Today I share the first part of a two-part interview I did with Scott Thomas when he visited Jubilee Church with Mark Driscoll earlier this month. In this segment Scott shares his perspective on traveling and working with Mark Driscoll. Scott also spoke at the Dwell conference on "Should You be a Church Planter?"

UPDATE
You can watch the Newday promo video right here:



The summer is officially here, or at least it is in England, although with our odd weather, we can't guarantee what we will experience over the next few weeks! But it is a good time to think ahead to next year and think about what events you are planning to attend. I will share a few of my personal picks. There are also a number of other Newfrontiers conferences in different countries—why not explore their website and look for the country nearest you?

If you are looking for more, or your tastes don't follow mine, Tim Challies also has a list of conferences. There are more conferences still to come this year, but I have also listed some 2009 events.

AUGUST 2008
Newday — Older children and teens conference run by Newfrontiers. Join several thousand young people to worship God and hear his Word.

Together at North — Newfrontiers gathering in the North York Moors.
Contact: north@teesside.org

Together at Borderlands — Newfrontiers Bible weekend in Wrexham.
Contact: eric@rugeleycc.org.uk

Together at Mid UK — Being held in Shuttleworth.
Contact: mailto:mailto:

Together at Wessex — in the New Forest Showground.
Contact: mailto:mailto:

Celebration NorthWest — USA Conference, including Terry Virgo.


SEPTEMBER 2008
The Power of Words and the Wonder of God — The Desiring God National Conference with John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Bob Kauflin, Sinclair Ferguson, Paul Tripp, and Daniel Taylor.


OCTOBER 2008
Together at East of England — Meeting at the Pontins Pakefield Holiday Centre, Suffolk.
Contact: mailto:mailto:

Acts 29 Boot Camp, St Louis


NOVEMBER 2008
Front Edge South West, Winchester.
Contact: office@lifesouthampton.org

Acts 29 Boot Camp, Dallas


JANUARY 2009
Together at London and Surrey, January 23-25, Butlins, Bognor Regis.
I will be there with hundreds of people from Jubilee Church, London and many other Newfrontiers churches. We will take over the whole site for a Bible weekend.
Contact: togetheratbutlins@hotmail.co.uk

Acts 29 Africa Boot Camps


FEBRUARY 2009
Life in the Spirit — "Where reformed theology meets charismatic experience."
UK conference with Sam Storms, Steve Brady, David Carr, Gavin Calver, and Bernard Thompson. Usual attendance approximately 200.


APRIL 2009
New Word Alive
Next year Carson and Virgo return, and there are two weeks — March 30 - April 4, 2009, and April 4 - April 9, 2009. Spaces are likely to sell out, so get yourself booked in soon.


JUNE 2009
Celebration Midwest
Dates not yet confirmed, so watch this space for this USA conference ...


JULY 2009
Together On A Mission 2009 will take place from July 7th to 10th. Book this holiday now!

Celebration Northeast
Dates not confirmed, but watch this space for details of this USA conference ...

UPDATE
Scott has made available an article which expands on this talk and includes other lists of characteristics that leaders have cited as being important in a church planter.


Thanks to the kind permission of Acts 29, I am able to share with you a number of videos of their recent DWELL Conference in London. I begin with one that is especially important for those of you who have come back from the conference excited, wondering what God may have in store for you. You can download the mp3 — or thanks to Google video (which has no time limits for its videos) you can watch the entire talk online below. My notes of this engaging and helpful talk by Scott Thomas follow.

You can ask yourself 20 questions that will help you determine whether you are called to lead a church plant. For the record, these questions indeed confirm my previous firm conviction that I am not meant to become a church plant leader. It is so important that we each realize what role God is calling us to. I am as sure as I can be at this time that God wants me to stay long-term at Jubilee Church, London. I hope and pray, however, that I can help many church planters in some small way.


DWELL — "Am I a Church Planter?" by Scott Thomas
Church planting is the new “cool” in Christian circles. The worst thing you could do is to become a church planter if you are not one! Are you called, competent, and do you have the character? Pay careful attention to yourself (Acts 20:28).

The top five issues that come up most commonly when Acts 29 is assessing planters:

1. Theology
   
2. Vision
   
3. Family
   
4. Calling
   
5. Character

Scott sais that they had surveyed UK church-planting organizations prior to coming here. To a network, of the ones who responded, not one gave a clear definition of what a church planter should look like. They were all doing it relationally, so men were being raised up from within. But it is necessary to identify who is the planter. Then prepare and send out. As a potential planter yourself, you need to ask yourself some questions to be sure if you are the right kind of person.

