JUDGMENTAL COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGISTS : Bath, England (Aug 06)

Soul Survivor: Bath, England (Aug 06)

Soul Survivor 06

http://www.soulsurvivor.com/uk/homepage.asp

CYFA excursion to Shepton Malley, for Soul Survivor. Mass camping with 22 000 other strangers is really not a claustrophobics ideal. Nevertheless the 52 strong CYFA group and extended leadership team decided to guilt me for weeks, and then kidnap me when all else failed. (I remember Gareth saying quite decisively!! "You are coming and THAT’S THAT!!!") Despite the reluctant trip, it is impossible to not have fun surrounded by my weird and wonderful youth group who I had missed for weeks while in Fribourg. Throw in a few guitars, blazing sunshine during the day and clear starry skies at night, a BBQ and enormous amounts of steak (and pocket money to buy Chinese and Belgian waffles when you grow tired of the steak every day routine!!- if Fribourg didn’t convert me into a vegetarian this sure will!!) and you get one heck of a good time!!!

If the fabulous teachings of Mike Pilavachi and the extended worship didn’t soothe my travel ruffled soul, the great opportunity to bond with the CYFA group and the nurturing fellowship of the girly tent did. The lively girly chats in female leaders tent about, Stasi Eldredge’s new feminist theology ("we are re-branding Christian feminism!!" said Jess! and "here! here!!!" said Lucinda!! and a new feminist theory was born!) the lack of Mr. Darcys’, the original sin & the hesitant Adam, under the vast velvety skies and diamond stars of Shepton Malley long into the night, made up for the long absences from each others company over the year.

Despite all the fun and laughter there were many things that were a stretch for my comfort zones; the sweeping waves of fainting made the over analytical cognitive psychologist in me a little anxious, and the over cynical matron of Halls in me a little judgmental (instead of focusing on the holy spirit, I think I was busy earmarking the people who would faint!). Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit continued anointing and gifting people despite the judgmental concerns of the cognitive psychologists in the crowds. (I fervently prayed ‘I have never fainted in my life! please don’t let me start now!!’ please don’t gift, prophesy or rest on me and make me do embarrassing things!!) I wasn’t just out of my comfort zone! my comfort zone was a blip on the horizon! Having always thought self control to be a gift of the spirit I didn’t quite understand the ‘undignified worship’ I thought!! As if in response the crowds sang ‘I can be more undignified than this’ (from Dancing generation) and proceeded to dance throughout the big top!

The heart broken, the tormented, the self harming, the emotionally dysfunctional, the physically and psychologically impaired they came in their droves. I sat their thinking, ‘Lord your children seem to be a particularly flawed and needy bunch of people!’ No wonder the secular world thinks we Christians aren’t cool! And then that uncomfortably clear (Uncomfortable because post modern understandings of cognition might categorise it to be schizophrenic) presence reminded me of the parable of the great banquet (Luke 14: 15)

But why? I kept nagging my line of enquiry, ‘does this mean those people with no issues, no life threatening challenges who’s souls haven't been touched by pain don’t get a chance to find you??’. ‘Where are these people! These perfect lives? ‘No one is immune to pain’’; my internal dialogue continued. But not everyone dares to become vulnerable within that pain. When pain digs deep hollow caverns different people fill it with different things, hatred, work obsession, rationalisation, and even good works for its own sake. When all that is expected is a broken heart, and openness and sensitivity to HIS voice (Psalm 51; 17)

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow