Here are some extracts from a further video about how grace has shaped Terry Virgo’s ministry:

“What we are looking for in our churches is that there is a whole ethos of grace, and acceptance, that we are delighted in by God. . . It is not to make it casual or lazy. . .We accept one another but we also admonish one another . . . In Peter it says you have everything you need for life and godliness, then it says “make every effort.” . . Genuine biblical grace does not produce passivity . . . there are things we need to do for ourselves in response to grace.

Let the word speak into our hearts. . . make it your gospel. . . make it live, get hold of it in your heart.

Here is the next installment of Terry Virgo's 5 minute talks on the value of Newfrontiers as a family of churches. He continues to speak here about the need for grace.

“I’ve preached the message of grace again and again in all kinds of different contests and watching people coming into that liberty is such a joy. Sometimes it’s very dramatic to see lives totally transformed by understanding someone come into consequences. It’s like you have to preach the gospel to yourself all the time. In my morning devotions, I continually thank God for his grace and sing songs about his grace . . . I keep it very much as the centerpiece of my fellowship with God. I know I am not worthy . . . so I am forever thanking God for his extraordinary kindness . . . its free for us, but it cost Jesus everything. . . We need to constantly remind ourselves of how accepted we are, how God delights in us.”

Terry goes on to explain that he believes it is a big mistake to start our prayer time with confession. Instead, we should start from “Our Father” and “hallowed be your name”

I wanted to share some more of Terry’s video interview clips. This one introduces us to some of the dangers of teaching about grace and how to handle them. Here are a few excerpts to whet your appetite:

“The Bible is not ignorant of the dangers…it says don’t let grace be an opportunity for the flesh. Don’t kid yourself. . .You could say “I’m free I could become an addict again” but that's not freedom in Biblical terms. . . Freedom is I don’t choose to sin. . . Grace actually changes your identity . . . Grace makes us accepted, but also helps us to live the new life. . . We must not see discipline as legalism. Legalism is doing stuff to try to earn points….Disciple is I choose to do it because I want to accomplish, I am not doing it to impress.”

This is the third video in the series from Terry Virgo on this third value of his for ministry: grace.

“All that happened to Jesus is accredited to our account. . . Our sinful nature is not just because I have got a bad temper or I’ve got lustful eyes, I am a sinner because I was in Adam, he sinned and that made me a sinner. We were born children of disobedience it in our make up. But when we believe in Jesus we are told we are placed into Christ. It’s not just that Jesus died for my sins for my forgiveness but when he died I died an I am accepted in the beloved. It’s a bit like when Jacob came to his Father for a blessing, and . . . hid himself in the son he loved and in that setting received all the blessings. . . all that Christ is, is attributed to our account, and all that we were…our sin was attributed to him. . . Free righteousness sets us free, you don’t have to fulfill the law to impress God . . .”

Terry then went on to speak about how the Christian is dead to the law and alive to Christ. It is such a powerful message of grace. I urge you, if you haven’t already to go and listen to some of Terry’s sermons about grace. You may have been a Christian for years, but getting this message of grace back into your heart is life changing. Terry is uniquely gifted in being able to help this truth of grace make the journey into our hearts and lives. There is no better Christmas present you could give yourself or family than to allow the Spirit to apply this truth to you. Here is the video from the interview, it should make you want to hear more from this man about grace:

In this video clip Rob Bell asked me one too many questions. If you see a builder point at your foundation and say “Is that really strong enough? Is it possible that your house may fall down if I build it here? Isn’t it more likely that the cement that was used is too sandy? Are you sure it will last for ever? Is your foundation-layer really like that?”

It is IMPOSSIBLE to conclude anything other than that the questionner does not believe in the sureness of your foundation! The very act of questioning undermines the confidence and certainty that one needs in a sure foundation! Unfortunately Bell with all his questions does the same thing with absolutely FUNDEMENTAL aspects of our faith.

So, finally pushed over the edge by Bell’s repeated questions, I turned one back on him, asking him essentially if he believed that God was the kind of God who would punish people for ever in hell, he gave a simple, one word answer “No!” In a sense that made the whole hour worthwhile. Finally, a clear confession from Rob Bell, that yes, he does not believe in hell as traditional evangelicals understand it.

