A Possible Answer

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart.” – Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)

This is pretty short and simple. I think it could be the answer to a lot of our problems. I know this is easier for some people more than others. It’s definitely a struggle for me. But when we find Him over and over than it just gets easier and easier and better and better! That is an exciting promise! Is it not?

Lead Guitar Tones

Okay not only do I love this song and Phil Wickham, but this lead guitar tone is killer. I can’t get over it. If you are wondering what sick lead guitar tone is then here you go. After reaserching this guy a ton I think I have figured out the magic. This tone is down the road for me. First things first, I need money.

Galations 5:22-23

“But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.” Galations 5:22 - (The Message)

I love this verse! My pastor used it in his message today. He talked about how we cannot do all this by ourselves, but its only by the Holy Spirit empowering us to live this way. We just have to surrender to it. When we do these traits become so much a part of our lives that they almost don’t even seem real to people. And that’s how we stand out among this world as Christians. That’s is the power of the Holy Spirit in our life!

Hebrews 4:16

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. – Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)

I love this verse. I got the Beth Moore message from Passion 2010 today. She quotes this verse and then says “You don’t have to be ashamed to need mercy and grace, you who are in need of restoration and healing. Hold your head up, hold your chin to the sky and ask Him to pour  it upon you. It’s what He came to do. If you have a need then you came to exactly the right Savior.”

I like this not just because I know I can receive mercy and grace whenever I need it, but because it reminds me that God is always there. He is on my side, in my corner, and fighting for me. He wants to make sure that I get through the struggles of this life and come out on the other side stronger and filled with joy. So He makes His grace and mercy real and available whenever we need it because we are in His favor. That is a comforting thought.

Hour And A Half

I saw Jacob Zachary play at the White Hart tonight. He played for about an hour and a half. It was a cool moment as he played and a room of about 100 people sat focused together on the same thing. I love how music can connect people like that. Music does this a lot, but this time was a little different. All the house lights were up, there were no colorful stage lights, registers were going off in the background and the sound of a kitchen made its way into the music. The stage was the floor and a bookshelf made the background. As he played the people were silent. I was in the back and could just barely see him through the crowd. People fell into the music and it was a peaceful moment. For that short time we were all on the same page. The worries of life were put on pause for everyone. It was a special hour and a half.

My favorite song was Beautiful Night. Listen to it on this link. Jacob Zachary

Forgotten God

I just got done reading Forgotten God by Francis Chan. I’ll start by saying that I give it two thumbs up. It is a great approach to an idea that I have not heard a lot about before. I don’t want to give too much away so I’ll try to keep it short and only share the main things that I got from it.

This book is about how our Christian culture has forgotten about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Some of us actually don’t even know a lot about the Holy Spirit in the first place. I was surprised at how much I learned and I know you will be too. For example, here is one of my favorite quotes from the book. Chan starts out by quoting Romans, “Romans 8:27 says, “He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” Chan follows by saying “I don’t know about you, but I find the thought of the Spirit of God praying for me according to the will of God extremely comforting.” That is crazy to think that the Holy Spirit is praying for us! I find that extremely comforting as well. In fact, when I first read this I thought to myself “that is so comforting” before I even read that Francis Chan found it very comforting as well. Haha anyways, the point is that I would never have known such a comforting thought without this book. There are many more similar thoughts in this book too but you have to read it.

Forgotten God happens to consistently focus on another topic as well. This is kinda hard to explain but Chan talks a lot about how we as Christians should be doing things in our life that requires us to trust in the Holy Spirit to come through and help us out. We should be doing things that people should see and know that we could not be doing it unless we were being helped by something greater than ourselves. It’s not because this is just a good thing to do, but because this is how we accomplish great things, it’s how we allow God to reveal Himself to us through our faith, it’s another reason why the world sees us as set apart. This should be something that we can’t help but attempt because we are hungry for more and more of the Lord. Chan says, “The world is not moved by love or actions that are of human creation. And the church is not empowered to live differently from any other gathering of people without the Holy Spirit. But when believers live in the power of the Spirit, the evidence in their lives is supernatural. The church cannot help but be different, and the world cannot help but notice.”

