Well, I’m sitting in the town of Brighton outside of London. The weather outside is just like Seattle’s most of the year—wet and cold, but a bit windier since we are on the waterfront. Pastor Scott Thomas (director of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network) and I have had, all things considered, a great trip thus far. We flew all night to London and I actually slept on the plane because the seat next to me was open and afforded a bit of space. I know many folks were praying and to be honest I can tell, so thank you. The jet lag has been minimal despite an eight-hour time difference, sleep has been fine, my health and energy feel good, and overall the trip thus far has not been nearly as physically taxing as I would have expected.

What I’m Doing in London

I’m spending this week serving the Newfrontiers Network led by Terry Virgo. We had dinner in his home and got to meet his family. He is a wonderfully gracious man whom God has used to plant churches around the world. There is a great deal I am learning from him and his leaders that will help our ministry at Mars Hill Church and in the Acts 29 Network. Times of connection outside of one’s network and even nation are invaluable to leaders for ongoing learning. I have met church planting movement leaders from around the United Kingdom as well as Africa and other nations and the personal interaction with them has been incredibly insightful to get a better picture of what God is doing through the church around the world. God is getting bigger, the gospel is getting stronger, and the world is getting smaller to me every day.

The Internet is Big

As an aside, I am amazed at the reach of the Internet. Nearly everyone I meet has been downloading free content in the form of podcasts and vodcasts and has been incredibly thankful for all the content that we give away for free at Acts 29, Resurgence, and Mars Hill. It is a humbling honor to see the ways in which we are able to serve so many people around the world. With recent hires at the church to improve our ability to give away more content than ever, it is reassuring to know that doing so is worthwhile for the service of the global church and makes me eager to give away more than ever, including some free small books and such posted online.

A healthy mix of Word and Spirit

The Newfrontiers folks are a very healthy mix of Word and Spirit. They love the Bible and the leading of God the Holy Spirit. Sometimes in the States those who are charismatic are negatively influenced by health and wealth teachers who say that, in essence, if you have enough faith you do not need to be like Jesus and endure pain or poverty. In contrast, somehow the folks I am meeting from around the world who are connected to Newfrontiers have a healthy biblical reformed theology complemented with an active and biblical view of the person and work of the Holy Spirit and exercise of all spiritual gifts. I have always believed in the perpetuity of all the spiritual gifts (including such things as tongues and prophecy) but have not had much experience in seeing them exercised biblically, so being in circles like this is very insightful and instructive. Yesterday, for example, a pastor from Africa shared a prophetic word about the Father’s love for Jesus his Son and it was incredibly biblically rooted and emotionally moving.

What I’m Preaching

For the rest of this work week, each day I am preaching a main session to about five thousand people and teaching a seminar to about five hundred people. The seminars are practical times of question and answer with pastors and their wives. Yesterday’s main session was on the Holy Spirit and his work in the ministry of Jesus and in the church. Pastor Scott captured the content we can share it with anyone who is interested. Later today I will be preaching on what it means to be a missional church, adapted from a chapter in the book Vintage Church coming out in January 2009, which I recently finished writing with my dear friend Dr. Gerry Breshears. We’ll also try and capture that session to give it away for free online.

Next up…

Once we’re done in Brighton we’ll head up to London for a few more days of preaching and teaching at various conferences and church services. After a week in England we’ll stop over in Orlando to speak at the international Christian booksellers convention and the anniversary of Crossway publishers, along with J. I. Packer, Jerry Bridges, and Wayne Grudem—all men I have longed to get some time with to learn from and am eager to be with.

Lastly, the people have been fantastic.

My new African friend Pastor Tope who leads a growing church in London has been our host and rarely have I met a man whom I enjoy more than him so hanging with him has been a delight. I am eager to preach to his people on Sunday and honor their pastor who has been so gracious to me. We have been loved, served, and encouraged well. I’ve also been using the Mac to iChat with my family, which is great. Although I am gone, seeing the five smiling, laughing, funny-face-making kids of mine is a boost of joy. And nothing beats seeing your wife’s smile as often as possible, especially when on the road.