While in Brighton, Scott asked a group of Newfrontiers leaders to describe for him the characteristics of a church planter. Their responses, in this order, were:

1. A leader/visionary.
   
2. Missionary heart.
   
3. Preacher, a good proclaimer.
   
4. Generalist, i.e. do more than one thing as opposed to a specialist.
   
5. A family man. Need your wife and kids to believe in Dad's vision.

On the fourth point, as a new planter, you can't do what Mark Driscoll does — he studies, reads, writes a lot, one day a week has meetings, preaches, and spends time with his family, and that's it. There was a time, however, when he set up chairs, etc.

Scott then took us through twenty questions you can ask yourself to help answer the question, "Am I a church plant leader?"

Before we begin, as one of my asides, I want to remind you that there are lots of other ways you can serve God in an established church or a church plant apart from being the senior leader. Some very good pastors would make bad church plant leaders. That call from God you have to do church planting might be a call to go join a team led by another man to help plant a church, or it might actually be a call to stay so others can go. Please pray as you work through this list that God will either confirm your call or show you that you are not meant to lead a church plant after all.

1. Am I a Christian? — This is a good place to start! Integrity is critical!
   
   
2. Am I passionately in love with Jesus, and is he the Lord of my life in every area? Don't skip these! People plant churches who never open the Bible or pray. Some big churches are led by people who may not even be Christians! Jesus must be the most important thing in your life. Your life must be built on Jesus only such that nothing else is enough, and even if family and possessions are taken away, you will still have the grace of God resting on your life, you will have hope, and you will be able to say “That’s enough.” IF Jesus is in you and you love and follow him, people will be drawn to you.
   
   
3. Do I believe his Word, and does it affect my life deeply? It's not enough to just have good sermon material; it has to flow from your heart. The Word needs to speak to you, and you need to talk out of the abundance of his Word.
   
   
4. Am I Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, Spirit-directed, and Spirit-controlled? We want to be witnesses, but we have tendencies to lean on our own ideas and abilities. He will give you all you need, and give you the place and the way to go about it. The church planter needs to be an empowered man. The Spirit needs to be working in and through you and be dripping out. That’s the Holy Spirit I want!
   
   
5. Am I qualified as an elder? Timothy and Titus talk about these things. Study them carefully, assess yourself. They both say that to be above reproach is the over-arching thing — you have to be above reproach. There isn’t an exhaustive list of things, they overlap, but the key is to be above reproach. Here are some "for instances" of how to be above reproach: the husband of one wife, no one else in your head, your heart, your eyes, on that screen—none. Totally focused and satisfied in that one woman God has brought to him. Marriage can be a struggle. But you cannot stray, even an inch. Forgiveness is required for marriage. Children should be in submission. Need to be a pastor-dad.
   
   
6. Do I love the local church as an expression of a gospel community on a mission? The church brings hope, forgiveness, and community, etc. This is an expression of the gospel. Stop dating the church as Josh Harris said. It's not an institution, but Christ's body.
   
   
7. Am I a missionary to the city? Am I sent for the advancement of the gospel in the city? If you are a church planter, you have to be a missionary. Every pastor needs to see themselves as a missionary. For the glory of God and the good of the city. Don't be someone who wants to start something because of "me" and my desire to be recognized. It's not about me, or success. It's about exalting the grace of Jesus.
   
   
8. Do I have a clear vision for this new work? Nehemiah had to have a vision of a complete wall. Not take a survey. The city is in ruins, It's time to build. You know you have a vision when people around you say, “Let's do that.” People need to be following you.
   
   
9. Am I wiling to pour myself out in obedience to the vision?
   
   
10. Am I healthy physically, emotionally, financially, spiritually, relationally, maritally, mentally?
    
    
11. Am I the kind of leader many people will follow? Have I served as some form of church leader successfully?
    
    
12. Can I preach effectively? You don't have to hit it out of the ball park every time. But you do have to hit singles pretty regularly. The pulpit is the rudder that steers the church.
    
    
13. Can I guard the doctrinal door with biblical clarity and tenacious confidence? When you start a church, you'll have new people with new ideas for which they got kicked out of their old church. You have to be able to guard the doctrinal door, squash doctrinal error—not arrogantly, but being sure of what the Word of God says and being able to articulate that in a winsome way.
    
    
14. Can I architect a new work with entrepreneurial skill? What have you started successfully? Some men can't see the vision of what is to come, and some—even if they see the vision—can't find the steps towards the vision. If you can't be the architect, then you are in trouble. As an example, some very pastoral people are NOT the best people to start a church, or at least not as the main team leader. Be clear about who you are. If you're a shepherd, counselor, care-giver, and you could be a success doing those things in an established church or as part of a team, then that is where you should be. Someone who is called to plant a church is frustrated if they don't do it. Number two guys don't always make good number one guys. As an aside, for my English readers, the example that struck me was this (and blame me for this one, not Scott) — Gordon Brown was perceived widely to be a good chancellor, but when he became Prime Minister he has been widely perceived to be a bad one.
    
