Zoe 2007
Here's a longer version of the article I'm putting in Meadowbrook's bulletin this week. It has some reflections of the Zoe conference this year.
It is good to be back home with my Meadowbrook family this week. Last weekend, Dixie and I attended the Zoe Worship Conference in Nashville. As always, the conference provided wonderful times of praising the Lord, challenging messages, and renewal of relationships with brothers and sisters from around the nation.
Brian McLaren was the keynote speaker this year. His messages were a blend of some of the themes from his two most recent books, “Everything Must Change” and “The Secret Message of Jesus.” Brian challenged us to be thoughtful of the world community and to respond to that community in a way that would reflect the love of Jesus. He suggested that our discipleship of Jesus should radically affect the way we live our lives – our relationship with our family, how we treat the poor, our politics, our concern for God’s creation. Brian’s words were a blessing as he gave a fresh perspective to our role as citizens of God’s Kingdom.
We also had several sessions that discussed the values of worship. He pointed out that worship is not an end in and of itself, but that the value of our Sunday morning worship shows up in our lives on Monday morning. Our Sunday morning worship honors I Am, but it also, through communal practices, opens our eyes to how God is working in our lives, and reminds us of our calling to be a blessing to all people. Our re-centering on God every Sunday morning helps us go out during the week and be salt and light for the Kingdom. We are called to be a Kingdom people who love without discretion. We are called to show a Calvary kind of love to people from all walks of life.
Usually at these types of events I find myself discovering great truths about ministry. While I had some of those types of revelations at Zoe this year, I found myself mostly taking comfort in the fact that the Meadowbrook family is already so involved in the Kingdom. Weekly we pray for peace, the poor, and God’s justice to come. We are frequently involved in practices that participate in God’s work in those areas: our work in Katrina, Christmas on the Coast, Stewpot, prison ministry, Billy Brumfield house, our hospital houses, our work with the poor, our medical missions, our hopes for the future of Crossover Ministries, and so many other ministries. Meadowbrook is full of people who are about the Kingdom. We recognize God’s love for us, and we share His love with those who need it. This family is such a blessing!
It is good to be back home with my Meadowbrook family this week. Last weekend, Dixie and I attended the Zoe Worship Conference in Nashville. As always, the conference provided wonderful times of praising the Lord, challenging messages, and renewal of relationships with brothers and sisters from around the nation.
Brian McLaren was the keynote speaker this year. His messages were a blend of some of the themes from his two most recent books, “Everything Must Change” and “The Secret Message of Jesus.” Brian challenged us to be thoughtful of the world community and to respond to that community in a way that would reflect the love of Jesus. He suggested that our discipleship of Jesus should radically affect the way we live our lives – our relationship with our family, how we treat the poor, our politics, our concern for God’s creation. Brian’s words were a blessing as he gave a fresh perspective to our role as citizens of God’s Kingdom.
We also had several sessions that discussed the values of worship. He pointed out that worship is not an end in and of itself, but that the value of our Sunday morning worship shows up in our lives on Monday morning. Our Sunday morning worship honors I Am, but it also, through communal practices, opens our eyes to how God is working in our lives, and reminds us of our calling to be a blessing to all people. Our re-centering on God every Sunday morning helps us go out during the week and be salt and light for the Kingdom. We are called to be a Kingdom people who love without discretion. We are called to show a Calvary kind of love to people from all walks of life.
Usually at these types of events I find myself discovering great truths about ministry. While I had some of those types of revelations at Zoe this year, I found myself mostly taking comfort in the fact that the Meadowbrook family is already so involved in the Kingdom. Weekly we pray for peace, the poor, and God’s justice to come. We are frequently involved in practices that participate in God’s work in those areas: our work in Katrina, Christmas on the Coast, Stewpot, prison ministry, Billy Brumfield house, our hospital houses, our work with the poor, our medical missions, our hopes for the future of Crossover Ministries, and so many other ministries. Meadowbrook is full of people who are about the Kingdom. We recognize God’s love for us, and we share His love with those who need it. This family is such a blessing!
posted by Eric Livingston at
10/11/2007
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