Conference 2019

Het thema van deze Conference is ”Beauty in Brokenness”.
In een tijd waar we vaak horen dat we sterk, mooi en dapper zijn, lijkt er bijna geen ruimte te zijn voor gebrokenheid. Maar juist in onze gebrokenheid wil Hij Zijn licht, trouw en liefde laten zien. Er is schoonheid in gebrokenheid, want juist wanneer wij dat laten zijn kan Hij met Zijn licht door ons heen laten schijnen en van alle gebroken stukken een schitterend kunstwerk maken tot eer van Zijn naam.

Bekijk de aftermovie via

https://youtu.be/jqqHTBtnmP8

Ted Loder – What can I believe? 

1. O God, I am so fragile: My dreams get broken, my relationships get broken, my heart gets broken, my body gets broken. What can I believe, except that you will not despise a broken heart, that old and broken people shall yet dream dreams, ant that the lame shall leap for joy, the blind see, the deaf hear. What can I believe, except what Jesus taught: that only what is first broken, like bread, can be shared; that only what is broken, is open to your entry; that old wineskins must be ripped open and replaced if the wine of new life is to expand. So, I believe, Lord; help my unbelief that I may have courage to keep trying when I am tired, and to keep wanting passionately when I am found wanting. 

2. O God, I am so frail: my life spins like a top, bounced about by the clumsy hands of demands beyond my doing, fanned by furies at a pace but half a step from hysteria, so much to do, my days so few and fast-spent, and I mostly unable to recall what I am rushing after. What can I believe, except that beyond the limits of my little prayers and careful creeds, I am not meant for dust and darkness, but for dancing life and silver starlight. Help my unbelief that I may have courage to dare to love the enemies I have the integrity to make; to care for little else save my brothers and sisters of the human family; to take time to be truly with them, take time to see, take time to speak, take time to learn with them before time takes us; and to fear failure and death less than the faithlessness of not embracing love’s risks. 

3. God, I am so frantic: somehow I’ve lost my gentleness in a flood of ambition, lost my sense of wonder in a maze of videos and computers, lost my integrity in a shuffle of commercial disguises, lost my gratitude in a swarm of criticisms and complaints, lost my innocence in a sea of betrayals and compromises. What can I believe, except that the touch of your mercy will ease the anguish of my memory; that the tug of your Spirit will empower me to help carry now the burdens I have loaded on the lives of others; that the example of Jesus will inspire me to find again my humanity. So, I believe, Lord; help my unbelief that I may have courage to cut free from what I have been and gamble on what can be, and on what you might laughingly do with trembling me for you incredible world.