Soaking it all in

I can't believe this week has already come and gone, and I have just over 24 hours left in beautiful Sydney. I've spent the morning soaking in the sights as much as I can...grabbed my staple Vanilla Latte at Starbucks and headed over for a gorgeous walk across the harbor to the Opera House where I sat on the steps, journaled and just enjoyed watching all of the people pass by for a little while. It's so weird to think I may never get to see this city again in person, but who knows. I pray that one day God will bring me back to Sydney.

We're packing up now and heading out to Bondi Beach for the night. A little change of scenery sounds fun, and the beach on a beautiful day like today...who could ask for more? I am unplugging for the rest of the trip - so likely no internet. If I don't get a chance to blog again before I leave, i'll see you all back in the states!

Cheers!

God of This City

Wow.

I don't think I could write an entire chapter and adequately describe to you all the amazing night that we had last night here in Sydney. I am so humbled and amazed to be here, to see and experience first hand the work that God is doing through the Passion team all around the world.

And it wasn't about the fact that I got to travel around the globe to one of the most beautiful places ever, it wasn't about the fact that God filled the auditorium with over 8,000 students. It wasn't about the cd's that were sold, or the songs that were sung. It was about uniting the body of Christ and students from over 86 universities all under one roof for His renown, and hearing and seeing what He was doing in and through that...from the moment we started planning months and months ago, till the very last person left the arena.

Stories are already pouring in about God at work last night, both inside and outside the arena, and I was blessed to experience one of these moments first hand. At about 2 hours to go before the beginning of the event, hundreds of students were already in a line that stretched halfway around the entertainment center. As I walked outside to check on the status of things, I was approached by a guy named Mike who walked up off the street. Mike is from Germany, and he is in Australia on a work visa. Our conversation went something like this:

Mike: "So what is going on...why are all these people lined up out here?"
Me: "It's an event for University Students"
Mike: "An event? What kind of event?"
Me: "It's a Christian event - we'll have worship and teaching and all that fun stuff...it's gonna rock."
Mike: "It's for Christians? You mean all of those students are lined up for an event for Christians?"
Me: "Yep."
Mike: "You have to be kidding. Are you kidding? Something like this would NEVER happen in Germany where I am from. There's just no way."

We continued to talk about the event - I told him it was a free event and asked if he would like to come. His eyes were as big as saucers, and he shouted "YES!" I handed him a ticket, and then he realized that it started at 7pm, and he was scheduled to be at work at 7pm. He thanked me, and then asked me to give the ticket to someone else who could use it...and then he just stood there for a moment looking at the students, somewhat speechless. Then he said that even though he was not going to be able to attend, God was speaking to him. He told me, "you have no idea what this has just done for my walk with God - seeing all these students in a time when I have been questioning things...you just have no idea." I prayed for Mike for the rest of the night as we worshipped there without him...I don't know anything else about his story, and it's likely I never will, but it was so cool to see God using this night to reach people in this city who never even set foot inside the arena doors.

I was reminded then that, even if everything else the rest of the night went wrong, it didn't matter - God was already at work and He would accomplish His mission anyway!

The rest of the night was great - it was so amazing to just stand back in the arena and watch 8,000 university students just worshipping the Lord with all their might - unified across campuses, across cities, and even in some cases, across continents. I pray that something sparked in the hearts of those students last night that they will carry out back into their campuses and homes and just be alive in Christ to all those around them. I pray that they become a generation who will not hold back when it comes to proclaiming the name of Jesus!

Today was a wonderful, and also bittersweet day. I felt a huge relief that everything that our team has been working on for months and months had finally paid off, but i'm also a little sad that it's all over and that i'll be going back home in just a few short days. My heart has grown very attached to the people and the students in the city of Sydney. It was a cold and rainy day today....and I was so thankful. Thankful that the rain held off until today, and that the students stayed dry last night. As I type this, I am looking outside my window at quite possibly the most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen, sweeping over the Sydney Opera house and touching down into the Sydney Harbour. It's colors are brilliant - the brightest i've ever seen in a real rainbow. I'm listening to Tomlin's song "God of This City," and looking at this rainbow - a symbol of God's promise - couldn't be a more fitting end to a perfect day. Just as the song says "greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city." That's my prayer tonight. That God will continue to do great things in the city of Sydney, long after we are gone. Who knows if i'll ever get to come back here again. But I can assure you - the people of this city will remain in my heart forever.

Here's a little glimpse into Passion Sydney, with some of my photos and videos, and also a few photos from our amazing tour photographer, Jeremy Cowart (you can tell which ones are his -they are the phenomenal pics. I'm not that great of a photographer - he's stinking amazing with a camera!).

Cheers mates!
(embedded video)

It's almost here!

Hello again from down under!

I can't believe that we are just 24 short hours away from Passion Sydney! The excitement is building as the team is making final preparations for tomorrow. We've been scurrying all over the city for the last few days finalizing details, picking up last minute items, and praying for the students who will ascend on the SEC tomorrow night. Please pray that the weather holds out!! Before we left Atlanta, the forecast for Sydney showed blue skies...but since we've arrived, that forecast has changed to rain. Rain, rain, go away!

