I went to the Hillsong Conference for the first time in 2014. When I saw the title 'No Other Name' and watched the poem (put link) I knew I had to go. Natasha and I got the wheels rolling and then Ronel (who should be organising things for a living) decided to join us and she practically organised the details. She's really good! Alex and I helped with the swing votes on the organised itinerary!
I have had this burden since coming back from the conference. The burden I carry is that I cannot go to something so life changing and come back the same. I cannot be the same Nolitha Sithole who didn't have all this knowledge. This burden overwhelmed me when after a whole day of praising & worshipping Jesus, I switched on Facebook and my friends were not praising and worshipping Jesus. They were exactly where I left them before the conference. I pray that the Holy Spirit can help me to resist the temptation to go back to who I was. I pray that I may grow even more in love with Jesus and the people he loves so much.
I will be doing highlights from my week at Hillsong. I don't want to compress all that I've learnt into one post so I'll give you day by day update. I learnt that Hillsong is intentional about influencing culture. They don't want to be the best in Christian music, no, they want to be the best music producers. They want to be influential in music, a massive undertaking but worthy of being applauded! They were awarded for this with Oceans (where feet may fail) receiving accolades beyond Christian music. They pursue excellence in creativity, I honestly didn't expect to be entertained like I was at a concert but I was. The opening ceremony was spectacular! All the executional elements that make brilliant concerts were there and it just worked. On stage we had talented people showcasing their God given talent through singing, dancing, playing instruments and presenting. People were honoured. People were celebrated. Speakers listened to each other and spoke about what they personally learnt from the other speakers. The men and women who spoke were different in style and tonality, but they all brought the glory back to Jesus!
So I knew it was going to be a great week when the opening verse was my favourite verse about Jesus from Paul:
Colossians 1:15-20 ESV
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
I thanked Jesus right there and then for making this moment possible.
Pastor Brian, the founder of Hillsong church, invited various local pastors to speak every evening. They would share the word before the guest speaker. The first pastor spoke about the baptism of Jesus. He said it was one of those beautiful moments where the triune God head is present. God the Father speaking; Jesus in flesh and the Holy Spirit being represented by the dove. He shared Luke 3:22 when Father God said this about Jesus 'You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.' God affirmed Jesus before he started his ministry. He was announcing to the world 'I love you and I'm proud of you' - words every child longs to hear. Notice that God was well pleased with Jesus before Jesus did anything! He then brought it to identity saying "when you don't know the love of the Father then you compete". He said you have one opponent and that's the adversary. He ended with words that stuck to me throughout the conference, "You will be hearing brilliant talks over the week, don't be so caught up in the talk that you miss Jesus".
The guest speaker was Pastor Steven Furtik of Elevation Church. This young man is anointed. His sermon was from 2 Corinthians 3:12 ESV "Since we have such a hope, we are very bold,". His talk was titled - the problem with Pintrest. He says the problem with Pintrest is that we get caught up in a life of comparison. I guess that's social media in general. He says we must stop consuming other people's perfection. He taught me about Pintrest fail which is all the failed attempts at replicating something learnt from Pintrest. There are some hilarious disasters! He spoke about getting vulnerable with others. Tweet worthy line - Don't just show your progress only, show your scars for people to grow. He says he marvels at God - how God can know me so well yet still love me so much? He spoke about the importance of being known. He said it's important to remove the veils that we put on and be fully known - warts and all. Where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom!
Some key take outs:
1. Stop hiding! Unveil yourself
2. Stop having comparisons with other people's perfection. Compare less and contemplate more
3. God heals us from glory to glory not from shame to glory. Share your shame, bring it to the open and let God replace that with his glory!
My testimony:
When I was young something happened to me that changed the way I viewed life. I have always been a works person, you know, work to get people's affection. After this incident it was intensified, I would bring a school report so I could hear my parents' words of praise. I thought the results determined how much love I could get from them. In hindsight so silly but sometimes I catch myself doing it with loved ones even today. Sometimes, my reason for doing good is not a generous heart but a validation in waiting. People are the worst place to get validation. They are so busy walking through their own issues they don't know you need them. My sins, compiled with my need for validation and my negative self perception left me with an appearance of confidence. I was so worried I would be caught out. People will know me and they won't like me. For a person who relied on people for affirmation it would have been the worst thing to happen.
