Gathering to worship

Last night 42 members of 4 "Young adults" small groups gathered for a worship evening.

We sung.

Prophecy was shared.

Testimony was given.

We prayed: for our friends and families, or workplaces, our Church, our town, our nation and the persecuted Church.

Then we worshipped some more.

Then we had cake, and chatting, and laughter.

It feels great to be part of a peer group and a generation of people who want to spend time together in worship, hear from God together, pray for things, remembering believers under pressure all over the world, and then just hang out.

I like it.

Jesus Culture, Wolverhampton 28.09.10

Last night, we went to the first one night event of the Jesus Culture UK tour.

I have been really looking forward to it.

I made four observations in that previous post which I will now review.

Firstly: I want it to spend an amazing time in God's presence, as I have when listening to the CDs and worshipping quietly, and don't want to be disappointed. I literally have been overcome with emotion while watching the DVD that came with one of the albums, during the Revelation song, the spontaneous worship that comes from it, it was extraordinary.

This was a massive disappointment. Not because the worship was not good. Not because there were not some brilliant spontaneous and prophetic contributions. Not because of anything other than the fact there were no words. No words. No projectors. Nothing.

So basically they stood there waving their arms excitedly singing their guts out while I stood there like a lemon wanting to join in but not knowing all the words, and not knowing the first two songs, at all.

I believe worship is participatory and I want to get involved. I want to sing. I don't just want to stand there and watch someone standing there singing. This was compounded by the repeated assertion to "sing with me" and "all our voices singing" etc, which frankly, we weren't, hardly anyone was, because we did not know what to sing.

During a period of silence between songs it was evident that lots of people around us were simply chatting to each other and watching the gig. That was night and day from what I wanted. I don't see the point of a multi-thousand dollar orchestrated lighting rig when a £400 projector could have helped people enter into the worship. For the songs people knew (Your love never fails) it did warm up a bit and there was more involvement, but that was a major false start for me personally.

Secondly: I don't want the teaching side of it to be poor. Visits to some events/churches in the past have always been let down by the teaching, not least a tendency towards the prosperity gospel.

The talk by Banning Liebscher was excellent. Funny, engaging, prophetic and steered by a wide variety of biblical concepts. His passion for the Bible, the Spirit, the UK and revival was clear. There are things I would not agree with but then there always will be in any talk, but overall it was great. His explanation of holiness not being a list of things you don't do but about giving everything to Jesus was outstanding.

Thirdly: Linked to the teaching, I don't want to be asked for money, or be asked to "sow into a revival", or to "lay up my treasures in heaven" or anything like that. I am there to worship God, not join a band of "covenant partners" who get mailshots and gift aid forms.

Nothing like this came from Jesus Culture, even their merchandise stall seemed accessibly priced. Yet the pastor from a Wolverhampton church who were evidently hosting the evening did go the full hog with an offering, gift aid, sow into the ministry etc. It was not over the top, and my response to stuff like this is more senstivie due to previous experience.

Fourthly: I want any prayer for healing or desire for miracles to be done in a way that empowers and encourages those gathered. I don't want to feel it is over-hyped, and I want the stories / testimonies to sound really robust and clear.

I would say this was 50/50. The way the prayer time was administered was not overhyped and was very clear. People with Asthma went running out of the building and around the block and came back saying they were breathing properly for the first time in X number of years. People with shoulder injuries were moving their arms in ways they said they had not done for months. People with knees that hurt jumped and said the pain had gone. It was very down to earth, lots of emphasis on people praying for each other not the expert on the stage, and overall I would be comfortable with that approach and there appeared to be much evidence of God at work, which is great!

My one niggle was that it started with a major testimony of a man in America who had died and while his body was in the morgue his pastor and others praying annointed the four corners of the hospital with oil and continued to pray and the man came back to life. I am not suggesting this was not true, but I would have liked to know who the guy was, where he lived and which hospital it was. The point of the story seemed to be that the man was now dedicated to sharing the good news, so I would have hoped he would not have minded becoming more well known.

I don't share this to pour cold water on the story, I just think if it is true then we should be bold with the facts and if we can't be bold with the facts for whatever reason then we need to be careful. A resurrection claim would be medically verifiable and I imagine, quite big news locally. Yet I can't find it. Can someone point me to it? I want to believe it is true, but I don't know why it was an unnamed man in an unnamed town in an unnamed hospital.


