Having a great day so far. Well, I showed up a little late this morning as a result of dealing with issues from last night (as I mentioned in last night’s post, I will delve into that in a separate post), so I missed a little of the beginning comments by Scotty Smith. Tim Hughes and Matt Redman‘s band did a phenomenal job with the music. I especially liked the pairing of Jesus Saves with Here I Am to Worship – gonna steal that one for sure.
I was captivated by the comments of Dr. Leonard Sweet. Here are some takeaways…
- Good morning, saints! Good morning, sinners! We’re all here.
- We are all missionaries on a mission. And as missionaries, we need to learn the language of our culture: narratives and metaphors (naraphors).
- T.G.I.F. = Twitter Google iPhone Facebook
- God didn’t put us through an Age of Reason for no reason.
- Jesus spoke in surround sound, using opposites.
- Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the city of David where kings are born. He grew up in Nazareth, which is like West Virginia (where he is from, so it’s ok).
- The shepherds in Bethlehem were in the tradition of David, tending sheep on the northeast slopes of Bethlehem for the temple sacrifices in Jerusalem and for Passover. They herded thousands of sheep into Jerusalem on the first day after Sabbath before Passover. What also happened on that day? Palm Sunday. The prior was a procession of perfect lambs. The latter was a procession of THE perfect Lamb.
- To prevent blemish, newborn lambs were swaddled and laid in mangers. Sound familiar?
- Washing an orphaned lamb in the blood of a ewe allowed the ewe to accept the orphan as her own. What can wash away my sin?…
- Three angry stories of Jesus…
- Jesus threw a Temple Tantrum. Why? His house was to be a house of prayer. Does Jesus get as angry at our “temples” today because we are not houses of prayer like we should be?
- Why did Jesus curse the fig tree? Because it was selfishly taking from the earth and not giving back to the world.
- Allow the children to come… or sleep with the fishes (if Jesus lived today, would he use mob references?).
- Only at a worship conference would the crowd be led in Jesus Loves Me and it be in 4-part harmony.
Not a Camouflaged Soul 
I sing it in 4 parts all by myself…just not all at once… 😉
Ward, you jest, but you let the proverbial cat out of the bag regarding your singing ability at your retirement.