TOAM Main Session 6: Terry Virgo: THE FUTURE

This was the big one! Massively anticipated. Hugely important. The end of the beginning of newfrontiers...

Mark Driscoll said last year: “It isime for Terry to get a husband for his daughter”, and implied he needs to find a successor, a husband for his daughter.

Terry described it as being a good wake up call: but a successor is not the way we are looking at it.

People now, such as John Kpipi in West Africa is not just “working for Terry Virgo”. He has started a Church and planted Churches in 7 west African countries that Terry has never visited. John is growing in his gift and developing a sphere of relationships, stirring evangelism, building the Church, laying down values, training leaders, explaining the doctrine of grace clearly, breaking down tribal differences, planting new Churches.

That is apostolic work, not rolling out a programme or a system but building the Church.

Edward Buria in Kenya is similar: planting Churches, caring for the poor, teaching grace.

Not like the old guy is getting older and we need Terry mark two. There are now different spheres like this springing up all over the world, (and in a smaller way all over the UK).

We are not one big sphere that is to be passed on, just getting bigger and bigger. That will hold everything back. It is not just “Terry's” sphere any more. It is way more than that. Mark Driscoll was not speaking with that context. Terry is not looking to oversee everything, but wants to release and bless and stand with those building all around the world.

We are coming to the end of the beginning. It was one sphere. Now it is several. There will be more. Those there are will grow. The principle is established.

Jesus did not hand over a successor, Peter was not the pope. When Peter stood and spoke on behalf of the 11 at pentecost Peter was the spokesman, it was Peter’s moment, not Peter’s movement!

At the council of Jerusalem James does the summing up (Acts 15). Did not make James the boss, but it was his moment and they proceeded from there. Paul in Jerusalem (Gal 2:2) went to those of reputation, not the newly named leaders!

It is more like spiritual sons who become fathers who have sons who become fathers.

Paul was not from Jerusalem stable, not trained by Peter

• He preached gospel
• Knew Scripture
• Founded Churches
• Helped Churches
• Saw much fruit

That is what vindicated his gift. He wanted unity with others, to work with them.

He stayed and challenged Peter: he did not go and do his own thing.

So they were a fellowship of friends, a group of apostles, a band of brothers.

Anyone is free to move on and do their own thing. People are free to seek relationship elsewhere. There is no central “newfrontiers” sphere. The values and friendships hold us together, no law or legal requirement.

We must believe God for the emergence of new apostles. We are not praying for a husband for Terry’s daughter. We are praying for more workers in the harvest field. Apostles are a gift to the Church, they are not an appointment of the Church.

Newfrontiers is the name given to an apostolic sphere under Terry’s leadership. It is more important that new sphere are raised.

Newfrontiers as a name can go.

Terry's desire is that apostles emerge amongst Churches dynamically involved in world mission together. Not just an institution and a badge and a set of rules.

It does not matter what it is called. We want "pumping" local Churches reaching their community, in relationship with others, sharing a calling and a future by pushing forwards into whatever God has for them, accomplishing more together than they can apart.

There are other movements around the world doing, seeing and saying very similar things. We are not the answer in ourselves, we just need to be faithful to God with what we have.

The session finished with a very warm ovation. The humility of the man exudes from everything he said. He does not want anything but faithfulness to God in his own life, and in the life of the Churches he serves, and the movement he has laid the foundation of.

This is the start of the end of the beginning for newfrontiers. There is not a human solution of appointments and organisational charts required but rather a work of God to continue His work amongst us and through us, imparting the gifts of Ephesians 4 to His Church.

TOAM Main Session 6: Terry Virgo: THE APOSTOLIC GIFT

This talk was intended to be Terry’s response to the challenge brought by Mark Driscoll last year. I am splitting it into two so the actual response does not get lost in the text.

It started with an explanation of what we mean when we say "apostolic" gift

How did Churches relate to each other in the bible?

