react

this weekend we hosted a conference called react.

it turned out to be a pretty cool weekend.
we centered the whole weekend around 6 verses: acts 2:42-47.
a bunch of my friends (go orange crew!) helped out and made it a weekend i hope many will never forget.

a good friend of mine, richard durbin, did an amazing job setting up and leading our worship through music as he played with blake moore, chris spinks and others.
josh abernathy, one of my very best friends, also did a lot to lead us in worship while another friend, jared gunter, of canvas church ran the board and created an environment that presented a chance to worship without distraction.

my good friend doug garvin, who is the lead pastor of canvas church, did the teaching for our first main session on friday night and did an incredible job of setting the tone for the weekend. he talked about how great things happen when we find ourselves in awe of God, when we are struck with such great respect and wonder.

saturday morning, one of my best friends, mike thompson did the teaching. he talked about sacrifice. he essentially reminded us, from acts 2:44-45, that community is built through sacrifice. mike did such an amazing job of getting us clued into this idea of sacrifice.

saturday night, we wrapped it all up by talking about communion. we discussed verses 46 and 47 and came to the conclusion that communion, or the eucharist, is more than a monthly thing we do.

it should be a lifestyle.
we should live a life of communion.
of breaking ourselves open and pouring ourselves out for the healing of the world.
we can and should be the answer to the world's prayers.
reacting to the influence of God can happen in many ways, but it must always be centered around that one thing.

we had a really cool experience saturday night. we all walked silently outside and gathered around a long line of tables with bread and a cup on them. the tables were set in the middle of the street. we stood around them and sang and witnessed communion in a new fresh way.

i am interested to hear what those of you who attended thought...more importantly how you were affected and in turn, how you have reacted.
[we are working on the podcast - www.react.mypodcast.com - it is giving us problems.]

i am blown away.
peace.