Road trips are always a great way to process things. It gives you the opportunity to reflect and ponder life. This road trip in particular has been good for me because I’ve experienced so much recently and God has been working in my life as a result of these experiences. I’ve experienced the death of both my Grandmother and my uncle in the past two weeks. I had a wonderful Holy Week in which I was able to proclaim my faith in baptism. I’m doing life with some pretty amazing people and my family has bonded together in ways I haven’t seen in a long time. God is good and my Grandmother’s death has drawn me closer to Him. I’m headed out to Catalyst West Coast in Irvine, California. I first went to Catalyst in 2009 with a team of leaders from my previous church. I attended the year after as well and haven’t been back since. Now I find myself being called to these conferences to soak in some teaching and to learn from those that are leading the church today. God has been preparing my heart for some big plans recently and has been opening many doors for me already. I attended a conference for my counseling college in the Fall and started to pray to God about what He wanted me to do with the courses that I have been taking. Not too long later, God started to bring young men into my life in search of mentorship and now I am finding myself pouring into the lives of several men as of late. My spiritual life grew closer to God through worship and He has further shaped my heart to be a part of being a voice for this generation by seeking change in this world. This grew out of attending Passion in Atlanta. God further aligned my heart to His heart for justice in Philadelphia by the example of those that spearheaded the movement for justice before me. Now God is calling me back into leadership. I just completely eight weeks of leadership training, joined my church counseling team and started a missional community. Catalyst is a wonderful conference of teaching and equipping leaders in ministry and I’m excited He has called me to come back. I saw Brad Lomenick speak a couple of months back at PhoenixONE and it was confirmation that God wanted me to be back here in Irvine. I also have many friends from the many years I was in ministry that are going to be here and I’m excited to spend time with them. After arriving, I spent my first night in worship praising the Lord for how great He is on the beaches of Newport Beach watching the sun go down.
The Justice Conference had some pre-conference breakout sessions you can choose from. I was pretty overwhelmed with all the choices, so I looked for ones that fit with what God was doing in my own life. I bumped into my friend Seth Wells and the staff from The Grove church here in Phoenix. I was encouraged by seeing some familiar faces here taking a part in justice.
The first session I attended was Paul Metzger’s Sustaining a Justice Movement: How did John M Perkins, Mother Theresa, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer do it? Dr. Paul Louis Metzger is the Founder and Director of The Institute for the Theology of Culture: New Wine, New Wineskins – a catalyst for cultivating a community of people brought together around a shared vision of bearing witness to Christ in contemporary culture.
He started the session off by showing this video from Dr. Martin Luther King’s A Knock at Midnight. While pursuing justice, we will get discouraged because it isn’t easy . I loved this video and found it very encouraging.
Take comfort from the stories of those who have gone before us. Solidarity is key – Paul Metzger
Paul spoke on behalf of those who pursued justice first and by Jesus and his example to pursue justice. A justice movement is sustained by knowing that Jesus alone can and will sustain it. Apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5). He mentioned Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison and Dietrich’s example of how he reacted to his enemies. We in America like to say “lets take back America”, but Jesus laid down his life for His enemies.
– Philippians 2:1-11 – Believe in the suffering God (cultural engagement, not disengagement). Believe in the Resurrected God (This is the end – for me the beginning of life – Bonhoeffer)
– See Jesus in relation to the poor (ex:Mother Theresa)
– Sense your own poverty in relation to the poor (don’t look at others like we have so much and they have so little)
– Lay down you life for your friends (we can’t do it alone)
– Invest in people (ex: John Perkins, Jesus and the woman at the well)
– Invite people to partner with you (relational structures)
– Don’t operate out of a sense of entitlement (the gospel frees people)
– Be creative in your sufferings (it’s not an obstacle)
– Focus on integrity and faithfulness, not success (ex: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, James 1:27)
– Focus on Christ’s identity (Bonhoeffer’s poem: Who Am I?)
Who am I? They often tell me I step out from my cell calm and cheerful and poised, like a squire from his manor.
Who am I? They often tell me I speak with my guards freely, friendly and clear, as though I were the one in charge.
Who am I? They also tell me I bear days of calamity serenely, smiling and proud, like accustomed to victory.
Am I really what others say of me? Or am I only what I know of myself? Restless, yearning, sick, like a caged bird, struggling for life breath, as if I were being strangled, starving for colors, for flowers, for birdsong, thirsting for kind words, human closeness, shaking with rage at power lust and pettiest insult, tossed about, waiting for great things to happen, helplessly fearing for friends so far away, too tired and empty to pray, to think, to work, weary and ready to take my leave of it all?
Who am I? This one or the other? Am I this one today and tomorrow another? Am I both at once? Before others a hypocrite and in my own eyes a pitiful, whimpering weakling? Or is what remains in me like a defeated army, Fleeing in disarray from victory already won?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine. Whoever I am, thou knowest me; O God, I am thine!
Don’t operate out of a sense of entitlement, but a debt of gratitude – Paul Metzger
Paul Metzger
The next breakout session I went to was on social media and was hosted by Lindsey Nobels. I have followed Lindsey’s blog since her days at Project 7. She is now Director of Speakers and Strategic Partnerships for Food for the Hungry and it was a blessing to finally meet her. She interviewed Alli Worthington – blogger and founder of Blissfully Domestic on Social Media for the activist: How to build and empower online communities to serve your cause.
Lindsey Nobles and Alli Worthington
I’m a big fan of starting things before you’re ready. Do all the work you can while you have the time – Alli Worthington
Highlights:
– Do 2 or 3 social media sites and do them well
– Send status updates here and there that link to your site
– Twitter is the best (I agree with her). YouTube is good because people love videos. Google+ is on the rise
– The more human you can be, the better. Companies that don’t do well don’t engage with people well. Plan a strategy and be honest with people
– It’s ok to fail. Try different social media outlets. No correlations between followers and the amount of ‘likes’
– Ok to get negative feedback. If you aren’t, you are not doing a good job. Not everyone will like your cause
– Work on who you are before you get started
– Focus on email marketing more than anything with links to Facebook and twitter. Be visual and engaging.
The Justice Conference is a two-day annual event to promote dialogue around justice related issues such as human trafficking, slavery, poverty, HIV/AIDS and human rights, featuring internationally acclaimed speakers, hundreds of humanitarian organizations and dozens of pre-conference workshops.
I would be lying if I wasn’t excited about being here in Philadelphia for the The Justice Conference. This conference ties into what my heart is all about – a love for people and a movement toward justice for mankind because of who God is and how He loves us. The Justice Conference was founded a couple of years ago by Ken Wytsma and has rapidly grown to be a large movement. How ironic it is being held in the city where liberty was birth – Philadelphia. It was very clear that God was drawing me to attend this conference. It touches on every part of how He has made me. I’m looking forward to the many partnerships and relationships I’m going to build over the next few days and how God wants me to stand up to injustice. I’m also excited to hear from some of the amazing speakers like Dr. John Perkins, Gary Haugen and Shane Claiborne as well as be inspired by the Justice Film Festival.
I love coming to Philadelphia! There is so much culture and history here. The people are down-to-earth and there are so many great places to eat and visit.
There was a theme that was rampant among the majority of our entries at this year’s Justice Film Festival: Sex Trafficking. This is an issue that can be seen worldwide. But the continent that undoubtedly received the most coverage in entries was hands down: Africa.
At this year’s film festival, you will see see short and feature length documentaries that cover the need for water, HIV prevention/education, stories of poverty and children that face daily turmoil that is hard to imagine. The storytelling is authentic and heart strings will be pulled.
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