Three reasons why the spiritual emphasis was strong
Dr Bruce Manners
Senior minister
Avondale College Seventh-day Adventist Church
Avondale College of Higher Education held its semester one Festival of Faith (FoF) on the Lake Macquarie campus this past week. Elia Crevar, chaplain at Central Coast Adventist School, spoke. I found spiritual emphasis on campus strong—for three reasons:
1. Laughter
There was much laughter during FoF, and that’s not a bad thing. “Some things are funnier when they happen to someone else,” said Elia and proved it several times from video clips—the skateboarder accidentally hitting himself in the head with his board comes to mind. Laughter binds laughees together. Elia used it, though, to make his point. It worked . . . mostly.
2. Authenticity
When the messenger is authentic, the message is more so. Elia admitted he didn’t have it all together. We knew that—this is not a comment about Elia but the human condition. Elia demonstrated it in simple ways, too, like when his brain went too fast for his mouth (we all know that feeling), he didn’t try to hide it. There’s no doubt, though, about Who he’s following.
3. Jesus
Elia didn’t say it like this, but the big message I got was: there’s a relationship happening when someone loves you enough to die for you. You can ignore Jesus and reject Him, but that means you’ll never understand what He can do for you. Rejecting Jesus is like never bothering to find out what someone is like when you feel attracted to them. You never get to know what may have developed. Jesus is like a suitor calling on His beloved. You’ll never understand Christianity without saying yes to Him. Jesus makes little sense outside a relationship with Him.
Tags: Bruce Manners, Festival of Faith