The main speaker at this year's Brighton conference is non other than Mark Driscoll. Driscoll leads on the fastest growing churches in the USA gathering about 8,000 on a Sunday. He also leads a network of churches that planted more than 100 churches. He's a author and perhaps the most influential pastor under 40 years old.
His time with us has been very beneficial. I think he is serving us very well. I thought you might want to read what he has to say about us. I cut and pasted this off his blog. If you want to read the whole thing, click here.
A healthy mix of Word and Spirit The Newfrontiers folks are a very healthy mix of Word and Spirit. They love the Bible and the leading of God the Holy Spirit. Sometimes in the States those who are charismatic are negatively influenced by health and wealth teachers who say that, in essence, if you have enough faith you do not need to be like Jesus and endure pain or poverty. In contrast, somehow the folks I am meeting from around the world who are connected to Newfrontiers have a healthy biblical reformed theology complemented with an active and biblical view of the person and work of the Holy Spirit and exercise of all spiritual gifts. I have always believed in the perpetuity of all the spiritual gifts (including such things as tongues and prophecy) but have not had much experience in seeing them exercised biblically, so being in circles like this is very insightful and instructive. Yesterday, for example, a pastor from Africa (PJ Smyth) shared a prophetic word about the Father’s love for Jesus his Son and it was incredibly biblically rooted and emotionally moving.
Lastly, the people have been fantastic. My new African friend Pastor Tope who leads a growing church in London has been our host and rarely have I met a man whom I enjoy more than him so hanging with him has been a delight. I am eager to preach to his people on Sunday and honor their pastor who has been so gracious to me. We have been loved, served, and encouraged well. I’ve also been using the Mac to iChat with my family, which is great. Although I am gone, seeing the five smiling, laughing, funny-face-making kids of mine is a boost of joy. And nothing beats seeing your wife’s smile as often as possible, especially when on the road.
