHO ... WHO ... WHO can be against us!?!?". No one! Not any man - not any church pastor or elder - not any work boss - not any demon of fear - not even Satan himself. God is for us! And He never will be against us because His Son died to ensure that we are adopted into the royal family of heaven! And once we are adopted - what cruel parent would "disfellowship" their child? It just wouldn't happen!
So back to why spring has brought an eternal, permament end to the winter of depression in my life! The third reason is that many of you may have noticed that my transcribing of Rob Rufus's sermons has slowed in the last few months. I couldn't explain why - other than my levels of concentration had totally gone. It was all I could do to sit and focus on the sermon for more than 5 minutes - and that is bearing in mind how utterly glorious Rob's sermons are! Since I handed in my notice at Acorns Hospice - it is like that dark cloud has vanished and my concentration is back and with a vengance! I spent the last couple of evenings glued to my IPOD and just soaking in the wonderful teaching of grace!
The sermon in particular that I've got to thank for this acceleration of spring's arrival is the first sermon that Rob preached in 2009 - "Being Established In The Gift Of Righteousness". This sermon is just ... incredible! Here's a quote that is so similar in theme and glory to Joseph Prince's book;
"If the main reason for Jesus dying on the Cross was to stop us sinning then He failed but if the main reason for Him dying on the Cross was so that your sins will never be imputed to you again because they have already been charged to Him - if the main reason He died was so that your sinning and sin can never again seperate you from the love of God then Jesus utterly succeeded in what He did".
I just love it. I can't hear it enough. "Who shall seperate us from the love of God?". No-one! It can't be done! Calvary was sufficient! God the Just was satisfied to look on Him and pardon me! I just have to re-post the clip of the most beautiful rendition of "Before the Throne of God" at Stoneleigh Bible Week - and the verse in particular that says;
"When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within upward I look and see Him there who made an END to ALL my sin!".
The question is - son or daughter (I did write "Christian" and then I had to come back and change it!) - do we really believe that "ALL" means all? Or are we content to almost blaspheme the Cross and suggest that Jesus gave us a good head-start but then we have to contribute and help finish off His mighty work with our works? That Paul by the way calls; "Dung!" or as Rob Rufus rather politely translates it; "POO!".
Let me finish - because I am finding I could really talk all day! Why has Spring come and brought an end to the eternal 1000 year winter of depression in my life, and in your life if you know something of what I am going through? Because of where we can look! "Upward". That heavenly song finishes with the verse;
"Behold Him there the risen Lamb - MY perfect SPOTLESSRIGHTEOUSNESS! The great unchangable I AM - the King of glory and of grace! One with Himself I cannot die! My soul is purchased with His blood! My life is hid with Christ on high! With Christ my Saviour and my God!".
I have to say it's amazing - once you start to "get" the true gospel of grace it is like everything just "adjusts" into focus. I've sung and loved that song since 1998 when I first heard it on a Stoneleigh CD (and I didn't even know what Stoneleigh was or who Lou Fellingham was at that point!). But I am seeing these words clearly only just recently! My perfect spotless righteousness! Purchased with His blood! I know that while in heaven He stands - no tongue - no tongue - no tongue - no tongue - NO TONGUE (No one! Not any man - not any church pastor or elder - not any work boss - not any demon of fear - not even Satan himself) can bid me thence depart! Safe forever! NO FEAR!! With all of these glorious truths - what chance does winter have? I know it's not going to be long before I go to my G.P and he says there is no need for me to be on anti-depressants anymore. And I know once I am off them - I won't ever need to go back on them again!
Greg Haslam's passion is preaching. He is a preacher through and through and an incredible gift to the Church in the United Kingdom. As is often with his seminars at Brighton, this seminar more reflected preaching than teaching. It is a masterful treatment of this vital concept for preachers and teachers in the Church today. Although I am neither, it was a worthy reminder that we should expect nothing less than expository preaching of the Word of God from our leaders in the Church. The seminar proved again that R T Kendall was spot on in his choice of successor at Westminster Chapel.
