Dudley Daniel - Father of NCMI

Anyone who follows Rob Rufus's ministry will know the impact that a man called Dudley Daniel had on his life. Dudley was a spiritual father to Rob and continues to have profound influence on Rob - even though City Church International is not part of New Covenant Ministries International. I am always interested in the influences on my heroes because the influences help to shape them become who they are. For example Dr Ern Baxter and Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones both had great impact on Dr Stanley Jebb - my first senior pastor. William Branham had great impact on Dr Ern Baxter. Dr John Stott and Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones had great impact on Terry Virgo and so on.

So over the past few days I have been watching with great interest - "NCMI TV" and in particular a series of interviews conducted by Tyrone Daniel - the current leader of NCMI - with his father Dudley Daniel. They really are well worth watching. In it Dudley shares his heart about where the movement of churches has come from and where he hopes it is going.

Here are the videos:

1. "The Dream".

2. "The Nations".

3. "The Price".

4. "The Transition".

5. "The Future".

6. "The Faith".

Each video is only about 5 minutes long so won't take long but the spiritual truth is well worth it! These videos have also re-emphasised to me the importance of "spiritual fathers". You can catch something of Dudley Daniel's heart here and it also helps me piece together something of how Rob Rufus became who he is today.

By the way - I do re-recommend an interview with Rob Rufus conducted by Adrian Warnock. They discussed something of NCMI and Dudley Daniel's influence and it's a vital interview for anyone interested in Hong Kong and in Rob's ministry.

According to Your Faith ... So Be It!!

The last month or so has been quite rough for myself and many Christian friends I'm in contact with. Pete's been struggling with health issues. Both Julie and Lydia have lost loved ones. And I've given short accounts of what's been going on up here in Birmingham. I should add it's coming close to a wonderful conclusion here - God is opening up awesome new doors for me (the dreaded Christian metaphor I know!) that may lead to me being far more mobile across the country which is really great. However one of the things I noticed was the discussion about "warfare" and about the "enemy" and about "attacks".

While no one would deny the presence of spiritual warfare and attack, Rob Rufus brought an important counter-balance to the discussion about warfare and attacks in the most recent sermon of his that I am transcribing - "The Struggle For The Authentic Part 4 - "The Parable of the Sower" - it's certainly made me stop and think!

Here's what he said;

"How many believe that God hasn't called us to be fighting all the time? It's wrong to be in the frontline all the time. Sometimes you have to have a rest and there is a place of peace and certain teaching will lead a Christian to think they are always fighting all the time. I think the devil wants us to believe that too. I don't believe Jesus was always fighting against the demonic. It says the enemy came and then left Him for a "more opportune season". But he left Him and retreated from Jesus after the wilderness temptation.

Jesus said over and over again; "According to your faith - so be it". So according to what you believe - so be it in your life! If you build a theology where every day you believe you are toe-toe and eyeball-eyeball in a fight with the devil, then that is according to your faith and he will be very happy for you to believe that. But I actually feel that according to my faith I dwell in the secret place of the Most High and dwell under the shadow of the Almighty and will not fear the arrow that flies by night or the fowlers snare because the Lord is my dwelling place".

I know for a fact that Rob wouldn't be promoting a triumphalistic sort of life where we drift through happily until heaven - that just isn't real life! And again and again in his sermons, you get the sense that Rob and Glenda (like other Christian leaders) go through trials that we can only dream of. But this perspective is really important. These last few months I have begun to find myself dropping my head lower and lower and wishing for this day of struggle to end. But am I falling into the trap of "according to my (low) faith - so be it?!". The devil isn't going to have a problem in me thinking the day of warfare will never end!

Rob goes on:

"Though a thousand fall by my left hand and 10, 000 by my right hand it will not come near me because I am in the shelter of the Most High. His shield of favour is around me and there are firewalls of protection and He has sent angels, seraphim, cherubim - mighty ministering spirits to me - an heir of salvation! There are times He lets me go through the valley of the shadow of death and His rod and His staff will comfort me. It says though I WALK through the valley of the shadow of death. He leads me through it and I am going to get out! And it's really only a shadow - it's not the substance and the shadow of a dog can't hurt you!

We have got to believe that God has called us to walk in peace and rest. I want to talk to you about that. I am not against psychiatrists and have many good friends who are psychiatrists but many Christians do not have mental health and they are not happy. They are not joyful and are always fighting devils.

They are more concious of the devil than of the grace and love and goodness of God and the favour of God".

And that is the challenge - are we more concious of the devil's work and actions than we are the love and goodness and favour of God? I am persuaded that rather than investing my time in reading psycho-therapy books and going to therapeutic counselling meetings, I would be far better suited to reading, immersing and saturating myself in the grace and favour and goodness of God. Once again I am reminded of why Rob is so determined never to move on from preaching New Covenant grace! Because it's not just a crazy motif to weep over with pseudo-tears and build an icon to outside your church. It's a life-changing historical moment when the curtain was ripped in two!

John Piper on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

In these exciting thrilling days of signs and wonders and miracles and outpourings of the Spirit that are occuring all over the world - it's important that certain fundamental truths are not forgotten. Hebrews calls one of those fundamental truths; "The Doctrine of Baptisms". Water baptism isn't one that I've ever had problems arguing or felt the need to defend. I was brought and raised up in a Baptist church - so adult believers baptism has never been a problem for me. Whereas most who have followed my blog for some time will know that I had need to work through what the Baptism of the Holy Spirit meant biblically due to a drastic change in doctrine and practice at my home church.

I was interested therefore to read John Piper's sermon of the week that was sent to my email. He brings a larger and wholler perspective - refusing to immediately jump into the "What" and "When" questions. Here are some of the more important points he raises:

What Does Jesus’ Baptism with the Holy Spirit Mean?

So what does it mean? What does John the Gospel-writer have in mind when he tells us what John the Baptist says in verse 33, “This is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit”? What does baptism with the Holy Spirit mean?

1) The Holy Spirit Comes Through Jesus

First, it means that from now on—now that God has come in the flesh—the Holy Spirit will come to people through Jesus Christ. The Spirit came upon Jesus and remains upon Jesus, and therefore Jesus is the one who gives the Spirit (John 15:26). The Holy Spirit will not do his redemptive work apart from Jesus. Jesus will be the means by which anyone receives the Spirit. Whatever saving work the Spirit does, he does because of Jesus. The Spirit does not flow like a fluid through the world unattached to Jesus. Everywhere he moves he moves with Jesus and for Jesus. That’s the first thing it means to say that “Jesus baptizes with the Spirit.”

2) Jesus Immerses People in the Spirit

Second, it means that Jesus immerses people in the Spirit. That’s what the word baptize means. There are pictures in the Bible of the Spirit being poured out. But when the idea of baptism (that is, dipping or immersion) is brought in, the point is that the Spirit is poured over us to such an extent that we are enveloped in him.

The point of this image is that the Spirit becomes profoundly and pervasively influential in our lives. When you are immersed in something, it touches you everywhere.

So when John says that Jesus is going to baptize with the Spirit, he means that the day is coming when the lives of God’s people will be plunged into the life of the Spirit with profound and pervasive effects.

3) Baptism Signifies All That the Spirit Does for Us

Third, what are those effects? Now here we could let ourselves go straight to the debate about whether the term “baptism with the Spirit” refers to a second blessing in the Christian life sometime after conversion marked by speaking in tongues, or whether it refers to the point of conversion. But I don’t think the way that question is posed will help us yet.

