DCLA Day 3 Tuesday was a day for sleeping in, doing a little sightseeing and shopping in the downtown area around our hotel, and then beginning the DCLA Conference. Historic "Old Sacramento" is just a one block walk from the hotel, and many of us spent several hours there. Two blocks in the other direction is a mall that others enjoyed. At 5:30, we met at the hotel to make the 10-block walk together to the Sacramento Convention Center. It's a beautiful stroll down a street that been blocked off and converted into an indoor/outdoor mall for several blocks, and a shady street open only to pedestrians and the train for the rest of the way. We posed for a group shot before going into the Convention Center and meeting the DCLA experience. Each evening, DCLA offers what is called "The Big Room." This a gathering of all 3000 attendees and is the main event of the day. The focus of The Big Room is an incredibly well-presented, multi-media Bible study of the Gospel of John. Last night, we studied John 1-4. Itís hard to describe how well done this was done as speakers, music, skits, and videos were interwoven into an introduction not just to the Gospel of John, but to the good news of Jesus Christ. In John 2, Jesus performs his first miracle - turning water into wine so a wedding party could continue. We were reminded of Jesus' desire and promise to bring new life and joy to us. In John 3, Nicodemus comes to Jesus "by night" because he is interested in him, but is worried what others will think. We were asked to reflect on our own relationship with him, and the fact that sometimes we are the ones who want to keep our faith "in the dark" because of what others might think. In John 4, a Samaritan woman with some things in her life she's not proud of is encountered and loved deeply by Jesus. We were reminded that we are never so far away from God that we are too far for his love to reach. DCLA is an Evangelism conference. We will all be challenged to do what the Samaritan woman did next - share our faith with those who don't know Jesus. But Day 1's Bible study focused on something else - our own relationship with Jesus. It is the assumption of the conference planners that evangelism is what happens when his love for us fills us so deep that it "overflows" with his love and his promises reaching through us to others. The conference theme song, "Overflow," reminds us of that each day. The "Big Room" evening concluded with a concert by Rebecca St. James and Toby Mack. Rebecca St. Jamesí music is lovely. It was also fun to listen to her lovely Australian accent as she spoke. "Tmac," a Christian hip-hop artist, had the place rockin'. He took time to talk some about diversity and accepting people of all races and denominations into "God's party." He also shared something that he said God had just taught him today: he said he'd been working hard lately with concerts and recording his next CD, and every day he's been praying for God to bless what he was doing. But he said he thought God wanted him to change the prayer. He said, "I don't think the most important thing is that I ask God to bless what I'm doing, but that I ask Him instead to help me be part of what He's doing." We got back to the hotel at about 10:45. Denny took a few of us over to his place ("Denny's" across the street). Others relaxed at the hotel. A lot of us actually went to bed before the 1:30 curfew. Here's an idea for those of you who want to join us from home this week. As I mentioned, we'll be studying the Gospel of John. By Saturday noon, we will have looked at the entire book. How about joining us by reading John's gospel yourself between now and the end of the week? If you do 4-5 chapters a day, you'll be right on schedule with what we're doing here. And keep doing the praying you're doing for us too. It makes a difference!