Photo © Jim Doty Jr.
Good Morning Readers,
It’s a beautiful morning here in Independence. Birds are chirping outside the window. The grass is green and flowers are poking their colorful heads through the hard earth. Very few signs of winter past are visible and spring has officially sprung here in the mid-west. Spring – the season of hope. The hope that winter won’t last forever; the hope that color and life will return to the cold ground; that new life is coming.
Photo © John Weese
That’s the mood of the folks who gather here every other year from the four corners of the earth. Some come with hope – alive and bubbling over. They come from places where the church is alive and breathing and growing and living. Others come, weighed down, looking for hope; hope that just by being here that they will catch the Spirit and take it back to their small struggling congregation, and bring life anew in their places.
That’s what the church leadership is hoping also. Not that the church will just grow – bigger. But that the church will come alive, and just like the spring flowers, poke it’s colorful head out of the hard soil of doubt, apathy, selfishness, and greed, and offer color, texture, scent to the communities that have been hardened by a blast of winter. We don’t just need bigger communities, we need vibrant communities, warmed by the breath of Heaven, nourished by the Living Water of Jesus Christ, and on fire with the flame of the Holy Spirit. Communities that know the source of Hope, that share the source of Hope, and live out the gospel in caring, accepting, affirming ways.
Photo © John Weese
And so it begins tonight, opening ceremonies, roll call of nations, flags unfurled, greetings from the Mayor, the Graceland University orchestra. Can you hear the call? Can you feel the hope? Is there a place today, for you to “Share Christ, Share Peace”?
This reporter is excited by the hope of what awaits; by the promise of the day, and the week, and the future. Enjoy your day. And I’ll be right here tomorrow, to share more insights, more news, and more of the conference experience. Till then, may God bless you with an outpouring of Love.
Seventy Bob
Photo © Jim Doty Jr.
