Last weekend, we had a great conference with Dr. Thom Wolf on how God is raising up ordinary people to change the world through their jobs, vocations, time, etc. We pulled together a couple of churches, heard from speakers in many different domains of life, had a roundtable discussion with experts on globalization, the war on terror, and the impact of global Christianity, had many meetings with leaders all around the Montgomery-Troy area on how to move resources and create strategic partnerships with India for the advance of the gospel and the economic development of that nation, and did lots of other stuff! It was an amazing time.
I had written a massive post about the conference with pictures, links, and summaries of each session. It was quite impressive, actually. Then, Typepad ate it in the publishing process and I haven't been motivated to reproduce it. Ugh. So, I was thinking: If you were at the conference, why don't you share you insights? What stuck out in your mind the most? What was a new concept? How will you see things differently? Let's collaborate, instead of me just writing it all. One, I don't want to. Two, I want to hear from you. If you weren't at the conference, I still invite you to interact with the ideas shared by others (Andrew, I'm especially calling you out on this one!). I hope to hear from you! I might add some pictures to this post later in the week as well.
Update: Here are the Audio Downloads of the Conference.
Here are a couple of pictures from the weekend. I'll add some more later:
Painting from local artist GinnyLu Greene, who shared about how God has given her a ministry of encouragment and hope through her art.
Worship team from Family Life Bible Church. They led on Friday night and they were awesome! They really brought us into the presence of the Lord. What a great time!
The conference was an awesome time... It was encouraging to hear the testimonies of where God is working through people at work. It's so easy to view our work as a non-spiritual necessity rather than looking upon it as a way to glorify God and be used for the kingdom.
One of the most memorable testimonies was the guy from the national guard who started a prayer time once a week at work for 15 minutes and God just exploded it. 15 minutes!
And of course getting spend time with and learn from Dr. Thom was awesome. I think we learn from him even when he isn't trying to teach...
Posted by: Chris McCorkle | October 02, 2006 at 09:51 AM
The conference began with an amazing worship time. I mean Gateway Baptist was rockin', and it was followed by a moving sermon by Dr. Thom on glorifying God in our peculiar generation. It was cool to hear him shed light on how people groups have migrated through time, how there will be a population growth in Asia, and the gospel will spread through the ends of the earth before Jesus returns. I enjoyed the testimonies of ordinary folks and how God is being glorified in the marketplace. On Saturday, I had the privilege of spending time with some awesome young folks who got to see a glimpse of how God could use them when they grow up. What a group of talented artists and hearts alive with hope and a future. Saturday night's panel discussion was heeeavy, man with great thinkers and Christ-followers in our generation talking about globalization. It's cool to see how the Holy Spirit will guide us to think and pray for all peoples of planet Earth. Awesome conference!
Posted by: Laura | October 02, 2006 at 04:34 PM
(...was that a gauntlet I heard being thrown down Alan?)
I took many things from the conference, some of which are still germinating around somewhere inside. One of the main things is something that Thom began explaining to Alan and I on the way down to Montgomery from Birmingham after we picked him up from the airport. It was the concept he returned to over and over again all weekend, and that is: “What does the Lord require of you, oh man, but to act JUSTLY, to love MERCY, and to walk FAITHFULLY with your God?”. But specifically how Thom put these into our everyday lives and our common language. (1) Justice is what is Morally right, that which ought to be, the thing everybody knows is good and what should (and conversely what should not) happen, (2) Mercy is quite simply, Love, showing love to others, whether our church gets something out of it or not is not the point (oh man)…just show love. And (3) to walk faithfully is to persevere in doing good and showing love, to keep on hitting that thing that is wrong right in the mouth until you get satisfaction.
Thom gave a great illustration of the unrighteous judge and the widow who demanded justice. He was beating up on somebody in the first row (was it Brian Kilough?) and with this little old ladies voice coming out going “Bam, Bam, Bam…now GIVE me what is right” and the (old conceited man’s voice) unrighteous judge says “I do not fear man, and do not have any regard for God, but because of her persistence I will grant her her request”. Can’t you see him up there acting that out (Bam, Bam, Bam… GIVE me what is right). But then he brings it home and says, “somewhere, in a village close by here somewhere, there was a young lady…it was a few years back, you might remember…and she says, no..NO, I’m not going to get up off this bus seat. (He’s almost in tears at this point)I am going to see justice done right here in this bus seat. I am may not be able to see it done everywhere…but right here in this bus seat, no, I will see justice done here.” And because of her persistence, and of others like Martin Luther King Jr., millions of Americans are indeed walking in the freedom with which they were first endowed by their creator. Because prejudice and racial inequalities are a JUSTICE issue and the church needs to see these things in the culture around us and do what is right, because THAT is what the Lord requires of us (on man).
So I am thinking…down here in Montgomery Alabama, what are the issues of our days? What are the issues Idiosyncratic to our generation that He would have us step into? I think about it when I read about some messed up guy who shoots a police officer in the face after a routine traffic stop. I think about it when I read about the blighted New Orleans communities who do not see much hope on the horizon of their citizens returning from the far flung corners of our country after their exodus. I wonder what justice and mercy issues God might have in mind when I see the shape our Montgomery public school systems are in and the majority demographic of most of their students, and I wonder, “Yes, though we inherited some things from our fathers, ARE we doing what I right in OUR generation?”.
So, those are some of the things rattling around in my head, thanks for asking Alan. And, by the way, this post was written AND SAVED using Microsoft Word.
Charis Shalom, Andrew
Posted by: Andrew Hicks | October 02, 2006 at 10:18 PM
The point about showing mercy is particularly salient, to me. I heard a story which really hit home about that.
A young man was convicted of a crime. His mother appeared at the sentencing hearing, to plead for mercy. She told how he'd been physically abused by a drunken father, how he'd been picked on by his peers, and generally what a miserable and painful life he'd led. She finished by saying "If anyone deserves mercy, Your Honor, it's my son".
His response: "If he deserved mercy, ma'am, it wouldn't be mercy."
We all need to remember that. Nobody deserves mercy. Ever.
Except Jesus, maybe. And He wouldn't take it.
Posted by: Bob Cleveland | October 03, 2006 at 11:03 AM