I feel that almost every time I write one of these updates, I feel like saying "our last meeting was the best we've ever had". This last gathering was no exception, and I guess that is a good problem to have. The bottom line is that the presence of God that comes through the communion of the saints is a deeply satisfying thing. When we come together and God shows Himself among us and through us, there's nothing else like it.
"Through the Roof"
Our prayer time seemed to build steadily over the course of two hours. Starting with worship, prayer began to flow into different themes as a sense of God's presence began to build. We spent a good deal of time praying specifically on the issue of abortion as well as other justice matters in the New England states. We continued in a time of "Korean style" prayer (everyone praying at once), declaring the promises of God over the entire New England region and moving our focus to praying for the people of God--as we did this, the sense of God's presence really went through the roof! Our guests from California requested prayer and seemed to be super blessed as God spoke and ministered to them through the gathered believers.
Fellowship
Some of the most valuable happenings at these gatherings occur during the "down" time of lunch. I love seeing the Lord knit lives together over a meal! The result is that relationships of trust and love are formed, we learn from one another and stretch one another. Often strategic connections and introductions are made that will enhance our effectiveness in ministry for years down the road.
Covenant "Parameters"
During our prayer time, Jason Arroyo (CT) shared a word that the Lord had spoken to him on his drive. The central message he articulated through prayer was this: "God is saying there are covenant parameters that we need to come into agreement with in the upcoming revival in New England". As I heard Jason share from God's heart on "Covenant Parameters", I felt very strongly that these "parameters" related very closely to the message that Gaylord Enns was bringing. For those of you who were not there, I want to summarize a bit of the teaching for you.
Gaylord's message to us on Tuesday was about "rightly dividing the word of truth", specifically about clearly distinguishing between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.
Many of us have, without realizing it, have been living with one foot in the Old and one foot in the New. A clear example of this is in how we think about the "Great Commandments" to "Love the Lord your God..." and "Love your neighbor as yourself". For years, most of us have believed these statements summarized the heart of what it means to live as Christians. However, as Gaylord pointed out, these two statements are actually the greatest commandments "of the Law and the Prophets." In other words, these commandments properly belong to the Old Covenant, along with the 10 commandments and all 613 provisions of the law. So, what is the essence of the New Covenant? How can we describe what is unique and "New" about the Covenant we have in Jesus.
New Covenant/New Commandment
Gaylord shared a bit of his personal journey through a breakdown/burnout experience in 2001 after 35 years of pastoral ministry. As he was recovering from burnout, God opened his eyes in a new way to see Jesus' New Commandment: "Love one another as I have loved you." When he saw the significance of Jesus' Commandment for the first time, he assumed that he was the only one who had missed this command, but that all his friends and certainly Church theologians throughout the centuries had seen it. Part of his journey has been researching church history searching for Jesus' Commandment and the sad discovery that since the first century, by and large we as the Church have missed Jesus' commandment. As he said, "when I discovered that fact, all of a sudden, Church history began to make sense for the first time."
Although Jesus' Command not been well understood, The New Covenant and the New Commandment are inextricably linked. Jesus initiated both of them on the night he was betrayed. Both of them were called "New". In fact, Jesus' Command is so central to the New Covenant that it is actually our mark of authenticity as followers of Jesus: "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:35)
Summing Up the New Covenant
Is it possible to summarize the "New Covenant" as Jesus summarized the "Old Covenant", with two major commands? Amazingly, 1 John 3:23 does exactly that: "And this is His [Father God's]commandment: that we believe in the name of His son Jesus and love one another, just as He [Jesus] commanded us." At the center of the New Covenant we find these two commandments:
1) Faith in Jesus Christ--this is the Father's Commandment (John 3:16)
2) Love for one another as Jesus Loved us--This is Jesus' Commandment (John 13:34)
I find it fascinating that Jesus Christ Himself is actually right at the middle of each of these commandments.
It's interesting that "faith in Jesus Christ" was actually the issue at the heart of the Reformation that began just over 490 years ago. Faith in Jesus Christ is absolutely at the center of the gospel, but somehow for years a fog remained over this clear fact of Scripture. In a similar way, Gaylord shared his sense that God is removing the fog off of Jesus' New Command in our days--the Holy Spirit is helping us to rediscover and reclaim this central aspect of our faith. I think it's important to note also that in the New Covenant we fulfill the Old--we don't get rid of it. That's why we still have two "Testaments" in our Bibles. I want to emphasize that as we live out of the New we will be fulfilling the commands of the Old as never before.
Meditate on this teaching
Finally, I want to state in the clearest possible language my conviction that if authentic unity and revival is to be possible, we need to be firmly established in this foundational teaching on loving each other. I would venture to say that all of us need heart-level repentance around this issue, and it is essential for us to be grounded here if we are to walk into the promises of God as a region. You can order the book by Gaylord Enns, Love Revolution on Amazon--get it and read it. Please see the heart-felt note from Brandt Gillespie (below)
60.12 Comes to an End
Our final 60.12 gathering will be on Tuesday, March 22 in Boston at Park Street Church. We hope you can join us for this final gathering. Mark your calendar now and more information will follow in the upcoming days.
Yours in Christ,
Jonathan Friz
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