Reflections 2010

Date, Time, Location

Reflections 2010 is happening soon! Mark your calendars for April 10th, 2010, from 4P to 7P at the Institute of Americas on the UCSD campus.

Background on Reflections

In the year 2008, Harvest San Diego’s Missions Ministry was looking for ways to support the church’s mission teams and missionaries financially. Through much planning and brainstorming, the idea of a worship arts cafe night was born. The worship arts cafe night aims to worship God first and foremost through the gifts given by Him, and also to financially and prayerfully raise support for missionaries. This event was to be distinguished from a talent show. It was not to be man centered, but most importantly, God centered. The name ‘Reflections’ came about through the passage:

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18

‘Reflections’ is based on the idea of looking into the mirror and being able to see the person that God has created. In Exodus 34:29-35, after meeting with God on Mount Sinai, Moses’ face radiated with God’s glory and, just as God’s glory reflected in Moses’ face, our passion, desires, and gifts should also be a reflection of God.

In the course of a few months, ‘Reflections Worship Arts Cafe’ night was hosted by the Missions Ministry on April 26th, 2008. Money was raised through selling tickets, offering, as well as a silent auction for some of the art pieces displayed. Participants were Harvest church members who desired to worship God fully with a variety of God given abilities. In the summer of 2008, a Harvest Philippines team of 12 people and a China team of 4 people were sent.

Why Missions, Worship, and Art?

Missions & Worship

As a believer, worship is our ultimate priority in this life. John Piper says in his book Let the Nations be Glad, “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exist because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal of missions” (17). Therefore, it is our desire to worship God and our desire for the world to worship God that burdens us with the need to go on missions. Art is one of the many means of worshiping God.

Art and Worship

Francis A. Schaeffer in his book Art and the Bible states in Leviticus 26:1, “This passage makes clear that Scripture does not forbid the making of representational art but rather the worship of it. Only God is to be worshiped. To worship art is wrong, but to make art is not.” (20). Art should never be a substitute of worshiping God through scriptures, devotional times, fellowship, and the gospel. Art should not be glorified, but art should be used to glorify God.

Worship is the ultimate goal of all believers, and missions should be the process in which the whole earth will someday be brought before God for worship. Art (music, poetry, photography, dance, etc.) is only a means of worship.

The Theme

But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.
Malachi 3:2-3

The ancient process of refining silver required intense heat that reduced metal into liquid form. The workman diligently sat at the pot waiting for the dross to surface and then scraped off. As the refiner continuously removed the layers of impurities, an increasingly clearer image of himself reflected off the surface.

The people in Malachi’s day questioned God’s goodness and justice in a world where evil prospered. The people asked, “Where is the God of justice?” (Malachi 2:17). In our present day, we might ask the same question as we see 27 million people enslaved in human trafficking each year and as 6,000 children are orphaned by AIDs each day. But do we sit at our seats and weary God with the same questions or do we bring the one true answer to the sufferings of this world? As the Day of Judgment and Christ’s second coming draw nearer and nearer, the urgency to share the gospel should become more crucial in our faith. Jesus Christ and his gospel act like the refiner’s fire—to remove the impurities of sin, evil, and injustice in this world, until a clear reflection of God’s glory is seen.

This year’s Reflections theme is to cultivate urgency in our hearts to spread the word of God around the globe, a gospel that heals. Relief organizations may bring temporary liberation, but not an eternal one. Only the one true gospel can bring true healing and purification in this world. It is healing that reflects the glory of God. This year’s theme also aims to enable each person to take the risk of being refined by God’s Holy fire on the missions field.

If any of you, my hearers, are seeking the Lord at this time, I want you to understand what it means: you are seeking a fire, which will test you, and consume much which has been dear to you. We are not to expect Christ to come and save us in our sins, he will come and save us from our sins; therefore, if you are enabled by faith to take Christ as a Savior, remember that you take him as the purger and the purifier, for it is from sin that he saves us.
Charles Spurgeon