    
15. Am I called to plant a church at this time and in this place? Calling is a top issue. Not called when things are going badly. The call of God usually comes when things are going really well. It needs to be a ministry to God, not to anyone or anything else. 2 Corinthians 7:6-8, 7:13; 2 Corinthians 8:6, 8:16-17. You need to be someone who says because of your own personal calling, I need to do this.
    
    
16. Have my church leaders commended me for this calling? What do they think of you? Are they recommending you?
    
    
17. Am I a hard worker? Am I persevering?
    
    
18. Am I adaptable to new people, places, and concepts? If you don't like change, you don't like church planting! If you are the kind of person who goes into the fetal position, you're probably not a church planter
    
    
19. Can I raise the funds required for my family's needs? Can I still be there for my family? Anyone who won't provide for his family is worse than the ungodly. You also need to be there for your family. Your children need a father more than the city needs a church.
    
    
20. Am I humble enough to learn from others — particularly from those who have gone ahead of me in different areas? This is one of the issues we call "stallers" and "stoppers." You need to be coachable, teachable. If you're not teachable, your church will stay stunted in its growth. The local church makes the audible gospel visible. It's a glorious thing.

What if I'm called? What if I'm not sure? What do I do?

1 Timothy 4:12. “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.” Right now, no matter where you are, what you're doing, begin to build that into your life, begin to look into your own life, and set the believers an example in these areas. Don't neglect your gift. Practice these things. Devote yourself to them. Make it evident that Jesus Christ is the most important thing in your life. Listen to the calling of God. Examine your life. Examine your family. Then obey, and get ready for the ride of your life!

The majority of the MP3s from Together On A Mission are now available direct from the Newfrontiers Resources page, or from the following summary posts I wrote during the week.

Session Summaries

• TOAM08 - Stephen Van Rhyn - Prevailing Under Pressure (Daniel)
• TOAM08 - Mark Driscoll: Doctrine of the Holy Spirit in Luke and Acts
• TOAM08 - Terry Virgo on Stephen (Acts 6-7)
• TOAM08 - David Stroud on 1 Samuel 14
• TOAM08 - Apostles and Prophets Together on a Mission
• TOAM08 - Mark Driscoll on the Missional Church
• TOAM08 - Mark Driscoll's Perspective On Newfrontiers
• TOAM08 - David Devenish - A Call to the Nations (Jeremiah 1)
• TOAM08 - Keith Hazell - Prophets and Prophets Together: A Fuller Picture
• TOAM08 - What Happens Between The Sessions
• TOAM08 - P-J Smyth on the Army of God (1 Chronicles 11-12)
• TOAM08 - Mark Driscoll on Missional Movements (Acts 1)
• TOAM08 – JOIN A CHURCH PLANT in a European City - Prayer Evening Report
• TOAM08 - Sam Poe & Phil Wilthew - Pastors and Prophets Building Together
• TOAM08 - Terry Virgo on Philip (Acts 8)

Other Posts About Together On A Mission

• Terry Virgo Appraises Mark Driscoll's Trip

• VIDEO INTERVIEW - Mark Driscoll, Part 1 - Prophecy and Newfrontiers
• VIDEO INTERVIEW - Mark Driscoll, Part 2 - A Prophecy For Newfrontiers and Worship
• VIDEO INTERVIEW - Mark Driscoll, Part 3 - Impressions of the UK
• VIDEO INTERVIEW - Mark Driscoll, Part 4 - Multiculturalism and Missi

• Together On A Mission 2008 - The Newfrontiers Conference

In case the title of this post completely mystifys you and you have not heard of this group of Christians, I have written previously about them in “What is a Reformed Charismatic?”

The phrase “1,000 reformed charismatic churches” has been going around in my head on and off for awhile now. Because several different applications of that number are running through my mind, I thought I’d share each of them with you here.

The first thought I had was simply this: although often considered to be a small minority, the number of reformed charismatics is increasing. I therefore wondered if there are now 1,000 reformed charismatic churches around the world? I suspect there must be. According to my interview with Terry Virgo, Newfrontiers is now nearing 600 churches, so surely there must be at least 1,000 if you add to that Sovereign Grace Ministries, Acts 29, and of course, other individual churches and networks, some of which, no doubt, I have not yet even heard about. (Incidentally, I'd particularly like to hear about any of you out there who go to a reformed charismatic church that isn't part of one of the three groups I just mentioned—drop me an e-mail at adrian.warnock@gmail.com.)