As I have tried to let John define for us what he means by baptism with the Spirit, it seems to me that the term is a broad, overarching one that includes the whole great saving, sanctifying, and empowering work of the Spirit in this age. I don’t think it is a technical term that refers to one part of the Christian life—say conversion, or speaking in tongues, or a bold act of witness. It is the continual, and sometimes extraordinary, outpouring of the Holy Spirit on God’s people. It immerses them not just in one or two, but in hundreds of his powerful influences.

In other words, if you are not born again, one way to describe your need is that you need to be baptized with the Spirit. That is, you need to be plunged into God’s Spirit with the effect that you will be born again and come to faith in Christ. If you are born again, but you are languishing in a season of weakness and fear and defeat, one way to describe what you need is to be baptized in the Spirit. That is, you need a fresh outpouring of his Christ-revealing, heart-awakening, sin-defeating, boldness-producing power. Every spiritual need that we have before and after conversion is supplied by Christ immersing us in greater and lesser degrees in the Holy Spirit.

So I don’t take baptism with the Spirit in John as a technical term for one experience of the Christian life, but as a general term for all that the Holy Spirit does for us because of Christ.

There are some points that even a great like John Piper doesn't quite persuade me on. I am familiar with the argument to try and "unify" the baptism of the Holy Spirit into one great Christian experience that all believers are by necessity automatically included in. I'm not sure that's how the Bible sees it. There's enough in the Gospels, Acts and the Epistles to suggest to me that the Baptism of the Spirit brings particular graces from God that should be sought and asked for from the "Father who gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask".

Nevertheless John Piper's conclusions still bring a vital perspective to correct what many traditional Charismatics and Pentecostals may have been guilty of in promoting "a second blessing".

Jesus: The Ground and Goal of Baptism in the Spirit

So back to John the Baptist. John says that Jesus will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Now we see why that is a great tribute to the greatness of Jesus. It’s not just because Jesus is the ground of all the good that the Spirit does in us and for us. If Jesus were not first the Lamb of God who takes away sin by dying, he could never be the baptizer who gives the Spirit by rising. But he is not just the ground of the Spirit’s work.

Jesus is also the goal of all that the Spirit does in us and for us. He immerses us in the Spirit, and no one else can do it. And then the one in whom he immerses us witnesses back to Jesus and glorifies Jesus. Jesus is the ground and goal of the baptism in the Spirit.

All Things from Jesus and for Jesus

So the ultimate point of John’s testimony is that, under God the Father, all things are from Christ and all things are for Christ, including even the Holy Spirit.

The main reason we need the baptism of the Holy Spirit—the great outpouring of the Spirit, the great immersion of every part of our lives in the Spirit—is because God’s aim in every part of our lives is the glory of Jesus Christ. Is your life magnifying Christ in every part? If not, pray, as I do so often, for a fresh, fuller baptism in the Holy Spirit. O Holy Spirit, come. O risen Christ, for your great name’s sake, grant us a fresh baptism in your Holy Spirit.

Whatever your view about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit - surely anyone who truly has a heart aflame for God can't help but utter "Amen" to that!

Does Anyone Listen to What They're Singing Anymore?!

Okay this might be one of those points that could sound like a small moan ... maybe. But I hope my point will come across. It was prompted by the purchase of the latest Brighton "Together on a Mission" worship CD - "Salvation's Song: 2008 Live worship from TOAM & Mobilise". It's always hard to listen to a live worship CD and "connect" to the sense of worship there when you weren't actually at the conference yourself. I always find Newfrontiers live worship CD's the easiest to try though - because I've been to more conferences than not, I can imagine pretty well what it was like. But would I rave about it? Because you've probably figured out I am one of those people who can't be lukewarm about anything - I love it or I hate it! Whereas this CD - I'm lukewarm. I love some of the songs (more later) ... I always love Lou Fellingham and Simon Brading's wonderful worship leading ... but ... I don't have the memories to bring it to life!

The one song that has confused me somewhat is Lou Fellingham's recent; "Once I was dead to You (Promised land)". And here's where the whole "hymnody" musing arose. The song (while sang beautifully by herself and the gathered thousands) has the line in it:

"Through Your suffering, I’m forgiven, Pressing onward to the promised land ... His name is Jesus, sent from Heaven, To take us homeward to the promised land".

I have to ask - why did the Fellinghams chose the words "Promised Land" to describe what they clearly mean as heaven? Because in doing so they have abandoned a clear fundamental restorationist type of Old Testament teaching (absolutely central to Ern Baxter's Dales Bible Week 1977 series) and have adopted a more popular but misguided conservative evangelical type - seen in hymns every now and then. Essentially that teaching - as Lou Fellingham sings - is that the "Promised Land" is a spiritual type of heaven and our eternal rest.

But as C H Spurgeon asks:

"It has generally been considered, that the passage of the Jordan by the Israelites is typical of death, and that Canaan is a fitting representation of heaven. We believe that in some sense it is true, and we do fondly cherish the household words of those hymns which describe our passing through Jordan's billows, and landing safe on Canaan's side; but we do think that the allegory does not hold, and that Jordan is not a fair exhibition of death, nor the land of Canaan a fair picture of the sweet land beyond the swelling flood which the Christian gains after death.

For mark you, after the children of Israel had entered into Canaan, they had to fight with their enemies. It was a land filled with foes. Every city they entered they had to take by storm, unless a miracle dismantled it. They were warriors, even in the land of Canaan, fighting for their own inheritance; ...

But when we cross the river of death we shall have no foes to fight, no enemies to encounter. Heaven is a place already prepared for us; out of it the evil ones have long ago been driven; there brethren shall await us with pleasing faces, kind hands shall clasp ours, and loving words shall alone be heard. The shout of war shall ne'er be raised by us in heaven; we shall throw our swords away, and the scabbards with them. No battles with warriors there, no plains besoaked with blood, no hills where robbers dwell, no inhabitants with chariots of iron.

It is "a land flowing with milk and honey;" and it dreams not of the foeman of Canaan of old. We think the church has lost the beauty of Scripture, in taking Jordan to mean death, and that a far fuller meaning is the true allegory to be connected with it".

Does it really matter you may ask? It's "poetic license" and it makes the song sound nice. Well how about I give another example from the more cessationist side of things before drawing my conclusions.

I remember shortly before I left my home church in Dunstable, the new pastor (and successor to Dr Stanley Jebb) was receiving rave reviews from most of the congregation mainly because he was choosing "lively choruses" during the worship - whereas for the last few years in Dunstable, the worship had been restricted to hymns. But I was rather staggered when he proceeded to preach a sermon from 1 and 2 Samuel about Saul prophecying with the prophets - and drew an application from that, that the gift of prophecy did not and could not exist today ... and closed and asked us to stand and sing; "I Hear the Sound of Rustling"!

For those who are not aware of the chorus - "I Hear the Sound of Rustling" was a very popular chorus that was sung during the Charismatic Movement at the Dales and Downs and our own Anglia Bible Weeks. The lyrics included a charismatic theology (that the new pastor of my home church had just spent half an hour trying to dismantle!) including words like this;

"The Spirit of the Lord has come down on the earth

The church that seemed in slumber has now risen from its knees
And dry bones are responding with the fruits of new birth ...

And all around the world the body waits expectantly

The promise of the Father is now ready to fall

The watchmen on the tower all exhort us to prepare

And the church responds-a people who will answer the call

And this is not a phase which is passing

It's the start of an age that is to come ...

