Pondering Life on the Web ...

It's been a while since I've done a blogspotting thing. That doesn't mean that I haven't been looking but there hasn't been much that has stirred me to write a blog if I'm honest. Does that mean that the internet is descending into meaninglessness? Or I'm just not quite as easily irked as I was? I hope that it suggests that I am choosing my words more carefully as we are accountable for everything we say and do and type.

So this isn't going to be a classic 'blogspotting' piece (whatever that genre may be) but more a snapshot of what I'm doing, where I'm going and what I'm reading - some of that includes blogs of course. Do feel free to pass on by to more worthy material such as Ern Baxter!

Terry! Well another 'Luke and Dan special'. Terry Virgo is preaching at Church of Christ the King in Brighton! Some may wonder why this is worthy of mention - but as I can make out, the last time Terry preached at Church of Christ the King was quite a few months ago. He is incredibly busy understandably fathering a growing movement like Newfrontiers so I suspect the times that he is home in Brighton and preaching may become rarer. Fortunately CCK have an evening service! So we'll be travelling to Brighton to hear him and through him the God-entranced vision he lives.

The Newfrontiers Magazine Online: This outstanding magazine that I reviewed a few days ago is now available online here. Okay I might be slightly biased, but I have yet to come across a magazine that stands for so many of the passions that I treasure. The commitment to Word (Reformed Doctrine) and Spirit (Charismatic Life). The commitment to taking the Gospel to the Nations. The commitment to the local Church. It can all be found here! I forgot to mention that the One-to-One this issue is with Rob Rufus. It's a fascinating insight into a man of God that I can't wait to encounter again.

Andrew Fountain: I've got Luke to thank for this discovery. It seems Andrew Fountain is part of Newfrontiers Canada in a church called 'Newlife Church'. What impressed me beyond belief is that I think he has the most in-depth reviews of all of the sessions from "Together on a Mission 2006". They are here. I'm guessing he's listened to the CD's unless Prof McGonagall got him a time-turner. The standard has been raised most certainly for live-blogging "Together on a Mission 2007"!

A New Blog! I'm always eager to find new blogs that will be worth regularly reading. This blog is by Billy Kennedy - the leader of Community Church, Southampton. It's a large charismatic church that I have visited once and was very blessed when I went there. It was great to see that Billy met up with Terry Virgo recently. He said that Terry was concerned that he was okay with Newfrontiers planting into Southampton - which Billy assured him he was. That kind of knocks on the head the scaremongerers favourite gossip that Newfrontiers barges into cities thoughtlessly. Looking forward to seeing what he has to write.

Sam Storms Most Influential Books: Commissioned by Justin Taylor, Dr Storms has put together a list of what he considers to be the most influential books in evangelicalism. He seperates out the list into two - what are the most influential books and what should have been the most influential books. John Piper made Number 1 of his "should-haves", Wayne Grudem polled Number 3 and Jack Deere made Number 10. It's an interesting question - what books have influenced me the most - aside from the Bible? Or you? And why?

The Amazing Library! This is where I digress from blogs for a moment. My friend Pete and myself have just invested in this. It's essentially a parcel of 36 CD's with over 1, 000 books on them in Acrobat Reader form. Historically I am pretty anti having books on CD-Rom. I like books to sit on my bookshelf and be accessible that way. I like the look of books. I just love books! But I couldn't deny that these CD's will open up a whole army of material that would take me years to buy. From what I've read so far - it's more than surpassed my expectations! Worth taking a look any bookophiles!

Reformation Day: This symposium shows that quite a few people got pretty excited about this day. But it was Luke's blog that really got me excited. I don't see the point in re-visiting church history for history's sake. So Obadiah Sedgewick liked to wear woollen socks in bed ... how will that help us win the lost and take the Gospel to the ends of the earth? Luke wrote;

"We can expect Him to do the same in our day. As we look for the church to be fully restored we can wait expectantly for God to move and restore us that much closer to His norm. I believe He will do it. I believe He is doing it ... Hear that? It is possible. We will see the Church restored, the expression of Christianity changed around the world and God glorified through a glorious, triumphant Church!".

And Finally ... Jonathan Edwards on Angels.

Does anyone remember "A God-Entranced Vision of All Things"? During Dr Sam Storm's message; "Joy's Eternal Increase", he set out a challenge. He said that hardly anyone had looked into what Jonathan Edwards had to say on the subject of the angelic. I decided to take up the challenge and see what I could find. Here's a sample:

The Angels Demonstrate the Order of God: (Works, Volume 2)

"The design of God in thus ordering things, is to teach and show that he is all, and the creature nothing, and that all exaltation and dignity belong to him; and therefore those creatures that are most exalted shall in other respects be least and lowest. Thus, though the angels excel in wisdom and strength, and are advanced to glorious dignity, and are principalities and powers, and kings of the earth, yet God makes them all ministers to them who are much less than they, of inferior nature and degree. Thus, also, the saints who are most exalted in dignity are servants to others.

The angelic nature is the highest and most exalted created nature; yet God is pleased to put greater honour upon our inferior nature, viz. the human, by causing that the Head and King of all creatures should be in the human nature, and that the saints in that nature in Christ, should be in many respects exalted above the angels, that the angelic nature may not magnify itself against the human; and the man Christ Jesus, that creature who is above all, owes his superiority and dignity, not at all to himself, but to God; viz. to his union with a divine person".

The Angels Demonstrate the Rule of God: (Works, Volume 2).

"So they are a kind of princes under God, over such and such parts of the creation, or within such a certain sphere ... God hath concealed the particular spheres of the angels’ dominion and ministry, that we might not be tempted to idolatry. They, therefore, that worship angels under a notion of such and such angels having a superintendency over such particular persons or affairs, intrude into those things that they have not seen. It is not reasonable to suppose that the angels are called thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers, merely for the honour they have in their great abilities and excellent qualifications, for the words do properly denote rate and authority".

The Angels Demonstrate Christ's Supremacy: (Works, Volume 2).

"(The Angels) were dependent on the sovereign grace of Christ to uphold them and assist them in this service, and to keep them from ruining themselves, as the fallen angels had done; by the fall of the angels, especially of Lucifer, the greatest, brightest, and most intelligent of all creatures, they were taught their own emptiness and insufficiency for themselves, and were led humbly in a self-diffidence to look to Christ, to seek to him, and depend on him, in whom it pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell to preserve them. So that they all along hung upon him".

That's a pretty appropriate place to end. "To look to Christ ... and to depend on Him".

Good Foundations: Repentance by Dr Ern Baxter.

I began to touch last week on the vital importance of good foundations in the Christian life, when I was writing about the latest volume of the Newfrontiers magazine. Terry Virgo wrote in his Firstline;

"It could be argued, of course, that everything changed on the great resurrection morning when Jesus conquered death for ever, or perhaps on the triumphant day of Pentecost when the powerful Presence of God was poured out on the waiting disciples. New creation began! The long awaited eschatological kingdom was inaugurated!".

Beginnings matter! The old picture is of buttoning up a shirt. If you get the first button wrong then it doesn't matter whether all the other buttons are in the right hole, the whole shirt will be uncomfortable to wear. This was a passion of Ern Baxter's heart and he wrote the following article on "Repentance". I found it in a second hand copy of "Vintage Years - Selected Articles from New Wine's first decade: 1969-1979". So over to Ern:

"Before we discuss the subject of repentance, we first need to stress the importance of good foundations in the Christian life. Most of the problems we encounter as Christians and many impediments to our personal growth derive from our failure to have laid sound foundations at the very beginning. If we were to ask, most believers would probably say, "I've laid a good foundation" and yet in talking to those same people about repentance, it's amazing that most know nothing about it. Whoever brought them to the Lord failed to give them a sound beginning.

"All Have Sinned".