Chan makes it very clear throughout the book that this lifestyle usually comes with side effects. When we step out into faith with ideas that our bigger than ourselves then we will usually hear that people think we should “be careful, more responsible, slow down, or relax.” People will often water down the fire inside of us. It’s not because we really are irresponsible or doing too much, it’s just that in comparison to the world we are irresponsible and doing too much. In God’s eyes we are protected and far from any such danger. We will see how God reveals himself to us and we are hungry for more. We are truly content because this is the Love that we were made for.

“The others accepted his advice. They called in the apostles and had them flogged. Then they ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go. The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus.” – Acts 5:40-41 (NLT)

Passion 2010

I just got back from Passion 2010. This is going to be one of those things that is hard to put into words. I wish everyone could have been there. Just trust me when I say that you would never be the same.

On a light note, it was good to finally see Hillsong United. I have seen pretty much everyone except for them. They played a good concert Sunday night. It was also good to hear Francis Chan again too. His sermons usually speak to me more than others. Here was the line-up for the week.

Louie Giglio, Francis Chan, Beth Moore, Jon Piper, Hillsong United, David Crowder, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Steve Fee, Christy Nockels, and Kristian Stanfill.

I have to be honest. I usualy always get something out of a sermon I sit through, but I never feel like I must hear them again. Things are different with these speakers. I am definitely buying all of them so I can go back to them. All the speakers had a great message and they blew me away! Chris Tomlin and Christy Nockols wrote a bunch of songs just for this Passion Conference too. Most of them were okay but a couple of them are going to be huge for sure.

What I love most about Passion is what they do to actually change the entire world. They had a lot of causes that we could contribute to this year. When it was all said and done we purchased 113 surgeries for children with cleft lips and palates, built three boarded outpost in Nepal to save girls from being sold into sex slavery, gave over 200 business loans to poor families around the world, built 10 wells in Guatemala, provided over 100,000 meals for people around the world, built an education center for oppressed people in India, sent over 100 x-Muslims to seminary, translated the New Testament for the first time for the Shatika and Rom people in SE Asia, and found sponsors for 200 children in Mozambique. I belive I am missing a couple things too. It is amazing to be apart of such a huge movement.

So the first couple days I was there I did not want to leave. There is nothing like being in a worship service with 21,000 people who all have hands raised high. It’s like the room leaves the earth and we are suddenly safe from sin. It’s probably the closest thing we can experience on this earth to what Heaven is going to feel like. However, when the third day rolled around I was okay with leaving anytime. This is because Francis Chan gave a message which reminded me that we experience God like nothing else when we are uncomfortable for His sake and when we are suffering. The entire new testament (except 1st Timothy) mentions how we are going to suffer for the sake of the gospel. God knows this and He comforts us through those times. So after that day I was ready to get back home and live for Him in the face of evil. I don’t know what to expect but I think at least making myself more vulnerable to suffering is a good start. It’s not that we need to go looking for it, it’s just that if we never experience it then we are probably living for something else other than God. All of the sudden being comfortable is not on my list of things to get done in this life pretty much at all, unless it’s the comfort that God gives me through the lifestyle that I live for Him. I am happy to say that this decision did not come from any kind of spiritual high. I actually tried really hard to protect myself from experiencing that. Spiritual highs have proven in the past to be unreliable weight to put against taking action. God has given us everything we need to do what we know He has told us to do. For me, I just have to choose how it’s going to be and that’s how it’s going to be! No spiritual highs, no re-dedication. Life is His and that’s it. When I fall I get back up again.

Those are my biggest thoughts from Passion this year. It also gave me more encouragement and drive to be successful with myself which is kind of random. But I guess that is what happens when your surrounded by tons of great worship leaders.

There is so much more that I could share but a lot of it would be too hard to describe. I also don’t like to run these blogs on for too long. You can send me a message if you would really like to know more or if you have questions. Everyone has to know though that they will be doing a Passion 2011. They took a few years off to do Passion around the world but they will be back in Atlanta next year. I hope everyone will be there.