This blog is devoted to the content of Connect 2008, the annual gathering of Christian Associates International. Here you’ll find many different highlights from our week together in Sopron, Hungary, through many different mediums. Enjoy the audio mp3s, the video, and the live bloggers as they give their unique perspective on our transforming week together.
02
Aug
08
WELCOME to CONNECT 2008
01
Aug
08
[video] Friday Highlights
Special thanks to Travis Taylor for the use of his song “So Much More” in this video. Travis Taylor and his band led worship for Connect 2008.
30
Jul
08
[video] Wednesday Highlights
Special thanks to Amy Nobles for the use of her music in this video. Amy helped lead worship for one session during Connect 2008.
by Kelly Crull
Family Fun Night is apparently an excuse for just about anything. 
Back in 2002 when I attended SCO I missed that line in our values statement that says, “we’re willing to laugh at ourselves.” I’m not sure it would have meant much to me at that point. It did a few years later, however, when I was on a team in Madrid and we were in conflict. I remember how sometimes we would get stuck, with no idea how to move forward, and we would laugh at ourselves. The tension would break, and even though we hadn’t solved anything, at least we had laughed together. That was worth something.
Three years later brings us to tonight’s Family Fun Night, and maybe as trivial and silly as the evening was, it was significant for me to see two of us from that original Madrid team putting whipped cream down each other’s pants, and still after all this time, laughing together. For me, our giggling was a hymn of praise.
Interact with Kelly about his article by visiting his blog at Spain Dad, a Baby Blog.
by Andrea Booth,
friend of CA in Aix en Provence
Today as I walked through the streets of Sopron, the old stomping grounds of brilliant musicians Franz Liszt and Joseph Haydn, I found myself in a historical paradise. We were given an excellent tour by a Hungarian teacher named Istvan.
We learned all about the city’s thriving dental industry, as apparently people come streaming in from the West to get their teeth checked here for a bargain. The local wine is called “Blue-Frankish wine” because once upon a time when Napoleon invaded, his soldiers were keen on purchasing the local wine with their “blue Franks.”
After strolling through the medieval streets of downtown Sopron we headed towards the Esterhazy Palace. At the palace we were serenaded by a live Orchestra. It doesn’t get much better than this.
Istvan insisted that Hungarian was relatively easy to learn and could be, after all, mastered in a mere 15-20 years. I was struck by Istvan’s comment, particularly after Hud’s talk on “Shortcuts that Cause Erosion.” Fifteen years seems like an eternity to most of us. We are so prone to shortcuts.
As we looked at the beautiful Baroque and Rococo architecture that graces the steeples and facades of Sopron, I wondered how many hours/days/weeks went into carving these works of art that have shaped the city’s legacy.
What would the city look like today if the builders had taken shortcuts? What if, after the 1676 fire ravaged the city, the architects hadn’t bothered to restore what had been destroyed?
If we viewed our lives like the city of Sopron, we might see that when trials consume our works of excellence like flames engulf a city, we are faced with the reality that our works are not eternal. Yet God reminded me today that the hard work and discipline never ends. That we cannot give up. That when the things we build (relationships, communities, churches, or even careers) inevitably face erosion, we are called to maintain them, nurture them, and love them for God’s glory no matter how many times we need to start again from scratch.
Interact with Andrea about her article by emailing her at andreacbooth [at] gmail [dot] com
by Spencer Farmer
As I sitting here trying to process the emotions, thoughts and feelings of the first full day of Connect, I feel raw.
How do you capture the flavor and essence of hundreds of friends and soon-to-be-friends reconnecting to refresh our bodies, souls, and minds? These are the late nights, the fast paced early mornings, the thought-provoking whirlwind of the moment-to-moment.
Connect is a space for our tribal expressions, for our missional explorations and our awe-inspired standing in the presence of God. It is a place where the kingdom(e) always looks like Jesus. It is the Dome under which God is always King. A place where we “mimitai,” we mimic our Jesus. It is a place for revolution, a time for movement.
Connect is a time for questions. And no matter what question is being asked, or who is asking, the answer is always Jesus. (And I’m not kidding).
As Greg Boyd has taught us of “Revolting Beauty” (the theme of Connect), he has challenged us as “the tribe of kingdom people” to participate in real life.
Here are a few thoughts that I’ll take away from this day:
“You know the sickness by how radical the cure required for it!” (On the cure of the Cross.)
“God’s love reflects our worth based on how much He is willing to pay for us. We cannot be worth any more than we are worth right now!”
“We pledge our life moment-to-moment to Jesus!” (We must practice the presence of God.)
“Bless everyone. Bless them at all times!”
At the end of the day I find myself completely poured out before Jesus. I am a snotty, crying mess, free to be so in His presence and in the presence of my brothers and sister here at Connect. Overpowered by His love for me. Wow! What a start to the week.
Interact with Spencer about his article by visiting his blog at Four Wild Geese.