We can't talk about repentance without talking about sin. Although sin is a whole different subject, we must touch on it in discussing repentance because Jesus came, "Not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32). "Repentance from good works" is exactly the way that this part of our "Christian foundation" is described. Dead works proceed from moral seperation and for every man outside of Jesus Christ, everything he does no matter what form sin takes in his life, is constituted dead works. Now you may say, "What do you mean 'the form sin takes'?". In the Roman epistle, Paul speaks of at least three kinds of sinners. First are the gross sinners. Most of us tend to look upon these as the "real" sinners - the homosexual, the immoral person, the idolater. The whole gross, senuous sordid mess of improper human relationships that find expression in the carnal appetites constitutes sin to many people.

But in the second chapter of Romans, Paul goes on to say, "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest, for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things". Those who boast, "I don't stoop to that kind of human behaviour" I would call, "Philosophical sinners", "Academic sinners" or "intellectual sinners". They're too busy sinning with their brains to sin with their bodies, too busy trafficking in Freud and every other kind of literary unbelief to participate physically in sin. All their sinning takes place in their ivory towers.

Then there is a third class which Paul notes; the religious class and this is a touchy area. Paul said, "Behold thou art called a Jew ..." (Romans 1:17) and then proceeded to expose the hypocrisy of the religious sinner. Years ago I talked to a young Hindu man in India who told me that neither tobacco nor alcohol had ever touched his lips, nor had he ever laid hands on a girl. As he listed all the things he hadn't done, he sounded exactly like Saul of Tarsus, "... touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless". But when I pressed the claims of Jesus Christ upon him, his response was to place his list of external moral accomplishments over and above Jesus Christ. Unwilling to confess the intellectual and "sophisticated" sin in his life, he claimed his own "religion" superseded God's prescribed righteousness. So when we talk about the basic nature of sin, we must realise that a sinner is not always characterised by gross sin.

In the New Testament there are 9 Greek words for sin and 21 lists of sin, consisting of 202 defined sins. Eliminating repetitions, we find 103 specific sins listed. Although it is important to view sin as definitive acts specified in God's word, there is a danger that we may fail to deal with the nature of sin. All works of unregenerate man, whether they be gross sinners, philosophical sinners or religious sinners emanate from moral death and are therefore dead works. They are the works of men dead in trespasses and sin. The essential principle of all sin is selfishness, most comprehensively defined in Isaiah 53:6, "All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all". "Everyone to his own way!". The equivalent in the New Testament is 2 Corinthians 5:15; "... he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them and rose again". Isaiah and Paul are in agreement that sin is essentially; "doing what I want in any given situation as opposed to what God wants me to do in that situation". All of us have fallen into the trap.

"Repentance Defined".

Thank God that we have something to take care of sin; it's called repentance. So having made our point that repentance has to do with sin, we want to speak of repentance itself. In the New Testament there are also two words translated 'repent'. One is similar to the first Old Testament word. It means a feeling of "remorse or regret". It comes very close to remorse but remorse is not necessarily necessary. It just means you feel bad. But the other New Testament word, "metanoeia" means, "a change of mind" or "to have another mind". Actually repentance is changing your mind from what you have believed on any given subject to what God has revealed on that subject. "Metanoeia" is also associated with the word "turn" and implies a personal decision to turn from sin and enter into fellowship with God.

In the contemporary approach to the sinner, there has been too little emphasis on repentance. Not only must the sinner change his mind about God, himself, his actions and the world around him, he must also take definite moral action to implement his change of mind, To further define this process, repentance is the informing and changing of the mind, the stirring and directing of the emotions to urge the required change and the action of the yielded will in turning the whole man away from sin to God.

When we approach a sinner let us never be afraid of making him morally responsible for coming to God. The first time I read the writings of Charles Finney, the great revivalist, I closed them and said, "He's a humanist". I resented the fact that he laid moral responsibility upon men. At that time because of my background, I held the extreme view that man was totally incapable of doing anything. This of course is incorrect. Man is capable of hearing the gospel. Man is capable of making the decision, "I will turn to God". What he is not capable of doing is doing it - it takes the grace of God to actually turn him. But he is capable of deciding to do it and he must be held morally responsible for that decision of will by which he says, "God here I am. Turn me and I shall be turned".

We are indebted to Finney, especially for some of his definitions, which are almost in the ultimate. Here is Finney's definition of repentance, " ... it implies an intellectual and a hearty giving up of all controversy with God upon all and every point. It implies a convicion that God is wholly right and the sinner wholly wrong and a through and hearty abandonment of all excuses and apologies for sin". When Finney says, " ... an intellectual and a hearty giving up of all controversy with God upon all and every point", I appreciate his inclusion of "intellectual". Much evangelical preaching assumes you have to cut off your head in order to believe with your heart. But God talks to our minds, we make decisions with our minds. Repentance likewise speaks to the mind. People who say the mind plays no part in conversion ought to have tremendous revivals in mental institutions.

The "conviction that God is wholly right" establishes a significant ongoing principle. If we accept this principle at the beginning of our Christian lives, then in subseqent encounters with God on any issue, He will be wholly right again. Finney also defines repentance as, "a through and hearty abandonment of all excuses and apologies for sin". That means we must honestly face the gravity and depth of our sin, so that we may appreciate the totality of God's clensing grace. Vance Havner, a well-known Christian author, is quoted as saying, "Today cheap grace is being preached and received by cheap faith resulting in cheap Christians".

Before we go into repentance scripturally, there is one other quote from Havner which provides the delicate balance to what we have thus shared so far. "It is no easy matter so to preach repentance as not to discourage truly humble souls or so to proclaim God's forgiving love as not to encourage presumptiousness and carelessness. ". Where is the balance between confronting a man with, "Mister as a sinner you must wholly agree with God that you are lost and undone and you must turn from your sin" and yet letting him know that "God's love is as wide as the ocean and He will forgive all your sins and save you?". That delicate balance is not easy to maintain! We must preach repentance to those responsive to God without sending them away under a burden of discouragement, while at the same time, not stripping the love of God of its demand for moral responsibility so that the same people go away presuming on God's grace".

Next: 14 Reasons for Repentance and Factors Leading to Repentance.

Christchurch, London is a DANGEROUS place to be!!

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.

Newfrontiers Magazine - October - December 2006!

It was thrilling as usual to receive the latest edition of the Newfrontiers Magazine through the post (which I am sure will be available online here soon). It is typically of an extremely high standard with an amazing new look to it. But most importantly each article is incredibly stirring.

There is a review of Together on a Mission 2006 written as usual by Wendy Virgo. Interestingly enough she opened the review by mentioning some of the key prophecies that I have transcribed here, and quite rightly speaks of the predominant theme of Word and Spirit that Wayne Grudem and Rob Rufus brought unconciously to the conference.

Simon Virgo reviews Mobilise held at the Clarendon Centre. He too noted; "What marked Mobilise ... is an unashamed and confident commitment to being a people of both the Word and the Spirit. Being unashamed of both emphases enables us to be truly unafraid as we present the gospel to our culture". That is the best apologetic for holding 100% to being truly Reformed and truly charismatic that I have yet to find. We don't attempt to hold the tension between Word and Spirit just for it's own sake - but because we truly believe that it is the most effective way to spear-head the Gospel into a lost and hurting world.

That all being said, Terry Virgo mentioned something in his 'Firstline' that reminds me of the utter importance of "Foundations". There have been two discussions about "Big Churches" on two blogs I read - Mark Heath's (Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3) and Gavin's - and the vitality of right foundations for a church was a theme common in both. Terry said;

"It could be argued, of course, that everything changed on the great resurrection morning when Jesus conquered death for ever, or perhaps on the triumphant day of Pentecost when the powerful Presence of God was poured out on the waiting disciples. New creation began! The long awaited eschatological kingdom was inaugurated!".

