Matt and I were forturnate enough (yes, FAVOR .... AGAIN) to attend a leadership conference in Denton Texas this past week. We went on Wednesday and returned Saturday. Soooo many things hit me at this conference and I would love to post them all, but instead i've chosen two analogies that really got me thinking that I'd love to just share a taste of those with you.
The name of the conference was "Out of the Bowl". Basically speaking this is analogy about goldfish living in bowl. I think that most of us are aware that a gold fish will grow to fit it's environment. BUT...did you know that the gold fish also continues to grow internally as well. So, as the external body grows to its maximum size because of its environment, the internal body continues to grow and therefore makes for a painful death for these fish. ALSO- goldfish die from thier own toxins in a small bowl; they can drawn in thier own poop, basically speaking! Now, if we can get them to a larger environment, they will live a lot longer!
Now, take a moment and think of that analogy as the Church. Are you living in a bowl that is too small for you? Do you need to expand to a larger environment so that you can truly live and grow into all that you are meant to be?! Not to mention, drowning in your own toxins because you can't get out of the bowl?! hmmmmm.....like i said, i could keep going and going on this analogy, but you get the drift! So, let the Holy Spirit show YOU what HE wants to in this simple analogy! And, I'd like to give the credit for this analogy to Duane White of The Bridge Church and Beyond These Shores.
The second analogy that really stuck with me was one about an arrow. (Using Psalms 127). Let's look at the arrow briefly for some basic principles.
1) Sharpness - an arrow must be sharp to perform it's intended task
2) Balance- (The spirit of the word)
3) Straightness - (character, behavior)
4) Strength- (durable, faithful)
In the Church body, are you sharp, balanced, straight, and strong? Each arrow is made for a specfic purpose and an intended target.
There are times when an arrow must be in the 'quiver'. Are you willing to stay in the dark, until it's time to be brought out for your specific use?
The arrow must also work in conjunction with the bow, where it is pulled back! Are you willing to be in a relationship that is willing to pull you back when you need to be.... of course... it's in order to move forward, don't forget!
Again... I could continue to dive into both of these analogies, but will leave it up to the Holy Spirit to show you personally, what it may mean to you! Thanks to Stuart Bell for the arrow analogy.
One more quick note for those of you who know Stuart Bell, he and David have written a book called "Mud in Your Eye" about their incredible journey...
We were so blessed to be able to attend this conference and to be able to make the connections we did! Once again the Lord's favor was poured out on us in ways we could not have imagined.