“Rightly Handling the Word of Truth” – Greg Haslam – Seminar – TOAM 07.
(2 Timothy 2:1) “Endure hardship” – the die hard factor. “Who correctly handles the word of truth”. The Church has forgotten who its true husband is and worse still we have sold out very cheaply to the culture around us. That’s why this letter is very important. This epistle contains the very last words of the apostle Paul that we possess. Bishop Handley Moule said he found it hard to read and study this epistle without a mist gathering in his eyes at the hardships Paul experienced and was going through when he wrote it. These are Paul’s last instructions to his “dear son in the faith”. This is an apostolic epistle to Timothy and Paul is concerned about the transmission and preservation of the Gospel as well as the propagation of the Gospel. This is like a baton in a relay race and the temptation is to fumble – if the fumble occurs the race is over. There is a danger in tampering with the baton – with the Gospel we must not tamper with what has been deposited to us! Some may seek to supplant it. From the mid eighteenth century the devil worked overtime to raise up counterfeit gospels on a whole scale measure. Cults rose up in their many.
The Word must be central because God’s Holy Spirit creates and then critiques a people under the formative influence of the preached Word. You cannot create or critique a people around a pet doctrine that is yours. The apostles said they would give themselves to prayer and to the preached Word. Video clips, liturgical dance and the best sound systems with Sunday dinners all may have there place but can never replace the preached Word. Paul meant that Timothy was to keep and guard this Gospel. We must all be asking “What are we to do with this treasure?”. Keep it intact until we can pass it on to another generation! This term “To guard” is a military term. There must be militancy about preaching! We have got to guard this Gospel – keep it from being vandalised, lost or stolen. Timothy epitomises what all leaders are in truth – he was weak, timid, and sickly!
Paul uses four examples of striving –
1. Soldier (v3-4).
“No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs”. The gladiator Russell Crowe plays has “SPQR” tattooed on his arm but gets so disillusioned he cuts off the skin. These men had to solemnly swear before the gods that they would be separate from normal affairs. Some coming into the ministry want to know how many hours they must serve. 30? Forget it! Think 50 or 60! We will never be rich or climb some ecclesiastical ladder! We are here to serve our commanding officer. We are not here to have a hobby – we may be able to play golf but there is a war on! Hobbies may have to go. Unlike general infantry we are also specialists. It isn’t a question of 40 things I dabble in – Paul says “One thing I do”. A soldier shouldn’t worry about earning a living. That is the government’s responsibility. Others will take responsibility for that. God is our real boss. He knows how to reward His servants in often astonishing ways. Put first the kingdom of God! A soldier must be familiar with his weapons that must be assembled and de-assembled in the dark. We must be as familiar with the Word of God as a real soldier is with his rifle. You may need to use them in the dark! Dismantling a jammed rifle could save your life!
2. Athlete (v5).
“He does not receive the victors crown unless he competes according to the rules”. Emphasis switches to the tough regime of the athlete. This isn’t just about one year of bible training or 3 years at university or seminary. This training is for the rest of your life! It’s not good theology that makes a good preacher but good plodd-ology! Olympians rise very early in the morning and often train while it is dark outside. They train seven days a week through harsh weather or hot sun. The crowds see the athlete running to victory and triumph – what they don’t see is the shivering training sessions when frost is on the ground. This is the minister of God! All this because we are keeping our eye on the ground! The reward for the athletes of the empire was a laurel wreath of leaves that would soon rot! But it was given to them by the Emperor himself. It was who gave them that reward. We have a reward waiting for us from the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Let’s keep to the rules! You can’t enter a marathon half way through! No drugs are allowed – no unfair advantage or foul play is allowed. We must keep going till the finishing tape. “I have finished the race – henceforth is laid up for me a crown”.