This of course thrills an "avid resurrectionist" like myself! Kate Simmond's awesome hymn sums this truth up; "on this my hope now rests - that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead!". My next transcript of Ern Baxter is to be a New Wine article he wrote on "Repentance". Ern wrote this;

"We first need to stress the importance of good foundations in the Christian life. Most of the problems we encounter as Christians and many impediments to our personal growth derive from our failure to have laid sound foundations at the very beginning".

I hope that this transcript will follow hard on the heels of my next post - a review of our time on Sunday evening at Christchurch, London!

The World's Cry to the Church!

When I began to transcribe prophecies on the "Spirit of God!" website, my close pastor friend Pete felt quite strongly that it would be appropriate when prompted by the Spirit to re-publish certain prophecies. All night I have (for some reason) had on my heart the powerful prophecy that Ginny Burgin brought to the Brighton Leadership Conference. As my friends Luke Wood and "Prophetic Reformation" will no doubt testify (as they both attend her church in Sheffield) - Ginny is a prophetess powerfully used by God and this word impacted the conference greatly. Here is an extract - but I urge you to follow the link and re-read it. Begone evangelical smugness!

"And as I look I start to hear a cry and I start to hear it louder and louder until I want to cover my ears because of the cry that is coming to the church and it is louder and louder. And it says;"Wake up! Why are you still sleeping? Wake up! Get up! Call upon your God and perhaps He will turn on us and have compassion on us and save us!". And the cry just gets louder and louder to the church. "Wake up! Why are you still sleeping? Get up and call upon your God that He might have compassion upon us and save us!".

I hear another voice and this voice shouts out to the church as well. It shouts out; "Prophecy! Prophecy! Prophecy to the wind! Prophecy over these dead souls that they might live! Proclaim to these dead souls that they might rise up and live! Call upon to these people to stand and then call upon the wind to come! Call upon the mighty powerful wind of My Spirit to blow! Call upon the very rock of My breath to come and bring that which was dead to life, to come and bring death to be overcome by the power of life. Prophecy and proclaim to those that are fearful! And let those that are fearful rise up a great and vast and mighty army!".

What Are We Reading and What Are We Writing?

Well I thought that would grab a bit of attention. It's been an interesting few weeks being without internet access. I have enjoyed the "Back to Basics" style of back to pen and paper but it is frustrating feeling somewhat out of touch with the wider Christian sphere. Fortunately my laptop is now fixed and awaiting collection! So I have many ideas and thoughts to re-commence writing with a vengance. That being said, I must admit I haven't seen much on the various blogs I look at that has lit the fires of controversy (I guess that's a good thing) so no rants forthcoming. Furthermore it is hard at work to get time to write anything of length so this is just a reflection.

I am hugely encouraged by two blog posts by a new friend of mine - Jonathan Edwards. He truly is a kindred spirit! I urge you to read "Characteristics of a Glorious Church". How about this quote to fire your spirit on a rainy Monday morning? "The end time church that God will unveil in these last days will be like nothing we've ever seen before. In fact it's will far exceed anything we could have ever asked, thought or imagined Ephesians 3:20.
It will reveal a bride that is prepared and ready for the return of her Lord and Saviour". Amen!

And then in part 2 Jonathan brings an outstanding quote from the awesome Puritan Thomas Goodwin, "There will come a time when the generality of mankind, both jew and gentile, shall come to Jesus Christ. He hath had but little takings of the world yet, but he will have before he hath done".

I remember reading a challenge from a former blogger who reminded himself that we are all accountable for our time - for what we read and what we write. How can we fail to be stirred to read what Jonathan Edwards has written? To be stirred and motivated to go out and join in our part of the great Mission we are on - to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth!

A New Transcript - Terry Virgo Prophesies at CCK, Brighton!

" ... I want you to know that I have not called you to a static path. I have not called you to be the defender only of what you have thus far. I don't want you to have a fortress mentality. I want you to know the excitement of pressing on, experiencing more and going on with Me - this is My call to you. I call you to grow, this is not something that you frighten you or seem strange to you - this is the great essence of life, that you grow. Therefore I say to you, beware of the dangers of defending everything you know, standing only secure in what you have proved. I call you to the adventure of learning new things ... "

Reviewing "Praise is Rising" - Live Worship from Together on a Mission 2006!

It is rare that I disagree with my friend Luke Wood on anything - we are astoundingly alike in lots of areas! 99% of his posts I read, I find myself nodding in agreement, yet my review of the live worship album from Brighton must differ from his just slightly! He said that none of the songs struck him as particularly incredible. However the song he mentioned as his favourite - "Yours is the Kingdom" - made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Indeed the wonderful Kate Simmonds cry at the start set the tone; "Let's give glory to God this morning; all the glory is His!" but to me the theology in the song summed up the conference perfectly. And what a life-changing world perspective to carry through your week!

I am going to follow the style adopted by Scott in his excellent review of Lou Fellingham's debut album and comment on a few of the songs that struck me and then sum up the album for me.

Praise Is Rising - It is fitting that the title track should open the album. The atmosphere is tangible as you hear voices crying out then the music fades in. The song begins a familiar theme that occurs in many of the songs on the album - "We find strength". This is not a light, fluffy album of celebration but rather a triumphant shout of the people of God knowing that He is God through suffering.

Never Let Go - I admit this song didn't grab me as we were being taught it, but it very quickly won me over with again it's faith-filled words of the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. The mission that we are on isn't easy but it is so worthwhile!

Sing To The Lord - I wish that there were more of Lou Fellingham's songs here and sang at Brighton but this is the representative. It is great that she lead it on the album. It can't fail to stir your spirit and lift your heart to God even if you don't feel like it!

We Come To Praise You - Finally! Kate Simmonds is the lead vocals. This is my only complaint with the album that there is not more of her. I know that this is due to a problem with her voice (we saw Terry Virgo praying for her at CCK the Sunday before the conference) but my only complaint is that the album misses her passion, zeal and fervour.

You Reign Supreme - A Kingdom statement that Ern Baxter would have loved. He is sovereign!

Yours Is The Kingdom - This for me was the song of the conference and of the album. It opens with a call to worship from Kate Simmonds and is fast paced and thrilling. It will stir your heart with the truth of our mission. The earth lies in wait to be taken by the people of God - yet the job is already done for He has gone before us! All we have to do is go into the land and take it! It will be quite some time before I tire of blasting this out in my car or in my home!

Party Song - A surprising but welcome familiar to the album. The Prayer Meeting Night saw me really "get" the international feel to the conference and begin to enjoy it and appreciate it and there are places during the song where Evan Rodgers makes it clear that we are an international family on a mission.

I have found that each Brighton conference I attend is like scaling a mountain peak. Each time I climb slightly higher and find that I can see slightly further, experience slightly more and learn new things. I spent quite some time discussing "Praise is Rising" with Scott and we both agreed that it is an excellent mark of how the conference itself felt slightly more "serious and business-like". That isn't to say we didn't celebrate - and how! But the theme, "Together on a Mission" said it all. Yes we will go partying, but we are going. There is a great work to be done and the time for dancing in circles and waving streamers may be over. This isn't an "easy listening" album for a quiet Sunday afternoon! This is a stirring, dynamic album that is for a hard Monday morning when you are wondering what it is all about. This album will remind you - Yours is the Kingdom! And He is so so worthy of all our praise!

It is a must-have! Go buy it!

Conferences For What?

As I mentioned in an answer to a question earlier, my laptop has joined the list of casualties and has decided to break it's hard drive and lose all the material, interviews, transcripts and articles on it! I have been quoted it will cost me £400 to retrieve it so there is a thermometer on my front lawn at the moment ... if you drive by - give generously ...

