I first went to this Micah Challenge run event in 2008 and I was so inspired then that I have always wanted to come back. I couldn’t make it last year so I’m wrapped to be blogging from Canberra on today, the first day of VFJ 2010.
The first 2 days are times of teaching and learning, not just about policy and messaging, but about the reason we are actually here in the first place, which is to play our part in helping to bring in the Kingdom of God. Dave Andrews is one of the speakers this year and he has, as he always is, been an inspiration with his passionate delivery and moving stories. One of the pearls of wisdom he gave us today was that “when lots of people do lots of little things, big changes are possible”. It kind of reminds me of the first disciples, 12 ‘unschooled, ordinary people’ who led a movement that turned their world completely upside down and let to half the Roman Empire claiming allegiance to the Man from Nazareth a few centuries later.
Dave’s main message was on the Beattitudes, those wonderful words of Jesus from Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospel. It’s interesting how almost every Christian would be able to say they know of the 10 commandments, but not many would be able to say how many Beattitudes there are (there are 8, depending on how you define them). One of the things that Dave told us about the Beattitudes was that they talk about justice and then about mercy, reminding us that the kingdom is not just about justice but about mercy as well. Many people who are into justice are merciless, and this is something I need to be aware of as well. Justice, compassion and mercy can never be separated.
Anyway, our next session is about to start. More tomorrow.
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