More in Love with Jesus: Interview with Rolland Baker
PneumaReview.com speaks with Rolland Baker about Iris Global and his new book, Keeping the Fire.
Rolland and Heidi Baker
PneumaReview.com: Many people know about the work that you and Heidi are doing in Mozambique but Iris Global has leaders in over 30 nations. What are some of the other nations that Iris works in?
In His Presence is fullness of joy, and with Paul we testify that in all our troubles our joy knows no bounds.
PneumaReview.com: In your new book, Keeping the Fire, you write about the five core values of Iris Global, please tell our readers what they are.
Keeping the Fire: Discovering the Heart of True Revival from Chosen (October 2016).
Baker: Our first core value is that we believe there is no limit to the extent of which we can know God and experience him. Jesus is not just the destination to some place, he is the destination. All the mysteries of life are hidden in him for us to discover as we seek Him with all our heart, mind, and soul. Not only can we find God, but also we depend on Him completely. This is our second core value. We do not put confidence in the flesh – either in people or plans. Our confidence is in Jesus, and all fruitfulness flows from intimacy with him. Our third core value is to look for revival and begin ministries, not always but as a general rule, at the bottom and not the top. This means going to the least, to the poor and the unwanted. It means going to the people most Churches don’t want to have anything to do with; the people others have given up on and thrown away. We go to the most hurting, the most broken, and the forgotten of the world as vessels of the kind of love the world has never seen. This leads to our fourth value, the willingness to suffer, if necessary, for the sake of the Gospel. The Bible tells us that we will share Jesus’ glory to the extent and in the proportion we share his suffering. Some people might teach that he suffered so that we won’t have to. But we in Iris don’t feel that way. We feel that he suffered so that he could save us from our sins and give us a heart like he has so that we can live the way He lived among evil opposition. We are not about to tell people that if you get into tough stuff that you’re doing something wrong. In fact, in this world we are told we will face evil opposition, but we also realize that trials and tribulations produce a character in us that proves to the glory of God. It was for the joy set before him that Jesus endured the cross. Therefore, our last value is deeply important, and that is the joy of the Lord. In His Presence is fullness of joy, and with Paul we testify that in all our troubles our joy knows no bounds. It is our strength and energy, without which we die. People tell me all the time places of persecution and difficulty are not places to experience joy. We are told that we need to get serious and focus on problems. But, it was the persecuted Christians in China that taught me that joy is the energy of the Holy Spirit. It’s the joy given by the Holy Spirit that kept Christians from losing hope in prison, solitary confinement, and torture in China. If they needed it, and if Jesus needed it to go through the Cross, then we must need it too! It’s for the joy set before us that we are willing to do the stuff. Without joy, life is meaningless. Love without joy is a killer. The perfection of Heaven, and of the gospel is that perfect love which results in joy and that’s the whole outcome of everything!
Category: Living the Faith, Spring 2016
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