How Should a Reformed Pastor Be Charismatic?

Speaking at this week's Desiring God conference for pastors in Minnesota, U.K. Pastor Tope Koleoso encouraged church leaders not to sidestep the supernatural in the Christian faith and ministry, but to rightly understand and exercise the gifts of the Holy Spirit while shunning fanaticism.

Commenting on the title of the message, "Sovereign Grace, Spiritual Gifts and the Pastor: How Should a Reformed Pastor be Charismatic?" Koleoso joked as he began to speak, "Only John Piper could write such a title." He laughed, shaking his head, and added, "It's not a title; it's a paragraph."

The assumption underneath is, it can be done, it must be done, said Koleoso, who leads Jubilee Church London in the U.K. and was a speaker for the Desiring God 2013 Conference for Pastors in Minneapolis. "If the Gospel has power, this is not optional."

Koleoso read out Acts 13:1-12, and asked why would anyone who is Bible-believing, Christ-centered and theology-loving be hesitant, cautious or resistant to the Holy Spirit? It is perhaps, fear, he suggested. Sometimes it's rational, and sometimes it's because some people are abusive and hurtful in the name of the Holy Spirit. Fanaticism is at times mistaken as spirituality. Read more