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It is amazing that those whom God has used in both the Toronto and Pensacola outpourings are now standing with Todd Bentley in the Lakeland Revival. They are as desperate for men and women all over the world to be saved, healed and brought to life in Jesus Christ as Todd is. This is a privileged day to be serving God.
Be inspired as these men honour Todd!
Steve Hill & John Kilpatrick pray for Todd
I have been in relationship with Dr. C. Peter Wagner for many years now as a member of the International Coalition of Apostles. I trust his scriptural expertise as one who has ministered and taught for over 40 years. I have witnessed his personal walk of holiness and his desire to keep pressing into God for all He desires to do in and through His church in the 21st century.
I said yes to participate in Todd Bentley's commissioning service in Lakeland because I believe God is at work in this young man's life. The preaching of the gospel is confirmed by signs and wonders following. Hundreds of people of all ages are giving their lives to Jesus Christ and becoming disciples.
Seeing so many people worshiping the living God night after night is refreshing indeed.
Here is Dr. Wagner's admonition to Todd and the three men who will provide oversight in his life - John Arnott, Bill Johnson and Che Ahn.
Enjoy!
View YouTube rendition at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVdY9ufJmz8
A Night To Remember
Dr. C. Peter Wagner asked me to join him on the platform along with others who would commission Todd Bentely as an apostolic evangelist.This was an honour for me knowing that Todd would be in relationship with some of the key leaders God has used in our modern day renewals and revivals.
It was a night filled with excitement as over 10,000 people gathered to worship, pray and witness this historic event.
Todd honoured the fathers who had preceded him in revival like C. Peter Wagner, John Arnott, Bill Johnson and Che Ahn. He wanted their blessing and covering as he walked forward in this outpouring. In another blog I will outline the call given by Dr. Wagner, it was rich in scripture and authoritative as a globally accepted apostolic leader.
Here is the portion of the night dedicated to the commissioning.
For those reading this blog, I am the one dressed in Canadian red and white. When it was my turn to speak blessing, I chose to acknowledge Todd's step of honouring the fathers in the land as a son who has been blessed to enjoy the fruitful labours of others.
Enjoy!
View YouTube commissioning at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A05WQYi7aQ
I left the first evening meeting early - 10:30 pm - to spend some time alone with the Lord. What was my journey like? Where was I at in my walk with Him? Are there areas He is dealing with or needing to heal in my life?
Rob Parker, Director of the National House of Prayer in Ottawa, Canada, arrived at the hotel at 12:45 am and we talked until 2am. We were looking forward to meeting up with Terry Appel of Australia as well as Gerry & Marcia Plunkett of Montreal before heading off to the next meeting.
After a good night’s rest and breakfast we made our way to Ignited Church in Lakeland, pastored by Stephen Strader of the Assemblies of God. The church parking lot was full and we were directed to a parking lot across the street. Don't you just love revival crowds? Would to God every church parking lot was full service after service. What makes people hungry to attend church every morning and night?
The folks gathered at 10 am in a local church in Lakeland, Florida were from all walks of life, ages and nationalities.
What was common was the hunger for God and the genuine desire to worship Him in Spirit and Truth as Jesus admonishes us to in John 4.
Worship ended with Psalm 103 and the admonition that we never forget the blessings of the Lord in our lives. What are some of His blessings in your life?
The speaker drew our attention to the Song of Solomon and the need for intimacy in our relationship with Jesus.
The focus of the message was on the journey to spiritual intimacy with the Lord - something we seem to be in short supply of in the western church context. We are good at being cerebral but not so good at relational intimacy with Him or even with each other.
The morning offering, with no compulsion, was from Psalm 106 and the precious seed we sow into the expenses and fruit of revival. I see offerings as investments in God's kingdom.
An example of spiritual balance was given that we have heard before.
Evangelicals, focused on the Word only, can find themselves drying up.
Pentecostals, focused on the Spirit only, can find themselves blowing up.
But healthy followers of Jesus learning to balance the Word & Spirit are enabled to grow up.
More Lord, more!
I travelled to Lakeland, Florida for the sole purpose of visiting what is being called ‘The Florida Outpouring’ with Canadian evangelist Todd Bentley. He is a young man with his body covered in tattoos, piercings and a real life passion for Jesus.
What surprised me was the excitement I felt as I left the hotel for the Sunday evening meeting. I passed lots of churches that were closed on Sunday night and ended up at the Lakeland Airport where I had to park in an empty field because there were so many people attending.
The meetings are being held in two large ‘tents’ at the Sun N’ Fun museum. Inside there were thousands of thirsty and hungry people worshipping God, lifting their hands, dancing and praising Him. People were there from over 40 nations. They were young and old, rich and poor, healthy and sick, all gathered to worship the Lord, rejoice in His Presence and expect more.
I saw the flags of many nations, especially European, where the light of the gospel has dimmed considerably. Here were saints, poised to receive for themselves and their nations as tears streamed down their faces as they cried out to God for an outpouring in their country.
Todd shared his journey since coming to Christ at 18. He also went on record and indicated that the revival was only really beginning on June 22, 2008 even though it had been going since April 2nd. This was the firstfruit meeting being given to the Lord alone.
