SQLD Bible Camp

I spent last weekend on the Gold Coast with some of the Adventist Youth from the SQLD conference. What a great bunch of young adults. We explored a few new ways to study the Bible and had a lot of fun together.
I was really impressed with the level of involvement that the youth have in church leadership. Over half of the kids at the camp had preached a sermon at their church. Many of them were in leadership possitions. Richie, one of the youth directors, told me that the youth department runs a 10 week preaching seminar each year for the youth and books them into churches during the training so they get a shot at preaching while they are learning. He said that they keep preaching after the training is finished and the conference office hears about their sermons from time to time as church members report. Excellent stuff!
One of the exercises that we did twice was the :!?... bible study format. The youth found this really useful and enjoyed the discussions that it created. Some of them came up to me after meetings and said they were keen to get back and use :!?... in their pathfinder and sabbath school classes. Here are some of the :!?... details from various verses that the youth camp up with.

: 1 John 4:7-12
! Since God loves us, we should love Him AND others
? Why should we love others just because God loves us?
. If we don't love people we aren't loving God
. We're made in God's image. If we're not loving people we're not reflecting who God is
. If we want a relationship with God we need to love others


: 1 John 4:7-12 (different group)
! Love should be automatic
? How do we program love so that it is a default?
. Love people around you
. We must know who God is to know how to love
. Take your fear to God and allow the Holy Spirit to work on you

: Cololsians 3:1-17
! Life is truely lived when we love
? What is the love that give us true life?
. FROM - gratitude and peace of God
. THROUGH - our words and deeds, gifts of the spirit
. TO - people (vs 8,9)

understanding the Word

Last week at my guitar lesson my teacher told me a funny experience he had over the weekend.

He was at the wedding of a couple friends. The preacher was from Jamaica and had a very thick accent. The preacher kept talking about "Goat." Each time he would mention "Goat" a little snicker would ripple through the crowd.

Finally, the preacher said with conviciton, "To have a happy home you must have Goat in your house!" That was the final straw. One of my guitar teachers friends (they are all secular 30 somethings) let out a loud bleat. You can imagine the impact that had on the audience.

For those people who have always heard Jesus refered to as a lamb, now there's another image to ponder - one that even fits in with the sanctuary model! One of the goats on the day of atonement represented Jesus. But the other is Satan... Better be careful which goat we invite into our house!

Here are some of his other fine lines, "Goat will help you grow closer to each other." and "A marriage is a union of three, two people and one Goat."

How long before I use this as a sermon illustration? hmmm... What am I doing this weekend?

In His Image

I have noticed an interesting pattern recently.
Every special event that I am asked to speak for has the same theme!
Mildura had a regional Sabbath with the title "Molded in Him Image." Then this weekend, at a youth Bible camp on the Gold Coast in Queensland, I have been asked to speak about "Living in Christ's Image." Next month I am telling a story at a kids camp–Their theme? "Made in God's image."

I wonder if the Spirit is trying to teach me something?

Locked out!

I haven't been able to get into my blogger account for a few weeks! Each time I tried I would get rejected. Some new beta program that doesn't seem to work with my Mac at work. And my laptop is at the shop, getting an overhaul :) ...

SO, today I finally got in.

Now that I can, I'll start putting some more thoughts online :)