It has been a while since I posted anything, but for the past few days this has really been speaking to me. I am reading through the Message version of the Bible right now and today I started the book of Hosea. In the Message version of the Bible, there is a little introduction before each chapter that gives a little background on the book that follows it. The introduction to Hosea just blew me away.
The first three sentences say, "We live in a world awash in love stories. Most of them are lies. They are not love stories at all-- they are lust stories, sex-fantasy stories, domination stories. From the cradle we are fed lies about love." I don't know what you are thinking when you read this, but when I read this I was just thinking, "YES!" It is so true! The author then goes on to talk about how it is bad enough that this messes up human relationships, but it also messes up our relationship with God. We all say that God is love, and if these stories are our definition of love, then that is one of the worst definitions of God I have ever heard. It also makes what Jesus says are the most important commandments very hard to understand: "Jesus said, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself'" (Matthew 22:37-39). It is hard to love God and love people if our definition of love is these "love stories". Then the author says, "We require true stories of love if we are to live truly."
The author then goes on to talking about the prophet Hosea. I don't know about y'all, but I look at Hosea is a real man. He did exactly what God told him, no matter how ridiculous it sounded. He married a whore! All I have to say is, I wish my faith were as strong as Hosea's. Not only did he marry her, but he had children with her. But guess what... She still sells herself after they are married. She still sleeps with multiple men. Guess what else... HOSEA STILL GOES AFTER HER! Like, what the heck?! This just doesn't make any sense! Why would you still go after someone if they slept with multiple people after you had gotten married? It makes absolutely no sense!
So, guess what God is showing us through Hosea. THAT IS HOW HE LOVES US!!! We slap God in the face multiple times every day by sinning. But He is still pursuing us! He still loves us! He STILL loves us!!!!! It makes no sense! We go against Him multiple times every day, but He still loves us! THAT IS FREAKING AWESOME!!! We are so undeserving! What we deserve is hell. Brad Cooper told our community group one morning that "Hell is the most fair thing ever." We absolutely deserve hell, BUT GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE SENT HIS ONE AND ONLY SON THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM SHALL NOT PERISH BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE!!!! That is just what it all comes back to. It all comes back to God's love. And don't try to wrap your mind around this, just accept it! Our puny, little, Earthly minds can't comprehend the LOVE of God. Just know that God loves you like this, and thank Him for this every day!
Monday, January 23, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Passion 2012: Day 4
Today was the last day of Passion, but it was AMAZING.
We started off the morning with our community groups. We talked about how to make this moment (Passion 2012) into a movement. We all believe that something big is going to come from our generation because of these days. We then said goodbye to our family groups. I love my family group and I will miss them greatly.
In the last main session, Louie talked to us. He talked about Ephesians 6:19 and it says, "Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel". If you ever pray for me, pray this. Pray that whenever I speak, words may be given to me (from the Spirit) so that I may FEARLESSLY proclaim the mystery of the gospel. I will pray the same for you. I emphasized fearlessly because it is what stuck out to me. We are supposed to fearlessly proclaim the gospel! I like the example of a missionary in this. Missionaries go into the darkness to bring some light. In that darkness, they could very well be killed, but they go fearlessly because they know that they no longer live, but Christ lives in them (Galatians 2:20)! They fully believe in Romans 8:28. They take Jesus at His word when He said not to be afraid of what man can do to the flesh. Why don't we do that?
Another thing that Louie talked about that hit me in the face was God's will. He talked about Ephesians 6:19 and how THAT IS GOD'S WILL! That is awesome! I used to pray about God's will for my life everyday because I was worried about the future. Well guess what. We need to live in the moment because we are not promised tomorrow. Louie just said to find something you are passionate about and that you love to do, and do that but fearlessly proclaim the gospel while doing it! Isn't that awesome?!
Louie told us during the main session that the grand total that we rose for slavery was over 3 million dollars! That is awesome, and a lot of people didn't think that we could do it. The verse that came to my mind was one from yesterday. "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."- Ephesians 3:20-21 The reason we even accomplished this is because of God! He did what was impossible, and it is all for His glory!
