CHURCH ON FIRE Australian Comment on Renewal and Revival Edited by Geoff Waugh Copyright © Geoff Waugh 1991, 2014 First published by the Joint Board of Christian Education, Melbourne, in 1991. Republished by Renewal Journal Publications, 2012 www.renewaljournal.com This digital edition with hyperlinks by Kindle, 2014 Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version. Free PDF books are available on Renewal Journal Your support on Kindle and Amazon is needed and appreciated to inform and bless others. Paperback copy ISBN-13: 978-1466275409 Renewal Journal Publications www.renewaljournal.com Brisbane, Qld, Australia Logo: lamp & scroll, basin & towel, in the light of the cross Contributors: All chapters are the authors' own comments and not statements from their denomination, unless otherwise indicated. Dan Armstrong (Uniting) Philip Audemard (Baptist) John Blacket (Uniting) David Blackmore (Churches of Christ) Gregory Blaxland (Anglican) Barry Chant (Christian Revival Crusade) Rowland Croucher (Baptist) Bob Dakers (Brethren) Owen Dowling (Anglican) Don Drury (Uniting) Don Evans (Uniting) Brian Francis (Churches of Christ) Djiniyini Gondarra (Uniting) Dorothy Harris/Mathieson (Baptist) Glen Heidenreich (Lutheran) Vincent Hobbs (Catholic) Hamish Jamieson (Anglican) Arthur Jackson (Uniting) John Lewis (Anglican) Ruth Lord (Uniting) Barry Manuel (Baptist) Lazarus Moore (Orthodox) Peter Moonie (Uniting) Charles Ringma (Assemblies of God) Barry Schofield (Anglican) David Todd (Presbyterian) John-Charles Vockler (Anglican) Geoff Waugh (Baptist) Tom White (Catholic) CHURCH ON FIRE Contents Introduction: Renewal Aboriginal Renewal 1. Pentecost in Arnhem Land - Djiniyini Gondarra 2. Fire of God among Aborigines - John Blacket Personal Renewal 3. Pilgrimage in renewal - John-Charles Vockler 4. A testimony of renewal - Owen Dowling 5. The disquieting presence of the Spirit - Charles Ringma 6. A different view - Dorothy Harris/Mathieson 7. Ingredients for unity - Gregory Blaxland 8. New dimensions - David Todd 9. Renewal in the Holy Spirit - Barry Manuel 10. Love song - Ruth Lord Church Renewal: examples 11. Renewal in a country parish - Barry Schofield 12. Renewal in a diocese - John Lewis 13. Renewal in a city prayer meeting - Vincent Hobbs; Phil Audemard 14. Renewal in a regional centre - Brian Francis; David Blackmore 15. Renewal in a small assembly - Bob Dakers 16. Renewal in a large congregation - Geoff Waugh Church Renewal: observations 17. Building with God - Barry Chant 18. The cost of renewal - Hamish Jamieson 19. Charismatic renewal in the Roman Catholic Church - Tom White 20. An Orthodox comment on renewal - Lazarus Moore 21. A Lutheran perspective - Glen Heidenreich 22. Charismatic renewal: myths and realities - Rowland Croucher 23. Charismatic renewal: pastoral issues - Arthur Jackson 24. Ministering in renewal - Don Drury 25. God's new work - Don Evans 26. Future directions for charismatic renewal - Peter Moonie 27. Get your surfboard ready - Dan Armstrong Conclusion: Revival Introduction: Renewal Renewal in the church challenges everyone. Renewal comes from God's action. If the Lord is renewing the church we need to take notice. That will affect us all. We change. We're all surprised. One surprise is that renewal is not a side issue, not an optional extra, not peripheral. It is essential. The victory of the cross over evil in our lives and in society can only be known in the power of the Spirit of Jesus. Jesus Christ is Lord. He is head of the church and Lord of all. He moves among us in his Spirit, the Holy Spirit. 'God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts' and 'God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us' (Galatians 4:6; Romans 5:5). Personal Renewal The Holy Spirit touches us deeply. We have difficulty in trying to express the inexpressible! Scripture describes the impact of the Spirit in many ways: * The Spirit was given - John 7:39; Romans 5:5; * The Spirit was sent - Luke 24:49; John 15:26; 16:7; Galatians 4:6; * The Spirit put on - Numbers 11:17, 25; Isaiah 42:1; Matthew 12:18; * The Spirit rested upon - Numbers 11:25,25; 1 Peter 4:14; * The Spirit came upon - Judges 3:10; Acts 8:16; 19:6; * The Spirit took control (came upon) - Judges 6:34; 1 Samuel 11:6; 16:13; * The Spirit descended (came down) - Matthew 3:16; Luke 3:22; John 1:33; * The Spirit fell (came down) - Acts 10:44; 11:15; * The Spirit poured out - Joel 2:28-29; Acts 2:17-18; 10:45; * The Spirit received - John 7:39; Acts 8:15-17; 10:47; 19:2; * The Spirit remained - John 1:32-33; * Baptised in or with the Spirit - Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 1:5; * Filled with the