This past week I went back to New Brunswick to visit and of course I arranged my visit during Beulah Camp (the District Conference for the Atlantic District of The Wesleyan Church). Over the past 27 years I think I’ve missed only 1 Beulah camp completely. For those of you who know how old I am and can perform simple subtraction, that’s right I was at Beulah even when I was in my mother’s womb.
This visit back East was an excellent time of reconnecting with friends, but what stuck out to me most was the renewal I experienced, while I was there. What ensues is a collection of the introspection that occurred.
The first thing I noticed was the emphasis on Christus Victor atonement teaching. I tend to receive plenty of teaching that emphasizes our fallen nature prior to salvation, but seldom hear anything about the victory we have because of Christ. Just singing “Victory in Jesus” was “water to my soul”.
The next thing I noticed was the change in me. In the past year I have become more self- aware of who God has intended me to be and in embracing this me there has been a confidence/comfort I have developed. It’s a peace that surpasses understanding.
In one of Dr. Steve DeNeff’s sermon, he expressed a need for us to be less concerned with “God’s will” and more concerned with who God intends us to be because if we act according to our new nature we will act according to “God’s will”. This is because our new nature and God’s will are not in opposition, but agreement.
The next thing that hit me was not something anyone said, but more an observation. In the past (and possibly in the present) I tend to avoid and be critical of those who I feel have broken my trust. However, something the Holy Spirit began speaking to me was the need to give people second chances. What was the most sobering was the question the Spirit posed to me:“Where would you be if I had only given YOU one chance?” In other words, “everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded” (Luke 12:48).
