in Christ: Andrew Fountain's blog

Newfrontiers Leadership Conference 2006 - Training Track 7-1

This session was fun to listen to. Some marriage seminars seem designed to motivate by inducing guilty feelings and end up with a “to-do list” for married couples. These two couples obviously have a lot of fun which comes across as you listen to them. It is much more effective to model how much fun a good marriage can be and to lead by example than to try to motivate by negative talk.

I am teaching a course on the Psalms right now, so I have been looking around to see what material is available on the internet. There are two excellent resources which I can highly recommend and they are both free.

I have finally finished reviewing, processing and uploading all the cell church seminar sessions by Bill Beckham.It has been a huge task, but the quality of the material is so good that it makes it worthwhile. The whole series (nearly 8 hours) can be freely downloaded. The only thing missing is that he refers to some handouts from time to time. I am going to try and track these down and scan them to go with the audio.

I am in the process of re-launching my theology and teaching website: loveintruth.com. I have just finished teaching a 30 hour course on "Interpreting the Bible" at the TACF School of Ministry. I have posted almost the entire teaching notes from the course on loveintruth.On the technical side, this was my first time using the book module in Drupal and I was very pleased with how it works. I think the whole thing hangs together well and is easy to navigate. Eventually I want to move all the content on the site into that format.

I have just added three more sections to the cell church material and made it all available for download. I started in the middle and am working towards the end. Then I will come back and do the first part. The reason for that order is complicated, but it will all be done soon. It is actually not a bad idea to start listening at 3a, because then you get an idea of the heart of the system.One thing is missing right now: there were some handouts at the conference. I am trying to get them and put them online along with the audio. Here is a link to the Cell Church review page.

I have a set of tapes from 1997 by Bill Beckham on cell church, given at a Newfrontiers church in the UK. The organizer of the conference has given me permission to digitize and upload the tapes. They are superb material—the best thing I have ever come across on small groups. They are not a "how-to" formula, but the development of a set of Biblical principles which actually apply to everything we do as "church". I am going to be writing reviews of this, section by section (there are over 8 hours altogether!) and uploading it as I go.

Newfrontiers Leadership Conference 2006 - Training Track 2-3

How do we obtain a corporate anointing? The manifest presence and power of God in the midst of his people? According to Rob Rufus, exalting Jesus leads to a corporate anointing. The final session from Rob Rufus is on this subject of corporate anointing. It is a shorter session than the others in which he focuses on the person of Jesus Christ and the implication of this theology for us, drawn largely from the book of Hebrews. Once again this is a message not to miss.

Click here for the free download page at Newfrontiers

Newfrontiers Leadership Conference 2006 - Training Track 2-2

There are two topics covered in this address: The importance of teaching in order to build faith for healing, and the biblical teaching on the value of the laying on of hands. There are some fascinating accounts of supernatural healing and I found this an interesting and worthwhile listen.

Click here for the free download page at Newfrontiers

This follows on from Rob Rufus’ main session and explores some of the topics in more detail. His directness and humble honesty are to be commended, and whilst I am sure this is not the last word on the supernatural, he has important things to say on the topic.

Click here for the free download page at Newfrontiers

Newfrontiers Leadership Conference 2006 - Training Track 1-3

Again, this was very interesting to me. Obviously Wayne Grudem is going to be very pro-ESV, since he was part of the editorial team, but he explains himself very well and makes an excellent case. The place that I would differ from him is that he seems to assume that we only use one version. It is a good idea to use an “essentially literal” version (and in fact I personally use the ESV), but also another version such as the NIV or even the Message in order to stimulate our thinking. Grudem seems to have the assumption that we only ever use one version. The other occasion when I would not rely on the ESV is if I am giving a Bible to an unbeliever. Here I would probably use an NIV.

The last part of the message deals with “gender neutral language”. I agree with Grudem that the TNIV has gone too far in the name of political correctness, but there is probably a midway position. I hear his concerns about trying to work around gender language by using plurals, and so destroying texts that speak of individual salvation. Whatever your position, you need to hear what Grudem has to say, because he is well thought-out and articulate.