There was no sign of denominations: rather was relational, geographical

“Denominations” tends to have negative connotations

• HQ mentality
• Big machine
• Impersonal
• Rules & regulations
• Centrally controlled
• "One size fits all" kind of approach
  

What are we then?

AN “APOSTOLIC” SPHERE

1. Being apostolic is to do with the "apostolic" gift of Ephesians 4
2. It is to do with relationships around that gift
3. An apostolic sphere is the relationship interacting with an apostolic gift
   

It is a biblical concept: you can see it new testament several times.

Where do we get our definition?

Apostle comes from Apostolos, to send. There is a sense of authority and commissioning. It is almost ambassadorial, being a representative.

BIBLICAL APOSTOLIC MINISTRY

1. Jesus was an "apostle": Heb 3
2. The twelve: Jesus gathered and commissioned them. God established something unique, special, one off, the Apostles with a capital A.
3. Then in Ephesians 4 we see apostolic category in the life of the Church which was a gifting. "Apostles of the ascended Christ" is a useful definition: Paul (although He is set apart), and Barnabas, James etc
   

Jesus: the twelve: the Church - all three displayed "apostolic" gift int he sense we understand. Only the twelve were THE Apostles

WHAT IS THE APOSTOLIC TASK?

They provided the foundation of the Church. 3,000 were added in Acts 2: they were added to a community being founded by the Apostles. Those Apostles had lived with Jesus, known Him, learned from Him.

Ephesians 3: the mystery of Church to be revealed through apostles & prophets.

1. TEACHING: Acts 2 onwards: day by day listening to the Apostles teaching.
2. IDENTITY: Gave identity to the Church. Not just identity of teaching but relationship with person.
   

What about those who say apostles were just those who wrote the bible? This is a commonly held the belief. Now the canon is complete we do not need apostles.

Only 3 of the 12 wrote the bible. Luke was not one of 12. Paul was not one of 12. Jesus did not write scripture and He was the great apostle. SO "Apostle" and certainly "apostolic" cannot only be restricted to bible writers.

Apostolic ministry is a dynamic driver of world evangelisation. The canon is complete, what we are talking about now is not the Apostles (noun), but people working with an apostolic gift (adjective).

SO WHAT DO THEY DO?

They lay foundations for the Church: 1 Corinthians 3: see the narrative in Acts, read the letters. A dynamic practical gift. Like an evangelist may preach the gospel and pray for healing an apostle would help start, build and shape Churches.

They have clear relationships: There is a public link, a named partnership. Ongoing, dynamic, personal relationship. The "sphere" is the group of Churches relating to someone with an apostolic gift.

2 Corinthians 10:13 - NIV says "field", NASB uses "Sphere" There are often some geographical elements to the relationship.

We gave an apostolic sphere a name, newfrontiers. The name is not important, the relationships are. We have reached a very important phase of our development.

International apostolically driven world evangelism comes from the local Church and forms new local churches and is a partnership of faith and growth interlocked by living fellowship.

Apostolic ministry is not a “model” of Church organisation, it is a biblical value of relationships.

But as we get larger do we lose our edge? Do we just "belong" to something? Do we get the "badge" without entering a relationship?

And how can we stop this happening?

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Gifts are "given" by God not "appointed" by the Church. I could say “I give you this evangelist.” But if they can’t do it, they are not and evangelist, no matter how much we say they are.

That is why it is up to the local Church to recognise the gift and accept it

TOAM: Main Session 5: Terry Virgo

Terry started off showing a map of the UK with where there are newfrontiers churches and then a map of the world with countries marked where there are newfrontiers Churches.

Man made in the image of a truine God can only really see fulfillment in community, because God is community in His very being. We do not grow into spiritual maturity alone, it happens in community.

Paul had major revelation of the Church, when encountering Jesus on the road to Damascus. "I am Jesus who you are persecuting". Jesus himself identifies himself with the Church to this former pharisee.

