When I lived in Southwest Michigan, as the weather would get a little warmer after winter, my wife and I would venture out into our yard to get things ready for summer. Along with the necessary weeding and pruning activities, we would also have to rake up some leftover leaves from the previous fall.
Once while I was out raking, I saw a girl riding one of those Razor-type scooters down the street close to where we live. She couldn’t have been more than 10, but she was moving at a pretty good clip.
I didn’t think much of it, since she was moving downhill. But a minute later, I noticed her going the opposite direction, at about the same speed. She passed up and down the hill two or three times before it registered that she didn’t seem to be slowing down at all. As fast as she was going, I figured momentum might keep her moving for a while. But her speed was consistent, and she didn’t even seem to be pushing. It was about this time that I noticed a sizeable motor attached to the rear of the scooter. It was doing all of the work. She was just along for the ride.
As a Christian, sometimes I rely on my momentum to keep me going. I attend an event like GODencounters Conference, and I’m content to just coast for a while. It’s not until I start to lose momentum and try to do some of the work myself that I realize that I’m just not capable of maintaining anything consistent. My only hope is to be connected with some source of sustaining power.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus tells his followers the real purpose of his mission: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.[1]” Another translation says “My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.[2]” My hope for everyone that attends GODencounters is that we all will have an experience with God that gives us some momentum. But even more importantly, I hope that together we can discover ways to connect with Christ, the Source of unstoppable power.
–Elia King
encounter the word
All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence. -Ephesians 1:17-23 [MSG] encounter
Recording artist Elia King [www.eliaking.com] is also a creative/design developer for Southwestern Adventist University. Elia has graciously contributed some of his music artistry to the GODencounters movement, find it free for download athttp://www.PacificPress.com/GODencounters[1] John 10.10. New King James Version
[2] John 10.10. New Living Translation