Overall it was a good evening, and worth going to. I was pleasantly surprised at how laid back it was. I didn't feel pressured. If you wanted to go and throw stones I am sure you would find ample opportunity but I went with an open heart. I can't say I met with God or had a particularly positive experience because I felt disenfranchised from the worship and there wasn't anything really new.

Considering the reputation of Bethel I was surprised to not be either greatly blessed or greatly offended. And I guess that is why I am slightly quizzical this morning, because I am not sure what the big deal is, from both their supporters and their detractors.

Still, their CDs are awesome!

Jesus Culture

For a while now I have been listening to some outstanding worship CDs from Jesus Culture.

One of their songs has been a great comfort to me during a tough time.

Low and behold they are appearing up the road in Wolverhampton next month, suffice to say, we are going, along with a fair sized posse of people.

And yet, I am a bit nervous. "Big American Church / Ministry tours UK" presses all sorts of buttons.

Firstly: I want it to spend an amazing time in God's presence, as I have when listening to the CDs and worshipping quietly, and don't want to be disappointed. I literally have been overcome with emotion while watching the DVD that came with one of the albums, during the Revelation song, the spontaneous worship that comes from it, it was extraordinary.

Secondly: I don't want the teaching side of it to be poor. Visits to some events/churches in the past have always been let down by the teaching, not least a tendency towards the prosperity gospel.

Thirdly: Linked to the teaching, I don't want to be asked for money, or be asked to "sow into a revival", or to "lay up my treasures in heaven" or anything like that. I am there to worship God, not join a band of "covenant partners" who get mailshots and gift aid forms.

Fourthly: I want any prayer for healing or desire for miracles to be done in a way that empowers and encourages those gathered. I don't want to feel it is over-hyped, and I want the stories / testimonies to sound really robust and clear.

So I have to sit tight and wait and see. I would recommend anyone who can get to one of their tour dates to do so. Their worship opens up a whole raft of sponteneity and spiritual gifts and brings such a freshness to some really old songs.

If their CD is anything to go by, this could actually be a life changer.

That is a bold statement and hope like that is reckless and yet shows an underlying expectation I have, an underlying desire, for more of God. I have glimpsed something through their worship that I want some of. My faith is not in some band or youth meeting or "generation of revivalists" or whatever they choose to call themselves.

My faith is in God. My heart is for God. And there is something about what happens when they worship that I want to experience and I want to let shape me and change the way I worship God.

The big challenge is opening myself up to let that happen requires me to take off some of my defensiveness about other ministries / moves of God / tours I have experienced which I have found disappointing, oddball, or in some cases downright dangerous.

Yes, I will be reporting my experiences!

A great song...

Things have been pretty difficult recently on a personal level.

What a wonderful song full of truth

Worship songs that changed my life: NUMBER ONE

Number one, and not even a proper worship song!

Kevin Prosch: "Love is all you need" This song is a definiton of "rough diamond". Jagged, edgy, and so, so, precious.

Have you ever hurt inside,
Feel like you could lose your mind?
You tell no one, you sit and cry
On the brink of suicide
You convince yourself inside
Maybe here there are no spies
Nothing tempers this heart as grief
I've seen blackbirds die like priests

They go,
love is all you need
All you need is love
love is all you need
All you need is love

Hey hey preacher man shut your mouth
All that talks coming straight from your head
You can't love no one
You can't even love yourself
And you've got the heart of a mannequin
You need to reach out from beyond your border fence
Come out from hiding behind the parsonage
Show them people the same mercy that you need
hey, preacher man, tell them love is all you need

love is all you need
All you need is love
love is all you need
All you need is love

I went to the place where dead men pray
Love forsaken, I was so afraid
When suddenly the leaves were around
Like pheasants flying these angels came down
She said where is hope? What is truth? And do you know peace?
As we walked through the graveyard of needles on the street
Lord they wouldn't need this if only they could see
Tell them love, love, love is love is the key

love is all you need
All you need is love
love is all you need
All you need is love

I met a man who walked alone
He wept upon those public roads
He placed his eyes upon my heart
Saw that I had missed the stirring of the water
He looked into my childhood scars
Like a candle on a written page
And from your guilt he said I could be free
Maybe my love is all you need

love is all you need
All you need is love
love is all you need
All you need is love

As he breaks into singing in tongues at the end you understand the love he is talking about.

