Passion 2010

I do not even know where to start. There is so much that I want to say, yet at the same time there are no words I feel I can use that would do what God did (and is still doing) at Passion 2010 justice. The whole theme around Passion 2010 this year was “awaken”.

First night, Louie used the passage in John 11, which speaks of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. He took this passage and used it very applicably. He challenged us to pray this week for God to wake us up. I think that’s such a great thing to pray. I told my family group one night that I don’t want to think that I’m awake and not be awake…..if that makes any sense. Basically, I don’t want to think that I’ve got all this down, that I’m totally with God……but God is telling me something completely different….that I’m possibly asleep. So that is my prayer…that I will constantly be awake to Him. I also want to be awake to moments throughout my day where I would normally miss the chance to see Him or to shine Him.

One of the coolest things that happened at Passion was not even during our community groups, breakout sessions, main sessions, or even late nights. I witnessed it walking back to my hotel room the first full day we were there. As you all know, we are in this crazy cold spell. Atlanta, GA was freezing. We were all walking to the venues from our hotel rooms w/ crazy temperatures and blustery cold winds. My friend from ATL said that it’s never that cold there and this was just a freak occurrence. Anyhow, Amy and I were on the way back to the hotel when I saw a guy who was attending Passion give his Northface jacket to a homeless guy. I overheard him telling the homeless guy that it would help to keep him warm. My exact words to Amy were “I want to marry him.” I was so moved by him. To be honest, I don’t know if I could have done it. I want to be like that though. I got to see Jesus through him. For that, I am grateful. On the other hand, the day before Amy and I were trying to get into the CNN center to grab some dinner before main session started. (Side note: “Crazy” does not even begin to describe the CNN center when it is dinnertime w/ 22,000 college students) We were freezing walking into the food court and there are tons of people around us. We pass this guy among a crowd of students rushing into the center to get dinner. He is trying to pick up a nickel and a penny off the ground to put in a cup he is holding. I said to Amy, “Amy, did you see that? That is so sad.” …….That’s all I did. Meanwhile, I have a $5 and a $20 in my wallet. It wasn’t until the next morning that I realized I missed that moment to show someone Christ. I didn’t even think that I could be the one who could reach out to him and show him the love of Christ. It didn’t cross my mind. Why? I wasn’t awake in that moment. I was too busy trying to figure out what I was going to get for dinner among all the craziness that I missed a moment that I could have shined Christ. My heart is that I’m more like the guy I passed on the street to my hotel….that I’m more like Jesus…..that I’m awake to moments of Christ moving…..that I wouldn’t miss God in my day to day living…..that is my heart.

God raised $668,597.95 for the 12 different organizations that were at Passion. Feel free to visit www.268generation.com/passion2010/dosomethingnow to see how you can make a massive difference in the lives of people around the globe in Jesus’ name. We had someone match out donations. When we left Saturday, over 1.3 million was raised in 4 days!! This is God and God alone! I am just so ecstatic over that! 1.3 million….for people who need clean water….people who need food….to provide a future for those affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa….to stop sex trafficking in Nepal….to fund Scripture translation for the unreached….to love the homeless of Atlanta….to send Bibles to the unreached in East Asia….to help children thrive and grow in Indonesia…to support the underground church in the Middle East…to fund cleft palate surgeries for children in Afghanistan….to pull women from poverty in Haiti….to crush the injustice of the Dalit people in India!!!

This entry turned out a little different than I had planned. I wanted to write out everything that I heard and learned. I took 28 pages of notes while I was there and that would take forever. However, I love good conversations so if you want, I would love to join anyone for coffee to tell you all.

Please join me in making the name of the Lord renown! That is what Passion is all about…..Isaiah 26:8