I haven't really done any sightseeing since we got here this time (besides the quick jaunt at the markets) because we've been working around the clock to get everything ready for tomorrow night. However, Mark and I did witness the strangest (and coolest) thing yesterday as we were running some errands in the city. We were waiting at a busy intersection to cross the street, and when the crosswalk sign came on, instead of crossing from one side to the other like normal, everyone just crossed right in the middle! It looked like a fun version of fruit basket turnover! We thought it was so cool that we made a little video of it, check it out...(embedded video)



Isn't that bizarre?! We thought it was so cool, that when we ran errands the next day we decided to do it. :)

Ok, time to run...gotta go do our last visit to the venue to make sure everything is in place! I'll leave you with a few of my favorite pics from this trip so far...more updates to come soon as we prepare for the big night tomorrow! Keep praying!

This is the cool shot of the full moon from the plane..

A fun fountain in Darling Harbour...

More of Darling Harborur...

The Queen Victoria Building...

More fun than the Queen Victoria building... :)

Passion Sydney: Day 1

Hello mates!

I apologize in advance for the lack of length in this post, but it's now 9pm Sydney time (which is 6am our time), and I am barely still functioning...trying to hold out a little longer to adjust to the huge time difference.

We made it here safe and sound, with two great flights! I got a good bit of sleep on the 14 hour flight, managed to watch 2 & 1/2 movies, and made a new friend....all in a day's work! When I got to the Sydney airport though, it was like deja vu of my last trip here all over again....picture me standing at the baggage claim waiting....and waiting...and waiting. Suitcases revolving over and over as one by one their owners claimed them and went on their merry way. Guess who was the last one left...again. :) Apparently my luggage never made it onto my flight! I couldn't help but laugh at the situation...I mean, things happen - there's no use getting upset, plus I got a $100 supplement to cover my "necessities" while I waited for them to track down my bag...not too shabby! My luggage finally arrived at the hotel just about an hour ago, so I am a happy camper.

We had a great start to our journey here - we hit the ground running with a prayer meeting amongst some of the Uni leaders in the city. It was so great to just sit in a room together, all praying and lifting up the students of this city all in the name of God's glory...I couldn't think of a better way to start our trip and align our minds and hearts to the reason we are here in the first place. We made a few other stops and now we're back at the hotel resting and getting ready for a busy day tomorrow.

That's it for now...Passion Hong Kong is going on as we speak, so please pray for the students there and also pray that God will just continue to make everything fall into place here in Sydney as we countdown to the big event on Tuesday.

Must get sleeeeeeeepppp....good Thursday morning to you all at home, i'll update again soon!

Cheers!

The Process

"Between the promise of God in your life and the payoff is a process."
-Steven Furtick

I'm sorry that I haven't written in a while. I'm still smack in the middle of a season of sifting and pruning from God. I've found that often times it's better to get well into the process before you pause and try to assess or analyze why you're there in the first place, and what exactly it is that God is trying to teach you in the midst of it all. But we'll get to than in another entry.

I just experienced my first Catalyst Conference over the past three days, and it couldn't come at a better time. Three solid days to sit and soak in wisdom, insight and inspiration from some of the world's most anointed church leaders...without having to worry about getting all the volunteers in place to open doors, setting up and tearing down, or making sure that all of the lower thirds are spelled correctly. I was able to sit and observe - to be fully present and fully engage in what it was God wanted me to learn.

And boy did I learn. Reggie couldn't have phrased it better - it was like "taking a sip of water from a fire hydrant." So much wisdom, so many personal challenges and convictions. It's going to take me days to unpack it all - but it is too important for me not to. See, that's been my problem before - I'll go and learn and in the moment, think "wow, that's great insight that I need to take home, process and apply." Then what happens? Life. I get caught up in the busyness of life and often put process and application on the back burner until I've forgotten what was so important in the first place.

There's no way I could even begin to explain or describe to you all that I learned over the past three days, but I would love to share some of my biggest takeaways from the week:

Wisdom from Perry Noble about Passion and Calling:
"To be good leaders, we must be excellent followers."
"Are you more concerned about being discovered, or being developed?"
"We cannot expect the spirit to lead us professionally if we are not yielded to Him privately."
"In order to attain God-sized vision, it takes God-sized risk."

Insight from Jim Collins on Good to Great:
"Good is the reason so many things don't become great."
"The presence of a to-do list without a stop-doing list is a lack of discipline."
"Greatness is not a function of circumstance."

Inspiration from Craig Groeschel:
"There is more in you."
"It's about having your heart break for the things that break the heart of God."
"If not you, then who? If not now, then when?"
"To reach people no one else is reaching, we must do things no one else is doing."
"To stretch you, God has to heal you, and to heal you, God has to ruin you."

Points from Dave Ramsey on Unity:
"By definition, gossip is when a negative is discussed with anyone who can't help solve the problem."
"If we're going to be Christians, we'd better have an excellence that is stunning."

Wisdom from Andy Stanley on Leadership:
"Pay attention to the people who are breaking the rules."
"No pain, no change."
"Success breeds complacency, and complacency breeds failure."
"Become preoccupied with those you haven't reached as opposed to those you are trying to keep."

But perhaps the moment that grabbed my heart the most was when I witnessed the Daraja African children's choir come in and lead us in worship. I watched these children, who came from absolute poverty, come running in with the biggest smiles on their faces, singing and dancing their hearts out for Jesus...quoting His scripture in a language other than their native tongue.

And then I thought about my own life. I have never known what it is like to not have a roof over my head, clothes on my back and shoes on my feet, a comfortable bed to sleep in, or any kind of food I could ever want. I drive a nice car to my amazing job where I make more money than some of them will ever see in their lifetime. I get to serve God and His people for a living. I have more friends and family than I know what to do with.

And sometimes I feel so "weary" that I have to find the energy to worship the God who gave it all to me?

Father, stretch me.