This year’s Grace and Glory Conference with Rob Rufus started with a headline change. From the usual “Glory and Grace” to “Grace and Glory”. Minor, I know. But a few people did ask me about it. It has to do with marketing actually. This year we decided to drop the registration system and go with an “all welcome” format. By doing so, we anticipated a number of those curious about what all the fuss is surrounding Rob and his message.
Anything containing the term “Grace” these days usually sparks some kind of interest. That’s because we find ourselves in a theological revolution sweeping the world by storm. But we’ve spoken about that.
It was for this reason that we decided to focus on the word “Grace” in our marketing, and thus it just made sense to switch the conference name to have “Grace” come first. And as one clever friend of mine pointed out: The revelation of Grace opens one’s heart right up to experience the Glory of God. So it all seemed right.
We also decided against having day sessions, and rather have 3 evening sessions, so people didn’t need to take leave or miss out on sessions. This seemed to help more people getting to the meetings and inviting their friends along.
For those that weren’t there, or if you want a refresher, here’s what went down:
The Thursday night Rob ministered on the foundational truths of Grace. Which in itself requires hours of exposition. In this short period on one evening, Rob chose to focus on the role of “The Law” (Ten Commandments, Moses Law, etc.) and its inability to make anything or anyone holy. I loved this because I remember how important this revelation was for me a few years back. People can understand the New Covenant and how Gracious and Loving God is, but if they don’t understand the role of the Law, they could easily (and dangerously) mix it with the New Covenant thereby nullifying the New Covenant’s Super Power! It is essential in our understanding of the New Covenant that the Old, Law Covenant of Moses is dead to us as Christians and not only has no power whatsoever to change us, it does not even apply to us!
This significant point was coupled with the radical truth about many of the words of Jesus. It was clear that when Rob went into this territory, some people became unsure. Rob unpacked the truth that many of Jesus’ words were spoken...
- to those still under the Law of Moses.
- to reveal their self-righteousness.
- to raise the Law back up to its high, “impossible” standard.
The Law of Moses, in its truest form, is impossible for any human being to keep. Which is the point. The Law was given in order to reveal our need for a Saviour. And That Saviour instituted and ratified the New Covenant when His Blood was shed at the Cross, not when He was born or any time before. The New Covenant didn’t begin until that point. (Rob did mention that the New Covenant officially started at Pentecost, which is valid.)
The second night, Friday, became a bit of a standing joke for the rest of the weekend. This was because Rob was significantly more passionate and excited than the other nights. The message Rob brought was one of “fiery encouragement” to “finish the race” as Paul stated. He did this to ensure people don’t misunderstand the New Covenant as one of laziness and passivity. Rather, the New Covenant should inspired us so much that we can’t help but be pro-active in the things of the Kingdom and do all we can to establish it on Earth. Rob may have come across as “angry”, but if you know Rob, you would know it was simply his passion for the Kingdom coming through.
The verse that comes to mind that best applies to Friday night is...
Hebrews 10:24
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
Spurring each other on is an essential part of the Christian walk. We need each other to encourage us to keep going, to get through the tough times, to not give up believing for the breakthrough, etc.
Some of the primary points coming out of Friday included...
- The Truth that living in the Grace of God produces fruitful lives.
- Believers still operate at different levels of maturity under the New Covenant, and its important to grow to be mature believers. (This was covered again on Sunday AM)
- Renewal of the mind is absolutely imperative to living a fruitful Kingdom lifestyle.
- The church was commissioned by Jesus to be an effective agent for change on the planet, and as New Covenant churches we should desire to be as effective as we possibly can be.
- We are destined to prosper as children of God, but this starts with the next point...
- The Message of Grace produces, above all else, “well-being in our souls”. This is true prosperity. As John said in 3 John 2; “I pray that you may be prosperous and healthy, even as your soul prospers.” Health, prosperity and success stem from a prosperous soul. And this is what the Gospel of Grace deals with; our souls. The root of the issue.
Saturday night, and the final night of the conference, was a glorious night under the ministry of Holy Spirit. As usual, the worship was passionate and intense as people reveled in the Goodness of our God and delighted in all He has done for us.
It was a perfect platform, because Rob had prepared to preach on intimacy with the Holy Spirit. An absolutely stunning conclusion to this year’s conference, a journey from Grace, to staying the course, to the goal; remaining “in the vine” in intimacy with the Holy Spirit.
