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The past week has been a wild one - with the next week and half promising to be just as wild. May 1, we have 10+ global pastors converging at NorthWood.  Sunday 2 to 3 of them will preach in each service, then one of them will lead us in communion at the end of each service “Indian” syle - as in India.  Then the 3rd - from 1-4pm anyone is invited - after that it’s all closed door.  We have been coming together as the global church pastors to learn from one another - it’s a process we’ve been working on and are nearing completion after a 3 year journey together.  More on that later . . . .

One of my closest friends in life over the past 8 years has become Eddy Leo of Abba-Love Church in Jakarta, Indonesia.  We met after the tsunami in Banda Aceh.  Pastor Eddy’s church has 25,000 people that attend weekly.  He is one of the most humble on the face of the earth you’ll ever know.  His personality, his life-style, his leadership - it’s all very humble.  His church size would put him in the top ten churches of America - but he is nowhere near what an America Giga-Church pastor would be.  Humility, simplicy, and servanthood are all core to who he is as a person.  He is a picture of what I believe a biblical pastor is and what God longs for us to be here in the States.  He is no dummy.  Raised reformed, discovering the power of the Spirit, knowing Greek & Hebrew, theology, and city engagement he’s truly an “Apostle” in our day in the truest sense of the Greek word - one sent out to extend the kingdom.

I don’t think I’ve ever met a pastor as balanced as he is in terms of theology and practice.  Many are great preachers and theologians.  Many are great church growers.  Many are great “missional” practitioners.  Eddy’s ministry encompasses it all.  I believe that is due to the fact that he sees the Kingdom as the focal point of all of it.  This is where he and I converge - we have the same discipleship model and God gave it to each of us without ever having met the other.  Most of the pastors in the global group also have the same model.  I doubt that I would have that model had I not been engrossed in the kingdom, had I not been engaged in the world, had we not had new believers funneling into our church when God was doing a major work in me.  That work was not merely reading, learning - but it was more hearing God, recognizing him - and engaging the city and the world.  There is something about the mix of the world, the Gospel, the society - that is incredibly powerful.  It takes everything to a new level. 

So what did Eddy teach us this week?

1.  It’s about following the “head” of the church - Jesus Christ.  He is the head, not any leader but Jesus.

2.  Hearing from the head in prayer is critical.  God can and will speak to and through all of us and we should hear corporately.

3.  The only way we were made to function was “Body life” and when we are connected to the head the whole body functions, gifts, ministries, 5-fold ministry.  What he has observed we have done is to take gifts and ministries and limit them to a few and to the worship service only. 

4.  The key to the cell church working is the body life.  It’s imparting hope.  He had a very unusual understanding of prophecy - all gifts should build up and edity and everyone according to 1Cor 14 should desire prophecy.  He describes that more as building up and encouraging - speaking a healthy future and a strong hope to others the same way we as parents do to our children.  Sooooo - we were all prophesying over each other and it was a blast!!!  We’ve made gifts too too complicated and too exclusive. 

5.  The role of the corporate church leadership is to equip and serve as a central nervous system that keeps pushing the organism out.  That means equipping, facilitating, visioning, keeping the teaching Biblical, etc. . . .

6.  Before we pray for anything - we should allow the Spirit to interecede and ask the Holy Spirit how we should pray.  When he speaks to our heart - we then follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit and pray in that manner. 

A while back, I took Eddy with me to a conference where he spoke to thousands.  The biggest question was how do you grow a church that big?  It was the wrong question - the biggest question is “How does Christ work in you that big!”