So I do apologise that blogging has been a bit sporadic. I have been busy never-the-less. It has been a great opportunity to transcribe in written format (remember that?) many of Ern Baxter's awesome audio ministry as well as continue my pace of reading from holiday. During the time of quietness, of course, the Desiring God - "Above All Earthly Powers" - Conference happened and was dutifully liveblogged. While the session reports were interesting to read, I found reports of the Panel Discussions far more enthralling. As many know I love hearing heroes of mine in a question and answer situation as it puts their minds in a far more spontaneous mode as opposed to the pulpit where it is more prepared.

The reports of the Question and Answer Session can be found here and here. Many of the questions were well thought out as one would expect from Justin Taylor - who hosted the sessions. Two in particular caught my eye:

Drs Piper and Carson give advice to Pastors of Small Churches.

Justin Taylor: Dr Piper, a lot of pastors might be discouraged by the size of their church. What encouragement would you give to the small town small church pastor?

John Piper: Feeding the flock of God is the most precious and high calling in the world. “Feed my sheep.” There is always room for growth! Every one of these guys discourages me – so in one sense that is life. It is a great thing to rest in the calling God has given you. There has got to be witness in smaller populations. It is just that we cannot abandon the city! Faithful loving exposition is what you must do. God loves rural people.

Don Carson: There are different degrees of gift. If we are doing something wrong, then we must fix them. On the other hand, I was brought up in French Canada. There were very few churches there. My Dad was faithful through the lean years. God works on another scale. I made a resolution when I was young man to never stop going to small and insignificant works. Be faithful where you are.

Mission in a Conference Context?

Justin Taylor: John, foreign missions are often forgotten in conferences like this. Are you concerned that foreign work is being forgotten.

John Piper: I don’t know since I do not see evidence. The great commission is no where near finished. Muslims and others are hostile and difficult to reach. We need to go there! Are we raising up an army to go? The seeker sensitive way is having a trickle-down effect in missions in a harmful way. There is a fear of not succeeding. So, foreign missions can be undermined when you go with a compromised message – or a contextualized message that abandons Christ. There is no radical Jesus without hell. What emergent is doing is what they say we are doing: “domesticating Jesus!”

"Are we raising up an army to go?". I quoted David Holden yesterday saying that "Your Eschatology Will Affect Your Ecclesiology" and I suspect that the same principle applies in the conferences that we organise. Do we have a high view of where the Church is going? Do we have an ever present understanding of where Jesus Christ is now and what He is doing for us His Church? Do we believe in the Triune promise that Jesus Christ has been told to sit and reign until His enemies have been made His footstool? If we do, then it is highly likely that we will seek out conferences that (to quote Terry Virgo) "ever hold this vision before us".

I am tremendously stirred by this quote of John Pipers! "Are we raising an army to go?". Reformed theology seems to me to be the most apt foundation for the most radical and passionate mission advance, yet so often we retreat into hyper-Calvinistic groups devouring ass's heads and doves dung. This must be put right! In the New Frontiers Magazine - August - October 2001 - Greg Haslam wrote an outstanding article on Reformed Theology and Charismatic Experience. He said this concerning Reformed Theology;

"Both modernity and postmodernity have robbed us of the ability to explain or make sense of reality. They have no credible grand narrative or big story; consequently they have no hope to offer mankind. Reformed theology, reflecting the Bible itself has the power to integrate our total perspective so that we shun all forms of dualism that would divide life into the watertight compartments of sacred/secular, spiritual/material, body/soul, time/eternity, heaven/earth and work/worship. To us all of life is sacred and there is nothing secular except sin. We are to see God's Kingdom progressively advance to reclaim the whole of life, every activity and ultimately even the whole of the cosmos for Christ. We are to glorify God in everything we do".

What a quote! It oozes Ern Baxter! If we are to avoid "conference-ism" - the mentality where we hop from one conference to the next, enjoying the temporary spiritual high, it is vital to seek out conferences where we will be challenged into being built into an army - armed and ready to go to the ends of the earth for Christ. Any conference that doesn't do this isn't quite enough.

Your Eschatology Will Shape Your Ecclesiology!

This is Everywhere!

So said David Holden at the Brighton Leaders Conference 2000. I've been thinking a lot about this quote over the past few days. In a sense, the truth of it lingers behind almost everything that the Christian bloggers and authors have been writing or prophesying about!

For example, it lingers behind Mark's meditations on the rightness or wrongness of the mega-church. Why bother trying to build a mega-church if your eschatology is pessimistic (you might call it realistic) and you don't expect much to improve for the Church before Jesus Christ returns again? In fact never mind mega, why bother to build church?

The truth of this quote definately drives the prophecy that I have just transcribed of Terry Virgo's on my "Spirit of God!" website. He brought it at the Brighton Leaders Conference 2003 and it is possibly one of the most Gospel-orientated prophecies I have ever heard. The essence of it is this: "The great work is done! ... Resurrection is established ... A victorious Saviour sends His Spirit among you ... Now I have chosen you. Go and build it! ... Go and proclaim!". Can you sum up the Gospel any better? The finished work of Christ is done! The Spirit has been sent among us! Now go! There is a world to be won!

The truth of this quote is most definately behind the heart of John Piper. In one of his latest books, "What Jesus Demands From the World", Piper wrote; "The universal authority of Jesus issues in a mission that lasts as long as history and extends as far as humanity ... the words, "to the end of the age" show that the mission should last till Jesus comes back. The demand is not given only to the first generation of disciples. The mission lasts as long as the mission-sustaining promise lasts. And that promise is; the all-authoritative Jesus will be with us to the end of the age. As long as there is time and as long as there are nations to reach, Jesus' demand to go and make disciples is valid".

This isn't New!

A mistake that Restorationists such as myself often make is to think that we are the first to hold fast to this positive indeed optimistic eschatology of how things will shape up for the Church. This is a grevious mistake. The first transcript I ever completed was of a Panel Discussion from the Bethlehem Conference for Pastors 1999. The participants were Dr James M Boice, Dr John Piper, C J Mahaney and David Bryant. During the panel discussion the participants were asked to recommend books that particularly had impacted their ministry. I was not alone in finding their commendations note-worthy.

Dr Piper unsurprisingly recommended Jonathan Edwards, Mahaney unsurprisingly recommended books on the Cross, Dr Boice recommended a variety of books ranging from C H Spurgeon to George Whitfield but David Bryant recommended a series of books that I hadn't heard of before. Kenneth Scott Latourette's "A History of Christianity". I took more serious interest in them when I saw them on the library shelves of my pastor Dr Stanley Jebb, but found them to be a little beyond my price range.

I was therefore thrilled today to visit the local S.P.C.K bookshop in Bristol and I found the volumes for £2 each! I duly brought them and am deep into them and finding them just as thrilling as David Bryant promised they would be at the Bethlehem Conference in 1999. Why so? Here are a number of "smooth stones from ancient brooks" from Volume 3 - '3 Centuries of Advance' by Latourette that may sound familiar to our present day situation.

"In the fifteenth century and in the first half of the sixteenth century Christianity faced a major crisis ... The first flush of enthusiasm, characteristic of a new religion was presumably long past. A younger rival, Islam was continuing to supplant it in wide regions and was threatening it's remaining strongholds".

"Much ... was indifferent or even antagonistic to Christianity or sort to control it for it's own purposes. In Western Europe where Christianity had seemed most vigorous, decay had fastened itself on the Church. Ecclesiastical leaders disregarded Christian ethics in their programmes and practices and used their positions to advance their private interests".

"Under these circumstances could Christianity continue to spread? Could it even survive? Had it sufficient vigour to enable it to permeate the new culture of Europe ... to win the nations ... in AD 1500 the outlook was far from promising".

"Yet Christianity not only survived. It also displayed new life. In Western and Northern Europe, it revived, showed more vigour than ever before and made an even deeper impress upon the culture of Europe that it had previously been able to do ... Never had any religion spread so widely. Never had any faith had so great an effect upon so large a proportion of mankind".

"Protestantism was so engrossed in making a place for itself against Roman Catholicism, in working out its own theological positions, in controversies among it's various leaders, and in effecting an organization, that it's members had little leisure for concern for non-Christians outside of Western Europe".

