20 March 2006

FutureGen 06 - Day 1

Well, Jon and I arrived in Phoenix without too much delay (altho there was that unexpected hour delay in Houston due to a mechanical problem with the airplane). Both flights were bumpy, but bearable. The peanuts and Coke were refreshing and hunger-satisfying.

Opening worship was great! The band played loud and with passion. They played the way I would want the band that will lead worship at Trietsch's new worship service. Any musicians out there interested? They sang from their hearts and they poured out an offering of music to our Creator - fantastic! EDIT: the band's name is Nobility Obliged - very cool!

The first speaker was Trevor Bron - who has an amazing testimony to God's faithfulness and grace in the face of major human SCREW UPS. He lost his pastorate (he never directly told us why) five years ago and told us stories of how God has used his time on the bottom for self-revelation and self-realization. He challenged us to strive to be REAL in every part of our lives so that our efforts to be RELEVANT will come as a natural outflow of our lives.

God, I pray that my ministry and my calling are always avenues to be real with people who are living real lives with real pain and real needs. May I never lose sight of that because of my office or work schedule. Amen.

Tomorrow will include four sessions (no, I have not yet chosen my workshops!) and more opportunities for worship and prayer. Also, it looks like Jon and I will have a chance to try our luck in a Texas Hold'em tournament on Wednesday evening after we are finished with the conference.

More tomorrow - and I'll see if I can take some pictures with my phone and get them uploaded here. In the meantime, if you have never been to Phoenix before, be prepared for the many shades of tan...trust me!

Grace&Peace

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