We probably can agree that there must be at least 1,000 reformed charismatic churches in the world. But are there 1,000 reformed charismatic churches in any individual country in the world? I doubt it very much. I am certain we don't have 1,000 such churches here in there UK. I would be very surprised indeed if there were that number in the USA.

But why do I mention 1,000 reformed charismatic churches when it comes to an individual country like the USA or the UK? In the UK, Newfrontiers now has 220 churches, which because we have 60 million people, works out to one church per 270,000 people. So, along with other groups, we have made some small impact, although surely there is still much work for us to do, even in the UK. But here is where it gets interesting. A church for every 270,000 people in the USA would work out to aproximately 1,000 churches. So I guess we have still further to go in America. I suspect, however, that there are many reformed charismatic churches in the USA which are not part of any network with which I’m familiar.

But the number 1,000 is featured in other ways as well. The Acts 29 Network's audacious goal is to plant 1,000 churches themselves over twenty years. I fully expect them to reach that goal given their current rate of growth. Also, a number of years ago a prophetic word led Newfrontiers in the UK to dare to believe God for 1,000 churches in our own nation. Within Newfrontiers meetings we often hear the challenging goal for church planting and growing large churches — “1,000 churches and churches of 1,000 people.”

Do we need lots of reformed charismatic churches? I believe we do. Firstly, we need reformed charismatic churches to show Christians that there really is a third option between arid intellectualism and brainless experiential showmanship. It’s not that the caricatures we tend to make of both cessationists and charismatics are entirely accurate; it’s just that churches that are unashamedly both reformed and charismatic can give confidence to others to make that plunge, or at least ensure they do not meet the caricature defining their end of the spectrum. I believe that it is a good thing to have different churches in any given town that can provoke each other and learn from one another.

But I also believe that reformed charismatic churches are often uniquely placed to become genuinely missional churches that can reach out and grow largely by salvation. We live in a culture that has, for the most part, turned its back on traditional church. Why shouldn’t we offer the world a church whose methods, music, style, and experience are totally up-to-date, but where the message remains old-fashioned and traditional in the sense of being solidly biblical?

One man with a vision to plant churches that will affect thousands of people is John Lanferman. He speaks of having on his laptop a list of the top 100 cities of the USA where 87 per cent of the people live. The cry of his heart is that 100 reproducing missional reformed charismatic churches be planted by Newfrontiers USA in those cities. Here's what he said about it in an interview with me. I had asked him what a missional church was:

“A church that understands that it exists for the express purpose of carrying the gospel to the next door neighbor, to the person in the next block, to the person in the next city, state, and nation, and they exist for the purpose of being carriers of the gospel. So they are involved, not only in proclamation, but they are involved in changing the whole culture of a community. They would be people who would be involved in cross-cultural evangelism. They would be people who would be involved in changing the social justice—be involved in that ministry to the poor—so they have a desire to see the whole community that they are involved with, the towns they are involved with, changed and made into a kingdom community. It’s people who understand, “We do not exist for ourselves, but we exist for them.” So the way we spend our money, the way we staff our churches, the way our churches feel, the way they operate, have that outward appeal. And it’s a God-centered approach to humanity rather than an inward, “What about me and my needs?” It’s a man-centered approach . . . If we can get outstanding churches in each of these 100 large cities, and out from that, begin to reproduce ourselves—because I’m fanatical on reproducing churches. We must not just plant churches, but we [want to] see churches that view themselves as reproducing churches multiply themselves, raise up leaders, give themselves away, spread out in the communities and the nations beyond."

— John Lanferman

Here is a list of those 100 cities. With the new sense of urgency in our movement following the Brighton conference, you could be finding a reformed charismatic church starting near you sooner than you think if you live in one of them. I would be only too happy to pass e-mails on to the relevant people if YOU live in one of these cities and would like to play a part in seeing this vision come to fruition. Attending one of our USA conferences would be a good first step.
Please join me in mentioning each of these cities before the Lord in prayer as you finish reading this post. May each of them soon have a reformed charismatic church. Actually, most of them will need more than one church given their size. This table shows three columns—the city, its state, and the population:

