This message was preached by Ray Lowe who is a part of Regions Beyond an apostolic sphere within Newfrontiers Intl.
Ray shares on what the the major influences that have shaped us as Newfrontiers. What is our history and where are we going from here.
You can hear the audio by clicking here.
Ray Lowe - Where we've come from .
Five years ago I helped plant a church on the Isle of White.
But prior to that, 5 years before I had preached at a conference of 5 churches
there. The next day we had a Q&A and they asked why the charismatic
churches of the 1960s have diminished but Newfrontiers has continued to grow.
There are 3 reasons I have put down. 1. The Bible is still
the ultimate authority.2 We have never given up on church as the vehicle for
change and 3. Terry has always looked out for the increase and multiplication
of leaders.
Every movement has its DNA and so do we.
There are 8 influences in our DNA
1 Scripture –
we have never departed from this and this is the only way
(Acts 11:19) to establish NT churches. Barnabas discovered that Jews and gentiles could worship together
without having to be circumcised. Paul has had a decade of frustration because
he longed for “one new man” but it’s only with Barnabas he saw that it was
possible.
Having a year of teaching, what did he teach? On, One New
Man in Christ. The grace that is evident in Anticoh and that what he models
after.
The Dynamic and power of God. When Paul goes to Ephesus and
prays for the Holy Spirit. This was another model. It does not take much for
heresy to creep in depart from scripture. In the early church the Gnostic
heretics were very charismatic and dynamic. Ignatius’ letter towards the close
of the first century syas there is no apostle, no prophets and gifts.
Then we have the century’s of persecution till the 4th
century. Constantine adopts Christianity and owe it become s the official
religion of the Empire and Christianity gets watered down and the leading Church
fathers become leading politicians and heresy gets into the church.
So for us Scripture
is our first protocol.
2. Reformers
In 1516 Erasmus translated the bible into Greek and he wrote
a commentary on how scripture has been corrupted to give in and how doctrine
has been corrupted. He was not a Reformer but he put tools into the hands of the
reformers to study for them. So Luther, Zwingli etc were the Reformers. The
issue was can you sell indulgences. Zwingli was challenging the doctrine of the
church in Switzerland and then in 1521 in Germany the taught of the Word of God
was coming through and Jesus ( and not all the saints etc ) became the object
of worship once again.
INFLUENCE THREE - The
Anabaptists’ understanding of a gathered community
Ulrich Zwingli became the leading
minister of the church in Zurich and was commissioned by the state authorities
to turn the church to evangelicalism. .
A disputation took place, the outcome was inevitable and those disagreeing
with Zwingli were ordered to present their children for baptism by
sprinkling. Those believing in a
“Gathered Church” split and formed independent churches and began to baptise
one another by immersion (hence name “again baptisers”). For this, they were imprisoned and many
executed by drowning. This was a blight
on Zwingli and the Zurich authorities.
Anabaptist’s notion of church as a community of believers was a great
influence on later denominations, especially the Baptists in 17th
century.
Despite constant persecution by both the
Zwinglians, Lutherans and Roman Catholics, they appointed travelling ministries
to evangelise and start new congregations.
It is reckoned some 5000 were martyred for their faith.
INFLUENCE FIVE - 18th century missionary movement
Surprising as it is, English speaking Evangelicals
did not take seriously the “Great Commission to go into the world and preach
the gospel” until the end of the 18th century. William Carey, a young Baptist pastor much
influenced by the Moravian leader Count Zinzendorf, raised the issue among the
Northamptonshire Baptist Association. At
first he was almost ridiculed, the famous response “Young man, if God wants to
save the Pagans, He will do it without your help and mine.” Carey left for India and landed in Calcutta
November 1793. Hostile authorities
sought to forbid his labours but amidst personal hardship and off time
depression, he pressed on until by the end of his life in 1834 he paved the way
for the establishment of many missionary societies.
Carey’s influence has often gone
unrecognised as he was more than a preacher.
Areas of influence
Education in both spiritual and secular
fields - appointed by Governor of India to train civil servants and future leaders of
India.
Reformer – Many Indian superstitions
practiced were abolished by Act of Parliament ie Sati (burning of widow),
slavery (great supporter of Wilberforce).
Translator – Translated Bible into many
languages and parts thereof into 26 languages.
Team builder – Serampore Trio, famous
for work in the community, set up with openness, honesty and mutual submission
and admonition.
By his death, he had set up 19 mission
stations, appointed some 50 missionaries of whom only 6 were European and seen
1000s saved and baptised. Against all
odds, he became rightly called “The Father of Modern Missions”.
Married 3 times, lost several children,
including his son and co-worker Felix at 37 years of age.
INFLUENCE SIX - The Pentecostals
1898 Charles Parham living in Topeka,
near Kansas City, leaves his 40 students
to study the early chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. 3 days later each state it seemed the baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in
tongues was central to the missionary success of the Early Church (first 30
years). Agnes Osman has hands laid on
her and can only speak in Chinese for 3 days.
