03-09-10 O Come, Awakening

Chances are, if you get in the car with me for at least a month after March 9, 2010, you will hear this CD playing through the speakers.

I learned at Passion 2010 that worship gives us freedom to be truly joyful in the salvation of Jesus Christ. These songs will be my daily anthems and provide more reminders of the Gospel as I drive to work, school, or the coffee shop. God is good. Believe it. Sing it. Live it!

As I looked through the track list, I wanted to stand up, dance and re-sing the truths I heard and sang nearly a month ago. Oh haste the day when the mailman comes with this delivery!

Track listing:
1. Awakening – Chris Tomlin
2. Say, Say – Kristian Stanfill
3. Our God – Chris Tomlin
4. How He Loves – The David Crowder*Band
5. Healing is in Your Hands – Christy Nockels
6. King of Heaven (Isaiah 61) – Charlie Hall
7. You Alone Can Rescue – Matt Redman
8. Where the Spirit of the Lord Is – Chris Tomlin/Christy Nockels
9. Rise and Sing – FEE
10. Like a Lion – The David Crowder*Band
11. Chosen Generation – Chris Tomlin
12. With Everything – Hillsong United

Psalm 131

My heart is not proud, O LORD,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.

But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me.

O Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.

Be Sure to Wear a Flower in Your Hair

Sydney and I made flower hair accessories recently.
We we were hanging out over the break and I had an itch to go to Hobby Lobby.
After wandering for a bit, I remembered my friend Jenny and her hair creations and we marched straight to the silk flower section.
With the aid of our trusty hot glue gun, we made tons of flower/bobby pin and head band creations. (Most of which we split and gave to girls at Disciple Now as a little party favor of sorts.) This was fun and super easy, you should try it! And even better, get your brother and sister's boyfriend to model them with you afterward.

Jacskon, Jill, Tyler, Me, and Sydney
We rocked our flowers didn't we?

What I Learned at Passion 2010

We were sitting in LIFE Group on Wednesday, discussing what happened in our lives over the break and areas in our lives where we needed prayer; I was listening intently and jotting down the prayer requests as they came, knowing later I'd be emailing them out to the group for the week.
When it was my turn to share, the advice my dad gives me on a monthly basis, "think before you speak," slipped my brain. I said with a flip of my hair, "I GOT BANGS!" No one really got my Legally Blonde reference, but they still laughed. Sadly though, I hadn't taken the time to think about anything specific, nor meaningful to say after that. What followed was a two minute monologue with little organization or coherent thoughts. I'd learned so much over the break, especially at Passion, but I realized it does little good if I can't share it with others in a somewhat organized fashion.
In short, I was a bit embarrassed and decided the next morning to write down what God taught me over the break.

• The most important thing I learned is that Gospel isn't something we only need to hear once when we're saved; we need to speak the Gospel to ourselves daily and share it with nonbelievers and our brothers and sisters in Christ frequently.

• I learned to find peace in the fact that God doesn't necessarily call us to a ministry or a job, but He calls us to Himself

• I learned that we should tremble at the Word of God and proclaim that we are not just flesh and bones but we are of divine nature, chosen by God

• I learned that often we must make right or left decisions without blatant directions, but rather carefully, yet boldly choose and pray that God will bless that decision and trust that He'll use it for His good purpose

• I learned that God is good, but He is just and He is righteous because He kept his promises that we would receive mercy and that sin would be crushed through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ

• That when we praise God, our joy is complete and He is most glorified

• I learned that I need not be chained to the lies of this world, that instead I can proclaim, We know where the Spirit of the Lord is. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty! ... after singing this every night at Passion it was cool to see it came from 2 Corinthians 3:17

• I learned about many injustices of the world and felt my heart softened towards the needs of others and desire to serve them through prayer and giving

• And lastly (for the sake of the blog) I learned that people need to be prayed for and want to be prayed over: on the way to Passion we stopped at a gas station and started visiting with the woman behind the cash register. She told us about her granddaughter, Asha who was sick with a rare disease, and asked that if we believed in God to pray for them. Wonderful Kristin asked if we could pray right then and there, and we did. It was slightly awkward, yet amazing to be vulnerable with that woman in the middle rural Alabama. At Disciple Now last Sunday, I saw a woman crying at the alter after the service was over. Encouraged by the latter experience, I (the girl afraid of praying aloud in most group settings with people I don't know) had the boldness to ask this woman named Melissa if I could pray for her right then and there and, we did. We prayed and we cried and we stood holding hands filled with the Spirit. We are broken, and we need each other, this I've come to truly understand in recent weeks.