3. Farmer (v6).
You need the patience of a hard working farmer in the ministry. Many ask ministers “Do you actually work for a living?”. Authentic pastoral ministry is not an easy ride. It is meant to be hard work and it is our very life! Farmers don’t take vacations! Their life – their vocation revolves entirely around this. A farmer’s work is not a hobby – it is his very life. He must work the ground without the advantage of modern labour saving machinery in Paul’s day. You don’t always see immediate results in the ministry. We are looking for forces completely outside our control to bring results to operate on the seeds we have planted and the Word we have preached into their lives. For the farmer these forces are the wind, rain and sun. Paul said “I planted, Apollos watered but God gave the increase”. We are utterly dependent on God blessing His Word! How long are you prepared to wait? It depends on how much you want that crop! Strongly believe in long-term ministry in churches.
There are two ways to leave the ministry in a particular location – to be sent out or to be carried out in a box. We have no option to walk out because it has got a bit difficult for us.
We are looking for quality crops! God expects us to work hard in this ministry! We have to be impervious to timetabled delays and pressures. The timing is outside of your hands. God will often arrange delays just to test your faith. Sow when it is appropriate or not, when you feel like it or when you don’t, when the people want it or they don’t! It is always open season for the preaching of the Word! We want holiness of life in ourselves and our people, a steady flow of numerous new converts to appear under our ministry. C H Spurgeon lamented Baptist churches where the baptisteries were green with mould and the pastors were proud because their orthodoxy was driving people away. Our baptisteries should be wet from the last!
No one at Pentecost was added who was not saved and no one was saved who was not added.
This must include baptism in the Holy Spirit as an energising power. Progressive qualitative increase. Churches should be full of awe because of God’s Presence among them! These are healthy churches. We can only expect these results if we are diligently pursuing these things.
4. Workman.
“Do your best to present yourself to God … a workman approved”. Here Paul is describing the role of rightly handling the Word of truth directly – as a workman with integrity. Britain is plagued with cowboy builders. C K Barrett commented that; “Beyond agricultural labour is a crop – this says Paul involves serious hard work”. G Campbell Morgan began his working day at 6am week in and week out. His successor in 1914 – John Henry Jowett said he was motivated to rise early because he could not be shamed by hearing the clatter of workmen rising before him to go to the factories. C H Spurgeon was legendary and worked a 17 hour day for 6 days a week and each year come summer he would be facing emotional and physical burnout. He may not be the best model expect in the quality and calibre of his preaching – but he needed a holiday of 3 to 4 months in the South of France to recover. These men killed themselves through hard work. Luther preached an average of one and a half sermons every day. Luther wrote one written work every other day. Teaching God’s work is hard work! Preaching has been brought into disrepute in Britain because it has been done badly. We must follow the Holy Spirit – Martyn Lloyd-Jones said;
“Your notes will be there next week – the Holy Spirit may not be!”.
There is an archery metaphor used here but there are too many bad shots in the church of God. We could call them “congenital heretics”. Wherever they can misread Scripture, they will mis-read Scripture. It is so frustrating to speak to Jehovah’s Witnesses! But it also occurs in traditional denominations. Have met Anglicans who have been in church for 50 years and not have a clue about the Bible! How is that possible!? Someone is skilled at misleading them and God help us if we are among that impoverished group in God’s church. They are a menace to the Body of Christ! These people make “wars over words”. It is like gibberish! They are deceptive – they have wandered away from the truth and destroyed the faith of some.
Have seen many teachers in our lifetime who are deceitful and deceiving people and some of them are bishops. These people are contagious. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. It doesn’t only rot and disease them but it affects and damages others. Whole churches have rotted away through bad teaching. The state of modern churches in the UK is poisoned and their witness is affected. Their life blood is affected.
“Beyond the hard work of a labourer is a wonderful healthy church and fruit”.
