Blogging Break

I will not be around much blog-wise for the coming few weeks (perhaps for all of December). In the final two and a half weeks of term, I have several deadlines to work towards. There is also some creative thinking to do for the student work at City Church. And whizzing around there in my brain are also thoughts, prayers and questions to do with the Newfrontiers Southampton church plant (the church planting day was amazing by the way - such a thrill to be in the room we'll be meeting in come April and to see the group that God is putting together!).

I may write the odd post as I feel prompted, but otherwise I'll be back after Christmas!

Snapshot

A short, sharp snapshot of something that has struck me, or something I've learned from my course this week:

In a drive to be providing a cleaner environment, the Environment Agency (driven by European law) has set standards for UK waterways so be cleaner. Sounds good, doesn't it?

In order to meet these targets the water companies have to invest in masses of technology. Shouldn't be a problem, you would think. You can't put a price on a cleaner environment, right?

The trouble is, meeting the target requires a twenty-fold increase in the amount of power the water companies use, therefore increasing their carbon footprint by a factor of twenty.

Is that the EA's intention? Almost certainly not. But they have clearly not thought through the implications of what they require from water companies.

Another slightly interesting diversion to this is that the eventual aim is for water to be clean enough to drink in any UK waterway. If that were ever to happen, how would we deal with people taking their drinking water from their local river rather than through taps? Surely the current water system depends on waterways remaining dirty? How would water companies, who maintain a clean water supply to Britain, gain a revenue to pay for their work if they reached this target?

Attribute 33: No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out His blessings

This reminds me of a phrase I first heard used at Newday 2006. It was one which spoke of God "setting His face like flint" (I had heard this part of the phrase before), but to bless a new generation, the sense was that if God has determined to bless us, we cannot hold it back!

This phrase also finds resonance in Terry Virgo's final message to the Newfrontiers Brighton conference this July. How can we forget the phrases "what about my arm?!" and "is the Lord's arm shortened?!"

The Bible talks about how when God streches out His hand, no human can turn it back. In sending Jesus, God set His face like flint to bless humanity, that all should come to know Him. Yes, there may be application for "our generation" in a specific kind of way, but let's never forget that His arm is not too short to save - He has determined to save us and to bring history to completion through the mission of the church. No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out His blessings.

Newfrontiers Church Planting Day - Southampton

On Saturday 25th November, we are seeking to gather people from around the region and the country to Southampton.

This is an event both for people who have committed themselves to the new Newfrontiers church in Southampton, which is starting in April, and for those who are simply interested in church planting in Wessex or who want to support the new church. It is open to anyone!

Over the last few months, lots of preparations have been taking place for the new church - people have been gathering, Winchester Family Church has been preparing to give away 30 of its committed members, and Chris Kilby, who will lead the church plant, has been meeting up with various church leaders in the city.

Chris has also been profiled by the local paper, click here to read it in a pdf file.

Terry Virgo has met with Billy Kennedy, who leads a large Cornerstone Network church in Southampton (Community Church, soon to be New Community); it is important to us to be in good relationships with others in the city. Billy Kennedy visited Winchester Family Church over the summer on his study break. I wonder if his visit had anything to do with the church plant, although he made a point of visiting all over during this time.

NewGen Books, a business I am starting up at the moment, is offering discounted books to those coming to Southampton Day - you simply order online and pay and collect your books on the day.

If you are interested in joining with us on the day, see page 5 of the latest Connect Magazine, Winchester Family Church's Church Plant Site, or simply turn up at the Southampton Solent University Conference Centre at 11am! I'll be on the registration desk, waiting to greet you... but don't let that put you off.

Mobilise 2006: David Holden - Together On A Mission

Together On A Mission, Main Session: Wednesday Afternoon

What do you do when you're not in a season of intense Holy Spirit activity?

Ministers of the Spirit

We have experienced great times of intense Holy Spirit activity. But what do we do in the in-between times? Are we any less dependent on the Holy Spirit? Is the easy thing to become passive (or as Liz Holden would say, lazy and idle) in the things of the Spirit?

2 Corinthians 3:3-6

We are all ministers of the Holy Spirit. v6: "ministry of the Spirit is life".

2 Corinthians 2:16 - we are not competent in ourselves to minister, but our sufficiency comes from God. He has made us competent to be a minister of the New Covenant, which is a ministry of the Spirit.

The challenge is that you can only give away something you already have. Have we had something imparted, or do we only have information? The two are different.

