Regeneration 2002 Reflection

Pastor Godfrey James Catanus

I’ve been asked many different questions since we ended the Regeneration Conference: How was it?  What did you guys learn?  Who was there? And I’m sure that many of you have been asked these same questions.  And, I don’t think I’ve been able to give every person the same answer.  Except the last question. 

 

I mean, it’s hard for me to tell people how it was when everybody came away with their own impressions.  For some it was life-changing, for others it was life-challenging.  For me, it was lot of different things – exciting, tiring, encouraging, trying, powerful and humbling all in one. 

 

And it’s difficult for me to tell others what we learned because, I believe, that we all learned different things.  We all came in with different situations looking for different things.  We went to different sessions and workshops with our different issues.  And consequently, we all learned different things because we all needed different things.

 

But, without a doubt, I know who was there.  We were there – and when I say “we,” I mean all of us.  We were there.  People came from all over to become a “we” – and, in three days, he and she and they became we.  We came to learn, to be challenged, to ask questions, to serve each other and, above all else, to glorify God. And when a “we” shows up to glorify God, He shows up.  The Bible tells us that he inhabits the praises of his people.  And, so long as that is what we were all about, He was there with us.

 

And the great news is that, this phenomenon is not isolated to our conferences, to our churches or our Bible study groups.  It is true all the time.  It blows my mind that God desires to invade our daily lives and to make His home in that space.  So, let us never forget – better yet, let us make sure that other people know that, above all else, God showed up.  Let us pray that he would never leave.

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