Oxygen is big. Enormous. The room is massive - big enough to build big trains. And full of Christian leaders. 2300 leaders from all over the country and beyond. Parachurch and interdenominational. There are screens everywhere. Exhibitors plying their wares. Rows of coffee machines.
(The only thing small are the seats. Ridiculously small. Primary school small. O.K., maybe not quite that small. In K.C.C.’s defence some have pointed out the width of the Christian leaders).
The size of Oxygen made it significant before a single word was spoken from the platform. Leaders had come to be refreshed. Questions texted from the floor showed the all too familiar ministry challenges: exhaustion, keeing personal purity, feeling constantly under-resourced, and speaking to a culture that is complacent and hedonistic.
The three days promise to be a time of opening the scriptures for renewal.
John Piper is urging us to a renewed vision of, and joy in, the glory of God. John Lennox showed from Acts that the church grows as the word of God grows.
This unashamed confidence in the powerful word of God undergirded the God centred tone of the day and is not to be taken for granted. I’ve been to conferences before that aim to be appeal to as broad a church as possible - differences are swept under the carpet, doctrine is minimised, and the music is turned up. This was not that kind of conference. We are working hard and being pushed theologically. Both platform speakers are such gifted communicators that they are easy to listen to even as we are streched. John Piper is constantly challenging us to test his thesis by Scripture and wanting to establish its biblical foundations. Doubtless some will question his particular take on glory and already the Q&A has raised some probing questions on this. But I love the opportunity to sit under the teaching of men who so manifestly and passionately love Jesus and his word.
So far, Oxygen is delivering and refreshing. I’m looking forward to Tuesday. I might get there early and look for a wider chair.