Paul shows his heart for the Church as he writes to the Church in Philippi. Chapter one, verse one: "¹Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!"

• My brothers
• You whom I love
• You whom I long for
• My joy
• My crown
• Dear friends!

Do we love our Church? Do we really love them? Do we really yearn for them? Do we believe for them, for a Church that is glorious?

A CHURCH SHOULD BE FLOODED WITH GOD'S GRACE

• We need to preach it
• We need to live it
• We need to model it
• We need to give ourselves it
• Grace was one of Paul's biggest battles to contend for within the Church: still is today

THE CHURCH IS WHERE WE LOSE OUR INDIVIDUALISM AND PRIVATE AMBITION

• Much of the Christian life only makes sense within the Church community
  
• Much of the Christian walk can be worked out within the Church community
• We were not designed to be in a vacuum
• Moves away from a consumerist view of Church
• Community values the little things: the small groups, the relationships, serving in teams, being together
• God wants people full of Him, not full of themselves
• We find our place of serving
• Sanctification can happen in community: people who know you, who can highlight issues for you, who can care for you

I must say that by this point my mind started to wonder a bit. From this good foundation I could not quite connect the content with the title of the talk, and I could not really follow the content clearly.

It is not like I disagreed with the content: I am just not sure what the real focus was or who it was for. Maybe my view was slightly blighted by the lady near me who was fast asleep! Maybe I am starting to get conference fatigue syndrome?

"Who we are" for me would be better served with a talk based on the list of values that were circulated to Church leaders earlier this year.

Or maybe Mark Driscoll's definition of Church last year could have been thrashed out a bit and applied to our movement?

"1. A regenerated church membership
2. Called and gifted church leadership
3. A regular gathering of believers for the preaching of the Word and Worship
4. A church is a place where the Sacraments are rightly administered.
5. A unity and love which is the evidenced work of the Holy Spirit among His people
6. A place where people experience church discipline in order to walk uprightly
7. A place where people practice the Great Commandment to love one another and our neighbours
8. A place where people actively obey the Great Commission to make disciples"

I would have liked to see those eight made real for newfrontiers with hands on examples, explanations and resources. Chuck in a clear definition of Ephesians 4 ministry, ministry to the poor, reaching the nations and a few other bits and bobs and that would be it nailed, surely?

Anyway: back to the talk. God wants a restored Church, a biblical Church. Nehemiah started rebuilding. Ezra started rebuilding. We are rebuilding. Recovering the blueprint also requires restoring the presence of the Lord, with parrallels to when David restored the Ark.

The Church is a group of people gathering to the manifest presence of God. First they gathered with Jesus, then they gathered in the power of the Spirit.

We finished with the awesome Kate Simmonds hymn "In Him we have believed". This song really does sum up what we are building and why we are building it, so was a great place to finish.

In Him I have believed, on this my hope now rests
That Jesus Christ is risen from the dead!
The all-surpassing joy of knowing Christ my Lord
The former things, I count them all as loss
Called out of darkness into Your goodness
We are Your children, chosen in Christ!
Now in Your family, heirs of the promise
To Your purpose on the earth I give my life

A people born of God, united by Your call
One faith, one Lord, one Father of us all
Joined with bonds of love, and planted in Your house
We worship You with hearts and lives poured out
Let us go on in the power of Your Spirit
Taking Your gospel to all the world!
Declaring Your wisdom, our great commission,
That Jesus Christ has come to save the lost!

Whatever trials may come, in faith, Lord, help us stand
For righteousness and justice in our land
What fear can hold us now?
We run toward the prize
Our lives already crucified with Christ
Through every nation, Your kingdom advances
Who can extinguish this spreading flame?
Through tribulations, we’ll stand on Your promise:
‘I will build My Church and hell will not prevail!’