1	New York	New York	&0000000008250567.0000008,250,567
2	Los Angeles	California	&0000000003849378.0000003,849,378
3	Chicago	Illinois	&0000000002833321.0000002,833,321
4	Houston	Texas	&0000000002144491.0000002,144,491
5	Phoenix	Arizona	&0000000001512986.0000001,512,986
6	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	&0000000001448394.0000001,448,394
7	San Antonio	Texas	&0000000001296682.0000001,296,682
8	San Diego	California	&0000000001256951.0000001,256,951
9	Dallas	Texas	&0000000001232940.0000001,232,940
10	San Jose	California	&0000000000929936.000000929,936
11	Detroit	Michigan	&0000000000918849.000000918,849
12	Jacksonville	Florida	&0000000000794555.000000794,555
13	Indianapolis	Indiana	&0000000000785597.000000785,597
14	San Francisco	California	&0000000000744041.000000744,041
15	Columbus	Ohio	&0000000000733203.000000733,203
16	Austin	Texas	&0000000000709893.000000709,893
17	Memphis	Tennessee	&0000000000670902.000000670,902
18	Fort Worth	Texas	&0000000000653320.000000653,320
19	Baltimore	Maryland	&0000000000640961.000000640,961
20	Charlotte	North Carolina	&0000000000630478.000000630,478
21	El Paso	Texas	&0000000000609415.000000609,415
22	Milwaukee	Wisconsin	&0000000000602782.000000602,782
23	Boston	Massachusetts	&0000000000590763.000000590,763
24	Seattle	Washington	&0000000000582454.000000582,454
25	Washington	District of Columbia	&0000000000581530.000000581,530
26	Denver	Colorado	&0000000000566974.000000566,974
27	Louisville	Kentucky	&0000000000554496.000000554,496
28	Las Vegas	Nevada	&0000000000552539.000000552,539
29	Nashville	Tennessee	&0000000000552120.000000552,120
30	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	&0000000000537734.000000537,734
31	Portland	Oregon	&0000000000537081.000000537,081
32	Tucson	Arizona	&0000000000518956.000000518,956
33	Albuquerque	New Mexico	&0000000000504949.000000504,949
34	Atlanta	Georgia	&0000000000486411.000000486,411
35	Long Beach	California	&0000000000472494.000000472,494
36	Fresno	California	&0000000000466714.000000466,714
37	Sacramento	California	&0000000000453781.000000453,781
38	Mesa	Arizona	&0000000000447541.000000447,541
39	Kansas City	Missouri	&0000000000447306.000000447,306
40	Cleveland	Ohio	&0000000000444323.000000444,323
41	Virginia Beach	Virginia	&0000000000435619.000000435,619
42	Omaha	Nebraska	&0000000000427872.000000427,872
43	Miami	Florida	&0000000000404048.000000404,048
44	Oakland	California	&0000000000397067.000000397,067
45	Tulsa	Oklahoma	&0000000000382872.000000382,872
46	Honolulu	Hawaii	&0000000000377357.000000377,357
47	Minneapolis	Minnesota	&0000000000372833.000000372,833
48	Colorado Springs	Colorado	&0000000000372437.000000372,437
49	Arlington	Texas	&0000000000367197.000000367,197
50	Wichita	Kansas	&0000000000357698.000000357,698
51	Raleigh	North Carolina	&0000000000356321.000000356,321
52	St. Louis	Missouri	&0000000000353837.000000353,837
53	Santa Ana	California	&0000000000340024.000000340,024
54	Anaheim	California	&0000000000334425.000000334,425
55	Tampa	Florida	&0000000000332888.000000332,888
56	Cincinnati	Ohio	&0000000000332252.000000332,252
57	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	&0000000000312819.000000312,819
58	Bakersfield	California	&0000000000308392.000000308,392
59	Aurora	Colorado	&0000000000303582.000000303,582
60	Toledo	Ohio	&0000000000298446.000000298,446
61	Riverside	California	&0000000000293761.000000293,761
62	Stockton	California	&0000000000290141.000000290,141
63	Corpus Christi	Texas	&0000000000285267.000000285,267
64	Newark	New Jersey	&0000000000281402.000000281,402
65	Anchorage	Alaska	&0000000000278700.000000278,700
66	Buffalo	New York	&0000000000276059.000000276,059
67	St. Paul	Minnesota	&0000000000273535.000000273,535
68	Lexington	Kentucky	&0000000000270789.000000270,789
69	Plano	Texas	&0000000000255009.000000255,009
70	Fort Wayne	Indiana	&0000000000248637.000000248,637
71	St. Petersburg	Florida	&0000000000248098.000000248,098
72	Glendale	Arizona	&0000000000246531.000000246,531
73	Jersey City	New Jersey	&0000000000241789.000000241,789
74	Lincoln	Nebraska	&0000000000241167.000000241,167
75	Henderson	Nevada	&0000000000240614.000000240,614
76	Chandler	Arizona	&0000000000240595.000000240,595
77	Norfolk	Virginia	&0000000000238832.000000238,832
78	Greensboro	North Carolina	&0000000000236865.000000236,865
79	Scottsdale	Arizona	&0000000000231127.000000231,127
80	Baton Rouge	Louisiana	&0000000000229553.000000229,553
81	Birmingham	Alabama	&0000000000229424.000000229,424
82	Madison	Wisconsin	&0000000000223389.000000223,389
83	New Orleans	Louisiana	&0000000000223388.000000223,388
84	Chesapeake	Virginia	&0000000000220560.000000220,560
85	Orlando	Florida	&0000000000220186.000000220,186
86	Garland	Texas	&0000000000217963.000000217,963
87	Hialeah	Florida	&0000000000217141.000000217,141
88	Laredo	Texas	&0000000000215484.000000215,484
89	Chula Vista	California	&0000000000212756.000000212,756
90	Lubbock	Texas	&0000000000212169.000000212,169
91	Reno	Nevada	&0000000000210255.000000210,255
92	Akron	Ohio	&0000000000209704.000000209,704
93	Durham	North Carolina	&0000000000209009.000000209,009
94	Rochester	New York	&0000000000208123.000000208,123
95	Modesto	California	&0000000000205721.000000205,721
96	Montgomery	Alabama	&0000000000201998.000000201,998
97	Fremont	California	&0000000000201691.000000201,691
98	Shreveport	Louisiana	&0000000000200199.000000200,199
99	Arlington	Virginia	&0000000000199776.000000199,776
100	Glendale	California	&0000000000199463.000000199,463

