For the first time in a while I am nervous about speaking at Catalyst. Public speaking doesn't scare me. I have a history of speaking from giving messages since I was 16, to stage theatre, and 5 summers as a tour guide. My usual approach is to speak on a topic God lays on my heart to share. Following topic selection I spend time in the word, create an outline to organize my thoughts, and I review what I prepare with prayer. But this time I am nervous.
On Tuesday April 1st I will be sharing about the persecuted church. The irony of speaking on such a weighty topic on April Fools Day just occurred to me while writing this post. Here in America we think we have it tough when it comes to being honest about our faith or even living out who we are. But in other countries Christians risk imprisonment or death for their faith. I'm talking about Christians who are persecuted just for attending a church service. To talk about why such repercussions exist, we must talk about spiritual warfare.
And that's the subject that makes me nervous.
Many Christians are blind to the warfare that happens. As I share that night several questions will be running through my mind. Are they taking me seriously? Do the students think I'm talking about a bunch of bologna? That's where my nervousness comes in. I want to warn students to be on guard. I don't want students to brush this topic off as irrelevant to them. This war is not an obvious conflict, but it's real and it's part of our lives. As I continue preparation I'll be asking God for more boldness than usual to present this message.
More to come at Catalyst...
-Joshua Pake
On Tuesday April 1st I will be sharing about the persecuted church. The irony of speaking on such a weighty topic on April Fools Day just occurred to me while writing this post. Here in America we think we have it tough when it comes to being honest about our faith or even living out who we are. But in other countries Christians risk imprisonment or death for their faith. I'm talking about Christians who are persecuted just for attending a church service. To talk about why such repercussions exist, we must talk about spiritual warfare.
And that's the subject that makes me nervous.
Many Christians are blind to the warfare that happens. As I share that night several questions will be running through my mind. Are they taking me seriously? Do the students think I'm talking about a bunch of bologna? That's where my nervousness comes in. I want to warn students to be on guard. I don't want students to brush this topic off as irrelevant to them. This war is not an obvious conflict, but it's real and it's part of our lives. As I continue preparation I'll be asking God for more boldness than usual to present this message.
More to come at Catalyst...
-Joshua Pake