Thursday, December 8, 2011

National Conference summary.

Ugh, I really need to get better at this whole blogging thing. I know I fail at updating this in a timely manner, and considering it's apparently been since October that I last updated it, there is a lots to update you on. Today will be just a brief overview (compared to everything I could say) of our second EDGE summit/National Staff Conference in Louisville, KY. To begin, a picture montage of some highlights, then to talk about the substance of the summit/conference.

Visiting the Louisville Slugger Factory/Museum where I was able to hold a bat used by Micky Mantle and see a bat used by Babe Ruth for 21 of his home runs. Fun fact: it only takes 30 seconds to make a bat used by a major league baseball player.


Staff picture on the Belle of Louisville where we all ate dinner for a night. It didn't leave the harbor, but it was still fun! Can you tell it is cold/windy outside though?!


We also had a dance party that night! A tradition that will probably be held every time my EDGE class is together.


Our hotel was located on the Ohio River, so we were able to take walks by the river and play Ultimate Frisbee during some down time in a park nearby.


The Robbie Seay Band played a small concert for us one night of the conference. Soo great! Here is Jenny and I with him after the concert, when he thought we were twins.


One of the last nights, part of my staff went out for dinner at Hard Rock Cafe in a little dining district close by. Always a good time with them! 


My beautiful roommates that I was blessed to share not only my room with, but also my life with for the whole ten days! I love these girls so very much!


Now for the substance part of the ten days. As Navigator staff I am very blessed/privileged to be able to hear from some great speakers: Norm Hubbard, Jerry Bridges, Tom Yeakley, Gary Haugen and many others. You may or may not know all of those names, but trust me when I say they are talented and very heartfelt speakers. They are passionate for what they talk about which just spreads to those listening! 

We got to wake up every morning of our EDGE summit to have worship led by one of our own and to listen to Norm talk about the Gospel, specifically Acts 11, 13, 14. In Acts 11 Norm talked about the first intentional outreach to Greeks and the principal of "do whatever you can, with whatever you have, anywhere you are." This saying you don't have to be this extraordinary Christian to share Jesus; you can have "common boldness." The passage also reminded us that our purpose is to bring people to Jesus, not church. 

Acts 13 passage was about keeping our eyes/focus on the Lord. Many good points from this:
  • Don't try doing great things for God until you are caught up in the greatness of God.
  • Can you joyfully endure the loss of ALL things?
  • Bloom where you are planted. Be fruitful right where God put you. Focus.
  • He calls people not just overseas, but also home.
  • God will never call us to do what He won't equip us to do. 
  • Three things could be the center of our life: Jesus, self effort, or self deception.
SO much goodness to talk about; I'm trying to summarize most of it. I could write about all of theses separately in other blog posts so if you want to know more just ask! On to Acts 14....Norm posed five questions to us to think about:
  1. Will you allow opposition to divert you from the mission God has sent you on?
  2. Will you seek glory from men?
  3. Is the Gospel worth the surrender of your life?
  4. Do I live with an unaccountable confidence in the presence, power, and purposes of God?
  5. Is it my aim to raise up disciples?
Our mission is not a spectator sport!

We had so many other great speakers and workshops that I could go on and on about I will choose to only talk about one other. My favorite session was from a man by the name of Gary Haugen. You may have heard his name or seen his face on national news channels talking about his organization, International Justice Mission, which helps rescue people from situations such as those in the sex slave trade and helps to rehabilitate them and show them Jesus. He spoke to us about the unfamiliar passions of God, posing three questions (passion may be my favorite word, but it really was the content that made this my favorite):
  1. Are Jesus and I really interested in the same things?
  2. From my life, can people see the passions of Jesus?
  3. Do I have a passion for the world or do I send others?
Gary shared with us some of the atrocities he has witnessed in his line of work to show that the most difficult thing people can't understand about God is how He is good when they are in so much pain. This poses the question of what is God's plan to show He is good to these people? Answer: we are the plan. Matt. 5:14, 16 & 2 Cor. 5:20. "Injustice is the abuse of power that takes things from people that God wanted for them." God's call to us from this, Micah 6:8 and Matt. 23:23: do justice, love mercy, walk with God. Those suffering should be able to see God's goodness through God's people!

If you are interested in learning more about what Gary Haugen and his organization does, I would encourage you to check out the IJM website: http://www.ijm.org/  Pretty powerful stuff.

Okay! I think I'm done with this looooong post for now. Maybe my new years resolution should be to update this more...we will see how that goes! :)