Conferenced-out...
I'm back... again. Get ready for a big one.
I spent last week and the weekend just gone in Katoomba doing the conference thing.
KYLC: Katoomba Youth Leadership Convention (Strand 3)
KYC: Katoomba Youth Convention
Although I was fiance-less for most of the week I managed much better than I thought I would. And despite being there with 5 others for KYLC - we didn't spend a huge amount of time together. The majority of the time we quite happy doing our own thing. I tried to sit with at least one of them during talks though. There's nothing lonelier that sitting in an auditorium full of people by yourself.
I slipped back into Beach Mission routine a bit - craving siestas after lunch and sleeping through free time. I did have a minor sleeping setback and had to invest in some earplugs after sleeping only two hours the first night. Generally I spent alot of time thinking and reading and reflecting in the in-between times. I was good... and probably needed.
The actual conference was excellent as usual. The music was up a notch on last year, although they had a bit of a jerky start. Kirk Patston (sp?) did a series of talks on Ezekial which were really interesting. His first talk was almost a skit - he put himself into the position of Ezekial's brother-in-law and basically monologued. Later on in a question time he explained his method of preaching. Something new he was trying, based on his Speech Pathology background, where a message has three levels.
1. The basics/what is says. eg. 'I'm going shopping.'
2. The context in which it is said. eg. 'I need shoes. I'm going shopping.'
3. The 'emotion' or motive behind it. eg. coercion, deception, happiness, fear.
So he is trying to preach the third level which is rarely preached in Evangelical circles. I did feel a bit lost in his talks and had no idea what notes to write down... but he definately got the emotion across. I felt cynical about the whole thing at first and then I realised that the interpretation of the emotion behind the scripture wouldn't be much different to the interpretation of the passage itself, and in fact the three levels can intertwine.
Another thing that I realised was that I automatically separate emotions and God in my mind. Probably affected by a brief dabble in Charismaticism in my teens, I always told myself that emotions could not be trusted because we are sinful. This is true, but in reading through Psalms recently I was confused by the repetition of strong emotions often sounding blasphemous.
Still working through it - but I guess I understand two things.
- Emotions in response to God's Word are not wrong
- God is a God with emotions (we are made in His image)
The other speaker was a man from South Africa named Grant (no idea of the last name - sorry!). He spoke on Matthew and challenged us alot on leadership etc. Unfortunately he wasn't as memorable (although very good) and I can't really say much more without my notes :).
My strand group was also excellent. I managed to score a group of five girls led by Kara Gilbert. We always ran out of time and we only just got through the material, but it was great. I learned how to write a topical study/talk and graduated! Although I was very upset to discover that we didn't get a certificate at the end. I bumped into Nic afterwards and he consoled me by giving me a $10 Gift Voucher for Matthias Media that was about 5 years old.
KYC was a bit up and down and jumbled. Weekend conferences are always like that for me - and it probably didn't help that it followed immediately after KYLC. Haoran came up on Friday night with a bit of cold and went back on Saturday afternoon when it didn't get any better. So I decided that burying myself in my sleeping bag and moping won out over a swim at the Katoomba pool.
Ray Galea's talks in paticular were excellent. Especially his talk on the sovereignty of God. Given, I did reconise alot of the material from 'How Long O Lord', however I don't know whether that was intentional or not. I liked his idea of God's truths being juggling balls. His Saturday night evangelistic talk hit home as well. It's so easy to dull down Jesus' pain on the cross. I re-realised that Jesus' pain was not just physical, but that it was a result of a separation between him and God. Sounds obvious - I know... but I guess I never understood the pain of a 'break-up' before. Imagine the worst break-up you ever had and then times it by a billion. Imagine that severed relationship... a relationship that is closer that we will ever know in terms of human relationships.
We came home to a hot and muggy house, I had a shower, and tried to avoid thinking wedding stuff for as long as possible. I really can't wait... but our 'to-do list' is becoming an annoying urgent reality. With Haoran out for the count I'm feeling a little panicked... Anyone got any bonboniere ideas that would fit into little noodle boxes??
