Da (Vinci) Jesus Code

"To the hustlers, killers, murderers, drug dealers even the strippers(Jesus walks with them)/To the victims of welfare feel we living in hell here, hell yea(Jesus walks with them)" - Jesus Walks by Kanye West.

At the base of the Blue Mountains, a group of people have been gathering for over a hundred years. In an area associated with the three sisters and the little brother, thousands of "brothers" and "sisters" have met annually since 1903.

Why?

What is the reason for their convergence to Katoomba?

What calls them, what drives them, what do they seek?

One word.

God.

Last weekend, I headed to KYC - Katoomba Youth Convention. I hadn't been before so I didn't know quite what to expect. I left work early on Friday & took a two hour train ride to Katoomba. Overall, I had a very good weekend - I was pleasantly surprised by the talks and how it was run.

I suspect many of my readers haven't been to KYC, let alone been inside a Church, so I'll drop some some background. Throughout the year, there are many Christian conventions in Katoomba. There's the Youth one which I went to, Men's convention, Women's convention, Leader's convention, Sermon on the Mount and so on. And its all held at this Christian centre which is like a few hectares big. There's a massive hall which everyone meets in, a book shop, a big tent serving as a cafe, and live in accomodation.


The Message

All KYC events have a theme and this particular one was "Encountering God". It hit at the crux of all religion - "What must I DO to encounter God, What must I KNOW to encounter God? Where must I GO to encounter God".

There were two main speakers - Sam Chan and Ray Galea. Sam focused on the book of Luke, in particular three stories which Jesus told: The Lawyer Who Meets God, The Rich Ruler Who Meets God, The Sinner Who Meets God.
I'll provide a quick and dirty summary of the main principles in each one:

1. Lawyer - This is about the story of the Good Samaritan. If your're not familiar, a man is dying on the side of the road. A priest and then a Pharisee walk past him, refusing to give him help. The pharisee back then made up thousands of rules to apply God's word (thus he's seen as some kind of lawyer). But the good samaritan helps the dying man. The crux of the story is:Not who is the neighbour, but rather 'Who can I be a neighbour to?". God sent Jesus to this world to be the samaritan - to be the neighbour. And the story tells us to be that neighbour as well.



Maybe it cause I studied law, I was thinking about the Donogue v Stevenson (1932) snail in the bottle case, which extended the neighbour principle.

2. The Rich Ruler - This person asked Jesus what must he do to follow him. He told him to give up everything - his riches. But the rich couldn't, wouldn't. It highlights the fact there is a cost in following God and not everyone can afford it. What you give up you will be rewarded many times over. And not everyone gives up the same thing.

3. Sinner - This story is about Zaceheus, the tax collector who meets Jesus. See the rich ruler, and the lawyer (Pharisee) both got it wrong. But Z gets it RIGHT! Z had sold his soul to the Romans, lied and cheated to get wealth. What did he do to get it right - He responds to Jesus and acts with faith. Faith is more than believing - you can no longer be passive. You must be active, out there participating. Also, Z welcomed Jesus - he began a relationship with him. This is an experiential component with Christianity - you must hear God, Know God, and be willing to give up everything to begin that relationship.

The Music

The music was off the hook. They played all my favourite songs and some new ones I hadn't heard. Its a significant part of Christianity - the worship and praise to God. Plus they had a Christian singer perform, Nathan Tasker. I hadn't heard him before, but he was really soulful. In fact, I was so impressed, I went and bought his album the next day and got it signed! My first Christian LP.

I had a full mad conversation with him about music, and his upcoming concert. Telling him that I appreciate when an artist is up on stage by themselves with no band backing them, as it shows their true skills. And he was like "You like that? I'll have to do that at my next concert!". I told him I was into hip hop concerts and how his drummer is in a hip hop band. He was really down to earth. Have I turned into a Christian music groupie??!!

The People

There were people from all corners of NSW - Armidale, Newcastle, and of course Sydney and also from Darwin! I reckon there would have been more than a thousand people at the conference. And its funny the people that you bump into - friends, and friends of friends that you had no idea were Christians.

I reckon 40% of the people there were asian, probably 30% overall were Chinese. I think Christianity has been readily embraced by the Chinese community as its very big in HK, pushed steadily by Westerners. I'm not sure if that's the reason, but there's a lot of Chinese Christans.

This is a long post, so thanks for reading it. I've got to sleep early cause there's a big basketball game against Howard/Aadesh and the Mark-less Mallesons magic. I'll write a match report bout how we crushed them.

Peace Out,

DJ Ho.