And on that final day, the citizens of heaven
Called out to be the new Jerusalem
In multitudes will bow before the throne of God:
One nation called from every tribe and tongue
Great celebration! The glorious union:
The Lion of Judah and the pure, spotless Bride!
All of creation waits for this moment
All your promises fulfilled in Jesus Christ!

TOAM: Main Session 3: TERRY VIRGO

Vintage Virgo, absolute vintage.

His three talks will be partly a history of newfrontiers, partly a look to the future, and partly a response to some of the challenge that Mark Driscoll brought last year.

He used Ephesians 2:1-10 and briefly expanded the passage hitting all the targets you would expect. Grace, grace, more grace, God's kindness, God's workmanship, God's calling, God's grace, Christians and the Church being born out of God's workmanship and creation.

Terry shared several prophecies that have shaped our movement of Churches over time.

The most recent was linked to an artist who had started displaying their work to rave reviews. The prophetic word was essentially this is how it will be with newfrontiers, to make public God's workmanship. There are layers of diversity, textures of relationship and colours of grace defining a movement. Don't copy other people's work, we are God's workmanship in us.

Another prophecy was much older, of a herd of elephants charging along and then reaching some jungle and just carrying on charging and forming a new path. Making a road where there was no road.

Another was of new bricks being fashioned into a wall, but God wanting to bring older bricks and place them within the new wall. That struck me as that is exactly what happened to our Church in 1996, when we joined newfrontiers having been completely independent for our first 13 years.

Another word involved "changing the expression of Christianity around the world". Legalism becoming grace. Independence becoming interdependence. Democracy making way for anointed leadership. Inward looking moving to mission orientated. Cessationalist moving to charismatic.

He then went on to unpack some familiar values...

WORD AND SPIRIT:

The word is our compass, our map, our guide.
The Spirit is the presence, the power, the activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our Church meetings

Terry gave an impassioned defence of the work of the Holy Spirit as a current, experiential reality for Christians. The gospels promise it, Acts explains how it happened and the epistles assume it. He went onto define Baptism in the Holy Spirit from Acts 19:1-7 and called people forward to receive it. Hundreds, literally hundreds went forward for prayer.

Not a lot new, nothing left-field, just vintage Virgo. Submission to scripture, power of the Spirit, grace, grace and more grace and a movement shaped by the voice of God.

What can we learn from Lakeland?

I wanted to draw a line under my blogging on the subject of Todd Bentley and Lakeland but Phil Whittall's excellent post Todd Bentley, Revival & Discernment really got me thinking.

His ten point analysis gives much food for thought. And I am trying to make it personal to me - not what can we learn in a "know it all" way, but what can I learn in an "as I work out my own salvation with fear and trembling" kind of a way.

1. We should let history give a name to what is God is doing. Really early on, in fact way too early on, it was called a 'revival' and Dudley was called an 'outpouring' and named by those involved. To my mind that is a big presumption and to be honest God's work rarely needs man's PR to make it a success.

Good point - instead of predicting the "next big thing" and chasing after where it is supposedly at, let's chase after God and His purposes and His call on our lives and see how history judges us.

2. This was the first 'revival' in a media age. There is no question in my mind, that this event was the first of its kind which spread virally and was 'sponsored' by a TV station (God TV) and that this was not always good. While, this TV channel is run by Christians it is still a TV channel. Sadly for us, being on TV is a still seen as a sign of legitimacy which shows that we still have a fairly naive and immature approach to media. Being able to watch in on the internet or on TV does not make it any more or less genuine.

I think I was already pretty cautious about the Christian media at large, and will be more so now. No matter how good the intentions, we are always getting an agenda. The same goes for conferences, books, speakers etc etc. Keeping a broader vision and staying connected widely across the body of Christ help us to have a context. "Power evangelism" is going on at St Andrews Chorleywood in the ministry of Mark Stibbe and others. UK Anglicans, on the front foot, seeking God for healing and conversion and seeing it. That is exciting - God is at work in such a variety of ways - but by their nature media channels push us into focus on the smaller amount of locations and ministries, creating an imbalance.

