We are God's Plan

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The following is an abbreviated summary of Gary Haugen's address, "God's Heart for Justice," at this year's Catalyst** Conference, provided by the Catalyst Monthly.

  • God is calling us to exhilaration of joy through adventure. How do you gather people to go on the adventure? Paul said to prepare your mind for action. Have clarity about the world around you.
  • The hardest thing for people to believe in the world is that God is good. What is God's plan for making this believable to suffering people? We are the plan. He doesn't have another plan. You are the light of the world-let your light so shine among men that they will see your good works and give glory to your father in heaven.
  • When we help people, they see the body of Christ show up and they can believe that God is good.
  • There are so many people in the world who are suffering because of the abuse and oppression of other people.
  • Injustice is a specific kind of sin--the abuse of power to take from others the good things that God intended for everyone-life, liberty, dignity, fruits of our love and labor--this is the sin of injustice.
  • A million new children a year taken into forced prostitution-how are they supposed to believe that God is good?
  • In the world of injustice there is a God of justice who wishes to bring rescue.
  • The story of Jesus feeding the 5000 is an example of how Jesus works out the magnitude of the need through our own lack of resources. We just provide Him what we have and He works with the rest. Jesus does the miracle.
  • God is still in the business of transformation, and not only does he change lives, but He changes history.
  • Why in a world of so much suffering and hurt and need, have we been given so much?

**Catalyst in their own words: Catalyst is all about shaping leaders in the Church, presenting the next big ideas, practices and content. Catalyst exists to ignite passion for Christ and develop leadership potential in the Next Generation, equipping them to engage and impact their world. Every year, 10,000 next generation leaders converge on Atlanta in October for the Catalyst Conference, the leadership experience of the year. But Catalyst is more than a conference- it purposes to serve as a leadership filter, continually providing relevant training, innovative events, and cutting edge resources for leaders in the Church.