Each of the other 39 students speaks in known languages and later go as
missionaries to those countries. (Such a
corporate manifestation of the Holy Spirit not evidenced since Pentecost.) Parham was generally given a hostile response
by the church and became an itinerant evangelist in the Kansas City area. It is reported some 2 million came to faith
before his death in 1927.
W.J. Seymour, a black pastor much
influenced by Parham, moved to Los Angeles where he was mightily used by God in
what is known as the Azusa Street Revival.
For several years, many evangelicals worldwide visited and received an
anointing of the Holy Spirit. From Azusa
Street, Pentecostalism spread around the world and such men as Smith Wigglesworth,
William Branham and the Jeffrey Brothers were raised up. Again the orthodox evangelical church did not
embrace the Pentecostal Movement, some even calling it a “cult”.
INFLUENCE SEVEN - The Restoration Movement
Post war Europe, especially the UK, was
spiritually dry. Only bright spots were
Billy Graham’s visits in the mid 60’s but church not ready for those responding
to Graham’s brand of evangelicalism.
However there were many in the mainstream denominations dissatisfied
with their personal spirituality and church life in general. A young Church of England clergyman Michael
Harper, gathered a few like minded friends and re-discovered the baptism of the
Holy Spirit from studying the early chapters of Acts. Less emphasis on tongues but an emphasis on a
deeper personal walk with Jesus and sensitivity to Holy Spirit promptings. However, again not welcomed by majority of
evangelical Anglicans and “splits” began to take place. Slowly Evangelicals left the mainstream
denominations and met informally for worship, fellowship and ministry in houses
but as they grew began to hire school halls etc and then later purchased
buildings to house their church family.
Beginning in the 1960s this movement had various names, such as “House
Church Movement”, “New Churches”, “Restorationists”. Their theological
differences were not immediately highlighted as main aim was to restore church
to its former glory and to reach the masses.
Among those who influenced this were Arthur Wallace, Bryn Jones, Ern
Baxter, Terry Virgo, Gerald Coates, John Noble etc.
In recent years, much of restoration
influences has been adopted by the denominational churches but begs the old
question “Can you put new wine into an old wine skin?”.
INFLUENCE EIGHT - Terry Virgo,
father of Newfrontiers
He can tell us his own story but Terry
Virgo, converted as a happy pagan with little religious background, found his
relationship with Jesus a lot better than the church he attended. Dissatisfied, he went to a renewal meeting in
London and there encountered the Holy Spirit.
After a year as a door to door evangelist living by faith, he spent 3
years studying at London Bible College and took on the pastorate at Seaford
Free Evangelical Church but on the condition that he had freedom to build on
New Testament principals as well as New Testament practice. After some opposition, he began to enjoy
fellowship with the people named “Restorationists” – Arthur Wallace, Bryn Jones
and prophetically gifted David Mansell.
Soon it became clear to them that Terry had a growing apostolic ministry
and they encouraged him to pursue that, first on the South Coast and South
London. This led to the Downs Bible
Weeks followed by Stoneleigh which over 2 weeks gathered some 30,000. Guided much by prophetic words as well as the
Scriptures, Terry took Coastlands (with a vision of restoration in South East
England) to Newfrontiers International with a global vision. Terry raised up 100s of leaders in his time,
many of whom served on mission worldwide in Terry’s apostolic sphere.
In 2011, Terry released those apostolic
leaders who served alongside him worldwide to develop and multiply apostolic
spheres whilst still remaining part of the Newfrontiers family of worldwide
churches. Terry remains the father of
Newfrontiers but increasingly takes the message of grace and the dynamic of the
Holy Spirit to church leaders in many nations.
CONCLUSION
Is our history important, should we not
be more concerned about the present and the future? Some would say we can dwell too much on the
past but I personally do not agree with that.
We must always remember that this is not mere history but God’s ongoing
record of His dealings with His people until He wraps it all up.
Knowing what our forbears have achieved,
even failed and struggled with, should cause us to worship intelligently the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has purposed to have a people of
His own and for us to rejoice that He has mercifully caught us up in this great
calling of taking Christ to the nations.
In surveying our ancestry, there are many lessons to learn, heroes of
the faith to honour and emulate and mistakes not to repeat. It is for us now to make our own history and
leave a mark on our generation.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
Ray Lowe’s recommended reading list.
Reading material I have found helpful
and enlightening
Rodney Stark - The
Rise of Christianity
Jerome Murphy-O’Connor - Paul
his Story
Heiko A. Oberman -
Luther, a man between the devil and God
Prof. Stephen Neil - A
History of Christian Mission
Roberts Liardon -
God’s Generals I
Julian Wilson -
Wigglesworth
John Pollock -
Whitefield, the Evangelist
John Pollock -
Wesley, the Preacher
Terry Virgo - No
well worn paths
Ray Lowe - www.tabletalks.co.uk
Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again), Spirit filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that have people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. To know more about us please log ontowww.wordofgracechurch.org.
English Language Service Sundays at 10am. Please check google maps for directions!
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