We must be constantly dependent on the Spirit, whatever the season.

Dave brought the assertion that the church in the Europe desperately needs more of the Holy Spirit, rather than less. Highlighting how futile it would be to think "we've done the whole Holy Spirit thing..." because all the signs are that we need more of Him. He brought three points in this vein:

1. We must actively pursue and promote the things of the Spirit
2. We must continue to introduce people to the person of the Holy Spirit
3. We must know the need for constant dependency on the Holy Spirit for every aspect of church life.

1. Actively pursuing and promoting the work of the Spirit
In Acts 1, the believers were waiting for the Holy Spirit. When leaders were being chosen, it was specified that they should be people "of the Spirit". One of the first questions people would be asked by the apostles was "did you receive the Holys Spirit?"

When Peter was asked to give a defence for what was going on, he said "As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came"; Dave pointed out that the attitude here is kind of "Don't blame me! I just said a few words and the Holy Spirit came!"

"The reason Newfrontiers now exists, is because of an experience of the Holy Spirit... and if something like Newfrontiers began as a movement of the Spirit, guess where we are today and where we're going to end? As those who are living by the Spirit." Dave helpfully pointed out that our roots as a movement are in the things of the Holy Spirit. That's why we came together in the first place. Let's not abandon our roots.

2. Continuing to introduce people to the person of the Holy Spirit
Three groups are being short-changed:

1. New converts
2. Our children
3. People coming to our churches from other backgrounds

If we become passive about actively introducing people to the person of the Holy Spirit, these groups will be short-changed. When people get saved, are we immediately thinking "I wonder if they've been baptised in the Holy Spirit?"

Is it up to us to withold baptism in the Holy Spirit from new converts? Do we believe that these people don't need power to live the Christian life?

We are not a modern. We are Spirit-filled.

3. Dependency on the Holy Spirit in every aspect of church life
There can be tensions in our depency:

• Spontaneous vs well-ordered
• Control vs letting go (remember, Paul didn't ban spontaneity just because some were out of control)
• Holy Spirit activity vs unbelievers in the meeting (remember, the Holy Spirit is a great evangelist!)
• Holy Spirit vs diversity (it's the Spirit that keeps us one, no matter how much diversity there is in our churches - our unity is in the Spirit)

We are ministers of the Spirit!

Bournemouth welcomes Newfrontiers Lead Elders

This weekend Bournemouth Family Church plays host to the Team Leaders of Newfrontiers churches, meeting together for the first time in a number of years.

I am so pleased that, after a number of years where the conference did not happen, that this is starting up again. It is a measure of how seriously we take our task as a movement, that we must constantly be in touch, working together and further deepening relationships. It is no small thing we are called to, and the pressure on leaders can often be immense.

I hope that events like this can serve in some way to help prevent crises like that experienced by Ted Haggard. Where there is one lone leader carrying the entire vision that kind of failing is almost inevitable. But we believe in team ministry.

To call Newfrontiers a family of churches is true, but we could just as well be called a team of churches or an army! Such is the nature of our task. Because of its enormity we cannot afford to have lone ones out on their own in front. We must make room for relationships and genuine teams which carry responsibility. Yes, we give one person the final responsibility (team leaders/lead elders) but even then, a sense of team should be fostered among that type of leader, so that no one is left alone.

Bournemouth is an amazing church with an obvious apostolic calling which primarily Wessex benefits from. It's great to see them being given some profile among our team leaders!

Sarth Efrican Friends

Some blogspotting for a Saturday morning:

Julian Adams
Julian is well-known in the Newfrontiers family for his powerful prophetic gift, which God has been pleased to use at Newday over the last few years. He has recently relocated to Brighton, UK from Cape Town, SA. He is travelling extensively as well as contributing to the life of Church of Christ the King, which has become his base.

It's exciting to read excerpts of his travels. Here is a sampler of his latest post to whet your appetite:

"We are in a season of Outpouring! God is on the move and touching so many.
Just this week at my local church, Church of Christ the King, people have been
saved and have been baptised in the Spirit through Alpha courses that are being
run. Terry Virgo at one of our meetings bringing so many stories of God’s
healing power breaking into his meetings! People in different parts of the UK
are experiencing growth and some even seeing gold dust being poured out! The
promise is simply that if we ask He will pour out blessing on us! Blessing that
propels us forward into radical mission and demonstrations of His kingdom!"

