NACC

First, I want to dedicate this blog post to my good friend Missy Wright, who when asked what she thought of my blog said, "you have a blog?" Thankfully, her husband (and apparently better friend, Brad) does read! :-) In 1971 right after church one Sunday, my dad, who had just finished preaching in his Indianapolis church, my mom and my sister piled into our family car - a VW Bug and headed for Dallas, TX and the North American Christian Convention. I don't remember much about the trip but it must have been long. I do remember it was 103 in Dallas when we arrived and my sister and I were in a place called Kiddie Land which is what they called the child care stuff back then. Fast forward 42 years. Yesterday after preaching three times at Eastview (it was an awesome day in the word and worship by the way - God continues to do some amazing stuff and His Spirit's presence is palpable), Sara and I headed toward Louisville and the North American Christian Convention. This will be my 24th out of 48 years of life...so I guess you could say, it's been formative for me. And as I head into the week, I reflect on just why I like is so much. 1. It's a place to catch up with long lost friends whose ministries have separated us sometimes for years. I'm sure at least once, I'll see a former school mate from Johnson Bible College (I know, I know - it's Johnson University now), or run into someone I met in my years at CIY, or the youth ministry years from Florida, etc... It's always a pleasant surprise to see someone, tell some old stories, and hear what God is doing throughout his kingdom. 2. It's a place for me to hear some great preaching. This convention particularly has been primarily a great preaching event for over 80 years and it becomes for me the one place every year where I stock up on preaching. It is a good place to nourish my soul. 3. It's a place to spend time with some very valuable ministry friends. There are some precious souls that Sara and I just enjoy being around. And again, because of ministry and geography we don't see them enough. But week's like this we have several opportunities to do so. 4. It's a place to learn and get some new ideas. Already, one of my friends has suggested a couple of books that I will add to my reading list and I'm sure some seminar or something will inspire me in some way. 5. It's a place to be encouraged at the breadth and depth of God's kingdom. It is encouraging to worship with thousands of people who come from all over the country and the world to praise the same God and declare our relationship to Him through Jesus. Something here makes me feel very small, but a small part of something very big - the worldwide kingdom of God. Well, those are reasons enough. Looking forward to another great week in Louisville, KY (pronounced - Loueeville, louavul, loovul, louisssville, etc...)