A body now prepared by God and ready for war

The prompting of the Spirit is our word of command

We rise, a mighty army, at the bidding of the Lord

The devils see and fear, for their time is at hand ...".

I personally love the song! But there again - I believe fervently in restoration! Why on earth were we singing that chorus after an essentially cessationist sermon in a reformed evangelical functionally cessationist church?! Can that be called "poetic license" too?

And here again we come back to my problem. Are we really listening to what we are singing? One of my favourite historical books charting the Charismatic Movement (or more accurately the Restorationist Movement) is by Professor Andrew Walker and is called; "Restoring the Kingdom". Professor Walker made the point that in his opinion Graham Kendrick was probably the most influential "theologian" of charismatic life in the United Kingdom - purely through his choruses and his songs. So on the one hand songs DO matter! But then on the other - do they?

I must state my profound admiration for SGM and in particular Bob Kauflin at this point. I've made no secret of the fact that I have many problems with some of their ecclesiology. But thanks to songwriters like Bob Kauflin - SGM are 100% consistent in what they believe and in what they sing. I could be wrong but I doubt you will find an SGM-written song promoting a theological viewpoint that they don't believe in. I remember years back Mark Altrogge wrote a number of restorationist songs (because we sang some of them back in Dunstable in the days before I had even heard of C J Mahaney or Larry Tomczak!). I doubt they are sung anymore in SGM circles - and again I applaud the consistency with the changes in theology.

So back to the song that started this "moan" - Lou Fellinghams; "Promised Land". I suppose in the grand scheme of Kingdom New Covenant life - it really doesn't matter whether I sing a song about heaven being like the Promised Land or not. But I think C H Spurgeon has got the ultimate and final point. Are there going to be giants in heaven with cities to take? I sincerely hope not - if Scripture is to be believed. So why then are we singing about it? Does it signify a drift away from Newfrontiers traditional restorationist beliefs or is it really as simple as the line fitted the song quite well? Or does no one really care?!

For Those Whom the Traffic Lights are Red ...

I've been texting Pete Day a bit about this - so I do hope it will make sense. If anyone reads it and am not sure quite what I am on about then do feel free to ignore and move on! Essentially the thought for this blog was prompted by a comment that Rob Rufus made in one of his more recent sermons - "The Struggle For The Authentic Part 3 - Qualifications For The Blessings - Faith or Works?" - about how things have been very tough for the Rufus family and for City Church International but recently;

"When I woke up this morning I felt that the air was clear again and the pollution of darkness and oppression had evaporated and lifted off us. I don't want to be weirdly spiritual but the very natural atmosphere has had the pollution blown off it. Then every traffic light driving here was green and God was saying; "It's a green light - it's a go-ahead! ... Sometimes in God things aren't a coincidence - there is a prophetic significance".

Just after listening to that portion of the sermon, I had to drive to a night shift and was thinking absently about what Rob said until I came to realise that every traffic light I was coming upto (and there are a lot in Birmingham) was RED. Every light! Rob said that some things aren't a coincidence - I couldn't help but think each and everyone of my red lights weren't a coincidence because they were changing so frequently just as I drove upto them - and then staying red for what seemed like an obscene amount of time! If that wasn't bad enough, my car proceeded to break down on my way home from a night shift and needed water in the radiator.

So what I found myself thinking was that if God was saying to Rob Rufus through his green lights - "It's a green light - it's a go-ahead!" - what was He saying to me through every light being red?! Initially I was quite down-cast and found myself unhelpfully drawing comparisons between myself and Rob and Hong Kong and feeling that all-too familiar sense once again of condemnation creeping over me and that all-too familar voice; "Rob is a great man of faith - you'll never be like him! What?! You reckon you can even stand in the same room as Rob!? You're pathetic" - and so on and so on. I think most will know what I am talking about.

But as I waited on God I actually began to find a quieter but more insistent voice speaking and it was speaking words of hope and words of comfort. And He was saying things like; "The light is red just before it turns green. The night is blackest just before the dawn" and the sense that I was receiving was not that the red lights were condemning lights telling me that I was useless and my life was never going to go anywhere - but rather that this was a time to wait on the Lord and renew my strength and mount up with wings as eagles because the lights were about to change.

So if anyone else feels like me that their life is in a "red zone" at the moment, I hope this will be something of a comfort to you. God is absolutely and utterly 100% sovereign and each portion of our lives are carefully planned out and approved and set by Him. Nothing happens without His say-so. Even a sparrow cannot fall from it's nest without our Father knowing about it - how much more will He care for and love those He has appointed, predestined, called, justified AND made righteous?! Those traffic lights will turn green soon ... and when they do we will speed off all the faster because of that time of waiting on God! It's never a waste!

Faith!! I Can Move a Mountain!!

The line of this blog comes from a wonderful Hillsongs songs that I have loved for years. The concept of faith is something I am only recently getting my head round. Here's the song by the way!



I think I always used to get rather depressed at Jesus' words; "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed ...". My conclusion? My faith is smaller than a mustard seed! But Rob Rufus's wonderful Kingdom teaching has opened my eyes to the glorious realisation that faith is something imparted to us from on high! I'm in the middle of helping transcribe one of Rob's more recent sermons; "The Struggle For The Authentic Part 3 - "Qualification for the Blessing - Faith or Works?" - and Rob brought this powerful definition of faith;

"Faith is a supernatural ability to connect with a living God with confidence. Faith is the substancein your heart of the things that you are hoping for and it is the evidence of what you cannot see. Faith has evidence - faith is not a blind leap into the dark. Faith is a leap into the light based on supernatural substance and evidence inside your spirit given to you by the Spirit of faith - the Holy Spirit.

When faith rises up in your spirit you have the substance to manifest your hope and what you are hoping for starts happening and the goodness of God starts happening around you - but you need faith for that ... Today we will pray that the spirit of faith will rise in everyone of our hearts to believe the good news of the message of grace and that what the enemy intended for evil over the last 2 weeks is going to be turned around so powerfully for our good - that we will come into a more delighting place of confidence in the grace of God than ever before".

I love that last particular phrase. That's faith! I've hinted at the last month or two of hell that I feel I've been going through - ending up with me currently being on anti-depressants. I always grew up with a deep suspicion of anti-depressants. Such was the deposit of legalism in my church history that my gut feeling was if I resorted to anti-depressants then I didn't have much faith in God. John Piper was quite helpful in getting me to agree to my G.P's request. But all that aside - the question that I'm sure anyone and everyone who goes through times of trial must ask is "Why?". As I mentioned before - God doesn't seem to want to talk to us about our circumstances but our destiny.

That aside, I've been searching my heart as to why on earth I have spent the last year of my life working somewhere that has ended so sourly. Why has the chance to spend time with those vulnerable and needy children come to an end and it's become nigh-on impossible for my health to be in such a place of negativity? I don't have any answers ... yet! But I love what Rob Rufus said;

"That what the enemy intended for evil over the last 2 weeks is going to be turned around so powerfully for our good - that we will come into a more delighting place of confidence in the grace of God than ever before".

That's destiny. That's something that I can feel my faith stirring towards and for! I know I am not the only one who is struggling in life so I hope this is a post of encouragement. We know that all things work together for those who love God. That's not just one of those rosy verses that look nice on your mother's fridge. That's reality!

The Singing Rob Rufus!!

