Faithwalkers 2009-Day 1

The last time I was able to attend a Faithwalkers conference was probably back in 2005; I honestly don't remember...I know it's been a few years though. I arrived at the Qwest Center in Omaha just in time to sing the last worship song before Mark Darling took the stage on Sunday night to kick off the week. And thus began one of the most encouraging and convicting weeks of my life. I have learned so much in the last week, about myself, about God's grace and love, and about trusting Him to work in me instead of trusting in myself. And of course, there was ample opportunity to use the camera and I was able to get a ton of practice taking pictures in low light without using my flash :-)











































































A few key points from the first day at Faithwalkers:

Main Session I: It's All About Changing Lives, Mark Darling

• The gospel is not the single truth of the Bible; it is a foundational truth. What matters is that Truth is being shared
• Truth does not go forth by itself. It needs someone to speak it. It needs my life to live it out.
• God uses the weak. I am full of weakness. (huh. That's convenient :-))

Main Session II: God's Love and Forgiveness, Dennis Clark

• Religion can be spelled with two letters: D-O. Christianity can be spelled with four: D-O-N-E.
• "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:21 (emphasis mine)
• Christ took on the sins of the whole world and the judgment of God when he died for us on the cross. I never truly realized how powerful that really is until this week.
  
• *Stop nailing yourself to the cross! When you feel guilty for your sins, you're saying that God didn't take care of your sins. You make God, and His Word, a liar. This one was huge for me. When I sin, I constantly feel guilt for what I have done. And in doing that, I'm essentially telling God that He isn't big enough and that what he did for me on the cross didn't matter. God calls us to repentance, not to guilt.
• We are never told to remember our sins; we are told to remember Him