"The ... chief reason why in general Protestants were not active in propogating the faith among non-Christians was that until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries they had relatively little touch with non-Christian people".

Does the Future Have a Church?

Sounds familiar! It seems to me that many of us are so busy trying to actually believe that the Church can survive against the flood of Islam (not helped by utterances from David Pawson) or survive against the flood of post-modernism or of secularism, that there is little room left for faith that the Gospel is destined for success! Ern Baxter was fond of quoting the verse, "I will build My Church and the Gates of Hell will not prevail against it". He said that verse is often misused by the nervous who huddle together and declare that hell's gates will not prevail. They are safe. Hell's gates can't get at them. But Ern asked since when has anyone been chased by gates jumping off their hinges and running down the road?! That verse meant that Hell's gates cannot prevail in keeping the Church OUT!

Jesus Christ will build His Church to such a degree that the gates of Hell themselves will be battered in from the relentless advance of the Church of Jesus Christ! Rather than taking our theology from the world and the newspapers, we need to reclaim a vision from the Bible itself - our authority - about what it promises for the end-time Church. I am so grateful for these quotes from Greg Haslam (preached at Brighton 2003) that make it clear how powerful such a vision can be.

"People won't even cross the road for a little vision - but they will go to the ends of the earth for a big one".

"Vision is sanctified dreaming".

"Until you find something to die for - you are not really living".

"Visionless people view all change as a threat because they are wedded to the past".

"Visionary people need to seek out other people - preferably with a bigger vision who will fire what they believe".

Let's start believing that He must reign UNTIL He has made all His enemies His footstool! We are in good company - Church history demonstrates that the Church has not only survived before but has flourished before and it will do so again! For as surely as He lives, ALL the earth SHALL be filled with the glory of the Lord!

Back in Bristol! On the Promises of God.

This post is dedicated to my friend Pete, a faithful servant of God and pastor in London. May the Spirit of God inspire faith, vision and passion in you through these words and remember what you have been anointed to be.

I think the perfect holiday is one in which you can enjoy the rest and relaxation God has granted, yet at it's end you are eager to come back and get back to work. That has been my experience! We landed in Bristol Airport at half past four this morning (*shudder*). It was fine until we got to baggage claim where the handlers were obviously asleep too. But I got back in my car with my friends and turned the engine on and Lou Fellingham burst out singing "Before the Throne of God Above" from the Stoneleigh 1998 album. I have to admit that tears came to my eyes. For two weeks I have missed those touches of live worship that speak of the moving of the Holy Spirit. I can't WAIT to go to church tomorrow!

Life isn't a holiday. Trials will come and did (letters waiting for me on the doorstep). But we have a certain and true foundation. God's promises stand - however we feel and despite how much or little we experience. Bask in this extract from Ern Baxter's book, "The King, the Kingdom and the Holy Spirit" with me for a moment.

"Why do we find it so hard to believe God's promises to us? We have been fed a diet of denigration and humiliation. We've been told that we are nobodies, that we're just a bunch of people waiting to go home to Heaven , that we really have no place down here and that the world belongs to the devil. The world does NOT belong to the devil. "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness therefore, the world and all that dwell therein!" (Psalm 24:1). When Jesus Christ ascended on high and sat down at the right hand of God, God established His kingship forever. He made Him King over the whole earth. Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and we are His earthly representatives

The Bible says, "The Lord will stretch forth Thy strong scepter from Zion" (Psalm 110:2). Many people wonder, where is Zion? During a visit to Israel several years ago, I stood on the rooftop and asked a learned friend next to me, "Where is Zion?". He pointed in the direction of a knobbly little hill and he said, "That's Zion". I responded, "That's Zion? You mean that's where I've been marching to for 60 years?".

Zion as a piece of real estate is strategically localted. In the days of David it was obviously a strategic military stronghold for the Jebusites. There's no question about that, but it's no Rock of Gibraltar either. It's just a rather ordinary looking little hill, well placed for a certain job. Then I began to think of it from a different perspective. Zion was the place where David put the Ark of the Covenant. There the Holy Ghost began to make Zion the name for the people. Zion stopped being just a mountain and became the people of God. God said in the Psalms, "I have set My King upon Zion, My Holy Mountain" (Psalm 2:6). He was saying, "My people are the place of My Presence. Just as David put the ark on Mount Zion, I have put My Presence in the middle of My people and they are now Zion. They are the people of My Presence and I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion".

Through your praise and worship you make a throne in your midst, and as you continue to praise and worship, you experience the sweeping Presence of the regal Son of God and His angelic escort. He dispenses royal gifts. He comes to remind you that you are the people of His power in this world and that from you will rise a scepter of authority that will prepare the Kingdom to be presented to the Father".

Mark will remember with me a favourite song that we used to sing back in Dunstable.

"Jesus, we enthrone You! We proclaim You our King!
Standing here in the midst of us, we raise You up with our praise!
And as we worship build a throne, and as we worship build a throne!
And as we worship build a throne - come Lord Jesus and take Your place!".

Imagine what a difference it would make if as we all worship tomorrow in our churches spread across the nations, we really began to believe that as we worshipped King Jesus was building His throne among us, and dispensing royal gifts of authority to send us out to present a counter culture to the world! We are the People of God!

Together on a Mission 2007!!

Yes still on holiday, but I logged on to check my emails and a few favourite sites and was absolutely thrilled to read that Rob Rufus will be back at the conference next year!! He had an outstanding impact in his ministry and I get a feeling that God isn´t through with us yet! A motivation to keep poised for when bookings open! If anyone isn´t familiar with him, here are the links to my reports from his sessions and exactly what happened when he stood up to speak. Wouldn´t it be amazing if this was the fastest selling out Brighton conference yet? I urge everyone who can - don´t miss this man of God if you can!

Rob´s Training Track Day 1.

Rob Main Session.

Rob´s Training Track Day 2.

Rob´s Training Track Day 3.

Here is the rest of the brief official resume from July´s amazing conference from the site.

Together on a Mission 07 with Mobilise 10 - 13 July 2007

Planning for Together on a Mission 2007 is well underway, come back and visit soon to see who will be joining Terry Virgo & Rob Rufus in Brighton in July 2007. 4,000 delegates attended this year’s Newfrontiers annual leader’s conference, making it the largest to date. This included the highly successive students and twenties stream, known as Mobilise. Over 50 different national groups were represented with some coming from Russia, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Ghana and Japan.

The week consisted of optional seminars in the morning, followed by times of worship and main meetings which were hosted by Terry Virgo. Some of the morning seminars were themed into training tracks, led by speakers such as Wayne Grudem (USA) and Rob Rufus (Hong Kong). Others were led by such teachers as Greg Haslam (Westminster Chapel) and Philip Greenslade (CWR). Topics included church planting, engaging culture, kingdom mission, signs and wonders, the power of God and the authority of the Bible.

In one of the main sessions, Rob Rufus reminded delegates that there is onward momentum with God when empowered by the Holy Spirit – eloquently summed up using the imagery of an escalator! During a prayer session, Rob picked up the theme from the song This is the year and prophetically stated that a change was coming with the Church set to make a greater impact. This seemed to reflect the title of Terry Virgo’s new book, The Tide is Turning, which was published to coincide with the conference.

In other main sessions Terry Virgo, through the life of Moses, insightfully addressed the life and tensions of a church leader, from both internal and external perspectives.Wayne Grudem unpacked the theme of Jesus being both truly God and completely man, emphatically backing up each point with numerous scriptural references. It was a tour de force by a superb Bible expositor.

Stuart Townend, along with Phatfish and Kate Simmonds, were the main worship leaders. Evan Rogers, from South Africa brought an international flavour when he led worship at the Thursday evening prayer session – a firm favourite with all the delegates.

Meditations from the Beach!