This post came to me rather spontaneously - and I've learnt to listen and think when those spontaneous thoughts come. Many people think of Rob Rufus as being primarily a preacher and a prophet but some who are perhaps newer to Rob's ministry don't realise that he is a very adequate musician and singer as well. "Singing prophecy" is something that is new to my Christian walk and I must admit to certain misgivings when I first encountered it. I believe the first time I heard a sung prophecy was by Bob Kauflin in conjunction with C J Mahaney. Being honest - I thought it was odd and couldn't see the Scriptural justification for it. I don't know if both men still do that anymore but my experience with the sang prophetic went on and I began to hear it at the Brighton "Together on a Mission" conferences.

And then of course Rob Rufus himself. I must admit Rob's sung prophecies have had profound spiritual influences on me. I love music - not being a musician in any sense of the word (!) - I still deeply love music and have found it's an amazing gift of God through which He speaks and moves. So what I've tried to do in this post is gather together clips of the times that Rob has sung prophetically - or he has just sang! I do apologise for the quality of the clips. I'm not quite sure how else to get them on the blog other than using my camera phone. But I think despite the lack of quality - the impact still comes across!

1. Rob's Prophetic Song over Hong Kong.

This clip has to come at the very top of my list and I posted it back in June of this year. Rob sang it during City Church International's "Miracle Healing Weekend" and it is packed full of vision and hope and fire for the city of Hong Kong. It gives a glimpse into the fact that Rob isn't in Hong Kong simply for personal gain or for financial benefit. He's there (and City Church International is there) because of the motivation of love for Hong Kong.



2. A Song of Worship Inspired by Grace!

This short song was sung at the beginning of Rob's message; "The Blood - Substance or Shadow?". I say it's short because it has just two verses and a very simple chorus but it's simply profound. Absolutely magnificent in simply being a song written by a man who's life has been changed forever by the grace and wonder and majesty and Presence of God. And this song of worship - everytime I hear it - it challenges and provokes my heart to reach out and seek God to draw closer to me also - to desire His Presence.



3. Prophetic Song from "Glory and Grace Conference - Hong Kong".

This short clip begins with a bit of music from the worship team and then Rob sang a very short few sentences but I so vividly remember being there at "Glory and Grace" in Hong Kong when he sang it. It was such a prophetic statement of truth - but it wasn't just words alone. So many times I have heard prophecies spoken and even prophetic songs sang and felt very little. They are so empty when the Spirit of God doesn't brood in weighty glory on the words He wants His Church to hear. This clip can't even convey how the glory cloud filled that place!



So there's a few already. This is a post I hope to add to - so if anyone knows anymore recordings where Rob has sung prophetically or other then please let me know and we can add to this. Why am I doing this? It's not to exalt one man. Rob would never want or allow that. It's meant to be a motivation and a prompt (mainly to myself) to see how the Spirit of God can touch and use men and women to utter forth the truths of His glory. I can't sing - but I've got a voice and I must utter forth what He says!

Above all that - I hope - I really hope that listening and hearing these songs bring an awesome sense of God's Presence to you as you hear them.

Dave Devenish Hit By the Power of God!!

I love, love, love watching people touched and struck by the power of God. I have been watching some ministry videos while I've been off sick from work and this particular main session of David Devenish's at "Together on a Mission 2007" was particularly awesome to me. The notes are available here. It so reminded me of the power of that conference and the way God fell upon us - and made me hungry for more! It also occured to me how preaching - the best preaching - contains a prophetic element to it. Even Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones attested to the fact that the Holy Spirit fell upon him at times during his sermons at Westminster Chapel.



I don't tend to speak that much about David Devenish but I do have a profound love and respect for this man. Many church leaders and so-called "apostles" don't really fit the New Testament model because they don't stray far from the safety of the Western world and the riches of the church at which they are based. David Devenish seems to be constantly somewhere deep within Eastern Europe or the Russian states faithfully proclaiming the Gospel of power. Yet while he is a man of the Word of God - the Holy Spirit powerfully rests upon him and it is always somewhat nerve-wracking experience wondering what and when he might break into prophecy during his preaching!

Not hearing Dave Devenish preach this year at Brighton was certainly something I greatly missed - you cannot fail but find your faith lifted by the world vision that he presents. If anyone's interested in hearing more of Dave - then here's some links to more sermons that he has given at times. In this day and age we need speakers like him!

Ern Baxter on "The Old Man"

I found this very interesting transcript from one of Ern Baxter's series of sermons; "The Adam/Christ Analogy". During the sermon he spoke about the "Old Man" from Romans. Why do I quote him? I don't even presume to imagine that Ern Baxter is seen as an authority who will persuade those who doubt Rob Rufus's stand on the issue. However for me it serves to personally amaze me at the similarity in theology and teaching between these two heroes of mine and to men of God. Here's what he said;

"Our 'old man' is not something that is in us, it is something in which we are".

You don't have an 'old man' in you. Having said that, I have to prove it don't I? Well what does this have to do with the corporate? We will get to that. You have to realize how important the Corporate is. You see this whole matter of unity isn't just something nice. It's something mandatory! We have to come at it from God's side not our side. Not from holding ecumenical meetings. We have to find out what it is all about from God's Word.

In Romans 6:6, let's assume for a minute that you have got an "old man" in you, dirty, rotten, nasty fellow in there. He's in you! It says; "Our old man was crucified". In the English, we do not have a corresponding tense to the Greek aorist tense. The Greek aorist tense is simply this;

"It declares that something happened in time, once for all, never to be repeated - the effects of which continue".

Our old man was crucified! Now whatever that old man was; whenever it was crucified; it was crucified once for all - never to be repeated. Now let's be very logical about this; if that "Old Man " in you was crucified, at sometime back there, "he" was crucified! When a person was crucified, what happens to them? They die! If you have an old man in you - and there was some point in time when he was crucified - he's dead! Very dead! Right? If he was dead, dead then you don't have an old man in you because he's dead! He isn't there!

But the fact of history and the fact of experience is, whatever makes people sin, continues with us and it's something that we have to deal with. Therefore if that "old man" is in me and he's supposed to be dead - who's that other guy in there giving me trouble?

"Our old man was crucified with him that the body of sin (this is in the aorist tense) might be destroyed. Now if the body of sin is destroyed or made ineffective (and that's my physical body) - because that's what people say; "I have an old man in me and he makes me sin and he sins through my body!" - but the Bible says that old man was crucified, so he's dead and the body of sin has been destroyed, so I don't have a body?"

And if we are Christians we would all be in the grave! If you take it without looking at it closely, it becomes ludicrous; silly. If the body which is spoken of here is your body through which sin manifests itself then then the Bible categorically states that at some point in your past your old man was crucified and your body was "destroyed". Now your body is not destroyed, you are sitting here - unless I'm looking at a mirage - you are here. So what does it all mean?"

"Let me be autobiographical for a moment. I was raised under the teaching that I had an "Old Man". And when I became converted, I had - me. Then there was my "old man" which is seperate from me, which is my sin nature. It is not really me, it is my sin nature. Before I was converted it really dominated me. Now when I became a Christian, I got a "new nature". So now there is three of us in here. I know this because I was taught this. I am concerned because it kept me in semi-defeat for about 20 years of my Christian life even in the ministry!

I was taught that I had this "old man" plus me and then the "new man". Three of us in there. And I am the neutral umpire who decides who operates. And my old man is a disreputable, scandalous, vile, foul, vicious thing living in there - but I got converted and now I got a new man and he lives in there too. One of them wants me to do something wrong and one of them wants me to do something right and I am in the middle here and I kind of arbitrate between the two. So I am caught in this everlasting dichotomy; this on-going tension. Now I believe this, every one in a while to prove my orthodoxy that I have to let this "old guy" have some sort of expression, just to prove I am sound.