I have absolutely loved being at Passion for the past four days, and I have learned so much that I hope will become part of my life.
We started off the morning with our community groups. We talked about how to make this moment (Passion 2012) into a movement. We all believe that something big is going to come from our generation because of these days. We then said goodbye to our family groups. I love my family group and I will miss them greatly.
In the last main session, Louie talked to us. He talked about Ephesians 6:19 and it says, "Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel". If you ever pray for me, pray this. Pray that whenever I speak, words may be given to me (from the Spirit) so that I may FEARLESSLY proclaim the mystery of the gospel. I will pray the same for you. I emphasized fearlessly because it is what stuck out to me. We are supposed to fearlessly proclaim the gospel! I like the example of a missionary in this. Missionaries go into the darkness to bring some light. In that darkness, they could very well be killed, but they go fearlessly because they know that they no longer live, but Christ lives in them (Galatians 2:20)! They fully believe in Romans 8:28. They take Jesus at His word when He said not to be afraid of what man can do to the flesh. Why don't we do that?
Another thing that Louie talked about that hit me in the face was God's will. He talked about Ephesians 6:19 and how THAT IS GOD'S WILL! That is awesome! I used to pray about God's will for my life everyday because I was worried about the future. Well guess what. We need to live in the moment because we are not promised tomorrow. Louie just said to find something you are passionate about and that you love to do, and do that but fearlessly proclaim the gospel while doing it! Isn't that awesome?!
Louie told us during the main session that the grand total that we rose for slavery was over 3 million dollars! That is awesome, and a lot of people didn't think that we could do it. The verse that came to my mind was one from yesterday. "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."- Ephesians 3:20-21 The reason we even accomplished this is because of God! He did what was impossible, and it is all for His glory!
I have absolutely loved being at Passion for the past four days, and I have learned so much that I hope will become part of my life.
Passion 2012: Day 3
Today has been another fantastic day.
We started the day off in our community groups. We talked about how we have been saved for something- Ephesians 2:10. We talked about how Jesus was the only way (John 14:6) that the church can be one. Something that I really liked that we talked about was this: Jesus+nothing=everything
In the first main session, we read through the book of Ephesians. Lecrae, Beth Moore, Francis Chan, Louie Giglio, and John Piper all took turns reading it. There were some verses that really stood out to me:
Ephesians 3:20-21
Ephesians 4:1-6, 32
Ephesians 5:14
In the second main session we talked more about slavery and Do Something Now. A website they talked a lot about was slaveryfootprint.org.
In the third main session, John Piper was the speaker. If you haven't ever heard him speak, he is BRILLIANT. He started off with the statement, "Seeing and savoring the supremacy of Christ frees us from sin for the sacrifices of love." The thing that stuck with me was the supremacy of Christ. He is supreme over everything. Just think about it this way. Jesus never began, and He will never end. Read John 1:1 and replace "The Word" with Jesus' name. After that read Genesis 1:26. Isn't it crazy how God said let US make man in OUR image. That is crazy.
We ended up with our community groups trying to break down what John Piper said, because not a whole lot of us understood it. After that we went and stood around a monument that Passion made for the 27 million slaves and lit candles because we will be the light of the world.
Tomorrow is our last day. These have definitely been some of the best days of my life.
We started the day off in our community groups. We talked about how we have been saved for something- Ephesians 2:10. We talked about how Jesus was the only way (John 14:6) that the church can be one. Something that I really liked that we talked about was this: Jesus+nothing=everything
In the first main session, we read through the book of Ephesians. Lecrae, Beth Moore, Francis Chan, Louie Giglio, and John Piper all took turns reading it. There were some verses that really stood out to me:
Ephesians 3:20-21
Ephesians 4:1-6, 32
Ephesians 5:14
In the second main session we talked more about slavery and Do Something Now. A website they talked a lot about was slaveryfootprint.org.
In the third main session, John Piper was the speaker. If you haven't ever heard him speak, he is BRILLIANT. He started off with the statement, "Seeing and savoring the supremacy of Christ frees us from sin for the sacrifices of love." The thing that stuck with me was the supremacy of Christ. He is supreme over everything. Just think about it this way. Jesus never began, and He will never end. Read John 1:1 and replace "The Word" with Jesus' name. After that read Genesis 1:26. Isn't it crazy how God said let US make man in OUR image. That is crazy.
We ended up with our community groups trying to break down what John Piper said, because not a whole lot of us understood it. After that we went and stood around a monument that Passion made for the 27 million slaves and lit candles because we will be the light of the world.
Tomorrow is our last day. These have definitely been some of the best days of my life.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Passion Day 2
Today has been FANTASTIC to say the least.
We started the morning in our community groups talking about Ephesians 2:1-10. We talked a lot about how we have to really understand the bad news to understand the magnitude of the Cross and what God did for us.
Beth Moore spoke in the first main session of the day. Matt Redman led worship during this session. God has blessed her with immeasurable amounts of wisdom. She talked about how we are never too unclean for Jesus and He is the only God that isn't afraid of sin. Isn't that amazing?
A woman by the name of Christine Kain spoke at the second main session and Kristian Stanfill led worship. Christine is the pastor at the Hillsong church in Sydney, Australia. He talked to us about Do Something Now, and the twenty-seven million slaves in the world. She is a very passionate woman, and she was amazing. One thing that she said that stuck with me was, "A light isn't fully effective unless it is in the darkness."
Francis Chan spoke in the third main session and Chris Tomlin led worship. We sang one of my favorite songs, "All My Fountains". It was absolutely amazing to sing that with 45,000 people. Another thing we did was sing "How Great is Our God". The neat thing about that is that we had 5 different languages being sung on stage, and the Ugandan Children's Choir was on stage singing. That was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. Anyways, I love Francis. He just preaches the Word the way it is. Doesn't try to interpret it. He told us to read God's Word and take it literally. His message was just begging us to get into the Word, which I loved. I feel like that is how God speaks to me. I also feel like we all crave God's Word. We are missing something, and His Word is the only thing that can satisfy us. Francis said a lot of stuff that I just love, and I would encourage all of you to watch it at the passion website. www.268generation.com/passion I believe. If that isn't it, just google passion 2012. At the end of this session Louie decided to tell us how much money we have already donated. Just to let you know, we could only donate today so far. We have already donated $550,000. Not even everyone donated today. God definitely has His Hand in this.
After that session we went to community groups. My family group consists of 9 people, and today we became family. We know more about each other after 24 hours than most people know about us. I think that is amazing.
We ended the day with a Hillsong concert. Once again, didn't stay the whole time, but stayed for a few songs.
God is speaking to our generation, and is stirring up something in us. We will rise up.
We started the morning in our community groups talking about Ephesians 2:1-10. We talked a lot about how we have to really understand the bad news to understand the magnitude of the Cross and what God did for us.
Beth Moore spoke in the first main session of the day. Matt Redman led worship during this session. God has blessed her with immeasurable amounts of wisdom. She talked about how we are never too unclean for Jesus and He is the only God that isn't afraid of sin. Isn't that amazing?
A woman by the name of Christine Kain spoke at the second main session and Kristian Stanfill led worship. Christine is the pastor at the Hillsong church in Sydney, Australia. He talked to us about Do Something Now, and the twenty-seven million slaves in the world. She is a very passionate woman, and she was amazing. One thing that she said that stuck with me was, "A light isn't fully effective unless it is in the darkness."
Francis Chan spoke in the third main session and Chris Tomlin led worship. We sang one of my favorite songs, "All My Fountains". It was absolutely amazing to sing that with 45,000 people. Another thing we did was sing "How Great is Our God". The neat thing about that is that we had 5 different languages being sung on stage, and the Ugandan Children's Choir was on stage singing. That was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. Anyways, I love Francis. He just preaches the Word the way it is. Doesn't try to interpret it. He told us to read God's Word and take it literally. His message was just begging us to get into the Word, which I loved. I feel like that is how God speaks to me. I also feel like we all crave God's Word. We are missing something, and His Word is the only thing that can satisfy us. Francis said a lot of stuff that I just love, and I would encourage all of you to watch it at the passion website. www.268generation.com/passion I believe. If that isn't it, just google passion 2012. At the end of this session Louie decided to tell us how much money we have already donated. Just to let you know, we could only donate today so far. We have already donated $550,000. Not even everyone donated today. God definitely has His Hand in this.
