So here I am on the train to Copenhagen from Kalmar, Sweden. This is my final leg of the Scandanavian trip. I am on my way to Lowestoft, England for our Together @ East, Newfrontiers family conference where I will be joining Terry and Wendy Virgo, Keith and Nova Hazell as well as Mike and Sue Betts. I am sure we are in for a treat! I gotta feeling it’s going be a blast.
Sweden has stolen my heart. What a great nation, warm and friendly (I mean the people that is!) Both Malmö and
Lukas my new friend from Sweden
Kalmar are great cities that have a vibrancy about them. I worked with 2 churches there, both who have a vision for church planting, working with the poor and impacting their cities with the Gospel. God worked wonderfully as he spoke into the hearts of many. Well over 100 people received directive prophetic words, which I believe will shape the churches that were served. We also had one young girl recieve healing after we prayed for her back. She woke the next morning without any pain for the first time in a long time! God is so good!
I also got to be in Copenhagen for our North European Leaders Conference. Man it was fun seeing church planters from many different parts of the continent some together to receive vision for the future. The Lord spoke so clearly to us, and I feel that the church is about to come into a new season of radical risk taking. God loves it when we take adventurous risks for him. Dave Holden spoke superbly on ‘strengthening yourself in God’ , a very timely leadership word. There was a fantastic emphasis on being a people who are fervently pushing into the person of the Holy Spirit. While there seems to be a dialing down on moving in the gifts of the Spirit, Dave encouraged us to be leaders who model living in the fullness of the Spirit. For this and more download the sermons here.
I then spent some time with Copenhagen Community Church. Now for those of you who know me well, you’d know that I love city life. Copenhagen is classy, creative and very expensive. Walking around in a world class city that is very cutting edge in design was loads of fun. The church was even more fun though! I did a mini prophetic school and taught on Gaining Heaven’s Perspective. This church, which is very diverse with a number of americans, Danes, Filipino’s and Africans, were so responsive. It was so nice to hear an amen in a preach again. I’d forgotten what it is like to be part of a responsive church community (for the english folk, I know you are being responsive when you are quiet!). We had an amazing time as God revealed many things and brought a real hunger for the presence of Jesus! It was great to see how the prophetic word can encourage and build up! Exciting times!
I have just been thinking recently about how to facilitate the moving of God’s Spirit in a meeting. In the book of Acts we see that Peter, gets up (I wonder if he was on the floor?), in the midst of his seemingly drunk friends (who were filled with the Holy Spirit- Acts 2) And begins to explain, that these are not drunk as you suppose, but these men are filled with the Holy Spirit. It must have been a very uncomfortable and intriguing meeting for on lookers. It made me think, when last have I had to explain what is happening in a meeting because of the supernatural activity of the Holy Spirit?
Bill Johnson makes a shocking statement, when he says ‘sometimes we place more emphasis on a book the early church did not have than the Holy Spirit they did have!’ I sometimes wonder if in an attempt to reclaim reformed truth and biblical authority we have inadvertently believed in an unholy trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the holy bible? Don’t get me wrong, the authority of the Bible trumps any subjective revelation I might have or experience. It must all submit to scripture! It seems to me though that it is possible to proclaim the word of God and not have a manifestation of the Spirit’s presence on it. Thats what the pharisees did after all. I think that is what Jesus followers meant when they said that Jesus teaching came with authority. It seems to me that both Jesus and Paul did not simply emphasize the eloquence of preaching but the dynamic presence and power of God as His word was proclaimed.
In fact Paul wants our faith (our deep conviction) to rest in the power of God ( 1 Cor 3). Surely that is more than just head knowledge. He wants our faith to rest in something far greater than doctrine. Theology that does not lead to and encounter with Jesus, only makes us more religious! It must be experiential. We must be a people who expect the very power of God to be on display as we preach. There must be a demonstration of Holy Spirit activity. Enough to explain that God is moving. Enough to move the unbeliever to cry out ‘surely God is in this place!’. It was the breaking in of God’s Spirit in the preaching of Charles Spurgoen, John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, Kathryn Kuhlman and many other greats that made the difference. I want more of that in my preaching and teaching. I do not simply want to produce arguments that move the mind, I want conviction that changes lives! More Holy Spirit, we worship you and love your presence among us!