I was raised to believe it was not possible to really have complete victory in life and only in death would I have complete victory".

One day I was researching Romans chapter 6 and I decided to look into a commentary. I really didn't like this commentator because he didn't hold to my theological views. I decided I would look at him anyway on Romans 6. As I was reading him, he said;

"Many of my brethren feel that the article of physical death has more power to deliver Christians from sin than the Cross of Christ".

And I slammed the book shut and said; "I never liked him anyway". But the hook was in my jaw. I began to laugh and I saw the logic of what Adam Clark said. Everybody believed that when we die - we are going to move into instantaneous sanctification. I was sitting in my study and I said; "Come quickly terminal cancer that I may enter into sanctification!". You know the more I ridiculed the view that I held, the more I began to see the truth.

That I was saying that terminal cancer or a heart attack could do more to me in terms of sanctification than the Cross of Christ! And I saw how ridiculous this way. I saw how I was constantly downgrading the accomplishment of Calvary and I was imputing to the act of physical death a power that it didn't have.

"In fact - death is the last enemy - it is not my friend at all! It is not a sanctifying power; it's an embarrassing power! It's going to be done away with!"

Well to a cut a long story short ... and a very long story ... I discovered that I didn't have a seperate person in there called an "Old Man". And I tell you something else that does. It gets you off the hook of moral responsibility. I do something wrong and I can say; "It wasn't my fault - it was my old man". So what do I do? I cope out of moral responsibility as a responsible person and I say; "It was my old man!". Now I am doing exactly what Adam did in the beginning. So what are we doing? We are saying; "God it is Your fault! If I didn't have this "old man" then I wouldn't be doing this bad thing". I've got news for you.

"You are not going to be able to blame Him again because you don't have it! You don't have an "old man"! You are in, by nature, the "old man" but there is no "old man" in you! In fact what ever old man is in you is just as old as you. Your old man is you, not something seperate from you".

See when God came to save us, He came to save me not replace me. He didn't come to replace me. He didn't come to put someone beside me and call that "me". That isn't fair. There is just me in there. He came to save MY soul. He came to regenerate MY spirit. To renew MY mind. The Holy Spirit has come into MY life, not seperate from me. For the Bible said; "If anyone be joined to the Lord, he is one spirit with him" (1 Corinthians 6:17).

"Now it is very important that you see that we are members by nature of an Adamic body. And that the "old man" that was crucified was not something in you, but something in which you were and furthermore that the crucifixion of the old man and the destruction of the body of sin is a legal, judicial act which God performed in the Cross".

Terry Virgo on Ern Baxter at Brighton 2004

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that looking into the past is a tremendous encouragement when it's hard sometimes to see clearly into the future. Looking into the past is a reminder of how God moved before and builds faith for how He will move again and indeed how He is moving - even unseen. It occured to me that it's been a while since I've sorted through my video sermon collection. I'm so glad that I spent hundreds of pounds buying videos at the Stoneleigh Bible Weeks and the Brighton Newfrontiers conferences because there is something special about seeing these key moments in the flesh! (What I would give to see Ern Baxter at the Dales Bible Weeks in the 1970's .... )

Here is a clip from the Brighton conference in 2004. I wasn't able to go to the whole week due to work commitments so Pete had to attend alone. However we were able to get down for the final day - Terry Virgo's closing session and then the evening session; "Does the Future Have a Church?". It was an incredible coincidence that I had just completed my first transcript of "Life on Wings Interviews with Dr Ern Baxter" and had sent it to both Terry and to Stanley Jebb.



There is nothing more thrilling than prophecy that is being fulfilled. That look into the past is an amazing reminder that God spoke powerfully to the Charismatic Movement in the 1970's and we are seeing it come to pass in these days. Jesus Christ said; "I WILL build My Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it!". Ern Baxter frequently used to remind us that statement of Jesus Christ's was not a defensive statement. Who has ever seen gates jump off their hinges and chase Christians down a street? No - this statement is an offensive statement. There is not one gate that can stand against the relentless advance of the Church - not even hell's gates themselves!

Men and Women of Influence!

This has been an interesting blog post in coming. It started when I was puffing away on the treadmill wishing that the 50 minute mark would come quickly! I was watching the National Television Awards on the television and they gave an award to Simon Cowell got an award for his services to television. I actually found it quite inspiring and found myself wondering as I sweated what qualities he possesses to get to where he did. So that started my brain whirring.

Then today I was in Waterstones (ironically looking at self-help books ... more on that later as to why I've brought Joel Osteen's "Become a Better You"!!) and I happened to notice a small booklet called: "Power List 2008 - 100 Most Influential Black People UK". Out of interest I flipped through it and noticed that two pastors are included in the list - one of which is Matthew Ashimolowo - the senior pastor at the Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) in London. Agree or disagree with his theology, his methods - the fact remains that in a largely secular UK society, a panel of judges decided that he should be included on that list.

I wondered when the list of the 100 Most Influential People comes out - will there be any white pastors included on it? Please don't read anything into that other than what it reads. God is moving mightily among the black churches in the United Kingdom and I LOVE that! I love it when God's moving anywhere. I'm not so sure about other churches - certainly to be included in any lists of influence in the nation. Maybe I stand to be corrected.

It's interesting that my last couple of posts have been about "words". I've thought about the word; "Frustration" and I have thought about "Perspective". And here's the word "Influence". What does it mean?

"... the act or power of producing an effect without apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command ... the power or capacity of causing an effect in indirect or intangible ways".

It's interesting. The men and women I've mentioned - Simon Cowell and Matthew Ashimolowo among others - have come to places of influence and I guess I always assumed they got there through sheer gut and determination. This definition seems to suggest that there is an element of attaining that place by almost accident! Those of us who are Christians and believe in a supernatural God who manifests in time and space can believe differently - that God positions His men and women down throughout the ages to be in places of influence.

Why are you bothering discussing all this, Dan - you may ask? Because my vision - my dream - my heart's desire - is that Jesus Christ should be made famous around the world. From Hong Kong to San Fransisco. From the North Pole to the South Pole. From London to Cape Town. In every town! In every city! In every nation! You get the idea ...

I'm tired of my God being dished! I walked through the religious section in Waterstones and frankly was pretty horrified. As you will see from the photo - the titles of the books aren't very faith inspiring! And I am sick of it. I want church pastors, apostles, prophets and evangelists to start dominating the lists of the 100 Most Influential People. I read that Bishop T D Jakes has the ear of President George Bush. And quite right too! Church leaders should be having the ears of leaders of nations and giving proper advice. That's influence!

Now I may have caused some shock by mentioning that I've brought Joel Osteen's "Become a Better You". I know Osteen is widely condemned by the evangelical front. To be honest I haven't really bothered to find out why. I wanted to read his book for myself. The reason I brought it was because I've made no secret of the fact that I'm really struggling with depression at the moment and some self-harm. There are a multitude of books out there in the "self-help" section that seem very cozy and cuddly. The evangelical choice of books seem remarkably quiet on mental health. But books like Joel Osteen and T D Jakes seem to be different. They are full of vision, passion, hope and destiny! And that's what I need to read right now. I am sure I will post some comments later!