After that session we went to community groups. My family group consists of 9 people, and today we became family. We know more about each other after 24 hours than most people know about us. I think that is amazing.
We ended the day with a Hillsong concert. Once again, didn't stay the whole time, but stayed for a few songs.
God is speaking to our generation, and is stirring up something in us. We will rise up.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Passion 2012: Day 1
For the next few days I will be at Passion 2012, and I will be telling y'all about it.
Today we arrived in Atlanta, got registered, and went to the first session. The first session was absolutely amazing. Before it even started, there were six people on stage reading God's Word. This was awesome. They read for an hour leading up to the beginning of the main session. I think while they were reading in Psalm 103, I was on the verge of tears. It was just awesome to hear those people read the Word with such PASSION. I could feel the Holy Spirit moving among us before the first main session even started.
When the session did start, we sang for a good while (Chris Tomlin led worship), then Louie Giglio talked about Do Something Now, and showed a video on modern day slavery. Did you know that there are more slaves in the world today than there ever were during the African Slave Trade? There are 27,000,000 slaves in the world right now. Pretty freaking ridiculous.
Then Louie talked. You can definitely tell that the Spirit is speaking through him. He talked about Luke 7:11-17. Great passage, and I encourage you to read it. He talked about how some people are dead (in sin), and are being carried to their funeral. But at just the right time, Jesus comes and says "Get up!" It was a great message.
After that we went to community groups.... Well most everyone went to community groups. I went on a wild goose chase. I went to the community group on my bracelet, and they said that high school seniors need to go somewhere else. Didn't tell us where. Well I asked someone and they said go to A2. So I was on my way there, and a person asked me where I was going, and I told them the whole thing. They said I needed to go to registration. That just happened to be in the building I just left, so I went back. Well I got the right bracelet, and guess where they told me to go...... Yep A2. So I went back to A2, and met my community group. They were all really cool people. For some reason I could remember where all of them were from, but couldn't remember their names.
After that we went to David Crowder Band's last concert. We didn't stay for the whole thing, but it was still really cool.
I'm looking forward to big things happening throughout this week.
-Camp
Today we arrived in Atlanta, got registered, and went to the first session. The first session was absolutely amazing. Before it even started, there were six people on stage reading God's Word. This was awesome. They read for an hour leading up to the beginning of the main session. I think while they were reading in Psalm 103, I was on the verge of tears. It was just awesome to hear those people read the Word with such PASSION. I could feel the Holy Spirit moving among us before the first main session even started.
When the session did start, we sang for a good while (Chris Tomlin led worship), then Louie Giglio talked about Do Something Now, and showed a video on modern day slavery. Did you know that there are more slaves in the world today than there ever were during the African Slave Trade? There are 27,000,000 slaves in the world right now. Pretty freaking ridiculous.
Then Louie talked. You can definitely tell that the Spirit is speaking through him. He talked about Luke 7:11-17. Great passage, and I encourage you to read it. He talked about how some people are dead (in sin), and are being carried to their funeral. But at just the right time, Jesus comes and says "Get up!" It was a great message.
After that we went to community groups.... Well most everyone went to community groups. I went on a wild goose chase. I went to the community group on my bracelet, and they said that high school seniors need to go somewhere else. Didn't tell us where. Well I asked someone and they said go to A2. So I was on my way there, and a person asked me where I was going, and I told them the whole thing. They said I needed to go to registration. That just happened to be in the building I just left, so I went back. Well I got the right bracelet, and guess where they told me to go...... Yep A2. So I went back to A2, and met my community group. They were all really cool people. For some reason I could remember where all of them were from, but couldn't remember their names.
After that we went to David Crowder Band's last concert. We didn't stay for the whole thing, but it was still really cool.
I'm looking forward to big things happening throughout this week.
-Camp
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