New Attitude?

I'm back at work after spending a refreshing weekend attending the New Attitude Conference in Louisville. It was a joy to have my brother Elijah come with me for the second time and to have my sister Anna there for the first time. Anna has been wanting to come for a couple years, so it was fun to be able to take her with me now that she is the right age. It was also a special joy to be there with my fiance John.

New Attitude is a word that has been used for conferences/ meetings and magazines that Joshua Harris has been a part of for at least 13 years. While a ~ 15 or 16 year-old homeschooling teen, I went with a couple families to a homeschooling conference and heard him give a message on dating. There I found out about his magazine entitled "New Attitude." I subscribed to the magazine and found Josh's messages on dating (or the lack thereof) to be very thought provoking. To me, it made sense to wait to date until you were actually ready to think of getting married. I received his magazine until it stopped due to Josh moving on to the book and pastoral world. I enjoyed reading his book "I kissed Dating Goodbye" and then kind of lost track of what he was doing.

About 7 years ago, received some information about a new conference that Joshua Harris was doing, again called new attitude. I naturally assumed that it has something to do with dating and thought, why not go to it? I was pleasantly surprised to find that although the conference was directed toward singles, the messages were much more applicable than to just dating and/or courtship. Rather than focusing on what we didn't have, the conference messages tended to focus on Christ, the one who created all things. Over the years, the message topics have ranged from entertainment choices, to discernment, to relationship issues, to God's glory, to bible study and other discipleship issues.

The conference is still directed toward singles from high school graduates and up, but now is open to couples as well (which is great since I hope to continue to go!). Through these conferences, I have been encouraged to learn more of God and to study his word and pray more. I have also learned of and purchased many great resources that have shaped my thinking on so many topics.

A conference like this doesn't necessarily give me some new amazing revelation that I never new before. But I have found that it will convict me and give me a new attitude or renewed focus on what is really important.

My lunch hour is over, so I will have to post more about this year's conference tomorrow.