Poolside Reflections

Reflections on the 'Con 09: the theme of this year being the Resurrection, i found the night Talks with Martin aka Shaddes not just inspiring but life changing.

The first nite Shaddes talked about why the Resurrection is such a significant topic for Christians: namely, the Resurrection is so good because Death is so bad. We looked at life in the shadow of death because of the Fall of Man and how Death is the final word for all human beings outside the person of Jesus. Death crushes the hopes of all generations of men and ruptures our relationships with those we love.Most importantly, Death assaults everything good in God's creation. It is thus the enemy of God's good purposes. We also contrasted different world views regarding death and how atheists like Dawkins have no real answer to the finality of death. After a break we ended the Talk by talking about God's Plan to reverse the Curse of Death through the birth of A New Hope (ala Star Wars IV) In Jesus. In what i shall call the "Star Wars IV clause", we encounter the Death of Death in the Death of Christ.

Talk 2 was about the significance of the Resurrection for Jesus and for Time.Jesus' rising from the dead proves that Jesus is the Christ, that God keeps His promises to David, that Jesus is Lord, Saviour, Judge and Exalted Servant of His Father. Now one of the phrases Shaddes used was that the Resurrection was the Father's reward for Jesus' sacrifice and suffering, which must lead to all humanity one day worshipping God. After the break we talked about how Jesus marks the great change in time. Before Jesus, humanity was under the Reign of Death but now, in Jesus, the Age of Resurrection has dawned. Satan has been defeated (ref. Jn 12:31) and Israel's Exile has come to an end. This talk was for me, earth shattering. I finally felt completely purged of all traces of dispensationalism that i grew up in church with. Augustine(though i greatly respect him)was wrong. There are no ages of the church, only BC and AD.

Talk 3 on Wednesday night was about our hope in Jesus because of His Resurrection. We have a well founded, essential, ultimate, transforming and transcendant hope that is also triumphant. The greatest statement made that night was this: you know how we always say that the Christians' greatest hope is that when we die we will go to heaven?this is a true hope but not The Greatest hope. The Greatest Hope for the christian is that one day, we will personally experience the bodily resurrection from the dead, given the same glorified bodies as Jesus. After the break we talked about the last judgement and the language of the Bible regarding this: namely, 1) the last battle and the defeat of God's enemies, 2) the market place where the ultimate transaction has been made (heavenly Deal or No Deal) and 3) the law court where the Last Judgement is delivered by the Lamb on the Great White Throne.

Talk 4 was about Living in the Present Time because of Jesus' Resurrection. we have New Purpose, a New Day, New Life, New Power and New Freedom. and we did some Case studies regarding things like Suffering, Marriage. The idea behind all this was that God's saints live in Babylon now, with all its temptations and persecutions. How should we therefore live as Christians in Babylon?at this point i shall add some commentary of my own. i feel that it is at Wintercon that God has allowed the greatest "Conceptual Breakthroughs" in my Christian life. First year it was about ministry and the idea that ministry is much bigger and more mundane than i thought. Second year it was about the mercifulness of God's Sovereignty and the Magnificent Sweep of God's Majesty. Last year it was about the will of God in singleness and coming to terms with it. This year it is about taking unilateral action if need be in living for God and in ministry. We should live for Jesus over and inspite of the examples of others.

Talk 5 on friday morning was about the Biblical teaching about work. What it was in God's creation before the Fall, how work has been corrupted and the good ideals behind work frustrated by the Fall, and how we should work in God's new creation in Jesus. Finally, does Christianity make a difference in Babylon? Yes and no. but ultimately, we must work in anticipation of the New Jerusalem.

it was a great Con for me this year, and i especially loved all the jokes we shared, like Shaddes' accounts of Martin Luther choosing a wife: "there were some nuns who came out of Roman Catholicism and came to Luther for help. Luther promised them their sustenance, which in those days meant a husband so men came from all over Germany to choose wives from these nuns. Unfortunately, there was 1 left over, so Luther married her to keep his promise. By all accounts it was a fantastic marriage and Luther loved his Katie." or Luther's beer quotes: " a man who drinks much sleeps much. A man who sleeps much sins little. A man who sins little goes to heaven. Therefore, let us drink beer." Luther, you old geezer, you got my heart there. Cheers!