I was at the Inhabit Conference in Seattle this past week as a participant and a speaker. This conference delivered on alot of levels. Content, inspiration, imagination and conspiring with good friends (or least people who became good friends). We were challenged and inspired to inhabit our local places with the life of the gospel in Jesus Christ. Practice, presence, space. I recommend to all who couldn’t be there be sure to listen to the sessions that interest you via the web site audio feeds which are soon to be made available. Be sure to listen to some Micah Bournes poetry here (his poem “church is” was a highlight for me of the conference) and here. Check out the twitter feed from the conference via the hash tag #inhabitconf . And for all you co-conspirators for inhabiting “place” with the gospel, I throw out there two quotes for the journey:
The Reverse Jabez Prayer as Told by Ben Katt – On of the Organizers of Inhabit
“Lord would you shrink my territory so I actually care about the people/place we minister in.”
A Quote From Gerhard Lohfink from his Does God Need the Church (p. 27)
“It can only be that God begins in a small way, at one single place in the world. There must be a place, visible, tangible, where the salvation of the world can begin: that is, where the world becomes what it is supposed to be according to God’s plan. Beginning at that place, the new thing can spread abroad, but not through persuasion, not through indoctrination, not through violence. Everyone must have the opportunity to come and see. All must have the chance to behold and test this new thing. Then, if they want to, they can allow themselves to be drawn into the history of salvation that God is creating. Only in that way can their freedom be preserved. What drives them to the new thing cannot be force, not even moral pressure, but only the fascination of a world that is changed.”
Blessings on the journey.
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