Source:
Wikipedia—List of United States Cities by Population

Terry Virgo has blogged about the recent Mark Driscoll visit. You really should go read the whole thing, but here is an excerpt:

Pettiness and small-mindedness don’t stand a chance when he cuts loose with his burning desire to see Christ glorified in our generation. His radical priorities and decision-making are deeply rooted in a passion to confront our contemporaries with gospel truth.

Being convinced of the authority of Scripture and the sovereignty of God, his driven urgency does not yield to a pragmatism that cuts corners. Big Biblical principles shape his thinking and his practice.

Few can be ahead of him in his radical application of modern means of communication. Literally millions of downloads of his preaching are being made all around the world and his commitment to multi-campus church speaks of a brilliant entrepreneurial style.

His humour, often expressed in hilarious one-liners, makes him so fascinating to listen to. One example: ‘A guy who won’t take responsibility is not really a man, he’s just a boy who shaves.’

Biting relevance also characterises him, whether he is challenging young people about moral purity or confronting a movement about its need to face the future not with nostalgia but with courage and decisiveness. He really gets under your skin! He could have simply given us a few good sermons, but he certainly didn’t settle for that!"

Read More . . .

Yesterday I preached at Jubilee and thought, as usual, that I would share my notes and the audio here. But before I get to that, since it's Monday and my habit in "normal" times is to share a quote with you from Doctor Martyn Lloyd-Jones, this quote is a good one to begin with as, in many ways, it sets the scene for what I was preaching on.

"What should we be seeking? We should always be seeking the Lord Jesus Christ himself, to know him, and know his love and to be witnesses for him and to minister to his glory . . . The Apostle Paul says that the height of his ambition is 'that I might know him'. Not that he might have experiences, but that he 'might know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings' etc.... We should seek to know him and his love. You see, we are told of the Spirit, 'The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us.'

Now take that great term again, 'shed abroad'. Do not put your little limit to it and say, 'Oh yes, I love God'. Paul says that the love of God is 'shed abroad' in great profusion, overwhelmingly, in our hearts. Now that is what we should seek. We believe in God, in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the doctrines of salvation. All right! But the question that confronts us at this particular point is not that of believing, but love! A belief that does not lead to love is a very doubtful belief, it may be nothing but intellectual assent. The emphasis of the Bible is always upon love .... 'What is the first and the chiefest commandment?' Not that 'thou shalt believe in the Lord thy God', but that 'thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and all thy soul, and all thy mind, and all thy strength' ....

There is nothing that will enable a man to do that but the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You can believe and in a sense have a measure of love; but the thing put before us is not just a measure of love, it is an abounding love .....

Here, then, is the question—to what extent do we know this love of God to us and how do we love God? We are meant to love him with the whole of our being and there is nothing that can make us do so but the love of God shed abroad in our hearts ....

This is New Testament Christianity! New Testament Christianity is not just a formal, polite, correct, and orthodox kind of faith and belief. No! What characterizes it is this element of love and passion, this pneumatic element, this life, this vigour, this abandon, this exuberance—and, as I say, it has ever characterized the life of the church in all periods of revival and of reawakening. That is what we must seek—not experiences, not power, not gifts. If he chooses to give them to us, thank God for them and exercise them to his glory, but the only safe way of receiving gifts is that you love him and that you know him."

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Joy Unspeakable, The Baptism and Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Ed. Christopher Catherwood, Kingsway Publications: Eastbourne, 1995, pp. 360-361.

