Mission
and Offering
.
Report on North
American Region Men’s
Leadership Conference
by Dave Hughes
This
past April 27 to 29, 125 men from 25
different communities in North America
gathered in Tempe, Arizona, for a men’s
leadership conference. The conference was
graciously hosted by our good friends in the
City of the Lord Community who allowed us to
use their community center and also helped
with many aspects of putting on the
conference. A number of leaders from the
City of the Lord joined us for the
conference along with other friends from
various places such as Alleluia Community in
Augusta, Georgia. It was great to have them
with us.
As one can expect in Arizona in April, the
weather was warm and the sun was shining. As
one can also expect when God’s people gather
together, the fellowship, teaching and
worship were refreshing and envisioning.
The theme for the conference was Mission and
Offering. It was a rich theme. We explored
together the reality laid out for us in
scripture of how our work on mission is part
of the broader offering of all our lives.
Seeing our missional service as an offering
provides a healthy perspective and gives
context and meaning for what we do. The
service we do on mission cannot be somehow
separated from the rest of our lives.
Everything we do forms one rich tapestry of
offering and response to the Lord. This is
an especially important word for leaders who
can carry a heavy load of missional service.
In addition to the richness of the theme,
several other things impressed me about the
conference.
First, we had 25 different men engaged up
front at the conference—speaking, giving
mission updates, sharing their testimonies,
leading workshops. Many of these men were
younger men in their 30’s and 40’s. This was
a sign of great hope and it was great to
hear from so many different perspectives on
what the Lord is doing among us.
Second, the unity in the room was palpable
as was the joy and blessing that comes from
that unity. Psalm 133 tells us that God
“commands” a blessing when brothers live in
unity. It has always struck me that it’s a
“commanded” blessing. We certainly
experienced this in Tempe. May we all fight
for this unity in everything we do.
Third, Br. Ken Apuzzo from the Brotherhood
of Hope shared with us on Saturday about the
“yes” God wants from each of us. Br. Ken
described a spectrum of responses: from a
full throated “yes” to what he called a
“wounded yes.” This particularly struck me:
each of us is in a unique place in our walk
with God and he cherishes our “yes,” our
offering, whether it is full throated or a
bit wounded and weary. What a gracious God
we serve. May we press on in our offering of
“yes” to God.
Finally, the Lord spoke to us about being
generous for mission and that much remains
to be done. Indeed, our offering is not yet
complete and there is more for the servants
of God to do. What a blessing and promise
this is for all of us! God is relentlessly
bringing his kingdom to this world and has
graciously involved us in this mission. May
we all make a full offering of our lives in
mission to Him.
________
Dave Hughes is the president of the North
American Region of the Sword of the Spirit.
Taken from the North American Region’s
Newsletter October, 2018. Used with
permission.
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