PASSION 2010 - Give me one pure and holy ambition.

Passion 2010 was this past weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. I hadn't been since 2007 when it was in Atlanta and '06 when it was in Nashville. They have been doing a Passion World Tour the past few years. God was definitely at work these past few days and it was such an awesome time of worshiping and learning. I still feel like I am trying to process all the information from the Godly leaders and teachers who were there. What an opportunity to hear these amazing servants of God.... Louis Giglio, John Piper, Beth Moore, Francis Chan, Andy Stanley....etc. It is hard to put in to words what it was like to worship with 22,000 other believers -- I do believe that real happiness and joy comes when we are praising and glorifying God! The picture below is worshiping with Hillsong United.

I don't even know where to start on what I learned these past 4 days... I think one of the main things I have realized is that the reason God put us on this earth is to bring him Glory, No matter what we are doing. We are most satisfied in life when we realize how insignificant we really are and are able to see God's greatness. Life is not about becoming someone.... but knowing someone.

Beth Moore talked about how God does have a will for each of our lives and he is equipping us for our will by preparing us, adjusting us, repairing us, and filling us. I can see this in my own life and how God had prepared me for Peru by multiple mission trips to Spanish speaking countries in high school, college, and when I was even in Texas going over to the Mexico side with the CMDA mission trips. God will always be adjusting us and we will always be changing b/c God's will is to conform us to his image. She said, "Until you are in a position around people who bring out the worst in you, you are not ready for God to bring out the best in you." wow! We are in constant need of repairing and we will never have it all together. And finally, God fills us with his Holy Spirit.

Something that really jumped out to me in Andy Stanley's talk was that it is ALWAYS a mistake to decide what you want to do, before you decide who you want to be. Who you are on the inside will determine all of your relationships and what you will do and it is important to be a person that people respect and to have genuine character.

In John Piper's break out session on missions he titled it, "A Sacred Ambition for the glory of Christ where he is not yet named." I didn't realize how many un-reached nations there still are out there and how many people still do not know the truth. He talked a lot about Paul and his reason for going out in doing missions in Romans 15:18-24. God gave Paul a sacred ambition to be a missionary and it had a need to be met. If the people never hear about Jesus, they are lost... and this is the point of missions. Even if men never hear the gospel, they will still stand in front of God for the Judgement. There is still the need for missions.