Having a fantastic time away here. God has been incredibly gracious with the most gorgeous weather and the most amazing sunsets I have ever seen in my life!

I have had plenty of time to transcribe too and am well into the fourth (of 5) message from "The King and His Army" by Dr Ern Baxter. It is such an incredibly important message for our day. I remember when I initially announced that this was the series of messages I was going to transcribe from the Lakes Bible Week 1975, someone rightly asked whether those messages were for "that day" and they are now irrelevant as the Charismatic Movement is not beginning to flourish. Ern Baxter dealt with that issue in depth in the 3rd Message that I have just finished - "A Time of Transition", so I hope that will become clear when I make it available.

I have also had plenty of time to read a lot. I brought a handful of my old Newfrontiers magazines from the past and have been really enjoying revisiting the outstanding material in them. I was struck by this quote by Terry Virgo from the Newfrontiers magazine - August/October 2002. He wrote in his Firstline:

"It has been my longing that the conference (the Brighton Leadership Conference just past) would welcome the Spirit and honour the Word. Why is it that we are so rarely privilidged to experience at the same time the manifestation of the Holy Spirit´s power and true respect for the Word of God? How sad that we so often have to put up with a lack of one or the other. Here was a glorious exception and it gave me appetite to know more! ... I feel like Nehemiah who said, "We are about a great work". He added, "The God of heaven will give us success, therefore we His servants will arise and build!".

I wonder if that lament still holds true today? It is incredible to me that time has flown by so quickly since the Together on a Mission Conference that we have just so enjoyed! The CD - "Praise is Rising!" - is coming out shortly and available here! Don´t miss it! I can´t wait to revisit the powerful times of worship that we enjoyed! But I think I can safely say that I have never seen the Word and Spirit come together so powerfully than at that conference. The outstanding ministry of Rob Rufus - imparting the Holy Spirit to us, combined with careful reverence for the Word of God from men like Terry, Dave Holden, Dave Devenish and of course Wayne Grudem. We are indeed about a great work! Let´s arise and build wherever we are!

Two Weeks Holiday!!

I am HUGELY excited! Tonight myself and a group of friends leave on my first proper holiday for three years (Bible Weeks and conferences don't really count as holidays I think). We are going to a distant island in the Mediterranean so I am feeling slightly like C H Spurgeon escaping to Mentone.

I don't know whether there willl be cyber-cafes or internet access there so no promises as to blogs while I'm away. However if there is I will indeed post as to what God is thrilling me with! I do have a definate plan for not wasting this time as I believe it is a huge gift from God.

1. I am taking about ten books to read that have been staring at me from my library shelves.

2. I hope to finish the "King and His Army" transcripts (Ern Baxter at the Lakes Bible Week 1975) so that I can get back, edit and publish this awesome material and get it out to whoever desires it.

3. I want to have a think about where next to go in my desire to get Ern Baxter's ministry widely available so hopefully will have some definite plans when I return.

4. Above all I want to use this time away from distractions to deepen my relationship with God, hopefully seek for a powerful filling of His Spirit, spend as much time as possible in prayer and fellowship with Him and come back strengthened for the next phase of my life.

So if I can't get to a computer - much love and prayer to all who read this! I trust and hope that you have amazing experiences of God's lavish amazing grace and know a powerful experience of walking with His Spirit. See you when I get back!

xxx

Ern Baxter Signs ...

Recommended Bible Study Books by Dr Ern Baxter.

It was an incredibly nice change to receive something exciting in the post today! My great new friend Jonathan Edwards, author of the new blog - "Global Awakenings" - is a fellow fan of Ern Baxter and had a document that I have never seen. It is a list that Ern put together of his recommended books for studying the Bible. It's going to be an amazing resource, but Ern's introductory letter caught my eye and touched on the use of books in a library that I have strongly felt before. This is what he wrote;

"The Great Depression made academic and theological training impossible for me. I partially compensated for this with books. Other sources were subseqently available to me, but I had established a program of personal reading, which I have pursued through the years.

Together with the use of public, institutional and private libraries, I began from my frugal funds to put together the beginnings of a personal library. These were more than books to me; they were the teachings of devout scholars. Since I was deprived access to classrooms and unable to come into direct contact with living teachers, I sought to find out about men whose books were providing information and blessing to me.

It wasn't long until the biographical and autobiographical part of my library began growing. This helped me imagine the presence of the person who wrote the books as my instructor. There are many books on my shelves today that date back to those days, to which I turn, not just in books, but as the writings of men I came to know through their biographies and autobiographies. I sat in their classrooms and in their lectures. I had front pew seats in their churches and I heard their sermons. I sometimes imagined I conversed with them.

I often grieved that I had not been able to pursue advanced formal training. And then I discovered that I was one of a great number of people whose circumstances were similar to mine. Many of their names were well known and their service in the Kingdom of God extensive and influential. Books, I discovered, were also their great instructors and friends. And so, through the years, I have sat at the feet of a great number of fine scholars and devout men of God as they sit on the shelves around me, a great faculty of informing, inspiring instructors.

As I took up pastoral duties, I discovered that there were many young people who for one reason or another were unable to participate in formal theological education. I began offering them such help and instruction as I could give them in classes I convened for that purpose, as well as introducing them to what I felt to be basic books, especially those that had been so helpful to me.

As time went on, I was asked to provide a bibliography of what I considered to be basic books, and this I gladly did. It is certainly not the only bibliography of it's kind, but is designed to help those who want to start to build their own personal library. A number of brothers have contributed to the preparation of the bibliography and the idea of updating it from time to time.

There are many more extensive bibliographies and for the tastes of some, this one may be too elementary. But for those to whom it is useful we are happy to make it available and trust that it will provide you with the kind of informative and inspiring material that will contribute to your desire to more effectively serve God".

I too have enviously looked at men and women who have been able to attend seminaries like Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Phoenix Seminary or Regent College in Vancouver - although I had the privilidge of spending a month in Vancouver three years ago and was able to photocopy all Ern Baxter's articles that he wrote in New Wine Magazine. Like Ern I would love to sit at the feet of some of my heroes like Gordon Fee, Wayne Grudem or Don Carson but in a very real sense I actually have through their writing! God is so wise in communicating and preserving truth through the written word. There is such immeasurable richness in investing in books that fire ones spirit and passion for God. When I was at university I used to buy any book with a hardback cover - I have now begun to hone my wish list to purely those books that I know will do my spirit good by revealing more of God to me.

Build your libraries!

God Wept on September 11th 2001.

I only rarely review books and have never yet reviewed a DVD but I have just finished watching a film that I brought and viewed with great reluctance. "United 93" - the film that covered the fourth plane that was brought down in Shanksville rather than hitting it's target - either the White House or the Capitol.

I guess we all remember where we were on the day that Diana, Princess of Wales died and on September 11th 2001. I had just got into my house from my new job in Birmingham and turned the television when the news broke. I stayed rooted to the television for the rest of the day so it was a day that is rooted in my memory. Furthermore New York has always been a city that for some reason has been very close to my heart, as is the United States of America.

The film is extremely well made and does not seek in the slightest to hype the events of that tragic day. It was made with the agreement of the families of the people who were on board and starts with the passengers (and terrorists) getting ready then arriving at the airport. As the plane leaves Newark, the news begins to break that planes had hit the World Trade Centre in New York. The majority of the film covers the heartbreaking phone conversations between those on the plane and their loved ones. As the film draws to a close it touches on the point that the authorities were tracking the flight and were debating shooting down or crippling the plane if necessary. Finally it covers the outstanding act of bravery as the passengers overcame the terrorists and brought down the plane. The rest as they say is history.