19 days! *grin*
I spent last week and the weekend just gone in Katoomba doing the conference thing.
KYLC: Katoomba Youth Leadership Convention (Strand 3)
KYC: Katoomba Youth Convention
Although I was fiance-less for most of the week I managed much better than I thought I would. And despite being there with 5 others for KYLC - we didn't spend a huge amount of time together. The majority of the time we quite happy doing our own thing. I tried to sit with at least one of them during talks though. There's nothing lonelier that sitting in an auditorium full of people by yourself.
I slipped back into Beach Mission routine a bit - craving siestas after lunch and sleeping through free time. I did have a minor sleeping setback and had to invest in some earplugs after sleeping only two hours the first night. Generally I spent alot of time thinking and reading and reflecting in the in-between times. I was good... and probably needed.
The actual conference was excellent as usual. The music was up a notch on last year, although they had a bit of a jerky start. Kirk Patston (sp?) did a series of talks on Ezekial which were really interesting. His first talk was almost a skit - he put himself into the position of Ezekial's brother-in-law and basically monologued. Later on in a question time he explained his method of preaching. Something new he was trying, based on his Speech Pathology background, where a message has three levels.
1. The basics/what is says. eg. 'I'm going shopping.'
2. The context in which it is said. eg. 'I need shoes. I'm going shopping.'
3. The 'emotion' or motive behind it. eg. coercion, deception, happiness, fear.
So he is trying to preach the third level which is rarely preached in Evangelical circles. I did feel a bit lost in his talks and had no idea what notes to write down... but he definately got the emotion across. I felt cynical about the whole thing at first and then I realised that the interpretation of the emotion behind the scripture wouldn't be much different to the interpretation of the passage itself, and in fact the three levels can intertwine.
Another thing that I realised was that I automatically separate emotions and God in my mind. Probably affected by a brief dabble in Charismaticism in my teens, I always told myself that emotions could not be trusted because we are sinful. This is true, but in reading through Psalms recently I was confused by the repetition of strong emotions often sounding blasphemous.
Still working through it - but I guess I understand two things.
- Emotions in response to God's Word are not wrong
- God is a God with emotions (we are made in His image)
The other speaker was a man from South Africa named Grant (no idea of the last name - sorry!). He spoke on Matthew and challenged us alot on leadership etc. Unfortunately he wasn't as memorable (although very good) and I can't really say much more without my notes :).
My strand group was also excellent. I managed to score a group of five girls led by Kara Gilbert. We always ran out of time and we only just got through the material, but it was great. I learned how to write a topical study/talk and graduated! Although I was very upset to discover that we didn't get a certificate at the end. I bumped into Nic afterwards and he consoled me by giving me a $10 Gift Voucher for Matthias Media that was about 5 years old.
KYC was a bit up and down and jumbled. Weekend conferences are always like that for me - and it probably didn't help that it followed immediately after KYLC. Haoran came up on Friday night with a bit of cold and went back on Saturday afternoon when it didn't get any better. So I decided that burying myself in my sleeping bag and moping won out over a swim at the Katoomba pool.
Ray Galea's talks in paticular were excellent. Especially his talk on the sovereignty of God. Given, I did reconise alot of the material from 'How Long O Lord', however I don't know whether that was intentional or not. I liked his idea of God's truths being juggling balls. His Saturday night evangelistic talk hit home as well. It's so easy to dull down Jesus' pain on the cross. I re-realised that Jesus' pain was not just physical, but that it was a result of a separation between him and God. Sounds obvious - I know... but I guess I never understood the pain of a 'break-up' before. Imagine the worst break-up you ever had and then times it by a billion. Imagine that severed relationship... a relationship that is closer that we will ever know in terms of human relationships.
We came home to a hot and muggy house, I had a shower, and tried to avoid thinking wedding stuff for as long as possible. I really can't wait... but our 'to-do list' is becoming an annoying urgent reality. With Haoran out for the count I'm feeling a little panicked... Anyone got any bonboniere ideas that would fit into little noodle boxes??
19 days! *grin*