You can download my sermon or listen to it right here:


Philippians 3 is a great passage. In some ways, it's one of my favorite passages, one God has kept bringing me back to over the years.

The Apostle starts this passage with the phrase, “Finally, REJOICE in the LORD” — and he is going to come back to that, but as he says that, he almost gets excited and goes off into a bit of a tangent, a diversion that will be our subject today. It's almost as if that word "Lord" triggers something in him, because for him the Lord is, of course, Jesus. It excites him and he starts to think about our subject today. He starts off by saying, "Look, it's good for me to remind you of these things." And sometimes I think when we hear God's Word, especially if we've been Christians a long time, we think, "Oh, yeah, I know it all" — and, in a sense, there will be nothing new today. So why does he say these things?

Paul gets angry. Preachers get angry. Why? Because TRUTH MATTERS. He has strong opposition to false teaching. Urges them STRONGLY to avoid DOGS—not talking about pets here! Talking about "street dogs," dangerous dogs, potential killers. But can be disguised to look like sheep. Watch out for those who mutilate flesh. Outwardly appear on God's side. Wolves in sheep's clothing. So Paul then asks what are the marks of living as a true Christian?

MARKS OF LIVING AS A CHRISTIAN

• Christians have the "real circumcision" i.e. HEARTS cut out, new heart, regenerated, devoted to Jesus. It's not about externals— circumcision, clothing, hair styles, etc. (verse 3).
  
  
• Christians are worshippers, every moment of every day, looking for opportunity to give God glory (verse 3).
  
  
• Christians worship by the Spirit of God — no confidence in the flesh, not man-empowered. Christians are Spirit-empowered (verse 3).
  
  
• Christians glory in Jesus—the one we honor, delight in. Paul could have written our church motto “It's all about Jesus.”
  
  
• Christians have no confidence in human ability/qualifications (verse 3ff) Paul was the Jew of Jews. Thought killing Christians was serving God. You can be sincerely WRONG! He was religiously blameless, but a murderer!! Hypocrisy of religion knows no bounds. But we are not looking for holy people here, rather people who know they need God. Jesus didn't come for the righteous, but for sinners.
  
  
• BIGGEST mark of living as a Christian is simply this: LIVING TO KNOW JESUS

WHAT DOES "LIVING TO KNOW JESUS" LOOK LIKE? WHAT ARE THE RESULTS?

A DECISION — everything is DUNG compared to the SURPASSING WORTH of knowing him, the risen, ascended, glorious, loving King. COUNTS everything unimportant. Do the math! (verses 7-8).

A LOSS — of everything! “I have suffered the loss of all things ...” (verse 8).

A GAIN — “... that I may gain Christ and be found in him” (verse 8).

A HIDING PLACE — from the world “in Christ” and from God's wrath (verse 9).

AN ALIEN RIGHTEOUSNESS — a righteousness that comes from outside of ourself, a goodness. But it's only those who know Christ. “Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (verse 9).

But notice this! It doesn't stop there! There's a goal, not just that your sins will be forgiven, as glorious as that is. Not just that I might feel better, or not feel guilty anymore. Danger of turning gospel into merely something that deals with our felt needs. Rather, A PRECIOUS RELATIONSHIP — THAT I MAY KNOW HIM!!!! We were made to have a relationship with Jesus. He wants us to know him. That's the goal! It's not merely about being religious!

A POWERFUL FORCE — the power of his resurrection (verse 10). Christians should be conscious of the glorious power of the resurrection pulsating through their bodies. This is the heritage of the Christian. [Jonathan Edwards' quote—See below.]

A COMMUNITY OF SUFFERING — Not all glorious, however. Don't want to deceive. We share also with him in his suffering Become like him in his death (verse 10).

A GLORIOUS RESURRECTION — But also become like him in his resurrection. A glorious resurrection to come, but also experienced even in the here and now. (verse 11). “Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead” — a perfect relationship with Jesus in heaven. But God says in this passage you don't have to wait until heaven for "pie in the sky" when you die. There is cake on your plate while you wait! There is an obtaining, even in the here and now. Live the resurrection empowered life—know the power of God at work in me, experientially today to foretaste what will be mine in perfection in glory (verse 12ff).

Paul finishes the chapter by talking about an example for others to follow — “Imitate me, follow me, keep your eyes on people who are walking this way, copy them.”

Example not to follow: those who are enemies of the cross. But Christians don't glory in the damnation of anyone. Don't have enemies we are angry with, but have enemies for whom we weep. The belly is their god (their desires), running after flesh, whether food, sex, new clothes, etc. But for us, our bodies will be transformed, become like Jesus. They glory in their shame; we glory in our Saviour. Their end is destruction; our citizenship is in heaven. Not of this world (verse 17ff).