I was amazed at how the pure evil of mankind could be portrayed (the callous desire to slaughter untold numbers of lives) alongside the amazing heroism of mankind (the brave willingness to sacrifice their lives for the sake of saving more). I remember on September 11th 2001, my angry attitude to God was "Why? Why didn't You intervene?". Today my feeling was slightly more in touch, I hope, with the heart of God. I felt His utter sorrow at that day. I do believe He wept as countless thousands of His creation lost their lives and will never again hear His Gospel of grace. Surely John Piper is right when he said; "Sin caused the collapse and sin caused the cross".

Yet the film did more for me than just a general reflection on God's sovereign design on that day. I have heard the prophets in the family of churches I am in speak with increasing regularity of the sure approach of persecution, suffering and martyrdom. John Piper said; "The cross of Christ calls us to suffer and secures our triumph. Suffering is certain. Salvation is sure. And the cross makes all the difference". I have often wondered what I would do if I ever had to face my own death and what factors would cause me to willingly lay down my life. Love? I have very close friends who I do love, and a family and a church. But love was present on United 93 - that was so evident. I hope and pray that I will increasingly gain a vision of God and His Kingdom that is worth laying ones life down for! What is that vision? The Gospel spreading across the world and the witness of that.

"When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God and for the witness they had bourne. They cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?". Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been" - (Revelation 6:9-11 ESV).

It seems to me that there is incredible eternal recognition for martyrs. There is rest. But it also seems that there is a set number of martyrs and when that number is complete then God will act and move to avenge their deaths. So rather than martyrdom being something to dread, fear and avoid - rather it is something to look for, long for. Can there be any greater honour than to die for the Gospel and in witness of it? I always longed to be married but I am beginning to believe that there could be some purpose in my living a single, celibate life. Paul wrote; "To the unmarried ... I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am" - (1 Corinthians 7:8 ESV).

I am so grateful for this marvellous documentary of the bravery of human beings. Unlike many films and the dreadful thing that is TV, it is actually made me think and consider what really matters in life - above all preparing for the life that is to come. My prayers have gone out to the families of those who were bereaved on that day - that the God of mercy would comfort them and indeed bring them to see the Gospel for what it truly is. Oh that there could be some eternal good come out from that awful day! Or as John Piper put it: "Oh, that every American would say, "Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Galatians 6:14)". And I would add "human being".

"Life on Wings" - by Dr Ern Baxter - Part 2.

Part 2 of this classic sermon.

Mounting Up on Wings: The writer of Proverbs said that among those mysteries of the universe were too hard to understand, one was the "mystery of an eagle in the air". The symbolism of this passage is the Christian's inexplicable potential which is like the eagle's, which can fly higher than any other bird and never wiggle a wing. What do I mean by "wiggle a wing?". Did you notice that the psalmist said that eagles "mount up" and not "flap up"? Eagles were not made to go flapping about. They were created to soar high and free. Eagles learn to fly without struggling becasue they understand the air currents. An eagle will perch on a rock and wait, testing the winds. When the right wind is blowing, he lifts into the air with a royal scream. Herein is one of the eagles secrets in being able to mount up - waiting. Those who wait, says the scripture, will be the ones to mount up. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength".

High Flying: Something in an eagle demands that he fly higher than all the other birds. He often flies well beyond the view of the naked eye. He rises past the telephone wires, where the crows screech, "Caww, caww, stop and we'll give you the latest on the Sunday school superindendent, Caww, caww". But the eagle calls back, "I'm not interested! I'm going up beyond the clouds where I can look full into the face of the sun". Even though an eagle flies high into the blinding sun, he is equally adapted to dark mountain valleys. He has two sets of eyelids. With his earthly eyelids he can see perfectly well down at ground level, or he can roll down his heavenly ones and play in the glaring glory of the sun.

Christians must know how to walk on the earth as well as fly in the glory. It is possible to become so spiritual that we cannot see reality in our daily lives. As the eagle mount high above the clouds, he sails those great air currents into the very Presence of God. You and I are not fashioned for the dirt and pollution. We were not born to be dirty crows on a telephone line. We are appointed to the pure worship of God, to climb into the rare atmosphere of the holy of holies.

How High Can We Go?: Some ask, "How far can I go Baxter?". "Enoch walked with God and he was not: for God took him" (Genesis 5:24). That eagle flew high! One day he flew so high that God said, "Enoch, it is closer for you to come up than to go back". How high? George Mueller was once told by a captain of a ship on which he was a passenger that the ship could not make New York on schedule because of dense fog that had set in, "We'll see about that" said Mueller. As Mueller prayed, the fog lifted and the boat hastened in towards his waiting appointment in New York. People can say, "I don't believe that God lifts fog!". They will stay in a fog but God lifts fogs for people who have the faith to have fogs lifted.

God has made us eagles like Himself and He wants us to fly! All the experiences that we become so excited about - our conversion, our baptism in the Holy Spirit, the spiritual gifts - are but a part of the introduction to the supernatural life that demands us to become God-like, because we are partakers of the divine nature.

When Eagles Die: Every eagle will have his downtime. He may be sick or molting but he never panics. He finds a rock and sits there letting the healing power of the sun do it's work. If you find a low place in your life, do not start running around trying to find God - for the people will say to you, "Here is Christ, there is Christ" and it will bring you frustration. David said, "I waited patiently for the Lord" (Psalm 40:1). God often has a work to do and all we are asked to do is to wait. There will come again a time of mounting up on wings, but the waiting must come first. Every eagle knows when his time for death has come. He finds a high rock where he can watch the setting sun and settles down to wait and then dies watching the sun.

There is only one picture on my study wall and it is that of my saintly maternal grandmother. When I was a very young child, Grandma took over much of my rearing. My earliest memories are that of toddling up to the picturesque little picket fence in front of her home on a Saturday morning, looking forward to all the delicious smelling goodies that she took from the cavernous depths of her vast old-fashioned oven. How I loved her. Because of the religious confusion that was in our home, I walked in rebellion as a teenager, but Grandma never let go of me. She was living in our home by that time and I can remember well stumbling into the house at three or four o'clock in the morning and seeing her light shining under the door. I could hear her sobbing, "Oh God, oh God!". Even though I usually felt like kicking the door down I knew that it meant something.

Grandma's Answer: The time came when God got me. I had dissipated my life until I was a moral, physical and spiritual wreck before He found me. Using what musical talent I had, I set out in the Lord's work and soon found myself in the ministry. Grandma ended up moving with us to Vancouver, BC where I found had my first important charge. She came to every service and sat in the front row and just smiled at me. (I don't think she heard a word I said). She was saying, "You answered Lord, You answered". She was nearly eighty and had the most beautiful white hair that you ever saw. Every day for four hours Grandma would sit out in her old rocker and rock out an anthem of praise and supplication to God for me. Her prayers sustained me in a way that I was to realize only after she was gone. One day when I was with her she suddenly said, "I'm going home". "Home?" I asked, "Home where?". "I'm going home to be with the Lord" she replied as if it were something quite ordinary.

"Oh Grandma" I objected, "don't do that!". "Yes" she insisted, as though she and the Lord had talked it over and it was setlled. A little unsure of what to make of it, I asked, "What are you going to do?". Quite positively she answered, "I am giving notice on my room. I will go back to the prairies to spend Christmas with the children and then I am going home".

Looking Into the Sun: That is exactly what she did. With Christmas only three months away, she went back to the prairies for the holidays, wrote her Christmas cards and put everything in order. When she was ready, she called all the children together and did all the decent things that one does when one dies. She called for the pastor and had him read her favouite Psalm (she was two verses ahead of him by memory) and told everyone goodbye. When she had attented to everything she turned her face toward the sun and slipped into the Presence of God. Grandma was an eagle. She died as eagles die, looking into the sun. Somehow I think this is how saints were meant to step into eternity.

There is great reward in God for those who will dare to be eagles and learn to soar into what God had purposed us to be. God is calling us to press into Him and rise higher in Him. He is calling us to new heights of divine awareness, new decisions and a new set of priorities. He is calling us to be eagles.

