How do you describe this ‘wildly ecclectic’ event? (Well, that’s a start I suppose…)
Conferences tend to have a typical ‘structure’, where the main emphasis is on what one or two people have to say to a crowd who sit dutifully listening and note taking!
Beyond Borders didn’t fit that mode, but was rather a colourful expression of a community desirous to engage with God in a fully sensory way.
Beginning with the environment…a fest of colour and visual stimulation, like a blanket wrapped around us, where we explored and experienced the presence of God, steeped in a plethora of poetry in worship.
Sounds so loud that they permeated our entire being, nourishing our soul.
Melodies and harmonies that blended together to create a choir of praise and adoration.
Wisdom and insight that came to us from our own, and from far away nations.
Food that was infused with flavours of sugar and spice, designed to tease and satisfy our natural hunger.
Coffee that helped us stay awake and alive to the possibilities of the day!
Beyond Borders was indeed a ‘whole bodily’ experience.
And isn’t that what we are designed for, as image bearers, fully alive, glorifying our Creator God?
So thanks everyone for contributing your own unique creative self to make this event one that we will remember and cherish for a long time to come.
Praise the LORD O my soul
With all my being
Praise the LORD O my soul
With all I have
Praise the LORD O my soul
With all my being
Praise you LORD O my soul
We sing these words frequently at Edge Kingsland, and for good reason…Yahweh (the LORD) is worthy of all praise. And sometimes we need to remind ourselves of this…but do we mean what the psalmist meant when he said the same thing? (Psalm 103). What did he mean when he spoke to (or sung to) his “soul”?
It surprises many Christians to discover that the concept of humans having an immortal soul that would live on after the body died is a concept that comes from Greek philosophy rather than from the Bible. The Greeks separated humans into body, mind and soul. The Hebrews, on the other hand, had a far different concept.
The word “soul” in Psalm 103 is the Hebrew word “nephesh”. One Hebrew dictionary defines “nephesh” as “that which breathes”. In Genesis 2:7, when God breathed into the body he had formed, that body became a living nephesh (being). This nephesh was, in Hebrew thought, completely inseparable from the body. It was what gave the body life…so much so that they believed that when you died – that is, when the breath of God was removed from your life – you had some sort of existence in death, but that existence was NOT life! In that deathly existence, you were no longer a living nephesh because the breath of God – the very breath of life – had been separated from the body. It was only in resurrection, they believed, that the breath of God was reunited with the body, once again creating a living nephesh.
As such, to speak of one’s nephesh is to essentially speak of one’s entire being…for without it you do not have life.
So when we echo the Psalmist’s cry we aren’t speaking to some inner part of us that is separate and immortal, but rather to the life in us…and the body connected to that life. Singing “Praise the LORD O my soul” is exactly the same as singing “Praise the LORD with all my being”. It is not to sing to some part of us that is really alive inside of this body, but rather to sing to that which makes this body alive.
And surely we have very good reason, even if reflecting for only a second on just Genesis 2:7 and the breath of God that means we have a nephesh, to continually encourage that same nephesh to praise Yahweh!!
We are excited to have Graham Fletcher speaking not only at Beyond Borders next week but also at Edge next Sunday (July 25th)!
Graham is an ordained senior minister of C3-International with over 35 years of full-time ministry experience. He and his wife Patricia have pastored and planted churches in three states of Australia, and also in British Columbia, Canada, where they currently serve as pastors of C3-Vancouver. Very cool.
Graham is known and appreciated for his inspirational teaching of the Word of God in his own inimitable down to earth and humorous style. So he fits right in with us here at Edge.
To find out when he will be speaking during conference check out…
Nic, Jay and Luke will be doing an interview on LifeFM tomorrow and playing a song from the incredible Edge Vol.1 album! So if your driving in to work tune into 99.8FM around 8.15am tomorrow to hear them talk about the upcoming Beyond Borders Conference!
It’s only two weeks now until the Beyond Borders Conference when we will get to hear from some incredible speakers and musicians from NZ and overseas.
One of the couples who will be coming to speak are Jon and ReAnne Daniels. The Daniels lead Coastlands church in Adelaide, South Australia. Coastlands is a growing multi-site church with a passion for Jesus and His ways. They both love leading people in worship and have written many songs that are sung around the world. They have 3 kids-Reece, Isabella & Evangeline.
Jon will be leading a seminar on Church planting and speaking at the main meetings. He and ReAnne will also run a seminar on team leading. We are really excited to hear what they have to say and get the chance to hang out with them for the few days they are here.
They will also be speaking at both our Sunday services next week (July 18th). It’s always encouraging to hear what God is doing in other churches around the world and we look forward to hearing what the Daniels bring to Edge. So come along and be inspired!
If you want to see more of what they do check out the Coastlands website www.coastlands.org.au. Hot site guys, good job.
I have been mulling over something written about Jesus and wondering about the possible wider implications, of what it says about God in my everyday life…
I was reading the gospel of John the other day and came across the story of how John the Baptist first recognized that Jesus was the Christ. John says that he wouldn’t have recognized who Jesus really was unless it was divinely revealed.* I’ve read that a hundred times before, but this time it really struck me. If anyone could have recognized who Jesus was I would have thought it would have been John. There was no one who matched John in all of history! He trumped Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Moses, Abraham… the guy had some serious spirituality!! (at least I think that’s what it means when Jesus said that there was no one greater than John.*)
It has got me thinking that if John couldn’t recognize Jesus outside of the Holy Spirit telling him, then how do I expect to recognize Jesus without the Holy Spirit? Which then gets me wondering where God is hiding that I just haven’t seen him in yet. Is God hiding in my day dreams, in my kids playing, in my laundry? I’ve been asking the Holy Spirit to show me God in places that I haven’t seen him yet. I like the idea of finding the Creator’s thumbprint on a dirty coffee mug in my sink… gives me some better motivation to do the dishes.
The good times and the stink times. Lord of the double rainbows and the double whammys. Lord of the washing machine that my soul is being thrashed around in right now… Lord of the deep, the wild waves that threaten to drown me; and yet at the same time you are Lord of the rock that I’m desperately clinging to (Psalm 18).
… we are singing (filming/painting/crying/living/buzzing out) to you…”
Thursday Prayers is on tomorrow from 7am-7pm. So come on in and enjoy some quality time with God. And instead of sitting in traffic after work, bust a move to the Chapel as we continue to ask for a revelation of Jesus – of his worth and his work – during our pending Beyond Borders gathering.
The Beyond Borders prayer focus will kick off at 5:30pm.
Over the past few weeks our Edge Albums “Your Love Is A Song” has been playing loudly over the stereo system at an Auckland suburban kindy.
Our boys had been talking to a teacher about their “church music” and their favourite song. The boys then took the album to Kindy to give to her as a gift. I was thinking, “Its so going to end up collecting dust in the bottom of a draw or get thrown in the bin”! But still we gave it to her anyway. What did we have to lose?
Straightaway the album got opened up and played, loudly through the Kindy sound system.
Every morning as parents dropped their children off, Your Love Is A Song could be heard playing as you walked through the gate towards the building. The song was loved so much that it was included on the play list at the recent Kindy disco. So now, here at a public Kindy – ( a mainstream NZ education system run Kindy) on the dance floor under flashing coloured lights – teachers, children and parents were dancing and singing to Your Love Is A Song.
It was the most amazing moment, heaven and earth colliding, the sounds of Edge playing out. I wonder what sounds of heaven are we all to carry with us as we live out or daily lives??
May the sounds of Edge – musical and non-musical continue to impact our Nation and Nations beyond.
