When There is Greatness, People Will Come

So I have self diagnosed myself with Post-Passion Depression. Here I am: a week past, back in school, freezing and I'm not quite sure that my brain (and heart) have fully soaked in the power of God's glory and just how big He really is. So in an attempt to mull over everything bouncing around in my head, I thought it best to sit down and write out some of the truths I'm currently sitting in.

1) Jesus draws a crowd. a BIG one.
When 21,000+ students descend on the city of Atlanta, lines and crowds are inevitable. All of us trying to get to the same place. All of us wanting a seat close enough to see Chris Tomlin sweat. One thing I discovered is that being on time to a main session event was overrated. Ten minutes late will get you great seats too. (Thanks usher lady!) But these wonderful lessons are hard to learn and after fighting the crowd in the CNN center, waiting 30 minutes in the Moe's line, and scarfing my burrito down I found myself one in a crowd. Squished into a little space waiting for the doors to open to the arena. While the guys behind me were quite funny and the Clemson cheer was entertaining, I really just wanted a seat. A chance to get in, sit down, and see Jesus. And then it hit me. These same kinds of crowds were being drawn 2000 years ago. And by the same God I was waiting to see. The same excitement, anxiety and impatience I felt were felt by men, women and children in every city that Jesus went. Because like me, these people knew that there was something beautiful and redeeming about this man who was God in the flesh. And so they came. With their friends and with their hearts open waiting to experience the presence and glory of Jesus.

2) Youth is not an excuse to not do something great.
At the heart of the Passion movement is justice and a true desire to make an impact on the world we live in. A major part of the Passion event is Do Something Now which is an opportunity for Passion attendees (aka college students) to donate money to various causes all over the world. For example, Not for Sale builds border outposts along the Nepal border for women who have recently been rescued from sex-trafficking caravans. One border outpost costs $25,000 to build. Another cause needed multiple $200 donations to give to Haitian women as a loan to start their own small business. Money was also needed for surgeries on Afghani children suffering from cleft palates. These were just 3 of the 12 causes you could choose to support. At the beginning of the conference a goal of $500,000 was set. $500,000?! That's a lot of money. But thanks to the generosity of college students, $668,000 was raised. That means that every cause was met and then some. And as if God wasn't powerful enough, a couple who heard about the amount of money Passion students raised matched the $668,000 with one check. That's over 1 million dollars that has been given to heal the broken! To make the ugly beautiful. To give the unreached people group a chance to read the Word of God in their own language. And all because a group of college students had the generosity and kindness of heart to want to make a difference. Our age and stereotype cannot hinder us. We are God's sons and daughters. We are members of the Kingdom of Heaven and we can and will and do make a difference. One of my favorite songs we sang during Passion said, "If our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? And if our God is with us, then what could stand against?" The truth that resonates through these words just hits me in the gut. This should be our theme song. The song of our generation.

So those are only 2 of many things I'm starting to realize and take to heart. More are coming. I promise.

Stay Away From the Shoes

So anyone who has ever owned a puppy will tell you that they require a lot of things. Food. Attention. Love and care. But most importantly discipline. They have to learn that shoes are made for wearing, not chewing. That the potty is outside, not on the carpet. And that there is one person in control: you the human.

So this past week my sister and I have been dog sitting for family friends, and their dog is a precious 1 year old cockapoo. While cuteness goes a long way, Katie and I have found it very trying to discipline Sammy. Everything to him is a potential chew toy(hands included). He wants to bark at everything and to constantly be showered with attention and affection. However, its not convenient or even good for him to always be under my feet or barking at the faint, nonexistent billows of wind. And the other night he decided that he would do everything he could to possibly misbehave. If I wasn't uttering "Sammy, no!" I was taking him out to the potty or chasing down a stray sock he just happened to find.

When we finally put him up for the night I started to think how much we are like puppies. When we accept God's grace we become the point of his affection. We feel close to him, wrapped in his mercy and love. We promise to read the Bible daily and go to church every Sunday. For lack of a better phrase we're on a Jesus high.

And then we fall.

We learn that there are certain boundaries in which we must abide. There are ways of life that no longer are acceptable. There are old relationships that we must part with. And the closeness we feel to God becomes ruined with our own selfishness. Because, like Sammy, we want the things that we know we aren't suppose to have. We go after the shoes because it's who we are: sinful fools.

But luckily for us, God is the perfect Father. He never loses patience with us. He doesn't blow up in frustration. He lovingly guides us back to him. And while we may see his guidance as punishment, we learn that the next time there will be consequences. God is one step ahead of us. He has sent His Spirit to tell us to stay away from the shoes. They're dangerous. And in a world where Satan is constantly whispering to take them, the Spirit is there to lovingly move us away and back to the Father.

It is in those moments when we return to the Father who created us and knows us intimately that we truly find how deep and how powerful his love is for us. It is worth the harsh discipline he is always teaching us.

So as Sammy sleeps peacefully curled up in the chair next to me, I look at him and forget how bad he was the other night because all I see is the cute puppy asleep in the chair. How fortunate we are to be loved by the Father that he overlooks all our dark and dirty mistakes to see the beautiful child he created!

Love: Pure and Simple.

So this blog has been a long time coming. After many Midtown sermons and scripture readings I finally caved and decided I would put all the thoughts that run wildly through my head in actual coherent words. And what better topic to start with than love. Everyone can relate to it in one way or another. To some its instinctual. To others its a learned concept. But in either case its something we probably fail at miserably.

I was listening to the song "How He Loves" the other day and instead of absentmindedly singing along I stopped to think about what it actually says. I love the line that says something like "heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss/ and my heart turns violently inside of my chest." Its such a beautiful picture of the perfect way to love. Wrecklessly. Passionately. Whole-heartedly. We serve a god who loves us in the most passionate and compassionate way there is. He seeks us until he finds us. He remains when we turn our backs on him. He forgives and more importantly forgets. And inspite of all of these amazing things, I find my self continuously not loving him. I get so caught up in my sinfulness that I forget to stop. Be still. And be thankful for how he loves me.

This blog is not perfect. In fact its quite far from that. But its sole purpose is to make Him known. To reveal the unspoken truth that there is somone out there who is the perfect Lover. He is jealous and compassionate and unfailing. And he offers you the simplest and purest gift in his son Jesus.

My challenge to myself (and I extend this to you) is to spend time tomorrow just loving god. Wrecklessly. Passionately. And Unashamed.