It was an honor and privilege to speak again at the Breakaway Women's Conference this year. So many incredibly gifted women leaders including some of my dear friends, Alex Jacobson, Danielle Castillejo and Jenni Waldron. Just wow. It was incredible.
We spent months planning and preparing and the Holy Spirit really showed up all the way through the process including some last minute "fine tuning." Moments of connectedness were accompanied by invitations to deeper sorrow. We didn't shy away from the hard stuff--where is God in times of struggle, what does Jesus' scars tell us about our own? It was a powerful!
I spoke on the Apostle Paul's encounter with Christ and how in a moment Jesus changes everything. We, like Paul, are icebergs, showing only a small percentage of who we are. Paul has a historical context, he has a cultural background, he grew up in a city, in a particular family. All these "hidden" things about him give him the mass that makes up who he is. And God, who sees what is hidden, meets Paul in a way that encompasses all of who he is. Paul's past wasn't forgotten, it was redeemed and used for God's own glory--after meeting Jesus, things in his life had new meaning and purpose and gave him the experience and knowledge he needed to fulfill his calling. Paul's story was a dramatic reversal; he was personally and violently persecuting the followers of Jesus, physically dragging men and women to jail. And once he met Jesus, Paul himself would spend time in jail for his radical and passionate pursuit of spreading the good news. That's the gospel.
I'm not going to lie, Paul's story is good one. But each of us is living a good story; a story of tiny deaths and resurrections. And this I know to be true: every time you share your own stories you are sharing the good news that others too can experience transformation. As Dan Allender would say, "Once you've been to the party, you want everyone you know to come."
If you want to hear my talk on Paul's Encounter with Christ, you can watch it online:
And next year, I want you to be there!