God pursued me. He brought me to a place where I had no one to rely on but him. The more I told him I needed him. The closer he came. God made me cry a lot when he was removing my veil. He showed me my obsession with comparisons. In high school, I had the brightest friends ever. Nthakoana is a genius. She would read over her work and know it. She didn't study but read through her notes and understood. She got 100% for mathematics - enough said. Sisi excelled in accounting. My worst subject. She tried explaining it to me but I didn't have the clarity that she had. So I did what most South African do with mathematics and science. Do enough papers and crammed my way to passing. I got exposed in Matric trials. I got 30% in my accounting exam. I nearly died. My teacher refused to allow me to drop to standard grade. I did get B for my finals so there is a good story to tell! An answer to my prayers of just a pass Lord! That's one side of the story the one my negative side focused on - not measuring up to my bright friends. God in his infinite wisdom gave me the best parents. Every year I showed my report to my parents and they would want everyone in the family to know how well I was doing at school! They would celebrate my report. My babomkhulu was a doctor, when black doctors were not meant to exist, inspite of the high obstacles the government put on them he persevered and became a much loved doctor in Soweto. He saw my matric final results and said I should have applied to be a doctor because my results were excellent. I did well. But I was left feeling sad because I never got my academic colours. I missed the celebrations. And sadly this is one example of many.
Jesus started cleaning me. He exposed things. There was a lot that I had to ask forgiveness for and people I had to forgive. I started my journey of being known. My healing required me telling my story so I told Starla, my pastor's wife. Then the Holy Spirit prompted me to unveil myself to my parents. I wanted to do it face to face so I bought time. I was hoping that I could convince God to change his mind. I remember praying that if I tell my parents know who I am and they don't like me anymore God has to be there to catch me. I spoke to my parents. God gave me the most amazing parents. My relationship with my father was strengthened from me unveiling myself. I had a privilege of praying with him recently for a problem he was dealing with for over 5 years. God answered and the problem was resolved according to my father's desire. My mom (in English she's called stepmom) and I are praying for God to do the impossible in our family. Our human efforts have failed and God specializes in the impossible! We are trusting him for big miracles. My mom and I are becoming better friends, we are more open and more involved in each others life.
I thank Jesus for the cross. On that cross Jesus took all my sins away - past, present and future. He took my shame and replaced it with glory. Being fully known, shame and all, means I can now move from glory to glory. My identity is in Christ. The old is gone. I am a new creation. I am loved. I don't have to earn that love. It has nothing to do with me and everything to do with what Jesus did on the cross. I am free. Thank you Jesus.
I have had this burden since coming back from the conference. The burden I carry is that I cannot go to something so life changing and come back the same. I cannot be the same Nolitha Sithole who didn't have all this knowledge. This burden overwhelmed me when after a whole day of praising & worshipping Jesus, I switched on Facebook and my friends were not praising and worshipping Jesus. They were exactly where I left them before the conference. I pray that the Holy Spirit can help me to resist the temptation to go back to who I was. I pray that I may grow even more in love with Jesus and the people he loves so much.
I will be doing highlights from my week at Hillsong. I don't want to compress all that I've learnt into one post so I'll give you day by day update. I learnt that Hillsong is intentional about influencing culture. They don't want to be the best in Christian music, no, they want to be the best music producers. They want to be influential in music, a massive undertaking but worthy of being applauded! They were awarded for this with Oceans (where feet may fail) receiving accolades beyond Christian music. They pursue excellence in creativity, I honestly didn't expect to be entertained like I was at a concert but I was. The opening ceremony was spectacular! All the executional elements that make brilliant concerts were there and it just worked. On stage we had talented people showcasing their God given talent through singing, dancing, playing instruments and presenting. People were honoured. People were celebrated. Speakers listened to each other and spoke about what they personally learnt from the other speakers. The men and women who spoke were different in style and tonality, but they all brought the glory back to Jesus!
So I knew it was going to be a great week when the opening verse was my favourite verse about Jesus from Paul:
Colossians 1:15-20 ESV
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
I thanked Jesus right there and then for making this moment possible.
Pastor Brian, the founder of Hillsong church, invited various local pastors to speak every evening. They would share the word before the guest speaker. The first pastor spoke about the baptism of Jesus. He said it was one of those beautiful moments where the triune God head is present. God the Father speaking; Jesus in flesh and the Holy Spirit being represented by the dove. He shared Luke 3:22 when Father God said this about Jesus 'You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.' God affirmed Jesus before he started his ministry. He was announcing to the world 'I love you and I'm proud of you' - words every child longs to hear. Notice that God was well pleased with Jesus before Jesus did anything! He then brought it to identity saying "when you don't know the love of the Father then you compete". He said you have one opponent and that's the adversary. He ended with words that stuck to me throughout the conference, "You will be hearing brilliant talks over the week, don't be so caught up in the talk that you miss Jesus".
