Indescribable (Part 1)
Last night, we kicked off the Southwide Pastor’s Conference. The theme of this year’s conference is “Indescribable”, and I’ve just got to tell you that if you weren’t there, you absolutely missed out! We opened the night with a music video that was quite possibly the funniest video we’ve ever done (I’ll post a link later on today for those of you who missed it). After that, Bryan and our worship team/choir did as fine a job of leading everyone to worship as I’ve ever seen them do. Of course, Michael O’Brien did his thing, and Dr. Johnny Hunt brought the evening message from Revelation 2:1-7. Below are some highlights of what Dr. Hunt said:
· Title “What we lose when we leave”
· You Lose Passion – Is there a deep fire in your heart that burns for Him?
· You Lose Power – Is the Holy Spirit Impacting your life?
· You Lose Purpose – Is your live marked by God’s will in your activity?
· You Lose Priority – Can you really say “Jesus First?”
· You Lose Purity – Is there true in the secret parts of your life?
· You Lose Prudence – Do you have caution in practical matters of your life?
· You Lose Perspective – Do you see things from Christ point of view?
· You Lose Perception – Do you know the depth of Christ?
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:31 pm
I understand what Dr. Hunt is trying to say, but it seems from the highlights that being a preacher is a prerequisite to experience the virtues listed above. Is your life marked by God’s will in your activity because you stand behind a pulpit or should that be the mark of the everyday Christian? History and tradition hold that many preachers today feel like they have more access to Christ than do those who are not “called to preach”. Of course this message was directed mainly to preachers and that could be justification for the message. But the title of the message would seem to argue that when pastors leave the ministry, they lose all these virtues. What if Christ has called them into a new area of service? Do you really have to be a pastor to experience passion, and, if you are not, which most of us aren’t, can you successfully experience these virtues? It almost seems that unless there is a pastor who can dial the red phone to Christ, we just don’t have a prayer.
Just random thoughts about the post and the message. I hope this conference can be a time of rest and rejuvenation for the many pastors who are in attendance.
Shane Self