It is just so edgy, so raw, so vulnerable. Kevin later fell into adultery that cost him a huge chunk of his ministry, and he has now been through a restoration process. Somehow, by some bizarre exchange, actually validates this song even further. He knew he was a sinner. He knew where his only hope was. He knew his future rested in God's grace, not his merit.

The only MP3 clip I can find is via Cross Rythms here.

This is the song I want at my funeral. When I die I want people to know two things: God loves them, and so did I.

Even now, 15 years after I first heard it, I can sit down, close my eyes, and just be overcome by the weight of the love of God. You can almost touch it.

You can feel the pain in his heart about judgemental christendom. And then it finishes with.

" And from your guilt he said I could be free
Maybe my love is all you need"

and this is the gospel in two lines, that wraps up the whole of the song and the vulnerability and complexity of our existence and takes it to the cross, where all we need is found, as the greatest love is shown.

Worship songs that changed my life: NUMBER TWO

Here we go with song number two, and I don't even really like the song!!!

Flashback to Spring Harvest, the early nineteen nineties. I was from a Christian family, in my early teens, had always "believed", but never "understood". I was a genuine, nominal Christian. I believed in a God I didn't know. I did not understand the severity of the abject disaster my sin destined me for. And then I got it. I just got it. Clear teaching, clear gospel presentation, bang, the penny dropped, from a great height.

Could I truly be free? Could my sins truly be forgiven?

Oh, God, Most High, Almighty King
The champion of heaven, Lord of everything
You fought, You won, death lost its sting
And standing in Your victory we sing

You have broken the chains that held our captive souls
You have broken the chains and used them on Your foes
All your enemies are bound
They tremble at the sound of Your name
Jesus You have broken the chains

The pow’r of hell has been undone
Captivity held captive by the Risen One
And in the name of God’s great Son
We claim the mighty victory You’ve won

I repeat: I don't even really like this song! I don't like it musically. It is written in Christianese rather than English. Yet there, and the heart of it, the victory won for me. As I danced, in a Butlins nightclub converted into a youth worship venue, and sung, I jumped in, wholeheartedly, and invested my life in Him. His victory, in my life, what a wonderful saviour we have.

Worship songs that changed my life: NUMBER THREE

I have never really been part of a "traditional" church. My background is independent charismatic, Vineyard and latterly, Newfrontiers.

I have never really had the foundation of the "good old hymns". In fact, in some ways the charismatic music scene of the late 70s-early 80s into which I was born was something of a movement away from the old hymns.

Only in the last ten years or so has stuff like "Be thou my vision" and "How great thou art" have come back into vogue, along with "When I survey" or "Crown him with many crowns".

My song choice here is a Charles Wesley classic. Steeped in revival, sung by countless millions across the globe, and an absolute pearler.

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Saviour’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

I think this hymn above any other made me really quite uneasy about some modern songs. How will some of the fluffy bunny "Jesus is my girlfriend" type, "Me, I, Me, I", "feel, feel, feel" songs sound in 20 years time? We won't know. No-one will be singing them. They will have gone through "Songs of Fellowship" and into the Greenbelt bargain bin within a decade.

We will still be singing this hymn. Instead of ignoring the heritage of Christian worship in this country we should build upon it: which is probably why Stuart Townend has had such success with his modern day "hymns".

"I" may not "feel" too "fluffy" when I start singing this song, but by the end my eyes are on Him and my destiny in His calling. It is a chunky, gutsy, rousing story of what Christ has achieved for us and what we look forward to. A juggernaut of a song on a highway of mediocrity.

Worship songs that changed my life: NUMBER FOUR

Having done a similar series on sermons, I have decided to do a similar one for songs.

Here we go with number 4. Matt Redman, "Dancing Generation"

Your mercy taught us how to dance
To celebrate with all we have
And we'll dance to thank You for mercy

Your glory taught us how to shout
To lift Your name in all the earth
And we'll shout to the praise of Your glory

It's the overflow
Of a forgiven soul
And now we've seen You, God
Our hearts cannot stay silent

And we'll be a dancing generation
Dancing because of Your great mercy, Lord
Your great mercy, Lord
And we'll be a shouting generation
Shouting because of Your great glory, Lord
Your great glory, Lord

This song does not really work in a normal Church service. This song is not really for personal worship. In fact this song is so specific to a moment, a situation, that it is practically impossible to describe what that moment or situation was like to someone not there.

