Some Highlights and Reflections

from our time at General NYI Convention and Assembly in Indianapolis...

- the intangilbe conversations and run-ins - when you're there you run into people that you haven't seen or thought about for a long time. You also get to hook up with some people who you never see, but might talk to from time to time. We ran into my freshmen year roomate and his wife, Chris and Bridget Riggs. Cool. They have a new baby. Cool. there were lots of others too!

- The emergent conversation - one of our first nights there (they've all blurred together at this point) we got a bunch of folks together (okay it was like 15) and just spent some time talking about emergent kinds of things. It was great. We didn't solve world hunger or anything, but just to be together, know you're not alone and to have the conversations was terrific. I had several comments after too about how good it was to be together in that way. We must do it again wherever and whenever we can!!

- Worshipping from people the world over - how cool to worship with people from all over the world - the same God, his grace and love, that has changed us all! I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it. Cool too that we worshipped some in Spanish and some in English. That was just great for me personally.

- Stories - it was so great to hear story after story of people and how God had grabbed them with his love in Christ and changed them.

- Increasing openness - not only was it good to be with folks from around the world, but there was this over-riding sense (at least at the youth convention) of the necessity to expand ourselves even more. We passed a resolution to make it a priority to find ways to involve people who can't make it physically to the convention to still be able to be a part of the discussion and voting. It's kind of a "duh" moment, but it is absolutely the right thing to do and we needed to lead the way on it and we did! Yeah!!!

- Family time - it was good to see my parents and my oldest brother, Steve and his family. There's just something about family...

- Taekwondo team - this church from Korea uses their school to reach kids and teens for Christ! It's awesome. They all have this logo with crosses on the back of their uniform and the master has the Church of the Nazarene logo on the back of his. The coolest thing they did was run and jump off someone else and kick a piece of fruit that someone was holding (while standing on someone else's shoulders) and spray it all over the audience. Awesome. It was also cool how they yelled and broke boards and got the crowd into it.