That was an aside to this post. Influence ... I think on reflection it's something that God will give to those who are hungry and who are ready and who are committed for His glory alone. Who's interests are far above themselves and their own personal gain and fulfilment. Who's goals are more than winning awards for their own hard work or for speaking on conference platforms and receiving the applause of men - but who's single-minded focus (a reason I love Rob Rufus so much) is the glory and manifest Presence of God alone sweeping the globe.

That's what I want! Anyone join me?

Perspective!!

"Perspective" is a wonderful word but bizarrely it's something that you only understand when you actually have it - it seems to me. Apparantly "Perspective" means;

from Latin perspicere: - "to see through"

Events over the past few weeks or so have most definately caused me to lose perspective on why I'm a nurse at all. I remember well why I took the job at the hospice. It was a life-changing experience for me as a student nurse back in 1999 - I actually learnt how a child can live in the face of death - and I mean properly live! Sadly that hospice isn't the same place anymore and has become over-run by what I can only describe as legalism in it's worst form if it was in the Christian church. Rules have replaced spontaneity. Appearance has replaced fun. Policies have replaced the smile of a child.

But I had the opportunity recently to very vividly recall why I went into nursing and what nursing is all about. I can't say too much about what happened because I must preserve the patient's confidentiality - but in essence a young mother was visiting her week old baby and I just happened to ask if she had a cuddle. She said she hadn't since the baby had been born and had to have a life-saving operation. So I got the baby out along with all it's tubes, wires and monitoring and sat back and watched as the mother cuddled her precious baby.

That ... sooo made it all worth-while and that one smile from the mother managed to erase most of the politics and the dreary Pharisees of the last month or so!!

I don't say that to make myself look special in any sense of the word - I trust you all know me well enough by now to know I despise that. In fact that's partly why I enjoy showing and telling the "real me" so I won't look special! Any nurse could and would have done the same thing. My point is that surely it must be the same for us in the Christian world. My dear friend Pete Day sent me a text that has been prophetic in every sense of the word and I believe it could be true on a world-wide level. He knows intimately what has been going on with me and texted this;

"As I pray for you over your work, I keep coming back to the vision of Stephen in Acts 7 - of Jesus standing for him. The applause of heaven. People are trying to shout you down and accuse you but heaven is calling "Well done!". Men can't stop you fulfilling your destiny and they can't turn heaven against you. God is always for you and will be forever!".

That is the eternal perspective that if we as a Church could seize - if like Stephen our eyes could be opened to see the Son of Man standing at the Father's right hand, then our perspective would be changed forever so that we too would boldly walk to our deaths fearing nothing and noone because "God is FOR ME! WHO can be against me!?".

Memories from the Past ... !!

I have to confess it's been a real struggle to write anything over the past few days of worth here. Writers block? Call it what you will! That being said, I am ghost-writing for a bit of fun. We're dog-sitting for a month for one of my best friends while she is away in Australia so I've set up a blog for her dog to keep her updated with how he is. Here it is; "My Month with Uncle Dan and Uncle Scott and Uncle Barry!!" I've found that a good way to keep my mind busy is to look back to the past and see the goodness of God and what God did and how He moved in times past. It's why I'm so grateful I was able to preserve a massive collection of "Restoration" and "New Wine Magazines" from Dunstable.

Without them a huge amount of material that was Spirit-inspired would have been lost. Here's a selection of interesting articles. The first two pages were a review of the "New International Version" by my former senior pastor Dr Stanley Jebb. It was taken from the "Restoration Magazine - July/August 1979".

Dr Jebb's conclusions on the New International Version were;

"In the reviewer's judgement, the New International Version is a winner. Perhaps the GNB may be preferred by some for evangelism and for new converts, the NASB may be preferred for accuracy and for close study, but for all round usefulness, anyone looking for a new Bible can hardly do better than choose the NIV".

The second page was from the same edition - it was a list of tapes from previous Bible Weeks and you can see that Ern Baxter was part of it with his famous series; "The King and His Army" from the Lakes Bible Week 1975 along with Peter Parris and David Mansell.

The final page was another update page for the regular Celebration evenings that used to take place across the country. My own church - New Covenant Church in Dunstable - featured regularly with it's "All Saints Nights" that many of us still remember as children. Also Terry Virgo in Brighton had regular meetings with visitors such as Peter Parris and Bryn Jones. Awesome days ... but the best is yet to come!

I'm FREE!!

Sometimes it's the simplest of songs that come as an awesome encouragement when times are dark. Things have all gone weird again at work which is rather upsetting. I'm trying to navigate walking the path of faith and needing help, advice and support from my G.P and other sources. It was quite a comfort reading something of C H Spurgeon's wrestling with depression (from The Christian's Heaviness and Rejoicing NPSP Vol 4, Year 1858, pg. 459, 1 Peter 1:6);

"I was lying upon my couch during this last week, and my spirits were sunken so low that I could weep by the hour like a child, and yet I knew not what I wept for — but a very slight thing will move me to tears just now — and a kind friend was telling me of some poor old soul living near, who was suffering very great pain, and yet she was full of joy and rejoicing. I was so distressed by the hearing of that story, and felt so ashamed of myself, that I did not know what to do; wondering why I should be in such a state as this; while this poor woman, who had a terrible cancer, and was in the most frightful agony, could nevertheless "rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory."

That's exactly how I feel! Working in a hospice with kids who are so needy and yet feeling at times like I could just weep and not know why. Having the blessings of a roof over my head and food to eat (virtually) daily (when I have an appetite) and yet there are millions starving and homeless. Anyhow - this wasn't meant to be a post musing on depression and how to beat it. I wanted to highlight a song that I've heard before done by the amazing Hillsongs guys - but it was freshly renewed to me.

Here's the video;



And here's the lyrics ... I just LOVE them!

"would you believe me if I said....
that we are the ones who can make the change
in the world today....

would you believe me if I said...
that all of the dreams in your heart
can come true....today

would you believe me if I said...
that life could be all that you want it to be...
today..

Chorus:
and if I had wings I would fly'cause all that I need, you are...
and if the world caved in around me...
to you I'd still hold on'cause You're all that I believe...
and the one that created me...
JESUS...

because of you...I'M FREE

Verse 2:
would you believe me if I said...
that God can make miracles happen today....
would you believe me if I said..
that you don't need to wait for the answers before...
you step out in faith...would you believe me if I said...
that nothing is ever impossible...for God...

Bridge:
just live your life...with God inside..
you won't regret one moment of it...
and give all that you can for God, for God".

Just getting over it??

This post has arisen as a result of a discussion held a few weeks ago on another blog, and also various personal attacks on Dan. A number of us (including Dan, Julie and Lydia and Don) have been thinking about the whole question of forgiveness. Dan has shared something in the past of a terrible experience as a member of a previous church. He has been told this: "You need to forgive, forget, move on and just get over it."

It has taken me longer to finish this post than I had planned, but here goes:

I want to ask the question - is it right to say to another believer "just get over it?" Is that the essence of forgiveness, or is it an over-simplification.

In our men's fellowship last month someone asked the question - "Should Christians always forgive AND forget?" The reason for the question was because in our church Sunday School one the kids had asked the question about bullying. Should a child who is being bullied at school "forgive and forget" even if the bully is continuing to bully the child and other children?

Let me give you some further scenarios:

A young person who is abused by a respected figure, a teacher, a youth leader… Should they “just get over it” and go on as if nothing has happened? Yes, they need the grace of God to release His forgiveness in their hearts, but, no, no they must not “just get over it”. Instead they need to say “this person has done these things” in order to protect others (and protect themselves from future abuse).

