All posts tagged New Frontiers

Terry Virgo – Mark 6

by Hugh on May 2, 2009 in Faith with No comments

Terry Virgo

On Saturday night at Bible by the Beach we welcomed Terry Virgo from Newfrontiers to speak, he spoke on Jesus walking on the water… here was his basic outline:

Mark 6:45-52

He sends them into the storm – he loves you just as you are, he loves you too much to leave you as you are.

He saw them in the storm – all is laid bare before him, he sees even through the darkness.

He saved them in the storm – he took the initiative, walking on water (this is truly God).

You can purchase a video DVD, an audio CD, or an MP3 download of the talk at the Bible by the Beach website.

Virgo: Luke 15

by Hugh on April 2, 2009 in Faith with No comments

Terry Virgo

I think Adrian has arrived – he’s the guy sitting at the front with the Mac. You should start getting some live blogs from him as well now. Oh and he’s organized a bloggers meet up – 1pm tomorrow at T-Co.

Terry Virgo was interviewed at the start and told us how he came to faith through the conversion of his sister and the preaching of John Stott. He also spoke about the influence of MLJ and others. He also spoke about NWA and his excitement about coming back and Christian unity.

A guy called Lance recited the reading in a dramatic way – nice. Jesus is popular, he spends time with the outcasts – and that upsets the Pharisees. Jesus is bringing God to the people, he’s healing and forgiving. So he tells some stories -something lost, then found, then a celebration!

Terry told a story of losing his daughter on a beach in Spain, his desire to keep looking until he found her, and his joy in finding her safe and bringing her back. Dickens called this parable ‘the greatest story ever told’.

The story is of a father and two sons. The younger son makes an ‘Adam-like’ decision to escape from the father. But he finds the world without his father isn’t great, it’s not realistic and the money, friends and circumstances are here one day and gone the next. So he ends up with the pigs with everything gone, he’s left with the reality of himself, knowing his weakness, his failure, his sin… and he’s given up the hope of being a son – I’ll just be a hired hand.

But Jesus shows us what God is like… The father is looking for him, the fathers love remains for him. Just like the outcasts who Jesus hangs out with – God is compassionate, he has mercy for them. Then he runs, he pulls up his coat, abandons any decorum, hugs him and kisses him. The robe, ring, sandals… the son doesn’t need them or deserve them, it is pure blessing, then they celebrate.

Then we meet the tragic figure of the elder son, the one who doesn’t celebrate, the one who confuses sonship and slavery – the Pharisee. He’s forgotten God’s grace, he exposes his self-righteous, religious heart. The emphasis in on himself, he doesn’t know the fathers heart.

The father says remember who the ‘sinner’ is… they’re your brother. These are the people to whom the fathers heart goes out. The younger son came home, but for the elder son the story is left open, because he’s speaking to the religious people. Jesus came to win the lost, and he’s on his way to Jerusalem to die for sinners. He calls us back and sets us free. Abandon any religion and throw yourself on the mercy of God.

Interview with Tim Chilvers

by Hugh on August 27, 2008 in Faith with 3 Comments

Tim Chilvers is associate minister at Christ Church Surbiton. Like me, he’s from an Anglican church, like me, he went to the Brighton New Frontiers conference, and like me he’s just been interviewed about his experiences of the conference by David Capener.

Good interview. Sounds like we both had a similar overwhelmingly positive experience there (with a few little niggles).

Interview with me

by Hugh on August 17, 2008 in Faith, Life, Random with No comments

Now quite why anyone would want to interview me I don’t know, frankly I am dull and unworthy of having my life or thoughts shared with anyone! But, a guy called David Capener (blogs at thebroadcast.org.uk), who is a New Frontierser from Norfolk is doing a series of interviews with non-NewFrontiersers about their experiences of New Frontiers. So there’s a little bit of background on who I am and some of my thoughts shared in light of attending the Brighton Conference. Check out the interview here.

Conference Summary

by Hugh on July 23, 2008 in Faith with No comments

Adrian Warnock interviews Mark Driscoll – videos here

Mark Driscoll reflects on his time in the UK here and here

My posts on Together on a Mission 2008

My posts on the Dwell London conference

Mark Driscoll’s pastors training track (audio) – Be Radical Plant Radical Churches

Together on a Mission 2008 (audio) – Main Sessions

Off to CYFA camp in Colwyn Bay (sunny North Wales tomorrow) – 10 days of fun, hard work and learning lots about Jesus from John’s Gospel.