Encouraging stuff! Do go and have a look at more of Julian's site. He recently came to the Newfrontiers Wessex Regional Celebration in Bournemouth where he prophesied over many of my friends including Chris and Jo Kilby who are leading the Southampton church plant. I am so thankful God has placed people like Julian among us as a family of churches!

Ben Cons
Through finding Julian's blog, I came across Ben Cons', a student in Bristol and member of City Church Central.

Go have a look at both these blogs!

Mobilise 2006: My Story

The best part of the Mobilise story for me this year was what follows next.

First I need to give a bit of context. In Southampton, Sheffield & Bournemouth I shared how my university course is not one that I am particularly good at, or enjoy very much. In fact there have been times where I've been ready to give the whole thing up. At those times, it has been the beauty and urgency of the church which has lured back into God's plan for me in me being on this course and in this city.

By Easter of this year I had come to the conclusion that it was right for me to shorten my course down to a three-year Bachelor's degree from a four-year Master's. By the Easter break, I was able to take time out to look to God for the future. I made time to spend with the people and leaders who know me best, to consider the wisdom they have, and I continued to look to God into the final term of the year.

When I got back to Sheffield, it was immediately confirmed to me that my third year should be my final one on the course. Soon after, my wonderful Core Group started praying alongside me for the future, and I received such encouragements as "there's a new season for you", "God is going to make His will so obvious to you, it will be like the answers for the future just come from nowhere; there will be no researching or human planning, but He will make it obvious." "Mobilise will be a significant time for you in terms of direction for the future" was another one - I was excited about the conference before, how much more now! These words all came independently of each other, but from within my small group.

I was holding these promises lightly but taking seriously the fact that God was speaking to me.

The week before Mobilise, I went with my family for a week to Portugal. One night as I was falling asleep I saw a picture. It was as though I was looking up at really quite tall buildings from ground zero, seeing the sky above, but being very conscious of these huge walls going up to the sky.

At first I had no idea whether this was God speaking to me or not, but I felt prompted to pray (in line with what God had already said) that He would speak to me about the picture at Mobilise.

So, back to Mobilise and we've got to Wayne Grudem. After Dr Grudem's excellent main session, I hurriedly walked down to the foyer of the Brighton Centre, where I had arranged to meet my parents for lunch. Rob Rufus was overrunning, and went on a little longer, and a little longer, and a little longer. I was beginning to think we wouldn't have time for lunch, when suddenly I saw this:


It was on a postcard-sized piece of paper on a magazine stand about four or five metres away from me. I knew it was the picture I had seen the previous week, and it suddenly dawned on me that God was about to speak to me about my future! After making a few pacts with God ("If it's 'serve God for a year by digging holes in Scotland!' I'm not doing it.") i walked over to the stand, took a postcard, looked at it for a moment and turned it over. "There are times in your life when you know that God is calling you to new challenges... to move forward on a new adventure with him..." Yep, yep and yep. "...If this is that moment, then this could be your destiny." And what did it say on the next line down?

"Southampton, UK"

I had no idea what to do at that moment. It wasn't long before Rob had finished speaking upstairs (I couldn't help wondering "why" he had gone so much - just long enough for me to have grabbed this postcard!).

Over lunch, I told my parents about the picture in Portugal, and reminded them about the prophetic words I had received during the previous term. Then I got out the postcard, which (despite being from Winchester) we had never seen (I found out later that they only just arrived in time for Chris Kilby to bring to the conference).

God had clearly spoken to me. That night, I met with Chris at the Belgrave Hotel and set things rolling. I shared how God had spoken to me, and it was amazing to be able to pray together for the future of this new church.

Even as I'm typing this, my heart starts to beat faster as I think of how faithful God has been in guiding me all this way until I reached this place, and of all the plans he has for us in Southampton. At the time of writing the post on the church plant, I genuinely had no idea that I would be involved. I think I even stated that I had my own ideas as to what God "should" have for me to do! I am so thankful to God for calling me so clearly and am so excited at the prospect of everything He has lined up for our future together as a brand new church!

Mobilise 2006: Wayne Grudem

Main Session Two

Manhood & Womanhood in Creation & Marriage - Five Key Issues

I was very much looking forward to hearing Wayne Grudem at this year's conference, having benefited so greatly from his contributions at my first experience of the Brighton Conference in 2002. I was greatly encouraged to see that Wayne was bringing some of the same material to Mobilise as he brought to the Brighton Conference back then. This is a message that so needs to be heard in my generation, and as Simon Virgo wrote in the latest Newfrontiers magazine, it seemed to be well-received.