A wife being beaten by her husband… Should she “just get over it” and go on living daily with the abuse and putting her life in danger? No!!! Yes, she needs the grace of God to fill her heart with peace and not hold bitterness against her husband, but she needs to get out of the home and report the behaviour of her husband – for her own protection, and for the sake of those who might fall under her husband’s spell.

And those being bullied... Should they “just get over it and forget about it and move on”?? No, no!!! Yes, they need the grace of God to forgive and not hold bitterness in their hearts, and to be freed from fear. But – they must, for their own sake and others, have the courage to report what the bully is doing so that the bully is dealt with.

So what about a person who has suffered wrong in his/her church? Is there a difference? Very often the usual texts are rolled out by the leadership (eg - Heb 13v17: "Obey your leaders and submit to them..."). But where wrong has taken place, isn't it right to share that wrong? If people are being led blindly to submit to the ungodly exercise of leadership, then surely it is right to warn people about the dangers.

Of course it is right to submit godly leadership. It is right to forgive leaders (or any believer) who have hurt or offended you. On many occasions as a pastor I have been blessed to receive people's forgiveness because I have said or done things that have been wrong and hurtful.

Why forgiveness is important

Many old covenant preachers thunder about forgiveness as a legal requirement in order to maintain a person's standing with God. Especially as forgiveness is not easy - it is a hard and painful choice - and the thundering of love and "obey your leaders", when real hurt has been caused, simply piles condemnation on a person already suffering the pain of wrong.

But forgiveness is important. We're reminded "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you" (Eph 4v32). It is a great call to every believer - to forgive unconditionally. It's not easy! Yet it is also so liberating. Firstly, we are the righteousness of God all the time. So forgiveness is not in order to become righteous, but simply an overflow of the grace of God in our lives. Secondly, because unforgiveness is a terrible burden - it can lead to a root of bitterness that defiles us and others (Heb 12v15).

At the same time, forgiveness is a choice. It is choosing to release your right to vengeance to the Lord - "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'" (Rom 12v19). So forgiveness is a choice we make to leave the judgement of a person who has wronged us up to God. It is a difficult choice, because our natural sense of justice, yet to is so freeing to let the person go - we haven't got to demand justice because God is the judge of the whole earth and He will do right.

But grace has taught me something else - the same cross that obliterated my sins has obliterated the sins committed against me. 2 Cor 5v19 - "...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them..." I had struggled with this verse because my narrow view of reformed theology told me that Christ only died for the sins of the elect. But that isn't what this verse says - it says the world!! See also John 1v29, 1 John 2v2. So the blood which availed for me availed for them too! So, why should I carry the rage, fury and pain for something that has been dealt with on the cross?

All these things are reasons to forgive and helps in the battle for forgiveness. But I thank God that my standing is not because I forgive but because of the cross. We are being sanctified, we are being changed from glory to glory - our condition is changing while our position is unchanged and totally secure in Christ. Whether we forgive or not, while we are dealing with the pain - we are still the righteousness of God in Christ.

What is forgiveness?

But is forgiveness just "getting over it?" Does it require that I forget what has happened?

Hebrews 10v17 says that God will remember our sins no more. But that doesn't mean that God suffers from amnesia. We as finite human beings remember the things we often don't want to remember and forget the things we do want to remember. Yet God, in His infinite power, has the choice to put things away from His thinking about us. He has obliterated our sins in Christ and so deals with us as if we have no sin!! Glory!!!

For us as finite human beings, forgiveness does not necessarily involve forgetting. Forgetting may come after we have forgiven; as the pain heals the memory of what has happened may fade. Forgiveness is rather making the choice to let the issue go and, as I said before, release it to God, even fully aware of the pain of what has happened.

It is a hard choice. It is a choice that you will not hold what a person has done against them; that you will treat them as if they haven't sinned against you, that you will not seek revenge, but you will rather pray for their good and their deliverance.

It is a high, high calling, but there is abundant grace from God for this. It is also a lifetime calling. We let things go, we chose to forgive, but then a passing comment from someone, a stray thought, and the hurt arises again - and we have to make that choice again by the grace of God - "Father, I release this person to you, I forgive them as You have forgiven me. I give to You my hurt and claim my healing."

Forgiveness is a lifestyle – when that anger arises it can be released back to the Lord who does bind up the broken hearted. He wants us totally free of bitterness. For all of us, Dan included, this means there are daily struggles, but I have known Dan as a dear friend for almost ten years; he has shared his life and his struggles with me; I know there are still daily battles to forgive, but I know Dan is committed to walking free from bitterness and revelling in the grace of God.

Forgiving and speaking out

There is grace even to love those people who have led as false shepherds. But, forgiveness does not mean remaining silent. If there are things that are wrong, they need to be spoken about. No, we don’t go around sowing division in the church we have left (and I know Dan has just stayed away), but when we see things that are out of order, when we see the precious gospel being undermined by legalism, when we see heavy shepherding and lives being crushed, then it is right to speak out. It doesn’t mean we are harbouring bitterness, it simply means we are (as Julie reminds us) “not giving in to them even for a moment.”

This blog is not about an angry rant, it is about declaring and defending the glorious gospel. And when Dan (and indeed all of us) speaking out because the glorious gospel being undermined by law so that it is not a gospel at all, then we say, "Dan, preach it brother!!".

You may have noticed that there are other names on this of contributors. Dan asked a number of his trusted brothers and sisters in Christ to become joint-editors of this blog. He would like to be accountable to us for what he writes and would like us to challenge him if he writes anything that is not of the right spirit. Speaking personally, I don't think he needs that and some of the brothers and sisters he asked said "no" for that reason. This blog is Holy Spirit inspired and doesn't need the restrictions of man putting upon it. At the same time, fellowship is good - and it is a joy to have other names on the contributors list so that together we can declare the glorious gospel of new covenant grace and power.

God bless you, Dan. This blog is a light to many, many readers, and I believe that God is going to use it for His glory for many days ahead.

Frustration's Okay ... for a Purpose!!

I'm sure one of the overriding emotions that frequently comes across from me is "frustration". Frustration with church, with God sometimes, with people. I would freely confess that I am a frustrated individual and the over-riding advice that I have received from church pastors is usually "Get over it" (speaking of that phrase - Pete Day has written an outstanding post on this very subject coming soon on this blog - keep watching!). However that's all changed and I found a fellow kindred spirit in the sermon that Rob Rufus preached; "The Struggle for the Authentic - Part 2". By the way in his next Sunday's sermon, Rob described that message as;

"Probably the most powerful message I have ever preached in my entire ministry".

I've been really enjoying reading Christopher Paolini's latest novel; "Brisingr" and during it the main dragon Saphira has a thought about human beings that is quite profound. She says this;

"Saphira knew it puzzled Eragon why she did not participate more in conversations. Her reasons for silence were simple; save for Arya or Glaedr, she felt most comfortable communicating only with Eragon and in her opinion - most conversations were nothing more than pointless dithering. Whether round-eared, pointed-eared, horned or short, two-legs seemed addicted to dithering ... for her, choices were simple; either there was an action she could take to improve the situationor there was not - and everything else said on the subject was so much meaningless noise".