This is a song of unbridled praise. A song of togetherness. A song of solidarity. This is us, this is our generation, and we are going to worship, the one worthy of worshipping.

The situation for me was Newday, Notts County Football Stadium, several thousand christian young people and literally, for the only time in my christian experience, the worship was as energetic and engaging an atmosphere as a decent football match. This is not quiet reflection. This is not meditative introspection. This is giving all, heart, mind and body into expression of worship and expression of the excitement of knowing Jesus, the overflow of a forgiven soul, of hearts that just cannot, and will not, stay silent.

The video below is from the states, and shows the song sung in a large worship gathering setting.

Worship songs that changed my life: NUMBER FIVE

Having done a similar series on sermons, I have decided to do a similar one for songs.

The sermon series can be found here:
Number 5 Number 4 Number 3 Number 2 Number 1

These songs are not chosen for their musical prowess or their use in corporate worship. They may not even be my favourite worship songs, but they are the ones that shaped me, provoked me, moved me and allowed me to somehow discover more of God or express how I felt.

Number 5: Paul Oakley, I was lost without a trace

I Was Lost (Like a Child)..Paul Oakley

"I was lost without a trace,
All except for the eyes of heaven.
Now my Saviour’s love has found me,
And His love has brought me home.

I can sleep in peace tonight,
I won’t worry about tomorrow,
Now I know my Daddy loves me,
And His perfect love will conquer all.

I'm like a child in his arms
and he will meet my needs
with all the riches of heaven
and he loves me much to much
to let me go,
he will keep me in his love

Heaven and earth may pass away,
And mountains fall into the ocean;
But His word is everlasting,
And His love goes on and on."

In a couple of weeks time I am speaking on The Cross: Our Adoption

This song, sung at a Stoneleigh Bible Week youth meeting in the mid nineties really brought it home to me. His love for me. My loving Father. I was lost until he found me. His perfect love conquers all. Some of the wording is a bit clumsy and I don't really like the use of the term Daddy, but as a song, at that moment in the journey of faith, it opened my heart to feel the reality of what I already knew to be true.

A tough week...

It has been a pretty tough week.

Esther's uncle died, and his funeral was on Tuesday in Cornwall (I could not go but Esther drove various family members).

On Friday we had a huge celebration service for the life of John Williams which has taken up a large amount of time and energy, with over 250 in attendance from all over the country. It was a simply wonderful occasion, and yet so desperately sad.

On Saturday night our church centre was broken into. Just the usual hacking away at doors with a crowbar and not really nicking anything but it still grates.

On Sunday morning I preached on "Turn the other cheek".

On Monday I visited my Grandad in hospital. It was so sad. He winked at me, and kissed my hand. That was my last encounter with him, it did not need words.

On Tuesday I felt really quite unwell, so went to the doctor's this morning. I have got to have some blood tests and an ECG next week. My blood pressure is fine and the doctor is not expecting anything nasty but I still feel a bit jaded.

This morning I also found out that grandad had died. So that is where I am going now, off to Wrexham to be with the family.

On Friday we read this Psalm, as a tribute to John whose love of mountains had taken him to the top of Mont Blanc. The words are strong comfort now.

" ¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

² My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;

⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;

⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore."

Sticking up for Kendrick...

The Daily Mail recently published their 50 people who wrecked Britain.

There, at number 39, one worse than Gordon Brown, was Graham Kendrick!

Here is the apparent justification:

Happy-cr*ppy hymns are a pestilence. They demean adult worship, dragging it to a level even lower than that of Mrs C. F. Alexander's All Things Bright And Beautiful (1848). They are self-obsessed, babyish, cliched, simplistic.

Several authors have written these appalling hymns. The daddy of them all when it comes to such gloopy nonsense, however, is Graham Kendrick, author of Shine, Jesus, Shine.

Kendrick, who has a personal website complete with an efficient shopping section, is the nation's pre-eminent churner-outer of evangelical bilge. Imagine Pam Ayres without the humour.

He started writing hymns in the late Sixties and has now written 400 of the ruddy things. Should it not be a strength of Anglican worship that it does not move with the times and instead provides continuity at a time of baffling change?

But no. It's out with the harmonium! In with the electric guitar! Out with the hymns sung by our forebears, such as He Who Would Valiant Be and Hills Of The North. In with the roughagerich Bind Us Together or the negro spiritual cum grammatical solecism It's A Me, O' Lord.