Background Quote

"Once, as I rode out into the woods for my health in 1737, having alighted from my horse in a retired place, as my manner commonly has been, to walk for divine contemplation and prayer, I had a view that for me was extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of God as Mediator between God and man, and His wonderful, great, full, pure and sweet grace and love, and meek and gentle condescension. This grace that appeared so calm and sweet, appeared also great above the heavens. The Person of Christ appeared ineffably excellent, with an excellency great enough to swallow up all thought and conception, which continued, as near as I can judge, about an hour, which kept me the greater part of the time in a flood of tears and weeping aloud . . . I felt an ardency of soul to be, what I know not otherwise how to express, emptied and annihilated; to lie in the dust and to be full of Christ alone; to love Him with a holy and pure love; to trust in Him; to live upon Him; to serve and follow Him and to be perfectly sanctified and made pure with a divine and heavenly purity.” (Jonathan Edwards, cited by Martyn Lloyd-Jones in An Exposition of Ephesians 1, God's Ultimate Purpose, p. 275)

This little video was used for the New Word Alive 2008 conference and does a great job of summarizing the glorious message of the Bible, which is that God forgives fallen people like you and me!

One of my habits is that once per year I like to share with you a list of the top traffic referrers to my blog. This excludes search engines and blog aggregators. This time I thought I'd do it for half a year. So, here is the list for the first six months of 2008. You can compare the 2007 list — positions are placed in brackets after the current one.

There are a few things that are worth noting. For the first time I have included some interesting data which says something about the "quality" of the referrals. It seems that the readers of different websites vary in their level of interest in my blog and the length of time and number of pages they tend to look at. Also, partly depending on how well established a site is, and how well worn the path is between them and this site, we see big variations in the percentage of visitors referred that are new to adrianwarnock.com

There are a couple of new entrants to the list which suggest to me that there is a whole audience of Christian website readers who do not frequent some of the typical Christian blog sites. So, for example, not only was desiringgod the top referrer, but they sent a high proportion of new readers and high-quality readers who spent plenty of time at my site reading other pages.

Some of the old faithful top blogs sent readers, only one-third of whom were new to the site. A noticeable exception to this was my old buddy, David Wayne (The Jolly blogger), as a significant portion of his referrals came over here for the first time.

There are also a lot of readers coming from Twitter and Facebook, which are not exactly blog aggregators, and I suspect we will see these two services grow in importance in their ability to drive readers. The Facebook Blognetwork service has been especially helpful for me in finding other Christian blogs.

I have a sneaky feeling that there are a whole new population of potential readers for Christian blogs that actually don't yet frequent any of the top blogs. I am fairly sure that a number of newcomers to my blog over the last few months fall into that category. Some of them haven't even heard of a blog, and might not even realize that this is one.

I have noticed an increase in readers of the blog since I got rid of comments, and I wonder if some of the non-blog readering public who are finding their way here are actually put off by the vigorous debates often seen in comments sections. Does anyone reading here really miss the comments section? I know I don't.

Since stopping the comments I have seen large increase in the number of appreciative e-mails I receive from readers, which suggests to me that these new readers are a nice bunch. I often have a smile on my face these days as I read my e-mails. So, thanks very much everybody, your feedback makes this all worthwhile. And thanks to everyone who has linked here, even those that didn't make the top 40 as links—even on less well-read blogs—are definitely crucial in helping people find this and other blogs to read.

I'd love to hear from you if you fall into this group of people who have found my website in the last six months and who don't really read many other blogs. Drop me an e-mail at adrian.warnock@gmail.com and let me know how you found the blog and what you do and don't like about it.

Without any further ado, here are my top 40 referrers:

Position (previous)		Ave Pages per Visit	Ave Time on Site	Per Cent New to This Site
1. (27)	desiringgod.org	3.15	00:06:22	57.15%
2. (3)	challies.com	2.10	00:02:24	32.36%
3. (1)	theologica.blogspot.com	2.13	00:02:28	34.55%
4. (4)	en.wikipedia.org	2.64	00:04:55	78.73%
5. (5)	thebluefish.org	1.95	00:02:15	18.19%
6. (2)	teampyro.blogspot.com	1.79	00:01:52	33.78%
7. (10)	janga.biz/terryvirgoblog	2.91	00:04:18	24.36%
8. (-)	newwordalive.org	3.72	00:04:40	53.03%
9. (16)	facebook.com	2.30	00:03:17	42.30%
10. (9)	hughhewitt.townhall.com	2.69	00:04:02	20.26%
11. (8)	benwitherington.blogspot.com	2.13	00:02:16