JUBILEE 2010-Dance, Dance Revolution

      Just Got back from a brilliant weekend!  Jubilee 2010 happened Febuary 19th-21st.

 The CCO hosts more than 2,500 College students at the annual Jubilee Conference in downtown Pittsburgh.http://www.jubileeconference.com/#/home/.

 As some of you might know, I have been doing swing dance for the past nine years as a hobby. I have always had a dream in my heart to be a part of some type of swing dance ministry; because I long to glorify God in everything.  This past weekend at Jubilee…that dream came true!

One of my CCO Co-Workers and good friend, Mitch Marcello, had a similar dream as well. Mitch has been pro swing dancing for the past several years and has taught lessons in downtown Pittsburgh. He also had a desire to use swing dancing as a ministry. Mitch knew that I was a swing dancer, so he came to me and asked if I would like to teach with him at Jubilee. Of course, I jumped at that opportunity right away!

 We taught two swing dance sessions. This was the first time ever that this had happened at the Jubilee conference, and neither of us had any idea what type of turnout we would have for the class.  We were blown away to find at least 125 students show up at the afternoon session, and 200 students came to the night session.   Incredible!  We actually ran out of room and people had to dance in the hallway!

Mitch and I in the middle teaching some east-coast swing!

 CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO! I was able to capture a few glorious moments of the swing dance lesson……http://www.youtube.com/user/snazzynazi#p/a/u/0/2sVZRPoQmpA

 Before we taught the actual dance, Mitch and I spoke to the students about 1 Corinthians 10:31; we are commanded to do all things, whether eating or drinking or whatever we do, to the glory of God.

I took some time and spoke about the “Lead and Follow” of swing dance and how it parallels the relationship between God and us in the dance of life.

 In swing dance there is always a Lead (male) and a Follow (female). For the dance to have any type of success, the Follow (Female) needs to submit to the Lead (male).  Her mind and body must be fully attentive to the Lead. There is a structure, and there are rules to swing dance.  If both the Lead and the Follow try to lead the dance…there will be quite the disaster!  You can’t just do whatever you want and expect to achieve beauty!   In the dance of life, God is the Lead, and the Church is the Follow.   We are to submit heart, mind, and soul to Him.   God wants good things for us, and He wants to lead us to those good things for His glory!

I also talked about all the various health benefits there are to swing dancing. In fact, in my research I found that “in the New England Journal of Medicine they found dancing can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia in the elderly!”

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) say that dancing can:

• Lower your risk of coronary heart disease
• Decrease blood pressure
• Help you manage your weight
• Strengthen the bones of your legs and hips

 I ended my talk by using Proverbs 3:5-8, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”

Some students (Adam, Mollie and Michelle) that came for the night swing dance session. They are well on their way to being hooked

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