Virgo: Acts 8

by Hugh on July 11, 2008 in Faith with 1 Comment

Terry VirgoIn the final session Terry Virgo spoke about Philip from Acts 8:4-19, 26-40. I was shattered at this point so was practically falling asleep, but the main point was to ask the question – What kind of Christ? – what Christ do we preach?

  • Rooted in Old Testament revelations
  • Rooted in the Cross, in Penal Substitutionary Atonement
  • Jesus who reigns and brings good news of a Kingdom
  • Jesus who heals
  • Expects a whole-hearted response (baptism)
  • Brings Joy to a city

During this time I started to collect my thoughts about New Frontiers and the Together on a Mission 2008 conference. With the one exception of what I thought was a bad talk, and some genuine unresolved questions on the place and use of prophecy and tongues, I was incredible impressed with and very much enjoyed the conference. Here’s some things I loved:

  • Excellent music (lots of home grown song writers) and passionate congregational singing
  • A genuine international movement – Christians from 52 nations
  • Long preaches – conference preaches are longer anyway, but I know NF guys will generally be 45mins+
  • A vision to plant churches (1000)
  • Around 4000 people produced an offering of over £1M to support the mission

Driscoll: Radical Church Planting

by Hugh on July 11, 2008 in Faith with No comments

Mark DriscollOver the week at New Frontiers I’ve been going along to a series of 3 morning seminars led by Mark Driscoll entitled “Be Radical, Plant Radical Churches”. The structure of these have been for Mark to speak for around 15 minutes, drawing out a few issues, then that was followed by around 45 minutes of Q&A. Obviously because of the structure of the sessions I didn’t take extensive notes, but here’s a few little bits:

Session 1 – Mark spoke about family life, wives, elders and deacons

Session 2 – Mark spoke about the practicalities of church growth, starting new services, campuses and plants

Session 3 – Mark spoke again about elders, leadership and everything else

Here’s something I did write down, ‘a week in the life of Mark Driscoll’. Now it wasn’t always like this, there was a time when he did everything; finance, admin, visiting etc. But now, as Preaching Pastor he has a much more focused role:

Sunday – Preaching (live) 4 times a day, up at 6am, bed at 3am

Monday – Half day, time to exercise, a few meetings, time to plan week with Grace (his wife)

Tuesday – Breakfast with kids, Meetings all day

Wednesday – Goes off to a Christian retreat centre for silence, solitude, prayer and fasting

Thursday – Writing

Friday – Emails, Sermon preparation, Date night with Grace

Saturday – ‘Jammy day’ time to spend together as a family

Driscoll: Movements are Messy

by Hugh on July 10, 2008 in Faith with 3 Comments

Mark DriscollIn Mark Driscoll’s final main address at the Together on a Mission conference he spoke about ‘Movements’ (or networks of churches, like New Frontiers). In introduction he took us to Acts 1:1-11 to the beginning of the movement, with Jesus as the head and the Spirit at work. He spoke about Paul’s church planting strategy of establishing churches in cities and commented on the strategic significance of cities – they have more people, and culture flows from a city.

Driscoll talked a little about some historic movements and described them by 6 marks of movements:

  1. Young people, young leaders
  2. Conversions
  3. Church Planting
  4. Unaware of extending influence
  5. Supporting organisations (production of resources)
  6. New Technology

Mark then went on to discuss the rather depressing cycle of a movement:

  1. Simple Organisation
  2. Growth (becomes a movement)
  3. Institution – founders and friends are the leaders (young leaders leave), guarding previous innovation, stop listening to outsiders (need humility and discernment)
  4. Museum

Driscoll then went on to talk about ‘going off course’, 7 ways that movements can turn into institutions, he credited these points to Larry Osbourne:

  1. Theologically off course – either too tight (fundamentalist) or too loose (liberal – used Vineyard as an example)
  2. Relationships become too close to accommodate new leaders and members
  3. Organisationally not adjusted for growth
  4. Pride – “not invented here syndrome”, a willingness to listen to others with humility and discernment is needed
  5. Pursuing potential over calling – prayerfully consider what to do
  6. Lack Resourcing
  7. Honouring the founder and the future

Points 2, 3, 5 and 7 were specifically aimed at the New Frontiers movement, point 7 in particular. Driscoll basically said that soon Terry Virgo will have to hand over New Frontiers to a new leader (he is quite old after all!) and that new leaders need to respect Terry and the founding vision, but also respect the future and new opporunities that open. I understand that people in New Frontiers love and respect Terry, while Driscoll saw this as a great thing I think he also saw it as a danger for growth, changing structure and a clear vision for the future. Mark was very gracious to what is clearly a delicate and emotional subject.

