As I write this, I'm camped outside the main auditorium at KCC, my blue CMS Summer School bag slung at my feet with my notes from the Bible talks spilling out. I have to keep stopping myself from re-reading my scribbled notes and thinking through the things that Willie (Dr William Phillip) has been talking about, and telling myself to focus on this blog entry!
Summer School has been in motion for a couple of days now, and I'm safely convinced that it's not about studying. But it is definitely about learning. Even in just two days, I've been engaging deeply with God's word " searching out new meanings from passages I already knew and delving into less familiar passages. Willie's Bible talks on Matthew's passion narrative have been refreshing and challenging, and the seminars and evening sessions have raised thoughts and questions that beg for answers and action.
Standing on the edge between the end of my education and the beginning of the rest of my life, looking at making decisions and setting a direction" the call to mission is already discernable. Yesterday, CMS General Secretary John Bales (pictured) gave a seminar for the young adults program at Summer School, GEN:mission, about we can learn about mission from the apostles' ministry in the book of Acts. And for me, one of the most significant things to stand out from that seminar is the choice we have to make. Or rather, the choice that we, as Christians, have already made.
If you know Christ as Lord, there is simply no option for silence, or inaction. If you know Christ as Saviour, as Messiah, as the Son of God, there is no deciding that mission is not for you. All are called to open their mouths about the good news, the gospel " Christ's death and resurrection, which is our salvation, our joy and our hope. The real question, then, is what your commitment to global mission will look like: praying, giving, supporting, sending or going.
It's taken only two days of Summer School for that reality to imprint itself indelibly on my heart. The rest of the week looms large and exciting and promising " I'm already buzzing.
