Dear Friends,

 

While most of you were freezing this week, I was in St. Simon's Island. I can feel your scorn as you read this.

 

I was attending a training event and the worship leader was our former Bishop, James Swanson. There were three things he said that made a big impression on me. The first is that as we think about the railing surrounding most of our altars, that is an area where we might bridge the gap between heaven and Earth. In ancient times, only the priests were allowed to approach that sacred space. Today, there is nothing separating us from the divine encounter we can experience there. When Bishop Swanson was referring to that sacred space, he used a real estate term: "Location, Location, Location". I hope in some ways that is your home away from home.

 

A second thing Bishop Swanson mentioned was that too frequently, we have haven't pointed out where God is doing something holy. A phrase he used over and over was: "Over there". "Over there" is where we celebrated the Lord's Supper which is always holy for me. "Over There", we baptized that baby. "Over there", a saintly lady played the organ for us faithfully for eons. "Over There", we heard the testimony of someone whose life had been changed. I agree with Bishop Swanson that we could do a better job of pointing out where holy things have happened in our sanctuaries.

 

Finally, I really appreciated how Bishop Swanson pointed out that too often we haven't allowed The Word to change and push us. We have all used scripture to justify the things we already believe. When was the last time you allowed the Gospel to totally transform the way you think or act? When was the last time you really surrendered and stepped outside your comfort zone because you really believed God was calling you to a new thing?

 

As with all continuing education events, I hope to glean at least one new thing. I hope that as you attend Resurrection, or Divine Rhythm, or Convocation, the Evangelism Conference in April, or whatever you attend you will be open to the movement of God's Holy Spirit.

 

God bless,

 

Walter