Staff Conference 2011

You always know if you are at a Christian conference when its in the middle of nowhere, coffee on tap and full of diverse people that would probably never talk to each other if they were not Christian. It makes me chuckle. Of course thats not what its all about!

Last week was Staff Conference and it was refreshing and I really enjoyed it and was reminded how amazng Jesus is! Here are some of my thoughts from the week:

1. God is light. This is so important because life can seem very dark at times and we can hide in darkness. But God is light and guides us and surrounds us.

2. Evangelism isn't about throwing up the Gospel. Its about conversation, relationships and sometimes dropping a brick.

3. God asks 3 questions in Genesis 3 and they relevant now.

4. It is a blessing to have this time of fellowship and I enjoyed chatting and be encouraged by my colleagues.

5. Late night chats are the best, even if its at 1am.

6. Worldviews are powerful and just because we may not understand them doesn't mean we label them "stupid". We need time and patience to understand where people are coming from. Its all about art of conversation.

7. Am I using my degree? Am I reading books that engage my mind?

8. IFES Europe is in need of support and encouragement. We are blessed in the UK to have all this support - lets branch out.

9. When we get to the throne of God, will we say - "Gosh, I wished I invested more time in this"

10. I love my job. I love the students in Plymouth and I love working in the South West and I love the friends I have made on my team and those in other regions. I am looking forward to meeting up with you all again soon :)

Appetite or Conviction?

You know when something isn’t right. You can hear that voice inside you saying that this may not be a good idea. But you find your desires wanting what is in front of you – they scream at you to indulge yourself. Go on… what harm can it do? Just once? Did God actually say it was a sin…?

Lets role back to Genesis 3. The serpent isn’t stupid; in fact he is crafty and knows how to play the game of desire and he does this through advertising and appealing to mans appetite. He makes death look beautiful and disobedience sexy. He plays on the appetite of man and woman to serve themselves and break covenant with God. Through listening to their appetites instead of the conviction of Gods word, they found themselves naked and ashamed. Sin lies and reaps devastation.

But isn’t our appetite tasty? Don’t we love the pull of lust and the forbidden fruit? There is always that temptation to go for what will please our desires especially if they are screaming at us to give it a go.

Imagine if you had a choice between watching or ignoring a film which you know contains sex scenes that will cause you to stumble. The choice seems obvious. But your appetite for seeing it and your desires bring up excuses –

1. I will watch it in order to engage with themes and topics for Gospel outreach.
2. I will fast forward through the sex scenes
3. I will only watch it once and maybe in secret so no one knows.
4. Maybe it won’t affect me much…just this once.

But your convictions scream at you not to watch it. Not to gratify the desires of the flesh. To flee from temptation. Your conviction knows that this may lead you into sin and cause you to stumble and cause you heartache. The Holy Spirit is placing convictions on your heart. But who will you listen to? Yourself or God?

I was challenged about this at Staff Orientation and Forum and how important it is to never go with appetite but always go with conviction. This isn’t just related to movies with sex scenes, but also shopping, internet porn, gossip, books, what you do, late nights etc… and although I am convinced that you cannot do this alone, but only through the Holy Spirit – by walking in the Spirit as Paul describes in Galatians 5. However you do have a responsibility as to whether you will listen and act with the conviction presented to you or go with your appealing appetite. Which is better?

A taste of Heaven

I have just come back from New Staff Conference and feel refreshed and encouraged! Over the years while being involved in student work and missions, I have been to many Christian conferences and each time I always feel like I am getting a taste or glimpse of Heaven. I always feel that friendships are made quickly and deeply, the Gospel is warming our hearts and we share in fellowship over food and laughter. I feel like its a taste of heaven because I see a glimpse of deep, encouraging friendship centered around Christ. Its also an outflowing of Grace.

I am not only looking forward to developing the friendships made this week, but also seeing Christ in them. To see these people grow and love Jesus more everyday. This also makes me excited about being apart of the South West team and enjoying the delights of fellowship here. I can't really put across how much I am looking forward to being apart of this family and being gracious towards each other when we sin, showing the love of Christ by serving each other and reminding each other of the Gospel. And just feeling apart of a greater vision and the family I have been adopted into that has an amazing Father in heaven.