There is still so much to learn. Each day has enough challenges and things to process on it's own. But I'll quiet my soul and rest in the promises of God's Word.

My heart is not proud, O LORD,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.

But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me.

O Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.

-Psalm 131

God's Mystery in Haiti

All week I've been getting ready for Disciple Now in my hometown.
But the past two days I've been distracted.
And unlike the D-Now of 2 years ago, it's not by a boy and a broken heart, but an earthquake and a broken nation.
I'm talking about the earthquake in Haiti.
After going to Passion 2010, my heart towards the lost, the poor, the invisible, the powerless of the world has been softened. I was stirred almost to tears by the photos in the Houston Chronicle but felt almost frozen. What do I do? How do I respond to this? The people of New Life Church are so encouraging and have provided access to ways in which we can help Haiti and how to see God in this disaster as well.

Pat Robertson says Haitians made a pact with the devil and they're being punished.
An angry commentator in reaction to these claims said that God has nothing to do with it.
I'm just trying to make heads or tails of it all.
Then Jenn Bacak sent our church this link to John Piper's website called Desiring God in regards to the 2004 Tsunami that hit Sri Lanka; it relates so well to the earthquake Haiti.

It was an interview by a woman who asked a lot of tough questions I think we all want answered in such a time as this.

Things like if God is omniscient and omnipresent and good, why did He let the Tsunami hit all those people?

If God works for the good of those who love Him, will we ever understand His purposes behind the tsunami?

Could God have stopped the wave if He wanted to, and if so, why didn't He?

I wish I could answer them as beautifully and comprehensively as Mr. Piper did.
But I can't.
So if you want to get some real, Biblical perspective on the subject of God's role in disasters, set aside some time (like when you're getting dressed and doing your hair/make-up in the morning like I did haha) to listen to this audio clip.

Desiring God Audio Clip

Mr. Piper quoted these verses more than once and felt them as something tangible to hold onto in these circumstances:

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8:32-39

So in response to this I hope you realize that while we are wanting anwers to they "why and how" questions, we need to be active.
Active in prayer and in giving.
A sweet, sweet girl who is involved in Compassion International sent me this link to how we can help by donations.

Compassions Relief Website

May this tragedy pull you closer to God. May you see His power in the ability to literally move mountains. May you weep with those weeping in Haiti and help in any way you can, we asked the kids going to Dnow to bring a few dollars for the Haiti Relief Fund as a way to Live and Love the way Christ calls us to.
Isn't all of this for His glory anyway?

“"A prayerless soul is a Christ-less soul. Prayer is the lisping of the believing infant, the shout of the fighting believer, the requiem of the dying saint falling asleep in Jesus. It is the breath, the watch­word, the comfort, the strength, the honor of a Christian. If you are a child of God, you will seek your Father’s face and live in your Father’s love. Pray that this year you may be holy, humble, zeal­ous, and patient; have closer communion with Christ, and enter more often into the banqueting house of His love. Pray that you may be an example and a blessing to others, and that you may live more to the glory of your Master. The motto for this year must be: ‘Devote yourselves to prayer”

-Charles Spurgeon

268 Generation

God blew me away with Passion 2010.
The night before Kristin, Chelsi, Amanda and I made the journey to Atlanta, Georgia we went and saw the movie Avatar.
As we were watching the opening credits with excitement, Kristin leaned over and whispered a very profound comment as stated by John Piper. We get so excited about these kind of epic movies because we long to be a part of something big like them.
As I stood in this arena, overlooking 20,000 students all singing praises to our amazing God, it hit me:
We are apart of something big! We are part of God's Kingdom, chosen by him to serve an eternal purpose!
Passion 2010 was so big. And I was so excited to apart of this huge wave, this magnificent movement of college students coming together to proclaim,

"Yes Lord, walking in the way of your truth, we wait eagerly for you, for your name and your renown are the desire of our souls." -Isaiah 26:8

I'm overwhelmed and extremely excited to be a part of something bigger. Something so big, our words limit its grandeur.
Our God is so good. We are not just flesh and bones! We are of a divine nature, a generation chosen by God to proclaim His greatness and live in His freedom!

We know where the Spirit of the Lord is.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty!

More to come as I sort through all that has been revealed.Photos taken by Passion 2010 crew.
Check out the blog for more photos and info about the 268 generation!