Just to say that these are merely the skeletal notes of what I came away with. They do not convey Wayne's humility in presenting this difficult topic deeply enough. I therefore cannot recommend enough that you take a look at Volume 2, Issue 9 of the Newfrontiers Magazine where Wayne takes the basis of this talk as the core of an article called "Gender Confusion - The Way Forward". I'm only posting my notes for completeness in the series!

1. Men and women are equal in value and dignity. Genesis 1:27:

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them."

Starting from a point of equality is essential to fully understand the points that follow.

2. Men and women have different roles in marriage as part of the created order. Ten signs that Adam was the leader before the fall:

1. The order of creation: Adam was created first, then Eve. Genesis 2:7, 18-23
2. Representation: Adam had a role in representing the human race, including Eve. 1 Corinthians 5:22, Romans 5
3. The naming of Eve was done by Adam. Genesis 2:23
4. The naming of the human race. God named us "man", not "woman" or "humanity". Genesis 5:1-2
5. The primary accountability. God spoke to Adam first after the fall. Wayne pointed out here that when God is holding Adam accountable the "man", "you" and "he" which are used are all singular. Genesis 3:9
6. Purpose. Eve's purpose was as a helper to Adam, not the other way around. Genesis 2:18
7. The conflict. The curse brought a distortion of previous roles, not new roles in themselves. In Genesis 3:16 and 4:7 the words desire and rule highlight the distortion of roles. As a result, we cannot and should not ever use 3:16 to support male leadership.
8. The restoration. Salvation in Christ re-affirms the created order. Colossians 3:18-19
9. The mystery. Marriage from creation was always a picture of Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:31-32
10. Parallel with the Trinity. 1 Corinthians 11:3

The husband's primary responsibility is to provide and protect. The wife's primary responsibility is to care for the home and nurture children.

3. Equality and differences reflect the Trinity.
1 Cor 11:3, Eph 1:4, Rom 8:29, 1 Cor 15:28
Headship and submission existing eternally in the Godhead. It never began.

4. The equality and differences are very good. They are fair. They are best for us, and they are beautiful.

5. Our view of biblical manhood and womanhood is a watershed issue which tests our obedience to the Bible. Egalitarianism does not advance on the strength of exegetical arguments.

There is a line at the bottom of my notes which says "patterns not commands". This seems to be a very wise thing to point out - these are underlying principles which explain why men and women are the way they are, and how that is for God's glory.

Spotted

Take a look at gifford.uk.com!

I know it may seem odd to point you all to my Dad's company's website. But this is rather exciting. Their site has been recently updated, making it a whole lot better than it was before. This business has been a part of my family's life since before I was born; I suppose this is why it doesn't seem odd to write a post on it.

You can see my Dad on the first picture that comes up on the site. He is the young-looking one - not the one who looks like a big-issue seller (who really is the CEO... figure that one out).

Gifford were recently profiled in New Civil Engineer, a journal for engineers. In a recent press release Dad was quoted:

"Buildings Operating Board Chairman Gary Wood added “The driver to hang on to
the partnership model was a genuine belief that it is the best way to deliver a
service to clients”. "

Dad was also profiled himself recently in the magazine. Here is a quote:

"If I didn't have to work? I'd spend more time helping to grow the church
by using the skills I've acquired over the years, dabble in property and mow
grass!"

Good answer, I say. Shame they didn't reproduce the answer about my Mum being the one thing he'd rescue from a burning building - clearly the engineers of the world aren't that interested in love and romance! Well, all the engineers except my Dad.

On Reaching Students 5: Tim Suffield on the nature of CU

I'd like to recommend Tim Suffield's new series on the nature of CU to you. In his first post, he takes the CUs' own assertion that is is not a church.

Tim mentioned that he was thinking of starting a discussion on this topic, and has generously responded to my request that things not be just taken on face value alone. By this I am talking about the attitude which many students arrive at university with, and which many people defend parachurch in general with. The attitude which says "What is already here? How can we make it work? How should CUs relate to churches? What Biblical norms should we be influenced by?" This is an OK attitude.

The better attitude which I want to see more and more however, concerns foundations, for example "What does the Bible say about mission? What does the Bible say about the church? What Biblical (as opposed to historical) precedents are there for mission with students on campus? What rules actually are there about evangelism on campus?"