Spirit - Acts 2:4; 9:17; Ephesians 5:18. These scriptures, taken together, indicate that to be baptised in the Holy Spirit involves both incorporation into the Body of Christ and empowering of the Body of Christ for mission. To be filled with the Spirit includes an initial impact, release of, or baptism in the Spirit (Acts 2:4; 9:17) and specific encounters with or anointings by the Spirit (Acts 4:8, 31) and the on-going Spirit-filled life (Ephesians 5:18). We now live in a time when millions of people are rediscovering this deep encounter with God's Spirit. Corporate renewal All these encounters with the Spirit of God are linked in scripture with God's loving and powerful work among his people and in the world. We are to serve and minister in the power of the Spirit (Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 4:18-19; Acts 1:5-8). Divine love embraces us. As we respond, we change. We begin to yield to the strong claims of God's love on us. The church is commanded to be the most loving, caring, healing, forgiving, serving community on earth. That's disturbing because we are not very good at it. It's tough. We have a lot of repenting to do. We need to forgive and love one another, not attack each other. Our Lord only recognises one church. His! We see it from our perspectives, not from God's. Most of us think our branch is the best, the truest to the Bible, the most authentic. That's why we are committed to that branch, of course. Yet this very commitment can mean that we view others as inferior, not so spiritually perceptive as us, nor so intellectually honest, nor so pastorally sensitive, nor so ecclesiastically comprehensive. Strange isn't it? At best, we see only blurred reflections, as in a bronze mirror (1 Corinthians 13:12). So we need to be humble about our ideas. All of our structures and organisations are riddled with human sin, as well as touched by God's grace in our lives. Unity is not found in structure or doctrine. Look at your own denomination or congregation to see that! We can have the same structure or doctrine but be divided in many ways. All structures, including church ones, fall prey to sin: our pride, ambition, power plays, status seeking, political manouvering - all the things Jesus challenged. Jesus confronts our constant abuse of structures, in the church and in the world. He calls us to servant leadership, to his justice and righteousness, to lay down our lives for one another in love. Similarly, all doctrines, including church ones, fall prey to sin: our blinkered vision, legalistic interpretation, limited understanding, thinking one facet is the whole truth or one slice is the whole pie. Our angry debates so easily wound and divide the body of Christ. The more dogmatically we insist that our doctrine is the right one, the more we wound our Lord as we cut up his body. On the other hand, through the presence of God's Spirit in us, the more we work for compassionate and just structures and the more we hold our doctrinal convictions with humility and grace, the more we discover unity in Jesus our Lord. We need the Spirit's power to enable us to be more like Jesus. He turns everything around. The first are last, and the last first. Status and privilege count for nothing, and are hindrances. The loving, caring servants are great in the kingdom. You have to lose your life to find it. When we surrender to God, we win. Love triumphs. When God pours out his Spirit upon us, we begin to discover the miracle of unity in the Spirit. God's love softens and melts our hard hearts. We really are one in Christ. We share his life, even though we see things from different perspectives. That divine life overwhelms us and disturbs us! Rethinking renewal Renewal always disturbs us. Along comes this creative power transforming lives all over the place. If it doesn't fit our mould (and it doesn't) we can be upset. The wind blows where it will. We hear the sound of it and we see the effects of this wind of the Spirit in people born anew of the Spirit (John 3:8). We are confronted again with God's action and our reaction. It's all so unpredictable! Our human reaction is often a problem. It may vary from the extremes of disbelief and entrenched resistance to gullible cultish excesses. There have been excesses. This happens in all traditions, especially where emotions are touched deeply. We can exaggerate, be bigoted, and fall prey to the pride which thinks we alone are right and others are wrong. There are, however, gracious, warm hearted, generous people in all traditons who truly love God and love others. They have the humility to learn from others. They enrich others through their faith.