New Year, New Places --- Passion Part 2

Passion Conference: Jan 2-4, 2016
40,000 students. 3 arenas. 2 cities. 1 heartbeat.
The name of Jesus and His renown are the desire of our souls!    

     My heart is so full! I am blessed to have spent 3 days learning from worldwide, influential leaders who care so much about pouring truth into the next generation. "Truth is the most powerful weapon in the world." (Ravi Zacharias) The Passion band, Rend Collective, and Hillsong United did an outstanding job leading us in worship. There was a moment when I opened my eyes to a "sea" of hands held high to Jesus. In that moment, tears ran down my face as I saw a glimpse of what Heaven is like. Strangers become instant friends when your bond is the love of Christ, and for that I am thankful for community groups and people who love Jesus. "You can't talk someone out of something they love, whether it's BBQ or Jesus." (Louie Giglio)

     If I had to choose one word to describe the impact Passion has had on my life, the word would be-incalculable! Going into the conference I wasn't looking for specific answers and didn't have certain expectations. I asked God to show me what He wanted me to see, hear what He wanted me to hear, and do what He wanted me to do. "Our calling is not to stay alive, but to stay in love with Jesus." (John Piper) I have been popped, stretched, and I am ready to dominate! When God is calling me, I want to be ready and equipped to fulfill His plan and purpose for my life. I want to be more purposeful with my Bible reading, by truly meditating and memorizing Scripture day and night. Then I will be ready for trials, suffering, obstacles, circumstances, opportunities, revivals and more! "It is through suffering, not in spite of it, that God uses us. Suffering is not an obstacle, rather an opportunity to be used by God like never before. If you take away suffering, you take away the ministry." (Levi Lusko)

     "This generation does not just need to pray for God to send a revival, but we need to BE the revival. We ARE the revival. We have no excuses or limitations, because impossible is where God STARTS, and miracles are what He does. The highest calling we have in this life is to be servants of the Lord." (Christine Caine) When we truly serve Jesus, we are not worried about the task because we are focused on Him. "What Jesus has done FOR us, is bigger than what anyone has done TO us." (CC) We need to train our eyes to see everything from a perspective of eternity. Not acceptance, achievements, popularity, possessions, number of likes on Instagram, physical pleasure, etc....ETERNITY!

     "Do not love the world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever." 1 John 2:15-17 NLT

     Passion has given me the fuel I need to complete my mission, for what matters most. I don't need the approval of anyone else, but for my God to say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Praying that this fire burning in our souls, to touch a lost and broken world, will not lose its flame. I am ready for God to take me to a new place, at a new pace, and give me a new perspective! Lord, empty my cup that You have so abundantly filled!

Physically Tired, Spiritually Awake --- Passion Part 1

     This past weekend has wrecked me in so many ways! My friends and I left on New Years Eve for a road trip to Atlanta, Georgia, for the Passion conference. On our way up, something that you would want to be nothing more than a dream, became our reality. Just 30 minutes away from our destination, we were involved in a car accident. A lady who was sitting at a red light, two lanes away from us, was trying to crossover into the turning lanes to get back on the interstate. Hard to see the upcoming vehicles, another driver waved at the lady to go ahead. As we were coming up to the light to turn, our vehicles collided and we were T-boned and pushed into oncoming traffic. Everything happened so quickly, and slamming on the breaks was my only option. By the grace of God, my passengers, myself, and the lady who hit us are all okay. My car...well, not so much lol. As I began to ponder over the next hour what had just happened, I noticed one of many God details. If my car would not have stopped just when it did...seconds later, my passengers doors would have been hit head on and crushed. God is not done with us!

     As the days went on, it just seemed like a series of unfortunate events for my friends and I. Fear and anxiety, homesickness, sinus infections, devastating news, and the list goes on. We left a couple days before the conference for some time to explore. Walking around downtown Atlanta, on New Years, was not thought out very well as most everything was closed for the holiday. Determined to find a local coffee shop....mapping them out on our phones, walking for hours in circles, finding out they are closed or no longer in business was exhausting. At this point, getting in the car to find a Starbucks was a necessity. After consuming the most important meal of the day, COFFEE, we journeyed to a hippy town called, "Little Five Points." Walking out of another coffee shop for round two, because two is obviously better than one, the Holy Spirit was speaking to me. I began to tell the girls the perspective I had which was, "Satan is pissed! He is doing and will continue to do, everything he can to destroy our weekend." In saying this, we became even more excited for Passion, knowing that God was going into "God mode" this weekend!! Not letting our faith and foundation be shaken, our feet to stumble, and our hearts to become hardened, but by pressing in to the steadfastness of God, we were victorious!

For Part 2, click on the link below...

New Year, New Places --- Passion Part 2