I think these are excellent questions which are often sidelined in favour of others like "What is a CU?" which is by its very nature a changing thing, building on different ideas over different generations of students (and bear in mind a generation usually lasts about 2 years...) and ultimately requires a human person to define it.

We should be working from Biblical precedents as a first port of call, not historical ones. Bible-led questions must be inherently better than experience-led ones.

So these are questions which I'm hoping Tim will tackle as he gets into the subject. Not just the face-value questions (and of course we must assess where things are right now) but the Bible-led ones, which are often more difficult to reconcile with our parachurch practises.

It can often take a magazine article with a provoking title like "What's Wrong With The Parachurch?" to be published, before we see any visible sign of these Bible-led-questions being tackled. See this document which is the first attempt I have seen to justify the existence of parachurch from the Bible, not experience (e.g. claims to a unique "stage of life" or context, which is surely true of all "stages of life" in one way or another).

Although I would not agree with many of the points drawn out, I found it very helpful in educating me as to the historical arguments for parachurch, including the introduction of the terms modality and sodality.

Why am I looking forward to these posts? Because Tim can draw on experience I don't have, himself being involved with a CU, which I am not.

Don't get me wrong, I am not uninterested in unity. That is in no way a sinister, behind-the-scenes motivation behind what I'm saying. I live (and have a growing friendship) with a member of the Sheffield SCM who is also involved in leading the RTSF (a UCCF initiative) in Sheffield. One of my closest friends in Sheffield is the CU President. And a coursemate of mine even heads up the Catholic grouping on campus. I put time and effort into these relationships.

So this is a genuine questioning of the Biblical norms we should be following in the proclamation of the gospel. Not unlike the debate going on over on Adrian's Blog. How do we come together for the gospel? I am glad it is not just our little corner of the blogosphere debating this: there are Godly leaders out there genuinely wrestling with this very question.

Do we have a God-given right to succeed?

Adrian Warnock has begun a series of posts interviewing Al Mohler - another eminent name to add to his list of interviewees. One paragraph of the interview particularly which I want to reproduce here to get its impact. Moving on from talking about some difficult initial days at Southern Seminary Dr Mohler says:

"During the hardest of those times, I was reminded again and again that,
practically speaking, we are not assured of success. We do know
that God’s cause will triumph in the end, but this does not mean that we can
count on institutional viability or success in the eyes of the public.
Thankfully, we have been given far more than we ever could have dreamed in terms
of Southern Seminary’s current health, growth, and scope of ministry."

This is a theme I have been thinking about a great deal lately. Ironically (and I do not seek to weaken the strength of what I'm saying by referencing politics, so bear with me...) it was a comment over a year ago by Francis Maude, the Conservative Party Chairman, which initially got me thinking along these lines.

Addressing a party conference, his words were "we have no God-given right to survive, let alone succeed." I believe he was right in terms of any political party, indeed in terms of any human institution. It is therefore interesting to see Dr Mohler reflecting on a similar theme but in a different context: "We do know that God’s cause will triumph in the end, but this does not mean that we can count on institutional viability or success in the eyes of the public."

My question is what is the biblical mandate for who or what has the God-given right to survive, indeed succeed with the gospel?

In the past I've had students come to me in Sheffield saying "if only some more of the students from your church would come to this or that society, they would bring it alive!" My response has consistently been: "I have no intention of propping up a dying, man-made insitution for its own sake; I am interested in building the church, and increasing her witness on campus." Yes, that brings about its own issues to do with rules and regulations I know (I would never seek to flout those), but the point is that these organisations have no God-given right to survive, so why should we throw everything into reviving them?

So:

• The Conservative Party has no God-given right to survive (I think we can all agree on that...).
• Man-made organsiations (I would include Christ-centered, gospel-focused ones with the best of intentions) have no God-given right to survive.

What about the Church? What about individual churches?

I have no answers, though I know what my inclination is and the answer I would currently give.

No individual church has the God-given right to succeed (in fact whether any of us have a God-given right to anything is questionable). I do not subscribe to the view that the Church/churches can do no wrong. You don't have to look far to see that that is not the case.

But, I do believe that the Church (global) and the church as the primary agent of the Kingdom of God on earth, as the primary bearer of the gospel, does has a God-given right (if we must use this language - I would prefer 'privelege') to success. It's His model, not ours, and that's why we can have confidence in it.

I was talking to someone only tonight, and we were reflecting how sometimes you look at the church and think "God, this is never going to work! I know you 'know what you're doing' and everything, but look at us!" The discussion quickly moved however into the fact that we know we can have confidence in it because it's in scripture. God's sovereign plan is not simply for "God's cause" to triumph in the end as Dr Mohler would put it, but for the church to triumph in the end.