We need the integrity of a clean vessel (v20-22). The larger the house, the more numerous these vessels. Must purge ourselves from damaging activities if we are to be an unflawed vessel. Don’t cheapen yourself by becoming less than what you are! Don’t settle for less than you hoped for in church life because you lack the courage to fight for the things you do believe in! We must shun the contaminants of our culture today. Money, sex and power have taken out too many in the ministry! The last metaphor is that we must see ourselves as Christ’s bondservants (v23). The Lord’s servant must not quarrel. This is a beautiful metaphor because it means we belong to Jesus Christ – we are sons yes, but we are servants also.
The danger in enjoying restored truths is that they are taken for granted. I have grown up all my life in an atmosphere where Christ's Ascension Gifts (the Ephesians 4 Ministries) were welcomed and only really had to debate the issue when my home church changed it's fundamental doctrines on the Holy Spirit - this included the Ascension Gifts. The official stance of the church was the traditional evangelical view that the role of apostle and prophet was temporary and had ceased whereas the other three continued. Since leaving that environment I have once again begun taking the presence of the Ascension Gifts for granted. This is especially true in an atmosphere like at Brighton where they are so wonderfully active and present.
However the following comment was left on a blog in response to Terry Virgo's recent blog post on Apostles. It is a worthy reminder that we must be 100% biblical in why we believe what we believe.
Here is the comment;
"Terms are important here. Big ‘A’ and little ‘a’ is important.
Sloppy terminology > unbiblical expectations of ministers > poor church government > ruined churches > dishonoured Christ.
Clearly no one today is appointed eyewitness of the resurrected Christ, nor has anyone been personally commissioned or empowered to attest that calling. (e.g. No one today performs miracles in the way Paul/Peter did.) No one is authorised to write Scripture today or have revelation equal to it. Obviously the unrepeatable foundation of the BIG ‘C’ Church (1Cor.3:10, Eph.2:20) cannot be laid again. Every minister today builds on that foundation and should “take heed how he builds on it.”
For these reasons I do not use the term Apostle of ministers today. My caution to those who do would take Paul’s example: 2Cor.10:13, “We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us”. While I desire to be as much like Paul as possible, I believe God has set different limits to my sphere today. We should accept that. Eph.4:7 “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” This said, a ministry may be apostolic (by church-planting, input to many churches etc.) without interfering with the independency of the local church. The obvious people today are missionaries (cf. missio.Latin, apostello.Grk) who should be church-planting, training etc. But, we should take note to whom the Apostles devolved their authority (see Tit.1:5, 1Tim.3, Acts 14:23). The Apostles passed on the baton to elders responsible for each independent assembly.
Simple clarification of terms helps lessen the perceived Reformed/Charismatic divide.
"1. False teaching harms the Church. 2. If false teaching is not stopped it spreads. 3. If false teaching is not stopped, we will waste time and energy in endless controversies rather than doing valuable Kingdom work".
"When nothing is happening – don’t let nothing happen. Fight! You need Ephesians 4 Ministry that will stir and rally the people. In a time of stagnation, the Ephesians 4 Ministries will be a major weapon of attack against stagnation. You may need to call in apostolic ministry to lay some foundation of grace. You may need prophetic ministry in the church to awaken vision again".
Both the commenter and John Hosier clearly and obviously long for Christ to be honoured and clearly therefore neither are false teachers - yet neither can both be right. I think the key principle that Wayne Grudem laid down for the arguing of apostles and indeed Christ's Ascension Gifts today is the principle of which position will most forward the advance of the Kingdom of God. Like John Hosier, I believe the Ascension Gifts and their spread throughout the church today are essential. I am going to draw attention to others who have argued this far more adequately and ably than I.
1. The Complete Canon.
The commenter's primary concern is the supremacy of the Word of God (quite rightly). He said;
"No one is authorised to write Scripture today or have revelation equal to it".
In his contributing chapter to the volume; "Preach the Word!" - Terry Virgo is well aware of that traditional argument and wrote;
"So often the chief reason that is given as to why there can no longer be apostles in the Church today is that the Scriptures are complete and the fear is that anyone named an apostle would wish to add to the Scriptures ... Although(that view) is motivated by a proper desire to keep the doctrine true and pure ... it fails to look at the whole picture. It concentrates solely on the authority of Scripture and fails to take the role of the apostle into account".
