North Coast Christian Youth Conference

Have just come back from NCCC YC up at Evans Head. A great weekend! About 150 young people from the Far North Coast. We stayed at Evans Head K-12 Public School. The theme of the weekend was "I'm on my way.. " picking up the old Proclaimers tune and adapting for a journey through the Psalms of Ascent Psalm 120 to 123. We saw the movement from the Badlands as the Old Testament person of God began to focus on the pilgrimage up to Jerusalem to gather with God's people in worship.



The weekend challenged and encourged me in a number of ways. As evangelicals we react at times in a polemical way to movements or theology that may not be helpful or even wrong. However our reaction may move us to an extreme that also pushes the boundary of truth. What I am thinking of is worship. The Old Testament people of God gathered to worship Yahweh in Jerusalem and it was a mix of both reason (theology) and experience. When we gather as the new people of God to sing praises to Jesus we are worshipping him. Worship rightly is more than singing, (Romans 12:1, 2). However, singing praises to Jesus must be included in the broader category of worship (Revelation 5:8, 9). And when we sing praises to Jesus our King it is to him. There must be a vertical element in our worship to Jesus. It is not merely horizontal, an encourgement to those gathered.



We had great times of worship, singing praises to Jesus our King up at NCCC YC., lead by Jon (thanks bros. for your input and enthusiams to worship with our minds and our hearts in a real way). We worshipped Jesus as we listened to the Bible being read and spoken about. We worshipped as we responded to Jesus as God's great King.



Thanks to all the crew up there who put so much work into organising a great weekend.