Ideas are Abuzz
Okay. After the recent Leadership camp for Student Life, I'm assuming that most of us are still abuzz on the zeal of possibility - that is, we can almost taste the difference that we can make in this world.
Now for those, more jaded of us, who may be thinking that this is yet another youthful venture, I would remind them that on nothing less than the hope of God within us do we build our faith. Hope for a better future and the passion to grasp it are two qualities I believe youth have that other generations are sorely lacking in.
Does this make sense at all? I hope it does, but in case it doesn't, here's a summary:
Now is the time to let go of the reservations that this world and previous failure have forced upon you. Youth, stand up.
So now with that premise, I want to officially put a flag in the sand and claim this year as the one in which we don't keel over and die a spiritual death - whether it be to sin, tiredness, pride, and all other hindrances to the fruit of the spirit.
For some reason, I've been dreaming big dreams again. Why is this significant? I've spent the better part of a year hesitating, relinquishing passion to a jaded facade. I'm glad that I did spend the time that I did, because now I can truly say that my feet are on the ground, well and truly. Spending the amount of time that I did holding yourself back will do that to you. So now is the time to open the gates. I'm letting these dreams come out again, so that I can nurture them, put them down on paper and work them out.
I need you to help. This isn't any small request - I'm letting you see the visions on the inside of my eyelids, and asking you to help me refine them - to be a part of the sharpening process.
First and foremost, as Socials Director of Student Life this year, I need your help for the first social - we're all ready to organise it, we just need an idea. Nothing too flash, cos we've only got 4-5 weeks. It needs to be extremely neutral, something which a Christian would feel comfortable inviting their atheistic, agnostic, muslim and hindu friends to without batting an eyelid. It needs to be affordable, and it needs to be God inspired. Please pray about it, and wait upon Him for guidance.
Second, I'm going to put up some ideas I've had about general Student Life activities.
Trevor Gudenswager, QUT Student Life's president for this year, spoke about expanding beyond our square of influence that is QUT. One thought that's been going around and around my head ever since the quiet time on the third day of camp is that of a Praise & Worship night, done extremely well. I have an idea of the layout of the night songwise, but what I need help with is the practical side. Are there people out there who have a knowledge of the technical side of things - who know how we would go about having a live video feed of a worship band onstage and would be willing to oversee this side of things. Are there people who want to get involved in Stage Design out there.
For those who ask why we need such extravagance, I would say that I can empathise with you. I was struggling with the dilemma of the materialistic nature of so many churches in the developed world. However something came to me a while ago, and while it may not answer all of your questions, it helped me with mine. I recently went through a period where I visited various friend's churches, learning about how they go about things. At one church, the pastor spoke of his desire to be at the cutting edge of how to reach people. He talked about sacrificial offering of money, time, possessions and talent in the pursuit of being relevant and real. At another church, the verse came into my head, "I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings." (Luke 16:9) This is a much misunderstood phrase. The way I see it, it's following a common theme through Jesus' teachings - don't focus on the temporal, influence the eternal. Do not store up treasures on this Earth. On one hand, if you see a brother in need, give to him. I think this applies to the spiritually poor as well as the materially poor. All these teachings go hand in hand.
If we have a worship night which is done well, there will be some things that people will call extravagant. Yet if we are bringing people into a place where they can connect with God in a way that they never have before, perhaps for the first time, I think that we should be pursuing that. As for making sure that they don't have to come to a big even to connect with God, I think that's where things like discipleship and small groups come in.
So what are your thoughts on this year. Fill up the comments section, write novels and theses in there. I want your God-given ideas to pour out, hold nothing back :)
-Fin-
Now for those, more jaded of us, who may be thinking that this is yet another youthful venture, I would remind them that on nothing less than the hope of God within us do we build our faith. Hope for a better future and the passion to grasp it are two qualities I believe youth have that other generations are sorely lacking in.
Does this make sense at all? I hope it does, but in case it doesn't, here's a summary:
Now is the time to let go of the reservations that this world and previous failure have forced upon you. Youth, stand up.
So now with that premise, I want to officially put a flag in the sand and claim this year as the one in which we don't keel over and die a spiritual death - whether it be to sin, tiredness, pride, and all other hindrances to the fruit of the spirit.
For some reason, I've been dreaming big dreams again. Why is this significant? I've spent the better part of a year hesitating, relinquishing passion to a jaded facade. I'm glad that I did spend the time that I did, because now I can truly say that my feet are on the ground, well and truly. Spending the amount of time that I did holding yourself back will do that to you. So now is the time to open the gates. I'm letting these dreams come out again, so that I can nurture them, put them down on paper and work them out.
