Pondering PROCLAIM 4

Well, the next day started quite early for me…actually, before daylight. Just a few hours after the events of the yester-evening, my cell phone [alarm clock] started ringing (probably around 3.30am or so). This first time that it rang, I apparently did not hear it…but others did, as I found out afterwards…and actually wondered if it was another ‘attack’. The second time, however, I did wake up to stop the alarm. Setting the alarm for 3.30am? – I’m funny like that. Anyway, that would have been all to the story except an hour or two afterwards, I awoke, and I needed to use the bathroom. Now, this is in a dark room with everyone sound asleep (there was actually some snoring). What happened next is what I found most interesting.

The movement that anyone made on the mattresses we were sleeping on resulted in quite an amplified sound and, more than that, it seemed to send a wave of movement through everyone else in the room. It was like a domino effect…and these mattresses were loud – at least with everyone being so quiet. So here I was trying to quietly get out of bed, yet each movement of mine was reverberated all around the room (the snoring also stopped at this point, by the way). I couldn’t believe it at first, but by the time I was taking my last two limbs off the bed, I was pretty sure that this phenomenon was consistent. Anyway, I got out of bed, being grateful that I was so close to the doorway to the bathrooms, but as I swung round into the darkness…it was dark! Too dark. I had an idea, so I snuck back, quietly chanting Ben’s instruction from the previous night, “stealth guys, stealth” :)…that’s of course when the young men were going to fight the ninjas in order to defend the young ladies (they seemed like warriors of a tribe). I stealthily retrieved my cell phone from my bed, the luminous blue light was sufficient for me and the rest is history. It was quite an ordeal.

Anyway, the gentlemen might also remember the ordeal of cold showers that morning – I’m still not sure what happened to the warm water in the gentlemen’s quarters*. Nonetheless, we all braved that and then the guys had a morning devotional time where they braved me sharing my testimony of salvation, etc. The ladies also did something separately*. We all then had breakfast together before the morning worship session with music and teaching from Ben.

I remember Ben starting by expressing that proclaiming the gospel is rooted in worship. This proclamation is of His excellencies. Thus we can be sure that a [true] worshiper is caught up in the excellencies of Jesus Christ. Yet on this issue of proclaiming His excellencies, we focused on what the word “proclaim” (1 Peter 2:9) actually means. This word (exaggello) is apparently only used here in 1 Peter 2:9 in the Bible. It means “To tell out” (The KJV renders it “to show forth”). This only comes from a life submitted to Christ’s authority.

The aim of proclaiming the gospel is to bring people from darkness into light (remember Acts 26:14-18?). Through this, people are converted (convert – change in nature/function/etc…of something).

Another word we looked at is “Excellencies”. I remember Ben using the expression, “God to the max” in His virtue, goodness, etc. Basically, it’s infinite (I believe Courtney was tasked with trying to imagine forever backwards and forever forwards – just to get close to understanding infinity). And remember that God is the reference point for goodness. And isn’t it amazing – you can never find a place where Jesus Christ is not excellent!

Anyway, we also learned that proclamation requires a vision of worship. And this is worth remembering; it is unnatural for us to see Jesus Christ as beautiful/excellent/glorious; we constantly need an adjustment of our vision…from THE BIBLE (c.f. 1 Peter 2:1-3). We saw that Jesus Christ is a Living Stone, choice and precious in God’s eyes. Should He not be so in our eyes as well? (c.f. 1 Peter 3:4,5)

Ben concluded, telling us that in the next session we would be looking at The Power of Proclamation.