3. TV inflates and exaggerates. Saying you have a potential audience of 400 million people is very, very different from the number of people that are actually watching. Right now I have a potential readership of billions on this blog, in reality the number is one or two less than that.

The numbers game is a false economy. TV coverage focuses on the end of the camera, God's Kingdom perspective focuses to the ends of the earth. Let's consider the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, the Church across the world. Not the millions looking to the one, but the one, me, looking to the millions, the millions of my brothers and sisters around the world on mission, under persecution, in poverty. The only one we should focus on is Jesus.

4. What is the deal with the nightly meetings? This seems to have become a modern mark of revival. Where did that come from? I've no idea why intensity has become more important than longevity but it has. It certainly accommodates demand, but it seems to me that saturation often does more harm than good and in the case of Lakeland we became saturated faster than ever before. Why do we exhaust so quickly what we want so badly?

Church programmes quickly overtake relationships. Do our structures consume or release, take or empower, bless or burden? Are our churches so resource hungry that our mission falters? Isn't mission supposed to be about getting out there and meeting people were they are not sitting here and expecting them to come to us? This challenges me more and more as I can get sucked into church activity daily and nightly - but always want space for my friends.

5. We made it about a man. Again. Todd Bentley may very well have a supernatural gift from God to heal people, this is not a good reason to let him preach dozens of nights in a row. It is not a good reason to let him exhort people to give. It's not a good reason for much except getting him to pray for the sick (although preferably without punching, kicking, kneeing, slamming or whatever). Why can't we let the gifted preacher preach, the prophet prophesy and the healer heal? So once again our shallow need for celebrity, and plenty of other causes, gave one person far too much prominence, where it was dangerous for him and dangerous for the campaign he was involved in.

More and more I see this play out. People really do want to make it about a person. I think this is where Ephesians 4 ministries are so vital - people need to play to their strengths. It is never about one person, one ministry - some of the variety is the beauty of being in a body. Let the musicians play, let the evangelists preach, let the teachers teach, let the pastors look after people and let the administrators try to fill in the gaps! Being right in one area doesn't make someone right in everything. I think Phil's blog, and his heart cry, needs & deserves much wider airing than it currently has. We need different prophetic voices in the Church raising their voices and being heard - but not a "one size fits all" approach. Phil's got a message on living simply, he has a challenge to materialism. But that doesn't mean he is the right person to speak on "power evangelism" - get Mark Stibbe to do that! Let's release each other and honour the good, not expect everyone to do everything.

That is why I enjoy the Brighton conference - as I have friends in India and Africa who I can hear from and catch up with. The range of speakers is a blessing - someone working in Russia, someone working in South Africa, Someone from Seattle - not just my little bubble.

Eldership is a team ministry. Leadership is a team ministry. People say to me "Are you part of Martin Charlesworth's Church"? What a false question. Nope - I am part of Jesus' church. Martin leads the eldership team of our local expression of it.

6. Charismatics want revival the easy way. Still. We desperately want people to be saved without us preaching to them, healed without us praying for them, discipled without us befriending them, enriched without us sharing with them and the nations reached without us going to them. So when one man came, we went to him instead of to HIM.

Do I pray for things I am actually not willing to be part of? Do I look to people instead of God? Do I bask in the reflected glory of the ministry of others, rather than take up my own cross and follow him? Will I cross the oceans to hear a preacher when I won't cross the street to greet my friend? The heart of the great commission, Go, Make disciples, baptise them & teach them. God doesn't "do" revival on his own - otherwise he wouldn't have given us a blueprint or a mandate to reach the nations for Christ. But that mandate starts in our Jerusalem, then our Judea and Samaria, then the ends of the earth. Am I praying for revival in Samaria while not obeying my commission in Jerusalem? Is revival now a spectator sport, not a life consuming mission?

