awesome...

I went to 7/22 last night at North Point Community Church. It was SO good. Louie Giglio spoke and their usual worship band led the music. I just couldn't get over how huge it was. Literally thousands of people my age meet there every Tuesday night, from far and wide, for the sole purpose of worshipping one God. Incredible. Many ministries that grow to outrageous proportions, in my opinion, lose their origional focus and become more hype than anything else. The ministries that have stemmed from North Point, however, (namely the Passion ministry, including David Crowder, Chris Tomlin, Charlie Hall, Louie Giglio, and others) are thoroughly annointed with the power of Christ, from everything I have seen of them. Louie definitely isn't all hype; he's a passionate and powerful communicator of the Word of God. When I got to 7/22, I was nearly ten minutes late due to a late start, rain, and a detour along the way. By the time I got into the auditorium, it was completely packed and people were already starting to line the walls. I found a decent spot on the staircase, and joined in with the worship that was already in progress. From my spot, I could see nearly everyone in the auditorium. At one point, I just had this incredible picture: I imagined every Christian wearing red, representing that they were covered with the blood of Christ. Out in public, you would see red scattered throughout a crowd, but in this room of thousands of people, it was an overwhelming sea of red. What an amazing thought! I know that size is not what matters in a ministry, but at the same time, I believe there is an awesome power in collective worship on such a huge scale. There's power in numbers; there's power in the Body when they're all together.

One thing I learned from Louie last night was based on John 8:31. The enemy may be perfectly happy for you to do things "for God" as long as you don't root and ground yourself in the Word of God, in Christ Himself. You must ABIDE in Him, which is to hold on and never let go. That is when we become TRUE followers of God, when we become His disciples.

That's all for now. Stay tuned. Peace out!