If many more of us adopted that mind-set then I am sure that many, many meetings could be cut quite short! One of the huge frustrations I had during the days when I sat on the CU Exec at Birmingham University was how issues such as whether we would work with the Catholic Society to do a University Carol Service could occupy so many hours of conversation! So it was an incredible thing to read some of Rob Rufus's comments on frustration in Gideon's life. He said this;

"Frustration is a sign that you have got passion! You can't change anything unless you have got passion! Passion - if it is not fulfilled - results in frustration!"

Rob then went on to speak about the opposite to passion and frustration - passivitity;

"If I meet a person that has never been frustrated then I know that is someone I don't want on my leadership team because they are passive. Frustration is an indicator - it is a measure of where God has called your destiny".

And he ends by saying;

"I would rather have a 100 frustrated Christians who want greatness in their life than a whole bunch of passive, loose-wrist people that are happy with the unacceptable all around them who live their whole lives in smallness".

So - frustrated Christian - take heart! God may be using it to draw us out of our wine-presses of comfort to the destiny that He has planned for us!

Rob Rufus on When the Anointing Comes ...

A quote from Rob:

"The anointing only kicks in when you respond to a calling way beyond yourself".

Rob Rufus - "The Struggle for the Authentic" - Part 2" - City Church International, Hong Kong - Sunday 14th September 2008.

A Conversation: Tim Keller, John Piper, D.A. Carson - Part 2

Here's the second part of the conversation between Keller, Piper and Carson. Keller does most of the talking but they deal with two extremely interesting aspects to the spreading of the Gospel. The first is about the value of "events" that may be designed to spread an awareness of the Church in the community but often don't bear much fruit. Such as many favour "Kids Klub" - a children's activity group usually on Saturdays. The second interesting part of the discussion concerned how prospective pastors should be selected.

Tim Keller:

“I just agree completely. Actually if you were running a tutoring programme for kids at a local school – and lots of Christians are involved in such programmes – you are hoping that such relationships would bring evangelistic fruit. Maybe some kids come to faith or some families come into the church – that would be great – but if you don’t see much evangelistic fruit immediately you shouldn’t think that there isn’t indirect evangelistic fruit – that is to say the witness to the whole community of the church’s heart for the kids is still giving a witness to how Christ’s love changes people and motivates them for sacrificial service and therefore you shouldn’t really be adding up conversions by looking at a particular programme and say that is not being evangelistically fruitful. It would be great if it was direct but if not it is still going to be evangelistically fruitful in the larger scheme of things. Besides that it is not loving the kids if you say – well if I say; “If I love my neighbour I am going to share the faith with them”. If a wind knocks a tree into my neighbour’s house then I am going to go over and pull it off their house whether they believe or not. And it would be horrendous if you gave the impression that your mercy ministry is linked to whether they respond or not”.

John Piper:

“Would you say it was loving to go and pull the tree of their house with no mental design or intentionality that your hope will come across?

Tim Keller:

“No of course not”.

John Piper:

“Because people have gotten in my face when I have said the hope and the design and the pursuit of the deed – they would say that is manipulation”.

Tim Keller:

“Well that should be your design. You still don’t have to make it conditional – that’s not the same thing. Love isn’t conditional on you hearing and responding to the Gospel. My love can still be motivated by desire that they hear and understand the Gospel and those are two things so to collapse them isn’t quite fair.

John Piper:

"Which is why it is so crucial I think to maintain the belief in ultimate reality because the person who really loves somebody and says if they don’t believe in Christ then they will suffer forever HAS to have that design! Has to have that longing in every good deed they do – even if it doesn’t pay off – they are hoping it will, to their dying breath they are hoping it will”.

Don Carson:

“And also shape their praying and their priorities and praising and everything else! That’s right”.
Tim Keller:

"Another subject? Okay let’s see – which one did I volunteer for? When I am looking for a pastor on my staff (if I am part of a search process by which we are looking for) I think this is a position where I tend to think in triplicate. The Prophet-Priest-King metaphor. Christ’s work as prophetic, priestly and kingly. The prophetic aspect is that we want someone who really understands the Gospel and is theologically sound. You might say that the kingly aspect is that I want someone who has gifts that match the job. The fact is that all pastoral jobs are different. You have pastors in small churches, specialist pastors in large churches, pastors who namely preach and teach or pastors who are largely doing one on one work – and so the kingly aspect is that I want gifts that fit the role. The prophetic aspect is that I want the man to be sound theologically.

The priestly or existential aspect (and here’s what I am looking for) is that a Gospel-changed heart is not the same as a moralistic changed heart or cheap grace. A heart that basically says God loves everybody but doesn’t look at the costliness of grace. Moralism doesn’t believe in grace – but basically believes that you are getting God’s blessing through work. I would say that a moralistic heart tends to be morally serious but lacks joy and lacks a deep level poise and peace – it has a real unhappiness all the time. The cheap grace heart lacks moral seriousness and what we would call “fear and trembling before God” and even fear and trembling before both good and bad trembling. Being humbled by the bad circumstances and being amazed by the good ones or moral seriousness. I do think the Gospel that I am simultaneously justified and accepted and yet sinful and deserving hell apart from grace gives me both a humility and boldness.

The boldness is this affirmation and deep peace – “I am not condemned!” – but the humility comes from this sense that we cannot just demand things from God because I am a sinner saved by grace. That Gospel character is the hardest thing to get and there are folks who theoretically understand the gospel and are pretty skilful and yet don’t show that character. That’s not to say they aren’t saved – I just don’t think that Gospel penny has dropped. That is what we are looking for more than anything else in pastors. I would say it’s not rare – but it doesn’t grow on trees even amongst sound, skilful people. So – what do you think?

John Piper:

“Well it doesn’t grow on trees!”.

Tim Keller:

“And it’s a little hard to explain to people why we pass over them. If we pass over them for that reason then I have an obligation to talk to them about it”.

John Piper:

“Just to help draw us out – are there questions or ways in which you would try to discern that in someone? How do you get it out? Have you got a week in with them? Discerning that level of spiritual maturity?”.

Tim Keller:

“Well see – you have to watch them interacting with other people. Resume and interview can give you the other two. You can discern both knowledge and views and you usually by references and interviews you can get a pretty good idea of what the person’s skills and gifts are. You can get to be with the person in some situations and learn the reason why – even though we’ve really only done this with church planters. My denomination at Redeemer has developed an assessment centre to look for church planters only – you spend 3 or 4 days with a person and his wife along with other candidates. You can see them interacting with each other and others in a social situation as you ask them questions and give them case studies and they start to let their guard down a little bit and become themselves. Now if you ask me what I am looking for – even that would be a challenge but how do you find it? You really can’t find it through a resume or though an interview. You have to rely on other people to know them.

Don Carson:

“I think that goes for the 3 spheres of our understanding in the ministry, its not a fourth thing – its something that touches everything.

The Bible says that one of the criteria for a pastor is being able to teach on some level and that means having something to say and having something to communicate. On the other hand I can recall an amount of Biblical scholars who know a vast amount about the Bible and are very good communicators and yet aren’t even believers. Then there are others who have a fair grasp of theology and really do think they are believers yet the Gospel hasn’t quite penetrated their lives to the way they put things together and you find it’s not quite Gospel-centrered.

So the “able to teach” criterion that is mentioned in 1st Timothy 3 has to be fleshed out but of the relational matters of teaching as a pastor – how you approach woman, an older man, rebuke those who have a whole load of money – all of those things start to work out in dynamic and relationships – and after a while you can’t always separate teaching and how the Gospel is working out in your life is manifest on all those fronts all the time".

art 3 to follow ...