In conclusion, Mark gave 6 phases of renewal (from Rick Warrren):

  1. Personal – Spirit enabled passion for Jesus
  2. Relational – love and compassion
  3. Missional – overflow of relational love into sharing faith and church planting
  4. Cultural – church culture infects the city
  5. Structural – more systems, more policies, more churches
  6. Institutional – breathe life into dead churches

Afterwards Mark received a standing ovation for his time with us, his honesty and his ability to clearly speak into the New Frontiers situation. Terry Virgo came up briefly afterwards to speak about momentous times at the Brighton Conference (this being one), and to give an emotional thanks to Mark. Exciting times for New Frontiers, for a vision of 1000 churches.

Smyth: Army of God

by Hugh on July 10, 2008 in Faith with No comments

PJ Smyth started planting churches in Zimbabwe, and now leads a New Frontiers church in Johanesburg, South Africa. His address was taken from 1 Chronicles 11-12…

Start of the Army

  • David’s army starts in a cave – in distress, discontent, and debt

Conscience of the Army (11:1-3)

The army followed David because:

  1. He was ‘flesh and bone’
  2. He was a leader
  3. God appointed him

PJ went on to speak about Paul and his uses of the phrase “a clear conscience”

Devotion of the Army (11:16-19)

  • PJ bought verses for application about being a leader and a follower

Structure of the Army

  • PJ went through chapter 11 speaking about teams and roles for leaders and followers

Leader of the Army (11:4-9)

  • Lead Inclusive (bring people together)
  • Lead Strong
  1. Guard what has been entrusted
  2. Spot opportunities
  3. Don’t take no for an answer
  4. Be committed to forward motion

Driscoll: Missional Church

by Hugh on July 9, 2008 in Faith with 1 Comment

me-and-mark-driscollCarrying on from Mark’s first talk on Spirit-Led Missions he went on to speak about what a Missional church is. Firstly he concluded his 8-point definition of a church:

  • Regenerated Church membership
  • Qualified Leadership (male eldership)
  • Gathers regularly for preaching and worship
  • Sacraments ministered correctly (Baptism and Communion)
  • Unity in Word and Spirit
  • Discipline for holiness
  • Loves all people
  • Evangelises and makes disciples

He went on expanding on point 8 to talk about all of church being on mission, citing Leslie Newbiggin who spoke of being engaged in mission that understands its culture. Driscoll then gave four examples of churches and how they respond to culture:

  • Bombshelter - the fundamentalist church that hides from culture, treating church as a safe haven from it. They preach against the culture in an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality, they’re not missional.
  • Mirror - the liberal church that is simply a reflection of the culture.
  • Parasite - the church that takes all the benefits that a culture provides but does not serve, give to, or love that culture.
  • City within a City – the church loves Jesus, believes the Bible and lives differently within the culture, it invites others to join in the distinctive living.

Obviously he’s with the fourth church! Driscoll then went through the 12 aspects of a missional church – he got to 4, having spent about half an hour on the 3rd!

  • Church is a missional outpost, it exists to grow, to put on more services, set up new campuses and plant new churches.
  • Every Christian is a Missionary. The gospel needs to be preached every week (to encourage inviting friends) and members need to be trained in doctrine and apologetics (so they can answer questions).
  • Aware of Local Culture. Mark talked through most forms of media (TV, radio, Internet, blogs, social networking) and how he uses them, he spoke of watching TV missionally – seeing the idols displayed in the media, people’s personal heavens. He also chatted about knowing the places where people socialise and speaking to those in the know about what people get up to.
  • Contending and Contextualizing the Gospel. Mark spoke first on 1 Corinthians 9:22 – “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some”. He spoke of having ‘timeless truths and timely methods’, of being ‘seeker-sensible’. In conclusion he gave one of the most clear explanations of contextualization I have heard him give – he said…

“you do not need to make the gospel relevent, but you do need to show that the gospel is relevent”

Afterwards it was good to see a little party from UCCF present and I was able to chat with Scott Thomas about Acts29, church planting and the partnership with Steve Timmis culminating in an event at St. James Clerkenwell on Friday night and the Dwell conference on Saturday. And being a geek, I went and got a picture with Mark – he has a really large head…

← Older Entries