Hillsong Conference Day 1

I'll be double posting from my other blog this weekend as we're in Toronto at the Hillsong Conference. Next week I'll have some thoughts to share specific to here.

Blessings!




It's difficult to follow my last post with something serious, but I'll try. I'm here with some great folks from the Chapel for the Hillsong United Conference in Toronto.

The first night of the conference was great. I'm amazed at the tightness of the actual Hillsong band and the spirit they have with worship. More amazing was the anticipation of thousands of people to engage in worship.

Phil Dooley spoke tonight. He is the former youth pastor of Hillsong in Australia and now leads their church plant in Capetown, South Africa.

I really appreciated Phil's message tonight as he spoke of intimacy and community as a reflection of the glory of God. He was a great speaker who began with some tinkering on a keyboard -- simple, single notes speaking of the isolation of so many people. Later he brought out one of the band's keyboard players who played during the entire talk, weaving in the idea of the harmony God brings to relationships and churches.

One of the most powerful moments of the night was Phil talking about what some US High Schools have done with a program called Challenge Day. The basic gist is that students are challenged to "cross a line" if they've ever been hurt by others, abused, wounded, etc. Watch the video if you can and you'll gain a better picture, but I was moved by this. I'm amazed that high schools are diving into the deepness and emotional baggage that comes with great levels of honesty and healing. As leaders in a church I think we should examine and question how we are doing the same things.

Time for sleep now.


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