Peace

On the Monday of Convention week the Pastor's Conference is an all day deal.  It is also the first day the Exhibit Hall is open.  The Exhibit Hall has booths from all SBC organizations (lifeway, wmu, guidestone insurance, seminaries), some sales booths (individual authors, church furnishings, Bible or church software), and a bunch of Baptist Colleges.    They all have candy or drawstring bags or pens or foam balls to hand out.  So you look around, see old friends, collect stuff for your kids to enjoy, and then go get your kids and they tear through like the Tasmanian devil and get their own stuff.  Then you haul around their stuff and your stuff all day long in those give away bags, go back to the hotel room, and throw it all away.  It is  a SBC tradition and if you have a family and don't go through the ritual, I don't think they let you come back.  Not sure.  They also have a Lifeway Bookstore, a big one.  They set it up in the display area and run blue light specials all day.  This year, for the first time ever, almost everything in there is 40% off. New release books, cds, and a lot of other stuff.  Even the books that the authors are signing are marked 40% off.  I remember a few years ago Mike Huckabee was signing books so I got two (one for me and one for Dad).  By the time I got back home and got ready to send it to Dad, Mike was no longer a candidate, the book was out of date, and I have two Mike Huckabee books (SIGNED) that sit on the bookshelf beside my desk that have never been opened.  40 bucks gone and he never even called me to be a spiritual advisor for him.  However, yesterday they were all 40% off.  The problem:  I didn't want any of the books.  I buy ebooks now, unless real books are cheaper or are not available on Kindle or computer. I did buy a book by Steve Farrer and had him sign it. He is a great men's writer that I love to read.  This convention is much smaller and different.  I waited over an hour to get Huckabee to sign a book but the six authors that I saw sitting for the two hours I was in there probably did not sign two dozen books total.  I heard Farrer say to James Merritt, who was sitting beside him, 'This is embarrassing.'  It is a different day.  Rick Warren signed some later but I wasnt around to see his purpose driven line. 

I did attend the pastor's conference as well.  It is a law that you cannot sit through the whole day in the sessions.  (Lifeway made the rule so that you have to go buy something.)  We complied by shopping in the morning.  After lunch we heard a pastor from Texas whose parents came over from Iran in the mid 70s.  He spoke of the need of us to pray for those persecuted for the faith that we consider our enemies- like Iranians.  They showed a moving piece on those that were tortured and imprisoned in the last few years in Iran. Ken Whitten spoke.  He is from Florida and always does a good job.  John Piper is a hero among a lot of young preachers today.  He spoke on 'Hallowed be thy name' but it sounded more like a post graduate physics class to me.  Dawn kept asking- 'where is he going with this.'  Think tank stuff is great as long as it hits where the rubber meets the road.  Louie Giglio spoke after supper and did an excellent job. He is a wonderful speaker and has been hot with college students for 25 years.  Rick Warren closed it out and told us all the things that Saddleback is doing.   However, the greatest part of the pastor's conference was the Vegas choir- I mean the choir from the church in Las Vegas.  A multi-racial, praise-lifting, no holds barred worship experience.  The choir was worth the drive!

God spoke to me this morning about peace.  Asa's country found peace when he got rid of all the idols and even those coveted high places.  The high places are kinda like those closet habit places.  Those areas that you really don't want to touch but truly need to.  Asa dealt with it and peace came. Then in Philippians 4 Paul talks about peace.  He says rest in the Lord...'And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.'- Philippians 4:7  I always remember and always say it (sorry) that peace is not an absence of war, it is the power of His Presence in the midst of life's chaos.  So place it all on him today and rest in the inner sanctuary that only our blessed Lord can give us.