Note this in particular:
"Since not all the NT apostles wrote Scripture and since not all the authors of the Bible were apostles it is a mistake to associate the two so closely".
2. Foundations Laid Once or Ongoing?
The commenter's next issue is with one of foundations. He believes the foundation laid by apostles and prophets was laid once and for all. He said;
"Obviously the unrepeatable foundation of the BIG ‘C’ Church (1Cor.3:10, Eph.2:20) cannot be laid again. Every minister today builds on that foundation and should “take heed how he builds on it.”
Terry Virgo was aware of this traditional argument also and wrote;
"We need to expand our thinking on the work of the apostle ... His purpose was to extend the New Testament community ... the apostles literally laid a foundation in each of the places to which they were sent by the Holy Spirit. Yes the apostles laid the foundations of the universal chcurch at the beginning but the work goes on".
"The dynamic ongoing ministry of apostles is to lay foundations".
Terry then gave a specific example from Acts which will be persuasive based on whether or not you believe that the narrative teaching in the book of Acts has relevance for us today. Jesse Phillip's paper carries vital arguments to this respect.
"In Acts 8 when, as a result of the work of the evangelist Philip, people were saved in Samaria, the apostles did not just applaud another evangelistic breakthrough and then leave the fledgling church to establish itself. On the contrary their response was to send Peter and John down to Samaria where they laid hands on the new believers so that they received the Holy Spirit".
Terry concludes;
"Such apostolic involvement indicates I believe that not only did the apostles lay the foundation for the universal Church but that they needed to lay a foundation for the new communities of believers that were coming into being".
3. Is 'Independent' Really Such a Good Thing?
The commenter made a point which I believe is key to much of the present and traditional suspicion about apostles today. He said; "This said, a ministry may be apostolic ... without interfering with the independency of the local church". Key word - Independency. The traditional underlying fear of the Roman Catholic church is clearly still alive and well. Yet once again - why should we agree and submit to losing the genuine biblical principles because of fear of the counterfeit?
4. "Until".
Ephesians 4 clearly carries the key to our understanding of the Ascension Gifts or the Ephesians 4 Ministries and as to when they were given, how they were given and why they were given. Greg Haslam makes a valuable comment on this (also from "Preach the Word!").
"Please note the time reference in Ephesians 4:13 - "Until". This indicates Christ's continous donation of them to His Church until the climax of history and not their cessation at a much earlier time as some have maintained ... these goals have not been attained yet so the means must still be available".
In conclusion I refer back to John Hosier's passioned plea from his seminar at "Together on a Mission". Some may see Christ's Ascension Gifts as an optional secondary issue to the Gospel and refuse to discuss it for fear of offending cessationist brethren. Some may take pride in their doctrinal orthodoxy by arguing (as this man has) against their existence and mocking the excesses of those who believe in them. But I am struck by the word "Gift". A gift is an act of pure grace from a loving heavenly Father to children He loves. Of course a gift may be rejected. But I would far rather receive everything the Bible says is offered than risk grieving the Holy Spirit and the ascended glorified Christ who gives them to His Church that we may go on to maturity.
It strikes me that this traditional, familiar argument presented here is fear-based. Fear of error. Fear of excess. Fear of unorthodoxy. How much better to have a view that is vision-based, Kingdom-based, nations-based! If Ephesians 4 Ministries or the Ascension Gifts will help my church go onto maturity which means advancing across nations with the glorious Gospel then I want them in full measure!
It has always been my hope to eventually meet men who knew Ern Baxter well and be able to learn from them and draw on what Ern ministered to their lives. This is because my contact with Ern was extremely limited. I really only remember his last visit to the United Kingdom when he spoke at our church in Dunstable in 1991.
Therefore it was extremely exciting to me to get the following message from Mark - the son of George Kouri. He wrote;
"My father, George Kouri, was one of Ern Baxter's sons in the Gospel. I grew up under Ern's teaching in Southern California. I am now helping launch an online seminary (http://www.atsvirtual.org), which is well founded on Ern's teaching. My father wants to meet you in May on his way to South Africa. Can we connect? You can find my father's and my contact details at the URL above. Best regards, Mark Kouri".
Ern Baxter said of George; "George Kouri's teaching on the kingdom is the best I have ever seen". His website is extremely informative and thrilling. Here is some biographical information on him;
"From 1972 to 1985 he labored in Southern California, pioneering an apostolic and prophetic church in the San Diego area. Simultaneously, he labored extensively in India training indigenous leaders in apostolic and prophetic ministry. During that period and until Ern Baxter’s death, Brother Kouri served as a special “Timothy” or apostolic deputy to Brother Baxter.
Brother Kouri is widely respected as an “apostolic-father” in the body of Christ. He has traveled extensively, speaking in conferences and leadership seminars, both nationally and internationally. He combines a vast revelatory knowledge of the Scriptures, Biblical theology and Church history with a special sensitivity to the Holy Spirit gained through many decades of practical hands-on experience in evangelism, apostolic church planting and missions, structuring and ordering of church life, and leadership training. He is passionately committed to the restoration of the Church’s apostolic and prophetic foundations, its growth and maturation, and to seeing nations brought under the spiritual government of the Kingdom of God.
Brother Kouri is founder and Senior Apostle of Apostolic Ministries International, an apostolic and prophetic network of ministers and churches in the United States and abroad. He is also one of the founders and the Presiding Apostle of the Communion of Apostolic Churches, an international communion of apostolic and prophetic networks of ministers and churches committed to working together to recover authentic apostolic Christianity and to fulfill the great commission".
He does run a blog which can be found here. Obviously due to huge time constraints he can't write regularly on it, but what he has written is outstanding Kingdom stuff. The most exciting thing to me is that he clearly is a true apostle in terms of having a true father's heart. Here is his vision for raising up new leaders;
I have been very impacted by a prophecy that Greg Haslam gave at the Brighton Leadership Conferene 2003 about a "crucible" which I hope to post soon on the "Spirit of God!" blog. In the prophecy he spoke about the fact that there will be an adding of other apostolic movements into the work of the Spirit that is going on in Newfrontiers. This "coming together" in the crucible work of the Holy Spirit will produce fine metals of strength and beauty. Maybe this is an apostolic movement to watch and keep a close eye on! I am really hoping to speak more with Mark in the coming days.
Thanks to a tip-off by Luke, that Christchurch, London would be having some guests, we found ourselves travelling through torrential rain down the M4 for their half past four celebration. The wonderful Kate Simmonds was to be leading worship and Greg Haslam (also a hero of mine) from Westminster Chapel was preaching. This is a review of our time with them.
1. A Welcome that Disarmed.
Finding Christchurch wasn't difficult - their website instructions are excellent and easy to follow. They meet at the Piccadily Theatre where ironically "Guy's and Doll's" is performing. The welcome team (or 'hosts' as they are called) reminded me somewhat of a roll-out for a royal visitor. There was a line of black t-shirted hosts in the front entrance and they actually did make us feel like royalty! We were asked if it was our first time at Christchurch and when we confirmed that it was, we were whisked into the theatre where another group of hosts met us and engaged us in enthusiastic conversation, even though the worship was just about to begin! We were told about drinks after the celebration and urged us to stay.
Another very pleasant girl asked us politely if we would mind going down and sitting near the front and was so grateful when we said yes. Hence we ended up sitting a few rows along from Greg Haslam! There's nothing like sitting near a prophet to make one examine one's heart properly before worshipping God - just in case he got given a word of knowledge to reveal the sins of my heart! More importantly (as I'm sure Christchurch would agree) I was incredibly aware of the tangible Presence of God as soon as I entered the room. Here were a people desperately hungry for God Himself and He hadn't disappointed.
