So its been 3 weeks or so since mid year conference and man have I enjoyed every moment of it. Surrounded by flatlands, sheeps and cows grazing blithely on the green pastures, and the Albury breeze that gently rustles the trees as though greeting whoever that passes it, somehow reminding you what the beauty of nature is really like as though an extinct attribute within the streets of the city district. Being in Albury for a week made you forget about your routine life laden with anxiety and busyness, and spend time with God’s artistic creation called ‘Mother Nature’.
It was great to see old faces again from last year’s conference and to see the familiar surroundings of Lakehume Resort, recalling memories of laughter and joy. The 8 hour bus ride must have given me NBS (Numb Bum Syndrome) but that didn’t stop me from heading straight to the tennis courts to have a few hits. Would have been my first hit in 6 months or so.
This year’s MYC was full of new faces and definitely was bigger than last year’s. Students from Sydney University doubled from 18 to 36 and there were a lot of new Victorian faces as well, or perhaps I’ve forgotten them from last year. ::shrugs::
Free times were filled with mainly soccer as most people had the world cup fever and wanted to strut out their newly acquired soccer skills. The game of ‘Taboo’ was also rekindled as fellow Taboo fans gathered to outdo the opposing team in a heated battle of careful word assembling and guess work. As the battle got more intense, more cries of excitement could be heard followed by the blessings of holy water (ie. saliva) by Rachel upon me. I guess no one told me to wear weather protective gear during the game. Hehe, was kind of funny though :)
Besides playing games, was also cool being able to catch up with friends and have a little chit chat.
Once again John North’s talks was very inspiring and uplifting as his talks went straight for my heart like an arrow to a bullseye. Romans 1:14-19 was pretty much what he talked about. Things I learnt from his talks:
- Obligation – “I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.” vs 14
God has given us the ministry of reconciliation and also are ambassadors of Christ. To experience Christ’s love in our lives and not share it with others would be outright selfish. (2 Corinthians 5:14-20)
- Eagerness – “That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.” vs 15
To have experienced God in our lives, why wouldn’t we be eager to let people know about it and to give them this wonderful opportunity to know God?
- Not Ashamed – “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” vs 16
Imagine if you knew of a shopping sale of 99.9% off everything. Would you be ashamed to let your friends know about it? How about if you knew what type of questions were going to be in your exam because your lecturer told you so? Would you be shy to let people know about it? Well this is God we’re talking about here, the one who created everything. We should be excited to present the gospel (good news) to others. Our roles as Christians isn’t to convert people but to share the good news. God does the converting (John 16:8). The message of the gospel has the power to change people’s heart and it is for everyone.
- God’s righteousness revealed – “For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”” vs 17
We should live our lives with the righteousness of God through our faith so that the righteousness of God may be revealed to others.
- God’s wrath revealed – “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.” vs 18-19
Sometimes do you wonder why the lives of people around you are depressing and spiraling downwards? It could be the result of sin as people decide to reject God and as a result, God gave them over to immorality, degrading passions and depraved minds which leads to a corrupt world. All the more reason why people need God and be reconciled to the creator.
People will not change if they are satisfied where they’re are. Am I satisfied where I’m at?
-Danny