At this moment I am talking about global Church, Christians all over the world, the work of the gospel, and that worked out primarily, first and foremost through local churches as modelled clearly in the New Testament.

This means that wheras no human organisation has the God-given right to survival, no denomination, stream or "family" of churches has the God-given right to survival, only the church as a model for mission has a biblical mandate for its existence, methods and emphases. No other organisation or form of evangelisation in the world can claim this. Governments will fall, universities, charities and other do-gooders will fall, parachurch will fall, only the church can stand up fully under the Biblical mandate to go to the ends of the earth.

No individual person, church or grouping can assume success. But we do know that there will be a triumphant church waiting for Jesus' return. We are fully reliant on the grace of God, and by His grace He has chosen to make His wisdom known through the church.

This is what happens...

... when Tim Challies links to you:


Your hit-rate kind of explodes. Well, quadruples actually.

This is a result of his Reformation Day Symposium which I wrote a post for called Why Reformation Day?It highlights how the event of Reformation Day resulted in a drastic re-imaging of the church closer to bilblical norms; it re-asserts that that can and should happen in our day, for the church to reach the world more effectively.

Want more hits? Be part of a symposium.

Shout From The Roof - Music From Newfrontiers' Newday 2006

Despite pre-ordering the album, many other people I know who also did got their Newday albums a week ago! Very unfair then, that mine only arrived today. Those who know will me will be either rolling their eyes or chuckling away to themselves at this point as I've moaned about it a little too much since Friday. Ah well.

This year at Newday, I received so much more from God than I ever had before at previous Newdays, despite working at least as hard as ever in the Global Cafe (AHEM"special!"AHEM). Correspondingly, I am more excited about this album than I was about any of its predescessors.

Siyoli's songs on the CD are a big highlight for me. She brings fresh impetus to the song "Your Grace Is Enough", and "We Rejoice" is a great introduction to a more gentle African worship style. This is continued by "There's No One" which has quickly become a favourite here in Sheffield, and I like the fact that she continues Kate Simmonds' tradition of introducing songs from Hillsong with "One Way".

This is a pattern which Simon Brading follows too with "The Stand", a powerful song from Joel Houston. Its words were so appropriate for many of the moments we found ourselves in at Newday:

"I'll stand with arms high and heart abandoned,
in awe of the one who gave it all,
I'll stand, my soul Lord, to You surrendered,
all I am is Yours."

Of course, "We're All In" was a big favourite and how can we not be impressed when we remember "all that You've done... all that You'll do" in "All That You Are". "By Faith" is a song full of meaning which we were able to sing wholeheartedly at the conference, meaning thick behind every word:

"The battle of faith must go on,
Keep us from just singing songs,
Help us to stand and believe you,
Teach us to fight and press on.

Your battle is already won,
The devil has been overthrown!
So if my God is for me,
Who shall I fear?
I shall not fear.

By faith we will believe
In every promise that You give.
By faith Jesus, we'll live,
Standing on all that You've said.
We're trusting in You Lord.

Help us be strogn in Your might,
Living by faith not by sight,
Not basing our faith on our feelings,
But stand on Your word in our lives.
Give us an attitude for war,
To fight for Your Kingdom, oh God.
For if my God is for me, who shall I fear?
I shall not fear.

We will fight to the end
We will fight to the end,
Never letting go of Your promises.
We will fight to the end,
Jesus, fight to the end,
Never letting go of You

Simon Brading copyright 2006 Thankyou Music. "

The conference ended with this song, and after David Stroud's final address to the thousands ("How would you live on leaving Newday if you knew you could not fail?... What's the one thing you want God to do for you before you leave Newday?") this seemed so appropriate. To be reminded after everything God had done that it is a battle of faith, that it is still going on but we can stand by faith on His promises.

UPDATE: You can now buy Shout From The Roof from newgenbooks.com.

Attribute 32: No far-seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supply

Imagine a sea without a shore, an ocean without an end. Such is His supply in our lives. No single need we have can be met outside of Him, for everything belongs to Him.

He is mighty to save, and mighty to provide. He has provided for us a righteous status before the Father. He has provided us with a glorious calling to the nations. He has provided us with family in the church. He has provided reconciliation for us through His shed blood and resurrection.

He is the ultimate provider. No far-seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supply!