*In a moment that [to the world] looked like the biggest failure, turned out to be the worlds greatest success story ever ... Jesus' death + resurrection for humanity.
-joel houston (via my paraphrased notes)
God is alive. He IS the great I AM, not the great I WAS. Same yesterday, today and tomorrow. The first and the last. Yahweh. Provider. Ever present help, in OUR time of need. A God of LOVE and MERCY no one can ever fathom...this is the God I serve. This is the God that desires ME and YOU. This is the God that sent his one and only son, to die an undeserving, criminals death that to the world looked like a FAILURE, turned out to be the greatest SUCCESS story ever..Jesus died so WE could have LIFE. This is LOVE, real, true love. God wants to encounter YOU, try encountering HIM.Yew..God is too good. I had the honor and privilege to go down to Miami Florida this past weekend to worship with Hillsong United and their pastors. The conference was called Encounter, and an Encounter it was! The worship of course was amazing, you could just sense the presence of God throughout thee entire arena. As for the speaking, the pastors at Hillsong blew me away...I will be honest, I came to the conference with this pre-meditated inkling that the people from Hillsong Church were (sinful nature..we ALL judge :)) a tad arrogant and perhaps not in it for the right reasons -- I was -- to my delight, proved wrong.. I was actually a little shocked at how humble and down to earth those from Hillsong Church were, I mean we do get caught up thinking they are these huge celebrities because they are known internationally and sell out shows BUT the truth of the matter is they come from their local church. So, pretty much their conference was just a glimpse of what their church looks and feels like on Sundays. They were so passionate about Jesus and making HIS name famous that the event almost had n
othing to do with the people behind the conference!! I loved that. I will say though, if you've ever seen a Hillsong DVD or clip of them performing they obviously have cool lighting, great music, and all the rest of it BUT they do a pretty good job of not making it about the people on stage and making sure all the praise goes right to Jesus and making HIS name known.
Phil Dooley spoke the first night on Tearing Down The Walls, this was one that spoke right to me! He talked about how as Christians we are to tear down the walls of self- shame+guilt- judgment- indifference. Walls of self make us become more concerned about what WE are doing and loose sight of what GOD is doing...causing us to miss what God has set for us. Walls of shame + guilt cause us to live feeling like failures when Christ already succeeded for us on the cross! "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:16-17)
Pastor Phil Dooley, Brian Houston, Scott Samways, worship leader Joel Houston and anti-slavery activist Zach Hunter all spoke throughout the weekend...definitely life changing messages from each of them.
Brian Houston spoke on Encountering God..this one was powerful. Plus he is really passionate when he speaks so it cuts right to the core. He referenced John 9, when the blind man is healed through obeying Jesus' commands, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see." (John 9:11) Clearly, the blind man had a true God encounter. God encounters; where things are changed- doors are opened OR closed- dreams are renewed. He talked about how we are to live knowing AND expecting God encounters. When we experience an encounter, Satan does EVERYTHING to under mind it andfills our soul with doubt, as if it wasn't a true God encounter. We are to believe in the impossible. Though, the people in John 9 could not believe that the blind man was able to see, the man himself had believed in the impossible -- therefore the impossible took place, by Christs healing power. Finally, Brian talked about how we cannot allow our voice of reason and logic get in the way of truly encountering God. We can't let these thoughts undermind the POWER of what God can do -- "An encounter is a collision with the unexpected."
Then they did a tag team type session on Faith+Hope+Love, where Scott Samways spoke on Faith Zach Hunter spoke on, Hope and Joel Houston spoke on, Love...((add message notes later))
"Oh, the depth of the riches
of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
"Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"
"Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?"For from him and through him
and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen."
Romans 11:33-36
+ here's to another 15th of August
Wow. This summer is dreadfully going by faster than I would like, HOWEVER at least I have something to look forward to at the end of my some what 'freedom' ... Hillsong Conference in Miami, which falls at the end of August! So excited, there are no fitting words. That’s beside the point. Summer nights are something I live for; warm breeze, nine o'clock daylight, bon fires, fire flies, being out late because homework isn't calling, or staying up late (and not because a paper is due in a few hours), spending time with friends, or listening to thunder storms. what ever the case my be, I love summer nights. This summer some nights are spent in a different sort, learning, hearing, praising, and talking about my God. Sunday nights, obvious; Lighthouse.. which is always good. And now just for the summer season; Watershed.. which is an amazing time where the women collective of thee Lighthouse Collective are able to spend time digging into God's word as a sisterhood. God has opened my eyes so wide this summer and it's not even over yet..!
Lighthouse, Cliff is starting series called 'Like Love', a dating/relationships/love/friendship/whatever it is series on none other but love! I have to say I am slightly stoked. In high school WSM did a series on love and boy/girl connections.. it was good, but this one will be a bit different seeing that for this group dating is no longer recreational (to some maybe) but for the most part it's now a time where prospective spouses come into play...anyway, what ever the circumstance, the first part was on Sunday and it was exactly what I needed to hear, it was the kind of message (which seems selfish, but true) that was directed right to me! It was all about how you can't think or go about a healthy relationship (boy OR girl) with hidden sin. The call for forgiveness is evidently key and of course something I have grown up hearing, but it was so right in my face on Sunday. I am so excited to hear the rest of what Cliff has to say about God, dating, and relationships in general. d e e p b r e a t h I am excited to see what God does in my heart after this ah-mazing summer.
