I thought it would be good to process some of my thoughts from OIL by blogging. Hopefully, it can provide some clarity for me as I write and blessings for you as you read. A big thanks to Kenny Kim for contacting us and volunteering your awesome photog skills for the kingdom. All the pics in this post are his.

The Surprising Success of the OIL Hoody

Let me start with something light. We were blown away that the OIL hoodies sold out before the first evening service! That means they lasted about a mere seven hours before they were all snatched up. Props to the OIL designers for pitching the idea. They said let’s give it a go and how right they were. One hoody was actually auctioned off for $350 at the end of OIL! Maybe people were challenged by a little old lady who bought George Verwer’s world map jacket for $500 and gave all of us a little lecture about looking for any excuse to give offering for God’s work.

Dr. Norris & the Importance of Bible Exposition

We’ve been trying to get Dr. Norris for some time now so we were very thankful he made time for us this year. Armed with a wicked Scottish accent, he gave three excellent expositions: “An Unfailing Promise” (Galatians 3:1-25), “Pitfalls” (Galatians 3:26-5:12), and “Enduring Pressures” (Galatians 5:13-6:8). You need to get your hands on those by the way. Anyway, he had to leave a bit earlier than expected on the last day because of hospital visits he had to make. I told him he could cut his exposition short by 5-10 minutes (we had asked him to give 50 minute sessions) but he would have none of it. He said to try to cut out other things but don’t lay a hand on the Bible time. I shut my mouth and did exactly that. Lord, help me not to lay a hand on my time in the Word. Help me to adjust everything else so that I can spend ample time with you.

Kingdom Volunteers

OIL runs on volunteer help. Over the years some of the volunteers have been: a grandmother who drove 5 hours through a snowstorm from upper New York to cook, college students who designed stuff over the course of the semester often on ridiculously little amount of sleep, lay people who use their vacation days to do admin stuff and drive vans if need be, the audio team that’s sacrificing their OIL experience to make sermon copies for everyone, band members who pay their own way and lug all their equipment across five states, etc. Every OIL booklet, tshirt, set up crew, band member, van driver, small group leader… all stamped with the emblem of sacrificial voluntarism.

George Verwer & Mission Challenge

John Piper considers George Verwer “one of his favorite people” and for good reason. For lack of a better word, he seems “alive” every time I hear him speak. He’s been doing this for how many years? The aged apostle Paul writes at the end of his life, after following Christ for many years, that he “wants to know Christ” (Philippians 3). You can’t fake stuff like that. One’s heart has to be alive and in love with the Lord. Unless the gospel is burning inside, one gets tired eventually. I don’t get the sense he’s tired.

Prayer Time for this Generation

During one part of the Friday night prayer time, we did something a little unique. Students called out their campuses and working folks their cities and we put them on the screen in groups of ten. Although it was a little disorganized at first (one girl from Seton Hall called our her school name repeatedly and it didn’t get on the list till like her third try ), I think over 60 campuses and cities were called out covering the east, midwest and the south. There was a person from California and another from Osaka, Japan as well. I am not sure if others felt like this but just seeing campus after campus and city after city on the screen made my heart burn. In the words of Keith Green, “We are responsible to pray daily for our generation.” Stars are brighter in clusters and so is the kingdom of God. I pray our generation will cluster together to shine his light and love. We can’t do it alone. We must network together. We must be one in love.

What blessings did you receive from OIL 2010?

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