Listening to the stories and testimonies from the Exalted Conference this past weekend, I was challenged again about my own testimony.
In a complete flip of the usual, the conservative theologian had the dramatic life and encounter with God and the Charismatic Evangelical had the plain vanilla story of just showing up and believing.
All the stories were riveting because of how God specifically handled every person according to their character and personality. Andy Byrd made a call to action on Friday and young people streamed to the front, to commit to spreading the word.
Andy is such a storyteller, and he sweeps you along where you can feel the story and see it in your mind’s eye… but then on Sunday, Francis preached a sermon about who God is. The attributes of this God we serve… pure theology, just a deep, deep dive into God and His personality. Part of his sermon was where Jesus appeared to the disciples on the road and explained to them from the Torah, from the books of the prophets (as he called it, the most boring books in the bible) but the disciples exclaimed “Did not our hearts burn?”
He talked… No extra emotions, no feel-good stories, just the God he loved.
After his sermon concluded he made an altar call and people streamed forward.
What we have and what we say is important, but we will not convince anyone and we will not save anyone. That is 100% the job of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit alone. Our job is to show up and tell our story, and live our story.
So my question to you today… As the young gentleman I picked up a few weeks ago so eloquently put it:
“There is something different about you, you seem to have it together. What is your secret?” – you may only have a minute to share… to plant a seed.
I want to challenge you today, to stand in front of your mirror and tell yourself your story, your testimony about God and Jesus. To be ready when the time comes
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(See here for some photos and experiences from the Exalted Conference at Moreleta, Pretoria)