I need you to help. This isn't any small request - I'm letting you see the visions on the inside of my eyelids, and asking you to help me refine them - to be a part of the sharpening process.
First and foremost, as Socials Director of Student Life this year, I need your help for the first social - we're all ready to organise it, we just need an idea. Nothing too flash, cos we've only got 4-5 weeks. It needs to be extremely neutral, something which a Christian would feel comfortable inviting their atheistic, agnostic, muslim and hindu friends to without batting an eyelid. It needs to be affordable, and it needs to be God inspired. Please pray about it, and wait upon Him for guidance.
Second, I'm going to put up some ideas I've had about general Student Life activities.
Trevor Gudenswager, QUT Student Life's president for this year, spoke about expanding beyond our square of influence that is QUT. One thought that's been going around and around my head ever since the quiet time on the third day of camp is that of a Praise & Worship night, done extremely well. I have an idea of the layout of the night songwise, but what I need help with is the practical side. Are there people out there who have a knowledge of the technical side of things - who know how we would go about having a live video feed of a worship band onstage and would be willing to oversee this side of things. Are there people who want to get involved in Stage Design out there.
For those who ask why we need such extravagance, I would say that I can empathise with you. I was struggling with the dilemma of the materialistic nature of so many churches in the developed world. However something came to me a while ago, and while it may not answer all of your questions, it helped me with mine. I recently went through a period where I visited various friend's churches, learning about how they go about things. At one church, the pastor spoke of his desire to be at the cutting edge of how to reach people. He talked about sacrificial offering of money, time, possessions and talent in the pursuit of being relevant and real. At another church, the verse came into my head, "I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings." (Luke 16:9) This is a much misunderstood phrase. The way I see it, it's following a common theme through Jesus' teachings - don't focus on the temporal, influence the eternal. Do not store up treasures on this Earth. On one hand, if you see a brother in need, give to him. I think this applies to the spiritually poor as well as the materially poor. All these teachings go hand in hand.
If we have a worship night which is done well, there will be some things that people will call extravagant. Yet if we are bringing people into a place where they can connect with God in a way that they never have before, perhaps for the first time, I think that we should be pursuing that. As for making sure that they don't have to come to a big even to connect with God, I think that's where things like discipleship and small groups come in.
So what are your thoughts on this year. Fill up the comments section, write novels and theses in there. I want your God-given ideas to pour out, hold nothing back :)
-Fin-
posted by Luke at 8:07 PM
3 Comments:
Praise and worship night - sounds great. For whom? Christians, non Christians? QUT? Beyond QUT? Music only? What about someone giving a talk? And maybe using drama, dance, visual art?
This might be a separate idea - more of an outreach - what about having a band play at QUT (made up of SL'ers) and have SL ppl in the crowd - the band can play a mix of stuff (Christian and non Christian music) and someone could give their testimony. Then if the ppl in the crowd want to talk to someone about it - "hey look, I can talk to one of those Student Life people!"
Ideas for a neutral low-key social: Coffee. Pancakes. Food, really. A picnic at Southbank? Just something where people can feel really comfortable sitting and talking with their friends. Actually, Southbank is good if you don't just want to sit and talk - could get a game of something going.
For everyone freaking out already - breathe. We're not going to let you do this alone. We're all in it together.
"We are one tonight
And we're dreaming out loud...."
Switchfoot
Hey - I'll talk to you more about it tonight Luke, but I have some contacts in the area of technical things - I used to be in the sound team at my old church - we ran the nations tent at agmf and did some other things, and our church's video team ran the video on the main stage - although I have a little less contact with them. However I do have a friend who's just moved to brisbane to study a film course and I think he's done live video feed type stuff before - I'd have to ask him. And yeah I may be able to borrow a sound system and possibly even someone to run it - and even possibly some lighting - I'm not sure if it will cost anything though, but I can talk to some people and see what can be done...
Anyway, that aside, I'd also like to say that when I read this post I was like "YES!! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I"VE BEEN THINKING TOO!!" - I think the biggest things I've been getting recently is being given permission to dream big again - to uncover all of those big dreams that have been sitting on the shelf for the last year or so. I'm excited - I think big things are in store this year!!
Yeah, funny you should say that....dreams that I'd stopped thinking about, had pretty much given up on.........they're starting to come back again. Yeah!!! :-D
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