in Christ: Andrew Fountain's blog

Newfrontiers Leadership Conference 2006 - Leadership Seminar 04

Outline in program:
Were Timothy and Titus sons or staff? Today’s church often resembles more of a business than a New Testament community based on faithful loyal relationships. Ray will explore some principles of producing sons rather than merely employing staff, and will highlight some of the long-term dangers of neglecting this important New Testament principle

Ray argues that the model we should have for church leadership should be radically different to the "church staff" model so often seen in "corporate church". This is an excellent message and well worth listening to. The only caveat I would have is with regard to the question of what happens to a gifted potential leader who doesn't fit into the profile of the kind of person the senior leader picks as "sons". Does such a person have to go to another church in order to be mentored? This is not a fundamental issue with the model, but more of a practical problem that has to be worked out.

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Newfrontiers Leadership Conference 2006 - Leadership Seminar 03

Outline in program:
False prophecy—its therapeutic illusion and misleading effect on the contemporary church

I must admit to finding this message a little disappointing. The discussion of the historical background to Jeremiah was well done, and very few would disagree with his general exhortations from the passage. We all appreciate how wrong it is to tell people what they want to hear rather than the truth, just to make ourselves popular. However I am disappointed for two reasons:

Newfrontiers Leadership Conference 2006 - Leadership Seminar 01

Outline in program:
Christians need to recover an awareness of eternity. We shall be exploring these fundamental doctrines and asking how a Biblical view of heaven and hell affects our preaching, evangelism and church building

A lot was said a the start of the session about the importance of everyone getting a copy of the notes. Yet there doesn’t seem to be any provision for those ordering the CD to obtain them. I like the way that SGM makes all their conference handouts freely available through their website. This would be a good pattern for Newfrontiers to follow.

Newfrontiers Leadership Conference 2006 - Main Session 08

To be honest this was disappointing. Not that the material was bad, but it seemed to be "preaching to the choir". For example Saul's leadership was shown to be rigid and legalistic. Can you imagine any Newfrontiers pastors saying, "Oh dear, I thought leadership was supposed to be rigid and legalistic--that message has really got me thinking!"

Sorry P-J, I don't mean to offend you. I love the passion in your presentation and the great illustrations. I just think that sometimes we need to be more challenged out of our comfort zones.

Newfrontiers Leadership Conference 2006 - Main Session 09

A very practical address on leadership. This is an important message for anyone involved in leadership, at any level. It is rich with examples and Scriptural principles. Excellent!

There is very detailed summary of this message on Adrian Warnock's blog.

Click here for the free download page at Newfrontiers

Newfrontiers Leadership Conference 2006 - Main Session 07

This message was about how important missions is, and how it is our main goal as a church. This was a good message, inspiring, but it didn't get me quite as excited as some of the others. Your mileage may vary.

There is very detailed summary of this message on Adrian Warnock's blog.

Newfrontiers Leadership Conference 2006 - Main Session 06

This could have been a very dry or technical discussion and Wayne Grudem makes it come alive with an interesting speaking style and some good illustrations. I loved the one from Disneyland: "It looked like a giant mouse but I knew that inside it wasn't a real mouse". Great message!

There is very long and detailed summary of this message on Adrian Warnock's blog, who has done a painstaking job in taking notes. Well done Adrian!

Click here for the free download page at Newfrontiers

Newfrontiers Leadership Conference 2006 - Main Session 05

A challenging address concerning our need to persue more of the empowering of the Spirit. One of his main concerns is how we function "between outpourings", that is, between those periods of unusual manifestation of God's presence. How should we function in the Spirit in the regular day-to-day life of the church? Recommended!

Click here for the free download page at Newfrontiers

Newfrontiers Leadership Conference 2006 - Main Session 04

This session is definitely worth listening to. Rob Rufus is coming from a different stream to Newfrontiers—New Covenant Ministries International, a South African based worldwide apostolic group of churches. They share many similarities with Newfrontiers, but he sounds more like a speaker from TACF.

The strength of this message is that it is fresh and challenging in an area we all desperately need to grow—the power of God manifested in our midst. He is an interesting and engaging speaker and his challenge to increased intimacy with God is particularly important. On the negative side I am wary of speakers who tell us that God is about to do something amazing. Bill Jackson in his "must read" history of the Vineyard The Quest for the Radical Middle calls this "prophetic poison" because this kind of message from the Kanasas City Prophets had the effect of paralysing evangelism and church planting by the Vineyard. Why work hard now when there is an amazing harvest just around the corner? That said, this is a session worth hearing.

Newfrontiers Leadership Conference 2006 - Main Session 03

Two things make this a great message. 1) Terry speaks with a real passion and the message is very much on his heart. 2) The message is based on a powerful insight from Scripture—a truth that really hits home. The insight is concerning the nature of faith. These days faith is often linked to "getting something from God", however, in Heb 11:24 we read "By faith Moses refused...". Terry explores what this dimension of faith means in a challenging and thought-provoking message.

There is very detailed summary of this message on Adrian Warnock's blog.

Click here for the free download page at Newfrontiers