The sturdy hymns of England, musical embodiment of the stoicism, resolve and undemonstrative solidarity of our nation, are in severe peril, and all thanks to ill-shaven remnants of the late Sixties - grinning inadequates who have never got over the fact that they weren't Cat Stevens.

Frankly - this is a ridiculous piece of writing. But, daftness aside it does rather highlight the absolutely massive impact that Kendrick's ministry has had upon christian culture in ways that spill out into popular culture. Looking at the "legacy" of Kendrick's ministry is a two part exercise. On the one hand, there can be a tendency for more modern songs to lack a certain backbone or meaning and this can cause worship to end up totally devoid of purpose. But whose fault is that? Certainly not Kendrick's - for his ministry effectively opened the floodgates for a whole genre of Christian music which has brought christian worship flying into the mainstream in ways never though possible by previous generations.

When Delirious went on tour with Bryan Adams and Bon Jovi in 2001 and 2002 Christian music had entered a whole new ball game. That game was invented by a group of musicians in the late 70s and early 80s of whom Kendrick became the face of something that was always much larger than him.

I cannot remember the last time I sung "Shine Jesus Shine" as it is one of those songs which has gone over the edge of popularity and into farce in the public consciousness. Kendrick now gets the response Abba get in popular music. But the simple fact is that he helped to open a door through which massive blessing was poured out onto the Church and it's mission in the UK and overseas. It may have cost him mention in a few negative newspaper articles, but frankly, his presence there is testament to his impact as much as anything else.

Using secular songs in worship?

I found this video the other day.

I was amazed when I saw this, not least because of the song used for the worship.



When Dead or Alive released "You spin me around (like a record) "these were the lyrics.

Yeah I, I got to know your name
Well and I, could trace your private number baby
All I know is that to me
You look like you're lots of fun
Open up your lovin' arms
I want some

Well I...I set my sights on you
(and no one else will do)
And I, I've got to have my way now, baby
(and no one else will do)
And I, I've got to have my way now, baby
All I know is that to me
You look like you're havin' fun
Open up your lovin' arms
Watch out, here I come

You spin me right round, baby
right round like a record, baby
Right round round round
You spin me right round, baby
Right round like a record, baby
Right round round round

I, I got be your friend now, baby
And I would like to move in
Just a little bit closer
(little bit closer)

All I know is that to me
You look like you're lots of fun
Open up your lovin' arms
Watch out, here I come

[Repeat]

I want your love
I want your love
[Repeat]

When that was written I doubt they were expecting "Baby" to be replaced by "Jesus"!

It does all look a little bit too familiar for me, with the same song used here. They even have similar close ups of the kids dancing!



If we were going to plagiarise songs for worship, forgetting the lyrics and just using the chorus, I would much rather go with a bit of mid eighties anthem rock, take Bon Jovi's "Raise your hands" for example.



"Raise your hands
When you want to let it go
Raise your hands
And you want to let a feeling show
Raise your hands
From New York to Chicago
Raise your hands
From New Jersey to Tokyo
Raise your hands"

As long as we're raising our hands to Jesus then that's ok right?!!

5 sermons that changed my life NUMBER 2

Mike Pilavachi - "Doing the Stuff" Conference - April 2000 - Vineyard UK

This conference was the best I have ever been to. The Album is the best live album I have ever heard, bar none. Their live version of "I lift my eyes up" should be my favourite ever worship song, but I can only say should be because despite it being unconventional nothing can touch Kevin Prosch's "Love is all you need" found on Tumbling Ground by the Black Peppercorns.

But anyway, back to the conference, the main speakers were first class, as can be seen in NUMBER 4 and NUMBER 2 in this series being from the same event.

I had been to the Soul Survivor summer camp 4 or 5 times as a teenager and was greatly blessed by watching Matt Redman and later people like Tim Hughes open up a whole new sphere of christian worship music. Songs like "Heart of worship" just captured a moment in the development of my relationship with God.

But by the time I heard Mike speak at this conference I was 20, doing a university placement year in Nottingham and was a little bit past the whole Soul Survivor thing so did not know what to expect.

He spoke on 1 Samuel 2:12-36 and it was all about what happens when people get their focus wrong in worship. When it becomes about "me" or "my needs" rather than our offering to God. When we hold back something of the offering to ourselves, rather than give Him everything of ourselves.

