Restore Conference 2010

My brother in law is a pastor at CrossPoint Church in Clemson, SC and was instrumental in organizing the Restore Conference this weekend featuring Paul David Tripp. The conference theme was "A Quest For More."
Nathan and I along with my Dad, Nancy, and Cayce and Jason all attended. The conference was challenging and motivates me to really examine my life and how I am living it.

Here are some of the take-aways I'm going to be pondering over the next few weeks:

Session 1:
There is a glory war going on inside each of us....raging and battling over who or what will get the glory in our lives.
We were created to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. It will never be about ME! And leading a life where I am the center will only lead to frustration because...it isn't about ME!
So, am I living for something bigger than myself? To deny God HIS GLORY is to deny my humanity because that is how we are hard wired to live.

Session 2: 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
We all migrate to the center of our world, a place we were never meant to be. We tend to shrink our lives to our wants, our needs, our feelings. The DNA of sin = SELFISHNESS. How much of the anger and frustration in my life is over God's Kingdom rather than my own wants, my own needs, and my own feelings? What am I making more important that it needs to be?

Session 3: Hebrews 11:1-7, Acts 17: 22-31
How do I live like God is the center of my life? To do this the first step is to believe that God exists. To believe that God exists is to believe (1.) in God as creator, (2.) that God is sovereign, and (3.) that God is my Savior. Believing these three things is not something I do with my brain but something I do with my LIFE!

Session 4: Matthew 6:19-33
We are all also involved in a battle between Kingdom of God vs. kingdom of self. Very few treasures have intrinsic value - most have an assigned value. Intrinsically we are all treasure seekers. 3 Treasure principles: (1.) Everyone lives for some kind of treasure. (2.) The thing that is your treasure will control your heart. (3.) What controls your heart controls your behavior. My words and behavior in all circumstances are always related to an expression of my attempt to get out of that situation what is valuable to ME. There are 2 kinds of treasures: earthbound treasures which are physical things and those things acquired through anxiety bound needs and God-oriented treasures of the kingdom. The earthbound treasure will fade away and has no capacity to satisfy and usually results in in us ending up fat, addicted, and in debt.

Session 5: Galations 5:13-26
To examine the true character of my love for Christ I need to examine the relationships of those closest to me. God's entire law is summed up in one command: Love your neighbor as yourself. Always fix human relationships vertically (with God) first then work horizontally (with person). We are not in this struggle by ourselves - we have the Spirit living with us.

Obviously a lot to think about! I am looking forward to seeing fruit of this conference in my walk with Christ and in my relationships. Thank you Cayce and Jason for inviting us to Restore! :)

More information about Paul David Tripp can be found on his website:
www.paultrippministries.org