"Life on Wings"- by Dr Ern Baxter - Part 1.

Finally - the sermon that inspired the name of this website! I have had an increasing number of people request this classic sermon. Most notably a new friend that I am thrilled to meet - Jonathan Edwards, who has just started up a new blog "Global Awakenings". I think that we have much in common. He dedicates his blog to: "all who passionately long and live for spiritual awakening in our world today". Amen to that! So Jonathan, this transcript is dedicated to you.

"Since the beginning of man's record of himself, the challenge of flight has captured his imagination. The conquering of the air in our own generation has produced a wave of awe and romance unequaled in the annuals of man's existance. Somehow the ability to fly has epitomize the longing of man to rise above the natural limitations of earth-bound mortals and soar into the realm of the supernatural.

God has made provision in His Kingdom for man to have this spiritual need met, and yet few believers ever find the satisfaction of knowing fully what God has allotted to them. How can a man break into the realm of the supernatural in his walk with God? In one form or another this question seems to be one of the pressing concerns whereever I travel. Rather than embarking on a heavy dissertation, I want to look at a beautiful illustration used by the prophet Isaiah;

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31).

King of the Birds: This passage speaks of the eagle. As the lion is the king of the beasts, so the eagle is the king of the birds. The Holy Spirit has likened us and our Godward aspirations to the aspiration of being like the eagle. As I watched the eagles in the Columbia Basin near Portland, Oregan, I began to understand why they have represented throughout time the Godward thrust of man; power, freedom, beauty, the lord of their environment through their ability to master the air. They move in regal splendour for they are born as kings. As the eagle is born with the divine right of kingship, so we come from the new birth with the inherent potential of soaring into the Presence of God Himself. The fact, however, that eagles are so equipped does not necessarily mean that they will never get off the ground.

Deuteronomy 32:11 has some interesting information about the eagles. "As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttering over her young, spreading abroad her wings, taketh them, bearth them on her wings". All eagles begin as eaglets and before these unseemly, squalling fledgings take their place with royalty, they must be trained in the ways of the king of birds. This little verse is the Flight Training Manual of student eagles and earthbound Christians.

The Eaglet's Lesson: Picture with me two little eaglets snuggled cosily in a down-filled nest, high on an eerie ledge on some remote mountainside. (Christians often find themselves born into equally precarious circumstances). Everything is just wonderful. Mother Eagle sallies forth daily and brings back choice titbits for those ravenous appetites. During the cold mountain nights, she snuggles over the nest and the eaglets snuggle securely under those warm, soft wings and look out at the stars not very far away. They are newly born and baptized in the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah! Life is wonderful and being a Christian sure makes life easy - no more problems! God knew what He was doing when He thought up this arrangement!

One day Mom begins to act very strangely. Rather than landing on the nest she hovers momentarily beating the air with those great wings. As Junior watches her, he thinks, 'Mom sure has powerful wings!'. That is exactly what Mrs Eagle wants Junior to know. Then she does something downright crazy. She graps a piece of the nest and drops it over the side of the cliff. Then she returns for another chunk and another and another. The eaglets are starting to think that Mom has lost her marbles! By now the framework of the nest is pretty shaky and that nice soft down that made Junior feel so secure is at the bottom of the canyon. Nest life is becoming a standing room only situation on what is left of their home.

Can you see what the mother eagle is doing? She is preparing her young for the first stage in the eagle training. After our Lord received the Holy Spirit and the declaration of His holy Sonship, the Scripture says that He was led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. I have written in the margin of my Bible at this point, "Is this standard operating procedure?". I believe that God's modus operandi is to begin to confront us as soon as possible with the necessity of maturing into something other than nestbound believers.

Growing Up: Paul told the Corinthians that he could not talk to them as mature men because they were as babes (see 1 Corinthians 3:1). He did not say they were babies. But that they were like babies. When a baby slobbers its pabulum down its little chin and milk runs into its little ears, we all laugh and think it is cute. But when a twenty-one year old man slobbers his food down his chin, then he is like a baby and this is sickening. God does not mind a Christian going through the pabulum stage; it is a part of growing up. But it is tragic in God's eyes when we never grow out of infancy.

Interestingly enough the discomfort of our bewildered eaglets has been deliberately caused by the one who loves them most. How often when we have a streak of trouble, do we cry out, "The Devil is attacking me?!". Are you positive it is the Devil? Maybe it is the One who loves you the most who is stirring up your nest. Like many believers, the little eagles conclude that standing on the windy ledge is at least tolerable and they can make the most of it. But dear old Mom has more in her mind than just a nest stirring. She catches one of the little fellows in her powerful beatk and nudges him toward the edge of the ledge. The poor little guy wonders what is happening now. His little heart is beating faster and faster and as he is pushed closer to the edge he thinks, 'No it can't be! Mother wouldn't do this to me!'. But she does.

Out of the Nest: With one final push he starts to plummet to the bottom of the canyon - he is sure this is the end. Then out of nowhere there is a swosh of Mom's mighty wings and Junior is heading back for the safety of the ledge on her powerful back, quite relieved. The first time God kicks us out of the nest and catches us before we hit bottom, we gasp, "Oh thank heavens! I was sure God had let me down that time". Back on the ledge our would-be king is just getting over being dizzy when Mom starts pushing again. "Not again" he moans as he starts his second tumble. "What if Mom doesn't make it this time?". But she does. Several trips later Junior begins to get the feeling that Mom is trying to get a point across. Between rides he suddenly remembers Mom's huge wings hovering over the nest and thinks, "I wonder if ... If she does that again, I'm going to give mine a try!". Rest assured he gets another chance. Mom will not stop until Junior finds the gumption to try his own wings.

Little eagles are gangly creatures, wobbling shakily on untested wings. But each desperate plunge brings a little more mastery of his wings. One day he spreads those wings and rather than falling, he finds himself rising up and up, riding the mighty air currents far above his ledge home and the nest that confined him. No longer a fledgling begging for tid-bits, he is learning to become one of the eagles - he will be a king. Ministers and evangelists often make becoming a Christian as being born on a satin pillow with a cordon of angels wafting us through life and depositing us at the foot of the celestial throne. Only are we are well settled in our nest, do we learn that God is more intent on the production of character than the provision of our comfort.

Living as a King: The Bible land knew two types of eagles; the golden eagle and the imperial eagle. The golden eagle speaks of us as partakers of the divine nature and the imperial eagle speaks of us as kings. In the Scripture, the two go hand in hand. Our divine right to reign as monarchs in our own lives! The circumstances that confound and befuddle the world become launching pads to new heights in God. Satan and his henchmen become the snakes, which an eagle bisects with a slash of his mighty talons or drops from a dizzy height to be crushed on the rocks below. This is our inheritance.

Some years ago I was managing a campaign in Cleveland. Upon departing the city for a few days, I told one of the committees, "Get a plot of ground where we can pitch a tent for about three thousand people and we will take care of the expenses later". When I got off the plane upon my return, the chairman met me and said, "We have a wonderful place for the tent". "Wonderful" I said, "How much did you have to pay for the land?". "Fifteen hundred dollars a day". "What?!" I gasped. (Back in those days fifteen hundred dollars was like fifteen thousand today). We had decided not to make a big thing of money so there was little we could do but trust God. After the first day and a half, we were five thousand dollars down - a rather awkward place to be.

That afternoon I preached on Romans 5:17 which says we reign in life by Christ. As I finished, I said, "Now as you meet one another for the next few days, address each other as 'King So-and-so'. You may address me as King Baxter". That night I was handed an envelope addressed to 'King Baxter'. I opened it and read a delightful note. "Dear King Baxter, my wife and I have a feeling that our fellow king has a need. Our of our royal treasury we wish you to accept the enclose cheque for five thousand dollars". I may not always have it, but there is money in the royal family tree.

Next: How to Mount Up, Flying High and How High Can We Go?