The conference

I was just rereading my last post and it sounds so cynical. I don't think i'm really that cynical - I hope. I am critical though of the church and Christians in general cause i think a lot of times, the non christians have a point that we are irrelevant or judgemental or hypocritical or whatever. What ever happened to just normal? Kevin and I went and watched a private screening of the movie Amazing Grace. A good show. But then the movie ends and the crowd has to start singing the hymn. Why?!? It's corny. Anyhow, there i go bashing Christians again. I'm one of them and proud of it. And I know I'm irrelevant, judgemental, and hypocritial too. (I don't think I'm really that corny) That's probably why it bugs me so much too - kinda like ex smokers being the hardest on smokers. I see it in myself and don't like it.

Anyhow, the conference itself was really good. The highlights had to be the Children of the World choir that sang the first day, the comedians and the concert Sat night. The kids choir was awesome because of their sincerity and energy. Wow, they were good. I had tears in my eyes when the kids came down the aisles hugging people. I got hugged by a girl about 6 years old.

The comedians were really funny too. Poked fun at Christian stuff. Not at God - but everything manmade about Christianity. All the Christian ideosyncracies. It actually made us remember what Christianity is all about - taking God really seriously but ourselves and our structures not so seriously. I laughed a lot. Not corny at all.

On Sat night, Delirious and Rebecca St. James had a concert. They were really good. A super intimate concert. More a worship time than anything else. They just shared like we were in their church. Very cool.

I never used to like conferences but now I actually really enjoy them. It's like school without papers and exams. I can just glean what i want and when i'm tired or need to zone out, i can without feeling guilty. This was probably more a reminder to me of why I'm in ministry than anything else. It's from a desire to want to share hope in Christ. Hope of a better life. Hope of a better future. Hope of heaven and eternity with Jesus.

On Wednesday night, I was watching a Canucks hockey game from my hotel room. Every time the Canucks scored, I cheered even though I was all by myself. I couldn't contain the excitement. They are MY team!

Why don't I have the same excitement about ministry anymore? Why not about worship? Why not about Easter and resurrection?

The conference was a step in the right direction.