7. We're looking in the wrong places. It seems to me that our eyes are fixed on America, hoping revival will come from there. It has the right language, the media channels and millions of Christians ready to give a leader national prominence and millions of dollars. When God decided it was time for Jesus to come he didn't send him to Rome but to Bethlehem. If we could be bothered we should be talking to the Chinese, the Indian, the African.

So true. We play it safe. They look safe so they must be safe. When I look around in heaven I am not going to see a room full of educated polite white people - so why does my bookshelf contain the majority of books by polite educated white Christians? Why are the blogs I read mostly polite white educated Christians? We all know about the Chinese Church but what are we learning from them?

There is a sinister side too: The level of "voice" someone has can be shaped by money and viewing patterns, not necessarily fruit or integrity. I am setting myself up for a fall if my ministry, or my theology, or my relationships are too heavily reliant on one person or a few people.

8. Why can't we have good doctrine and great power? Personally I'm tired of this split where those with good doctrine see so little dunamis while those with all the dynamite just blow themselves up with it because they forget that theology actually is important after all.

Too true. I want to see both. I really do. We need people working in teams better. Let the teacher teach, the prophet prophecy and the healer heal. It does not have to be the one person, it is one body. I need to play my role in that body with what God has given me, while honouring all parts of the same body. Too often the single person approach to ministry means you only get a single track gifting: let's be a people moving in power and honouring Scripture, and that means all of us involved as a body.

9. Wacky, is well, wacky. God has every right to use methods and people that do not conform to my expectations. His wisdom can appear foolish to me, but that doesn't mean that everything that is foolish is from God. That would be, well, foolish.

We must not throw out something because we have not seen it before. When Jesus walked on water the disciples didn't reject him because the "biblical" way would be to part the water with a staff! But I always consider why Paul spent so much time structuring "orderly" worship rather than allowing God to "just do His stuff".

10. Sadly, we love being fighting to be right. I think blogs can be helpful places to get reactions and think through issues, it also becomes an easy way to take cheap shots and demonstrate a stunning lack of grace, charity, forgiveness, wisdom or discernment.

Yes that is true. Type "Todd Bentley" into google, or even "Todd Bentley Marriage" and you see a civil war within the blogosphere which is a tragedy. I read blogs by people I disagree with to broaden my thinking and challenge my assumptions. To engage not to attack. I know I am not right on everything, I am just trying to work out which bits!

In a nutshell

The "Mark Driscoll effect" seems to be rippling away through the bloggosphere - but what did he actually say?

John Lanferman successfully sumarises the key points:

Here, here and here

As with all things the fruit of it will be the key judge of how important Driscoll's challenges were, but even so, reading this like this, and this give much hope.

I wouldn't have said everything the way he did and I don't agree with everything he said to the last word - but he said enough that was 100% spot on and was bold enough to stand up in front of 4,500 people and say some of the things they didn't have the courage to say about the future of the movement. For that alone he deserves credit beyond any speaker I have ever heard. He didn't speak to us for his own fame or for his own popularity with us - he came to speak the word of God how he sees it and shake us out of any apathy or feeling we have "made it". Oh for more conference preachers like that!

In human terms you could think Terry Virgo had the most to "lose" from his message for the future, so it is interesting to read this endorsement.

It also seems that some criticism from people not at the conference has started as well, primarily about the issue of the complimentarian view of church leadership put forward by Mark Driscoll. The irony is that is exactly what he said would happen, so in criticising him, those who oppose his view are actually proving one of his points true.

The DVDs are still sitting idly in a bag in my office, I don't dare open them for fear of distraction. I am speaking twice on Sunday and playing at the National Christian Football Festival on Saturday so have a full weekend. I found the Mars Hill Church, Seattle website and see they do complete sermon files for download. Their doctrine series looks interesting... Anyone got a spare couple of days they could lend me?!! 200MB downloads - glad the church network is unlimited!