I believe he has since taken this whole theme and preached on it extensively and even written a book relating to it. But this was no book or journal, this was a man with a passionate jealousy for the name of his Saviour giving a defence of the glory of his Lord.

It is about Jesus. It starts with Jesus. It comes from Jesus. It goes to Jesus. We meet Jesus somewhere in it and all the glory goes to Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus and a bit more Jesus. You can only concentrate on Him too little, never too much.

"I didn't get a lot our of the worship today" is a shameful statement because it does not honour yourself, your worship, or your God. It is not for you, it is for Him. It is not about whether it is pleasing to you, it is about whether it is pleasing to Him. Who says "I did not get a lot of giving my Father a present today?" The worth is in the Father, the worth is in the gesture, the worth is in the gift, not in whether it made us feel good or not.

The statement identifies a wrong attitude that robs God of the glory and the worship and the honour He is due. It becomes a consumer goal to get a buzz, not a priviledge to declare the goodness of our King.

A quote from his talk can be found on the live CD in between two tracks. The pertinent statement is made: "He is the center of worship, and how dare we ever make us the center of worship"

That cemented a deep seated conviction I hold regarding worship - the desire to add my voice to the honour and glory given to Jesus. Every time I listen to that CD and hear Mike's words it is such an emotional moment - as God is calling His church back into selfless and pure worship of him, and I believe much of the evident blessing of God upon the whole Soul Survivor movement has been their radical, uncomplicated, biblically based, passionate worship of Jesus.

"Together on a Mission"

This week is the calm after the storm of the Together on a Mission conference in Brighton, England. The conference of newfrontiers, the family of churches my church belongs to. By "storm", I mean totally intense, refreshing, nowhere to hide kind of encounter with God and his people.

Loads of other peopler have blogged the details, so the best thing to do is point to the highlights.

John Lanferman somehow condenses Mark Driscoll's first talk into a very pithy post here

Adrian Warnock gives details and interviews here

Ant Hilder gives a good account of a personal experience of Brighton

Downloads of the talks can be found here


My personal experiences and observations would be the following:

1) Mark Driscoll is something of a prize fighter in the reformed charismatic movement. Listening to him preach is like standing in a ring with Holyfield or Lewis and taking a a barrage of punches - with no pause for recovery in between. I have never heard such an integrated ecclesiology linked to a purposeful missiology so rooted in a bullish reformed theology.

2) I love the worship, the worship leaders, and the contributions. But I wish they stopped recording an album of worship at the conference. I have these frustrations:

a) we have to stop and learn too many new songs, it breaks things up too much. One or two a day maybe, but no more.
b) the new songs we learn have not stood the test of time. We only sing the cream of what other movements produce - Strength will rise, Happy Day, Everyone needs compassion. Compared to those some of the new songs seemed a little mundane.
c) I think it makes the worship leaders a bit edgy. They're trying to nail a song for the CD. Evan Rogers couldn't care less about the recording and his sessions are always lively, fun, and free. I want more of that. Maybe we should do a "If you want to be on the CD come to this seminar" seminar where people can go, learn the songs and go for it, and leave the platform worship for open and free worship.
d) The selection of songs is not wide enough. There are so many schools of worship, gifted leaders, across different movements. If we benefit from those outside for speaking then why not worship leaders too? Godfrey Birtill is a good example who I heard recently at the Trumpet Call prayer day at the NEC.
e) I think Simon brading is fantastic and I think he did really well. However he didn't seem as "free" as he does at Newday. I'd love him to rock it up a bit at the leaders conference.
f) I know there is a sense of wanting to strengthen people's grasp of theology using worship like the good old hymn writers did, but even so, I think we may be bordering on being a bit wordy and a bit technical in describing what God has done. We need to express our heart's response to the doctrine alongside the doctrine itself. "You chose the cross" is a great example of a song which nails the doctrine and expresses the heart in one song.

3) My seminar stream was disappointing if I am honest, specifically the bit about how the Holy Spirit effects the way we lead. When more is left unsaid than is said I wonder if it was worth saying anything at all.

4) free downloads of everything is a magnificent opportunity and service - and I have 3 Mark Driscoll DVDs which i attempt to watch with a bible, a bottle of wine, the pause button and my wife (who has a degree in Theology). I want to see what sticks, what is true, what I don't agree with, what challenges my own practice, and make sure that I take what God was saying, rather than just appreciating being caught up in a special moment at a special conference.

What a special 4 days.