I’m now back in Peyton after the house2house conference. It was a good time, connecting with friends from last year and meeting new people, including Mark, Jan, Tony, and Johnathan Campbell. Perhaps the most significant part of the conference was the fact that none of the main sessions were concerned with house church! The message was very much that it’s not about the house; it’s all about God, and what he wants to do in and through us. We need to pay attention to our character, and listen to the Holy Spirit and how he is guiding us.
The worship times were charismatic, and rather more emotional than I was used to, which I found difficult to start with. The Holy Spirit was obviously present, though, so I could mostly ignore the emotionality and pray. The conference had a somewhat more charismatic tendency than several people were comfortable with, which caused some tension until Sunday evening, when Neil Cole and Tony Dale were put on the spot, answering questions about the charismatic/non-charismatic “divide”. Neil is more conservative, Tony more charismatic. They both pointed out that the basics and center are what is important – Christ crucified and risen, and our sending to the entire world – and the rest is just style. Both sides need to remember that, and be considerate of the other’s position and sensibilities. The message seemed to be well received.
This morning, Wolfgang Simson spoke about a wide range of subjects, wrapping the conference up. For me, his most significant statement was that “we need to stop celebrating independence, and start celebrating liberty;” we need to rejoice in what we have, not that we have come out of something.