He talked about his 18 month ‘dark night of the soul’ season that ended in 2007. That suffering, prepares you for glory. He described the price of following Jesus and how the Lord took him back to childhood experiences and healed him, his marriage and ministry.
It was a time of vulnerability and honesty. Very refreshing even though it was not an issue of sin but rather burnout and emptiness because he wasn't ready to listen to those who really cared for his soul.
The evening ended in worship and ministry as Todd read from Psalm 24 and asked the question, “Who can ascend into the hill of the Lord?”
Tonight was wonderful, uplifting and honouring to Jesus.
I am looking forward to the morning meeting at Ignited Church in Lakeland.
When you find yourself in discussion and needing to make decisions,
ask yourself the following questions.
1. What? What did I hear that applies to me and where I am?
2. What now? What do I have to do with what I have heard right now?
3. What next? What are some subsequent steps I should take to move what I have heard and need to apply forward?
4. What else? What other areas of my life and ministry are affected by my conversations and what do I need to do about them?
Jesus made the main thing, the main thing, all the time.
Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus said, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
He was always making disciples and He has told us to do the same.
How do you or how does your church create venues for disciple making?
Are they effective?
What makes them effective? Or, why are they not effective?
If you could add one thing to your church, what would it be? What would you take away?
What is one thing you would not want to lose for anything?
Most people come to faith in Christ while they are young. What is your church doing to ensure the missional priority of children, youth and young adults?
I had the honour of attending Canada’s First Leadership Connection held at Braeside Camp in Paris, Ontario on June 16-17, 2008.
Over 50 network leaders representing major denominations, fellowships and ministries met to build friendships, share stories and learn from one another.
Author Bill Esaum who wrote Dancing with Dinosaurs, describes about five levels of pastoral leadership common in most local churches.
1. Maintenance leader. Those who basically minister out of 'grace and mercy' and are rarely effective in dealing with challenging people or visionary leadership that makes the church more effective.
2. Professional leader. Their ego needs are met by the affirmations of ministry.
3. Adaptor leaders. Does not identify the levels of adaptation but rather talks about them as being the pastors most gifted at taking new ideas and making them apply in local settings that bring health and growth to the church.
4. Innovative leader. They produce the ideas that get adapted by others.
5. Charismatic leader. They get things done in their generation but are usually do not reproduce replicable models.
All of us in ministry need time to connect with each other but especially with those who are fruitful. We can learn much from these leaders.
Does the old saying, "you are who you hang around with", apply to pastors?
Questions
1. How many missional, fruitful pastors would you know in your community?
2. What systems do you have in place to provide continued education for pastors related to missional needs?
3. What will it take to adequately or significantly prepare the next generation of church leaders?
What is the mission of the church?
I had the honour of attending Canada’s First Leadership Connection held at Braeside Camp in Paris, Ontario on June 16-17, 2008.
Over 50 network leaders representing major denominations, fellowships and ministries met to build friendships, share stories and learn from one another.
Jim Garlow of Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego recently said, "The job of the church is to re-package Jesus about every four years for the culture changes so rapidly. Most people do not reject Jesus, they are simply ignorant of Him."
1. What, where and who are the churches in your area that have stayed missional?
2. What makes them missional?
3. Are the models or methods they have used replicable?
Bill Hybels of Willow Creek was honest enough to ask the tough questions of where his church was at in reaching people today. Even though Willow is a mega-church, they chose not to rest on their fruitfulness but rather to challenge the culture of their church community and see if they were effective in empowering the people to be disciples.
The book 'Reveal' which I have blogged on recently, was a qualitative study of the ministry of Willow and others, to ask the questions of what programs and activities of the church were actually helping people mature spiritually and which were not.
The study and the results were said to be 'earth shaking', 'ground breaking' and 'mind blowing'.
I love it when ministers are not satisfied with the status quo and realize they can be more effective in reaching people for Jesus. Leadership connection was just one of the many ways leaders are connecting to talk and ask important questions.
What is the state of the your church, denomination or fellowship?
I had the honour of attending Canada’s First Leadership Connection held at Braeside Camp in Paris, Ontario on June 16-17, 2008.
Over 50 network leaders representing major denominations, fellowships and ministries met to build friendships, share stories and learn from one another.
Penetrating questions require an honest response. As leaders, we are often good at telling only the upbeat stories. They need to be told for sure but we also have serious problems that need honest answers.
In reviewing the state of the church, it was clear that most of us were only experiencing moderate fruitfulness. Growth was limited and disciple making almost non-existent.
We asked ourselves the following questions. What other questions would you ask?
1. If you were to honestly evaluate the churches in your denomination, fellowship or network, what percentage of them would be healthy (growing or with the potential for growth); what percentage would be plateaued and what percentage would be declining?
2. What is being done to turn flat-lined or declining churches into fruitful places of ministry?
3. What will need to be done to turn them into fruitful places of ministry?
4. What does a generational church look like?
5. What does 'the glorious church' look like in a post-modern, secular world?
6. What is the Holy Spirit saying to the body of Christ in Canada today?
