PASSION: Part 1

Passion 2012 in Atlanta, GA was one of the most awesomest things ever and everyone should go. 

I'm not even kidding, like everyone who is in the age bracket of 18-25 should totally go. But just be aware, your head's probably gonna explode because of how insanely mind-blowing incredible it is. Anyway, I know I have a tendency to ramble, especially when my audience (you) can't give me any "you can stop talking now" nonverbals through your computer screen, so I'm going to give you a limited, short synopsis of how crazy sweet it was. PLEASE, ask me more in person and I'll be more than happy to talk your ear off. So here's the the start of a three-part post highlighting the main things that were incredible, and my takeaway from them:

1. The Speakers
Louie Giglio. Beth Moore. Francis Chan. John Piper. If you're a Christian and involved in the Christian community at large, you probably have heard of some of these people. If you're not, then try thinking of the modern Christian smart-person equivalents of people like Elvis, Marie Curie, Michael Jordan, and William Shakespeare. But Louie, Beth, Francis, and John would fervently deny any such comparison or any such level of fame and glory. That's because they all humbly serve the Lord, and are just as imperfect as everyone else. It's just they're just crazy smart when it comes to the Bible. BUT, the point here is that when they know how to speak well, and help people to understand more God's word in the Bible. They were not there to bring fame to their own names, but simply were there to use the gifts given to them to help people absorb the Bible more.

One of the coolest things they did was when Lecrae (check him out here), Beth, Francis, Louie, and John all simply read through the entirety of the book of Ephesians together. They didn't add their own thoughts in the middle of the chapters, or even summarize what happened. In this instance they simply let the words of the Bible speak for themselves. In doing so, they were making the powerful statement that the only point of the conference was Christ. In Francis Chan's talk later, he spoke passionately about how the Bible is the only thing we can count fully as Truth. He said that because he is imperfect, even his words can be wrong sometimes. All he does during his talks is read something in the Bible then go, "Just do THAT!".

Piper talked about how we once were dead, and now are alive and renewed in Christ. His "thesis" of the talk was that Believing in Jesus=Seeing/savoring Him=Being satisfied. As our love for Christ grows larger and larger, the temptations of sin in this world will get smaller and smaller as we realize how stupid they are. If I have the chance to know Him more and more and He brings me complete satisfaction, why would I not want to grow that relationship?

Takeaway: While listening to the wisdom of those older and more well-educated is beneficial to me, I cannot put my full faith in their words. I should be constantly desiring to get more in the Bible and learn more from it. New year's resolution (probably the most common one among Christians) is to read through the Bible in a year. All my friends reading this, PLEASE keep me accountable to this. Like, hound me with random text messages telling me to do it. So I guess that's your takeaway... Bottom line is that the Bible is absolutely saturated with awesome things that I should be yearning to know, so why not read it?

Check back soon for part 2!