On the I Want God Conference 201...

This was the first year since 2007 that the I Want God Conference (IWGC) hasn’t been held in Bloomington, Indiana.  What is IWGC?  It is a ministry organized by those in the Bloomington community who desired to work together across denominational lines.  We incorporated numerous churches and organizations in a two day conference that ministered to teens and young adults.  In workshops, service projects, and concerts, we remind one another that we are all God’s children and that there is strength when brothers and sisters dwell together in unity – Psalm 133:1.

Though this exciting endeavor didn’t happen this year, I don’t believe God is finished with this movement.  Many are seeing that there is God in a church that works together.  In fact, with significant populations from Asia to Africa to South America, the church is more diverse now than it has ever been. [Pause. Please check out the link for this - it explains the connections between wealth, poverty, HIV, and Christianity.  This is VERY insightful considering tomorrow (Dec. 1) is World AIDS Day.]

Indeed, this is an exciting and challenging time for the church of Jesus Christ.  For those of us who confess Christ, we have attached ourselves to a heritage that is far richer than our many differences.  The divine activity in the many manifestations of God’s children shouldn't be discouraged, but celebrated and used to transform the world.  Our unity can bring justice (love in action).  Bloomington God-Wanters, I’m grateful that for five years, we celebrated this together. Let's keep living the movement!

Lord, thank You for the witness in unity that you reveal through John 17.  Thank You for looking beyond our color and our sex to see our souls.  Thank you for giving us variety that we may create community.  We apologize for leading others to division.  We are sorry for our own inclinations of separation.  We ask that You grant us the courage to bring people together and to challenge our communities to embrace the “others” around them.    To the One who is united and diverse, one and three, be all glory and praise.  Amen.

Video from IWGC 2008 (band view)- 

 

Remembering,

j.a.g.

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Psalm 133:1

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

On Being Marked by the Beast

Aslan the lion from the "Chronicles" series

Yesterday, our Baptist class at Duke Divinity School met Archbishop Malkhaz Songulashvili.  He is a Baptist Archbishop in the country of Georgia (yeah, the country).  Our time with him was a blessing.  He spoke to us about their ecclesiology (the hierarchy of their church) and why it is similar to Catholic/Orthodox churches.  He also spoke about the seriousness of serving God.  He referenced the Chronicles of Narnia, where Aslan the lion, who is loving, is also spoken of as a frightening beast.  In the Chronicles series, Aslan often represents God.  Archbishop Malkahz was telling us that like Aslan, God is a beast.  We can love God, but we should also fear God.  Most significantly, because we are serving the beast, we have to take it seriously.  

This terrifying idea reminded me of a scripture - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom… –Proverbs 1:7a.  After searching, I found there are numerous passages that encourage a holy fear of God.  Some are included below.

Archbishop Malkhaz (right) welcomes Bishop
Rusudan Gotsiridze (left), the first woman
ordained as a bishop in Georgia.

Before leaving, I asked Archbishop Malkhaz if there was any advice he would give to those preparing to serve the beast.  He said to have integrity and to listen.  He said that speaking is always tempting for preachers (agree anyone?), but it should be secondary to being active listeners.  He told us that in Georgia, bishops must go off and be in silence for 40 days before they are ordained.  This is because ordination is a form of social promotion and people have to know what their true motivations are.  The candidate must know themselves and their calling.  They do this by listening.  (Wow, how much could we hear about what God desires for us if we were listening in this way?!?)

I thank God for the Archbishop's presence in our midst.  Being marked by God is not trivial, it is humbling and petrifying. The beast awaits and expects our obedience and reverence. This was definitely a rattling I needed. 

Lord, You reign and rule over all.   I love You and yet I fear You.  Please grant me the wisdom and temperament to serve You and Your people well.  Let me enter into your service with integrity and open ears.  Lord, thank you for the blessing of leaders in your church here on earth.  Bless Archbishop Malkhaz and the work his congregation performs in the name of love and peace.  In the name of Jesus Christ, the head of the church, Amen.

Fearfully made,

j.a.g.

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Psalm 2:11
Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Psalm 34:9
O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

Proverbs 31:30

Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

Acts 9:31
Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.

Revelation 15:4
Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.