Wednesday, October 22, 2008
I realised I haven't blogged in while. Actually to be honest...sometimes I'll start a post and then decide I can't be bothered blogging anymore. As a result, I have like..10 half-done posts that have been automatically saved. I always get a bit of a shock when someone comes up to me and tells me they've been reading my blog...but I'm beginning to realise, more people read this than I originally thought. It's funny coz most of the time I completely forget that other people are actually going to be reading this so I'm sorry if i bore you with my constant rants but i'm glad i can be a form entertainment when you really have nothing better to do. It's kinda strange when I have no idea who actually is reading this lol.
So i just came back from UNSW....enemy territory :p I actually haven't been there for quite a while and with allll those stairs I'm extremely glad I dont go to that uni. So my main purpose was to meet up with chris and rob to prepare for tomorrow night's lifegroup but i ended up bumping into clarise, tiff and roger as well =) (As great as Sydney Uni is, my only complaint would be the fact that I never get to bump into so many church people at one spot) Rob and I then went to meet up with Hendy and my intended 5-minute hi/bye turned out to be more like an hour and next thing I knew..I found myself at East Gardens :p So much for study day...
So aaanyway...I was actually going to blog about the Passion conference on Tuesday night. I have a confession to make. I dont think I originally went for the right reasons. I didn't really go with a very expectant heart. I have been to these kinda meetings/conferences/concert things before and it just didn't seem like it was going to be any different...everyone is just going to get really hyped up by the end of it but it will all have faded by the next day. What made me go was the pure fact that CHRIS TOMLIN (and David Crowder) was going to be there.
Once worship started, I think God began to change my mind set. I was reminded of just how AWESOME it is to worship God alongside thousands of other believers. It is truly such a privilege when I think about it and it does make me think..."this is just a glimpse of what heaven will be like"
I have to admit...by the end of the night I think I had eyeliner running all down my face. When I think about it...the best parts of the night had nothing to do with Chris Tomlin at all. Yes he is an amazing worship leader, yes he can sing and yes he can write great music (some may argue otherwise) but he is just a human being afterall. On 4 seperate occasions I cried tonight (I told you I was emo):
- The first time I teared up was right at the beginning of Louis Giglio's talk when he was talking about the whole idea behind Passion. So basically, for the past few months Louis Giglio and Chris Tomlin have been travelling right around the world to 17 cities, holding these conferences and uniting christian uni students together as one body of Christ. Each city prays for the next and each city gives for the next! How cool is that! Yeah ok..so this is what made me tear up: You see...the city they were at before Sydney was Hong Kong. Louis shared about how a lot of the chinese people went to this conference in Hong Kong having never experienced what it's like to worship God like this. He shared about how excited they were, how excited they were that they could give to Passion-Sydney and the way they have been praying and praying for sydney since their own conference. The most amazing feeling of joy hit me when I heard that. When you have been praying for China, when you have been there and seen people come to Christ, when you have seen how hard it is to be a christian in that country, when you have seen how much China needs God...to hear their experience of worshipping God in freedom for the very first time, to hear that they gave so that we could have our conference in Sydney, to hear that they have been praying for us just totally overwhelmed me. For these past few months, China has held a special place in my heart =)
- Ok so the second time i teared up (ok..i think this time it was definitely more like crying) was when Louis was reading from the diary of that girl. It was so touching to see the way God completely changed this girl's life within a matter of 2 weeks..from being completely anti-christian and living that sadly...very stereo-typical, stuffed up uni life into a girl who finally found her faith in God......and then to have her life taken from her in a car accident just a few months after. I was completely speechless when we were told the shocking ending. It just seemed like she still had so much life ahead of her for God to use but God's timing is perfect isn't it? It's true that in the very short time she knew God she probably touched more lives that my whole life being a christian and even though she may not be physically on this earth anymore, her story continues to touch lives everywhere...thanks to Louis.
- This is going to sound really strange, but the third time i cried was just out of joy when I could see with my own eyes the way God had touched people that night. During the night we had the opportunity to pray in groups of 3 with the people around us. Because we couldn't be evenly split into groups of 3 I prayed with 2 people on the other side of me that I didn't know. One of the ladies had prayed before so I figured she was either a non christian or a new christian. I could see tears running down the side of her face throughout the night...I could see she was very touched by the message. She was with a friend who seemed to be a very devoted Christian. I just pray that the seeds sown that night will continue to grow. To see everyone just so caught up in worship...it truly was amazing.
- The message of grace was what made me cry the most and it has all year. The biggest 'thing' that has reeeallyyy hit me this year...is the gift of grace. It's something that I have been trying to get my head around alll this time. There are still times where I say to God.."but you don't understand...I have done this...and i have done that...I'm so far from being the person you want me to be..." yet God's grace upon my life is the reason why I am who I am today. Without God's grace, Iwould be 10 times worse than where I was not very long ago. I can't explain it...but God's grace has changed my life and it truly is amazing. This song really does make me cry:
Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed
My chains are gone I've been set free My God, my Savior has ransomed me And like a flood His mercy rains Unending love, Amazing graceThe Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God, Who called me here below
Will be forever mine
Will be forever mine
You are forever mine
posted @ 10:42 PM
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