The guest speaker was Pastor Steven Furtik of Elevation Church. This young man is anointed. His sermon was from 2 Corinthians 3:12 ESV "Since we have such a hope, we are very bold,". His talk was titled - the problem with Pintrest. He says the problem with Pintrest is that we get caught up in a life of comparison. I guess that's social media in general. He says we must stop consuming other people's perfection. He taught me about Pintrest fail which is all the failed attempts at replicating something learnt from Pintrest. There are some hilarious disasters! He spoke about getting vulnerable with others. Tweet worthy line - Don't just show your progress only, show your scars for people to grow. He says he marvels at God - how God can know me so well yet still love me so much? He spoke about the importance of being known. He said it's important to remove the veils that we put on and be fully known - warts and all. Where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom!
Some key take outs:
1. Stop hiding! Unveil yourself
2. Stop having comparisons with other people's perfection. Compare less and contemplate more
3. God heals us from glory to glory not from shame to glory. Share your shame, bring it to the open and let God replace that with his glory!
My testimony:
When I was young something happened to me that changed the way I viewed life. I have always been a works person, you know, work to get people's affection. After this incident it was intensified, I would bring a school report so I could hear my parents' words of praise. I thought the results determined how much love I could get from them. In hindsight so silly but sometimes I catch myself doing it with loved ones even today. Sometimes, my reason for doing good is not a generous heart but a validation in waiting. People are the worst place to get validation. They are so busy walking through their own issues they don't know you need them. My sins, compiled with my need for validation and my negative self perception left me with an appearance of confidence. I was so worried I would be caught out. People will know me and they won't like me. For a person who relied on people for affirmation it would have been the worst thing to happen.
God pursued me. He brought me to a place where I had no one to rely on but him. The more I told him I needed him. The closer he came. God made me cry a lot when he was removing my veil. He showed me my obsession with comparisons. In high school, I had the brightest friends ever. Nthakoana is a genius. She would read over her work and know it. She didn't study but read through her notes and understood. She got 100% for mathematics - enough said. Sisi excelled in accounting. My worst subject. She tried explaining it to me but I didn't have the clarity that she had. So I did what most South African do with mathematics and science. Do enough papers and crammed my way to passing. I got exposed in Matric trials. I got 30% in my accounting exam. I nearly died. My teacher refused to allow me to drop to standard grade. I did get B for my finals so there is a good story to tell! An answer to my prayers of just a pass Lord! That's one side of the story the one my negative side focused on - not measuring up to my bright friends. God in his infinite wisdom gave me the best parents. Every year I showed my report to my parents and they would want everyone in the family to know how well I was doing at school! They would celebrate my report. My babomkhulu was a doctor, when black doctors were not meant to exist, inspite of the high obstacles the government put on them he persevered and became a much loved doctor in Soweto. He saw my matric final results and said I should have applied to be a doctor because my results were excellent. I did well. But I was left feeling sad because I never got my academic colours. I missed the celebrations. And sadly this is one example of many.
Jesus started cleaning me. He exposed things. There was a lot that I had to ask forgiveness for and people I had to forgive. I started my journey of being known. My healing required me telling my story so I told Starla, my pastor's wife. Then the Holy Spirit prompted me to unveil myself to my parents. I wanted to do it face to face so I bought time. I was hoping that I could convince God to change his mind. I remember praying that if I tell my parents know who I am and they don't like me anymore God has to be there to catch me. I spoke to my parents. God gave me the most amazing parents. My relationship with my father was strengthened from me unveiling myself. I had a privilege of praying with him recently for a problem he was dealing with for over 5 years. God answered and the problem was resolved according to my father's desire. My mom (in English she's called stepmom) and I are praying for God to do the impossible in our family. Our human efforts have failed and God specializes in the impossible! We are trusting him for big miracles. My mom and I are becoming better friends, we are more open and more involved in each others life.
I thank Jesus for the cross. On that cross Jesus took all my sins away - past, present and future. He took my shame and replaced it with glory. Being fully known, shame and all, means I can now move from glory to glory. My identity is in Christ. The old is gone. I am a new creation. I am loved. I don't have to earn that love. It has nothing to do with me and everything to do with what Jesus did on the cross. I am free. Thank you Jesus.
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