Climbing the 2020 Summit...

Hmm... so I started this with a good plan for what I would write... but I just totally forgot everything I was going to say.
Maybe it's cause I'm watching Bones right now. (Probably the best show EVER).

Ok. So.
I just got back from 4 days in Canmore. No, I did not get to go skiing... quite the opposite in fact. I spent all 4 days indoors, sitting through seminars and group sessions. I was there for the 2020 Summit, a conference put on by the Baptist Conference of Canada for "emerging leaders in the church". I didn't really think it was very leader specific, but still an awesome chance for young adults to grow and learn together.

I was there for 4 group devotional and/or worship times, and got to pick 3 seminars to go to. The 3 I picked were: The Big Career and Calling-Discerning God's Will, Talking the Jesus Story, and Earth Crammed with Heaven-God, Culture, and You. The 2 group sessions were on "Personal Style Inventory" (personality types) and Spiritual Gifts.


So:

Devo #1 - Mark 4:35-41
*When we follow Christ, He will lead us into storms.
*God shows up in the storms.
*Our tendancy is to doubt the goodness of God when storms come.
*We find peace not in the absence of storms, but in the presence of Christ.

Devo #2 - Matthew 5:1-16
*Side notes: some writers/theologians think that the Beattitudes were written more as "congratulations" then a list of "rules". As in "Congratulations to you people before me with pure hearts, you will see God".
*God is offering us a life of impact.
*We are to live a life radically different then the world we live in - the tamer we become, the less influence we have.
*How?
*"We are the salt of the earth" - we are to bring the flavor out of life, to make it better, preserve it. We are to be rubbed in the wounds of our broken society, to heal it.
"We are the light of the world" - we are to help lead the way, to live a life that when people look at us, they will know where to go. We can't shine our light in their eyes though, we must go along side them so they can see the way.
*Emphasis on showing, not telling.
*Am I ready to trade my ordinary life for the "extreme" life God offers?

Discerning God's Will -
1. God's will is not so much about the unknown future as it is about the present tense.
*God's will for us is in the present and:
-it will probably be vague
-it will probably not reveal the ending
**The best way to ensure that I am where God wants me to be tomorrow or years from now is to follow God today and focus on the present.
*Have I been obedient to following God TODAY?
2. God's will is not so much about me as it is about God.
*"Not what I will, but what you will"
**Sometimes God takes away our dreams because He has something bigger and better.
3. God's will is not so much a target to hit or a closed container to fit into as it is a personal, life-long, adventurous relationship.
*"Life is like a journey":
-the final destination is fixed and determined (though we might not know what it is)
-the route getting there is as different as each person
-each journey has its share of hardships and adventures
-any journey requires a day to day commitment
-any adventure worth its while requires an experienced travel guide
4. God's will is not something that is fixed and inflexible; rather it is flexible and fluid and encompasses our failures.

That one was definatly the best of the ones I went to.

Personal Style Indicator -
Though this was a test that I'd never seen before, I still "scored" a description like what I normally get. I scored high in "Behavioral" (Action) and "Affective" (Expression) which leads to the following description:
Behavioral action and expressive tendencies are both high in this personal style pattern. These types of people are energetic, confident, and willing to explore new ways of improving things. There is often a mixed reaction to these individuals. On one hand, their energy, optimistic attitude, wordiness, and fortitude impress others, but their drive to get results might interfere with others' feeling comfortable with them. There is often a need for people with this pattern to work on balancing their result orientation with more consideration for human relations. Others are attracted to them and fascinated by them, but can feel intimidated by their high energy and unusual creativity. People with this pattern can exhaust themselves with their own energy.
(Give me some feed-back on this guys... does it sound like me? How am I different/the same?)

Spiritual Gifts -
This one was interesting for me cause, though I kind of had an idea what mine might be, I had never taken a spiritual giftings "test". It was interesting as well that, as you will see, my "gifts" really go along with my personality... all except for one. A quote that the speaker said really encouraged me - "Sometimes our gifts are meant only to be used within the bounds of the Church/Ministry". And I'll come back to that in a sec.
The following are my 5 gifts in order of highest to lowest scoring (the highest you can get is a 12):
1. Leadership (12) (confidence to step forward, give direction, and provide motivation)
2. Administration (11) (formulate, direct, and carry out plans)
3. Musical - vocal/instrument (11) (express faith, provide inspiration and comfort)
4. Pastoring (9) (the confidence, capability, and compassion to provide spiritual leadership and direction)
5. Wisdom (9) (sort through opinions, facts and thoughts in order to determine a solution)
The 2 places I'm definatly not gifted in are writing (3) and service (3).
But back to that quote. I have always felt like my musical skills were different/"lacking" somehow... cause no matter how long I would practice for, the only things that ever made sense were chords and worship songs. I would think to myself "well I guess the only thing I'm good for is playing accustic on the church music team"... but now it's more like yeah! That's how God has gifted me. My music is not meant to go past the Church, it was meant for the Church.

So yeah...
That's all I can really think of right now... I think this is the longest post I've ever done......
Let me know what you think.