This is what the New Covenant has achieved for us! That we “may all know Him” (Jeremiah 31:34). Through the work of the New Covenant, we all have a real, personal and intimate relationship with Holy Spirit. (Whatever you may want to call Him , He is a Real Person with a real personality and loves your friendship! All 3 of Them do!)
The ministry as usual was incredible, as Rob did what he does best and called those feeling the tangible presence of Holy Spirit forward, and released the Fire of Heaven on the room. Fresh, powerful, transformational encounters released all over the room. If you’ve never been to a Rob Rufus meeting, well, imagine hundreds of people squeezing into the front of the church hungry for more of God, and all personally encountering the Love and Power of God in different ways; from violent shakes on the floor, to loud shouts of triumph, to quiet smiles of peace.
Personally I too once again had a fresh touch of Heaven’s Fire. These can be really tough to explain and need an entire Blog Post, but trust me, it was a powerful time. I must be honest, I felt it could’ve gone on a bit longer. Not sure what happened, may have been a miscommunication or misunderstanding, but what happened was powerful and more than good enough for God to do His work.
Sunday morning was geared toward a local church context, but that actually gave it a unique feel and message. Many people found this message about Maturing as Children of God to be his best of the week. It was extremely practical, covering significant ground about the importance of growing into mature believers who can effectively establish the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.
The basis for this message came from Colossians 1:28-29:
He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. vs29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
This message was one of loving admonition, encouraging people to step into maturity. Rob made a great point regarding vs 29... Seeing believers step into maturity was of huge importance to Paul, so much so that he “strenuously contended” to see it happen. Much of his labour and work in the church was to “spur” the believers on to maturity. Obviously he did this in the Powerful Grace of God working in him, but seeing believers rise up into mature worldchangers was imperative to him.
I loved a comparison Rob did between mature and immature people. He didn’t share these to discouragement or condemnation to anyone, no ways! The platform for “no condemnation” had already been laid. But rather this was a “spurring”, inviting people to start taking responsibility for their lives and get on with changing the world!
These are some of the differences. Now, these may come across as a bit harsh to you, but they’re not meant to be.
- Mature plan a bit in their lives. Babies plan for nothing. If you don't manage your life, you'll spend your life managing crises.
- Mature make difficult decisions, even if it costs them short term pain, knowing short term pain produces long term gain. Immature people complicate everyone's life around them by making quick silly decisions. They crash their chaos into other people's lives. And make people who confront them feel guilty.
- Immature people are driven by instant gratification.
- Mature people find their identity in being Children of the Most High God. Immature people find their identity in miracles and achievements. (Immature people can still operate in Power and miracles, because they’re done by Grace - but those miracles don’t give them credibility, their lives give them credibility - Bill Johnson has some good stuff on this point)
- Immature people fight. Mature people unite.
- Mature people distinguish between Biblical priority and Biblical values, making “the Kingdom of God first” their lives.
- Mature people defend the truth, the church and other people's integrity, and very seldom themselves. Immature people will always try and defend themselves.
- Mature people are givers, immature people are takers.
- Mature people are faithful pillars. Immature people are cater-pillars, eating up everything they can, sewing a cocoon around themselves, turn into a butterfly, and fly away. (Haha, loved that analogy!)
- Mature people manage their moods, they manage their self talk, they talk themselves into faith. Immature people sulk and withdraw in order to manipulate sympathy from others.
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As mentioned, Rob brought these comparisons within the context of a loving encouragement to a local church. It was without doubt the best message I have ever heard of such “encouragement and spurring”, because it was so seasoned with Love and Grace. If you download only one of the messages from this conference, download this one.
We then asked Rob and Glenda to lay hands and pray for all our Life Group Leaders at Highway. We are down to 2 full-time pastors, so the workload is completely different to what it was for us say 2 or 3 years ago. But what has been great is that it has forced us to rethink “church”, and to do things differently. And one of those ways has been to lean a lot more on the capacity of the Life Group Leaders, which has seen them step up to the plate like we’ve never seen before. Having Rob & Glenda lay hands and pray for them was a much needed commissioning of their role, appreciation of their work, and release of refreshing Living Water over their lives as they carry a new “load”.
This too, was a deeply significant and special time.
And that was it! We blinked and it was over! 4 days of Glory! 4 days of washing in the Word, renewing our minds to see things through the eyes of the Kingdom and His Righteousness.
It was a special time together. And no doubt will go a long way to seeing many believers in KZN step up to the plate and be get on with the job of changing the world like never before!
After all, that’s why we still here, right? To change the world. We can only do that by His Grace.