2. A Worship that Devastated.
I guessed something had stopped Kate Simmonds from coming, as Rhys - one of the elders - was already leading worship and David Stroud (the church's father and leader of the Newfrontiers UK team) confirmed that she had the flu. Previously this might have distressed me somewhat as she was 50% (or so) of the reason we had travelled across the UK! But God was there and somehow I knew that was all that mattered. I haven't heard of Rhys before - but he is a worship leader of incredible sensativity and anointing. I don't remember many of the names of the songs that we sang - although two of my all-time favourite songs featured, "Before the Throne of God" and "Yours is the Kingdom".
All I can say about the time of worship is that I have never before (and that includes Stoneleigh Bible Week and Brighton so far) have felt God so "close" to me. I had my eyes shut most of the worship and I somehow knew that if I opened them I would have seen His face right in front of mine. I spent much of the worship in tears - although not really knowing why. It was a truly glorious time. God had passed by and was showing us His back!
The Spirit didn't fail to distribute His gifts in abundance either. Two that stood out to me were a word brought by a girl - "Sinners are welcome here" - and another prophecy that expounded the wonders of creation and ended with a joyful shout, "If I did all this - how will I not give you what you desire?". In that heaven-soaked atmosphere, I couldn't think of anything to ask but "Give me Yourself". That's not pathetic false humility - I have a long list of things I thought I need. But when "things that surround me become shadow in the light of You" - somehow you forget all your so called needs in the light of Him! I didn't want it to end! I can't explain it better than to say that I was devastated.
3. A Word that Demolished.
In terms of my favourite expository preachers - Greg Haslam and Dr Stanley Jebb rank neck and neck. Regretfully I rarely get to hear Dr Jebb preach nowadays due to his busy ministry in Cornwall - so I am truly grateful that Greg Haslam is placed so strategically in London. London needs that kind of bible-based ministry in a post-modernistic age when truth is being eroded!
Greg's message was crucial and absolutely in keeping with the worship that had just ascended to the throne of God from that place. He preached on "Passionate Worship"! It was from the text where Mary anointed Jesus feet with the costly perfume and wiped them with her hair. I once heard C J Mahaney preach on this at Celebration UK (the former SGM conference) a number of years back. Mahaney's presentation was good but in this atmosphere at Christchurch I found my views of worship being systematically and expertly demolished in a way that only Greg Haslam could do. I realised that I don't think I have ever truly worshipped God before - because God taught us that worship is expensive and costly! What has my worship ever cost me?
And so back to Bristol ...
We closed by singing the awesome, "Yours is the Kingdom" that so thrilled me from the Brighton Leaders Conference. It couldn't have ended on a higher note. The glory is indeed His! That's all that mattered! We were siting behind the renowned evangelist Adrian Holloway who is so powerfully used at Newday and across Newfrontiers. He turned round and said hello at the end. I was intrigued that he was so astounded that we came from Bristol to London purely for Christchurch. I believe that the day will come when many do travel across the nation to go to that church.
I had a vision during the worship (and that doesn't happen to me often) of the geological cut of a volcano before it is about to blow. There is a huge reservoir of molton lava that grows until the skin between over and underground bursts and the lava erupts. I think that there is a huge reservoir under Christchurch and it isn't going to be long before there is an eruption in London. Lava of course is virtually impossible to stop and I can see London being devastated by the effects of this church.
Why is Christchurch so dangerous? It is built on apostolic foundations - with David Stroud resident who I know will keep them looked to "Jerusalem, Judea and the ends of the earth". Prophets are evidently present there and will keep that place razor sharp listening for God! Evangelists are also there of course keeping them with a passion for the lost and the relentless advance of the Gospel.
Do I recommend Christchurch London? If you want a "nice time" while you are in London then no. Don't go near it. Pick another church somewhere - there are many about. But if you long for an encounter with God - if you are desperate for His Presence and His touch then get to Christchurch because you will find you are in good company there.