As I begin to say at the end of this clip, you can call such a view part of a broad “Christian” spectrum of thought that includes liberals, catholics, orthodox, and essentially anyone that claims to be a follower of Christ, but you cannot call it evangelical. Since my personal definition of a Christian is “Someone who believes in the physical resurrection of Christ and lives their life in light of the implications of that event” (taken from Raised With Christ) I am happy to recognize that Bell is almost certainly a Christian. But he is no Evangelical and this debate taken as a whole should put an end to any nonsense that he is.

This is the second of Terry’s videos on his value of grace. You know how it goes by now, here is an extract to make you want to watch the whole thing:

“I recall that it was as though I saw a break in the cloud, and saw some blue sky. I suddenly felt that God loves me freely, but it wasn’t enough to establish me, and I quickly went back to are you praying long enough, are you meditating on the Bible long enough, and these so-called “means of grace” became duties you have to fulfill. Am I doing them enough to keep God happy? So they become burdensome rather than means of grace.

I felt God sometimes gave me a glimpse of something freer than that. . .It began to dawn on me. I met people who were enjoying grace . . . I was most helped by working my way through Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Romans, especially 5, 6, and 7. Especially 7, where we are not under law . . . Lots of believers don’t work at the epistles. But to me, the epistles are the heart of the explanation of the New Covenant . . .

Lately I have been sharing from Terry Virgo’s series of videos on the values he has based his ministry on. They are expressed in the format of what kind of church he is aiming to build when he works with others to plant. The third value is:

‘A church whose people are assured of the grace of God in their lives and are clear about the full New Covenant benefits of being in Christ.’

Here are some extracts to whet your appetite for the video which follows:

“We tend to forget that the word gospel is telling good news. It didnt start as a religious word it meant announcing a victory. Something had happened. If we just learn rules, things that you need to do, before you have grasped the good news of what God has done in Christ…sometimes people get very confused. The gospel of grace is what it is all about. It is a wonderful declaration of what God has done in Jesus, removing our guilt, our shame, giving us righteousness as a gift. . . No one can condemn you. Most evangelicals would say amen to that but so often fail to apply it and quickly add to it… a lot of rules . . . People can feel that instead of coming to good news they feel they have taken on a lot of responsibilities. . .”

Terry Virgo was asked in the following video “How can a preacher improve?” I will share a few highlights from this video then embed the video itself. If you haven’t been following this excellent series, I commend them to you.

“One of the best ways to learn preaching is to listening to a good preacher”

“In my praying before I preach, I am asking God “lord please let people feel that their Father in heaven is speaking to them”

“You have got to be true to the Bible…you want to be clear…you need to have some shape, some drama, calling for a decision, for a response. . . I write on my notes “apply” I think i am not very good at application, I can love setting out truth, but I am often challenged and inspired by preachers who are aggressive with their application. . . it has got to come from exposition first, it’s not all exhortation.”

“What you are looking for is response that is rooted in truth”

“preaching is an event, and at the moment of impact is when something can happen.”

“The way that peapope get changed through preaching is engagement, God has spoken, it can change my life”

“It is by no means merely explaining verses. We are looking for the help of the Spirit”

This video might surprise some of my readers. Wayne is well known as a reformed theologian. Arguably he and Piper have between them, with some help from Keller and Carson, led to this resurgence of “Young Restless and Reformed” that so many people talk about. So when a man like that argues that God has not stopped speaking since completing the Bible, it is worth listening to what he has to say. Wayne is theologically charismatic (believing that the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are for today) and argues that prophecy is still available today, representing what God is saying to individual Christians rather than the whole world:

Adrian Warnock also blogs at http://adrianwarnock.com.

At Together For the Gospel, Chandler began his talk by claiming to be a reformed charismatic. Afterward, Adrian Warnock got a chance to sit down with him and ask him what it meant for him to be a reformed charismatic Christian.

Adrian Warnock also blogs at http://adrianwarnock.com.