Do you believe it?

Louie shared these truths a few weeks ago at Passion City Church.

• I Am Somebody, A Saint, By God's Grace, In Christ
• I Am Blessed With Every Spiritual Blessing And Have All I Need In Christ
• I Am Chosen By God
• I Am Holy And Blameless In His Sight
• I Am A Loved Son/Daughter Of God
• I Am A Trophy Of God's Grace
• I Am Redeemed And Forgiven
• I Have The Holy Spirit In Me
• I Am God's Possession
  

Do you believe it?

Awesome Reminder

Emily and I attended the last Passion City Church gathering.  As I mentioned before, the three anchors of the church are: The Glory of God.  The Grace of God.  Extravagant Worship.

Louie teased the audience at the beginning of the service by mentioning a new, never-been-released song by Chris to be sung at the end.

You could sense the excitment in the crowd.

When the service came to an end, Louie invited Chris to sing his song.  To my surprise (and I think everyone else), he exited the stage toward an "apartment" set up in the back of the venue.

That was it.  His "song" was raising awareness for an organization called World Relief, which assists refugees relocating to Atlanta.

It was an awesome reminder that singing songs is not worship, but a PART of worship.

How you live your life, day in and day out, is worship.

"For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be the glory forever!  Amen.  Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God -- this is your spiritual act of worship." (Romans 11:36-12:1)

"So whether you eat or you drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31)

CLICK HERE for pictures from the gathering.

Louie Giglio's Press Conference on Twitter

I wanted to share Louie Giglio's press conference on Twitter. It's HILARIOUS. Especially since I shared his sentiment, but subsequently surrendered as he did.

Here's what he said on February 12, 2009 to warrant the press conference:

"I'm not twittering about the church [Passion City Church] 'cause I don't believe in twittering...but that's just a personal thing...but I know a lot of you are and a lot of you do...and that's fantastic and I'm SO excited for you...but there's no one on the planet that I am so DESPERATELY concerned about that I want to be updated on their every move in life...and so that person hasn't emerged yet and I'm certainly not one of those for anyone else."

Feel free to follow me, but don't expect too many tweets.

Forgotten God

If you know me, you know how much I like Francis Chan. It all started when I heard him speak while volunteering at the Passion Atlanta Regional in 2008. His first book, Crazy Love, is extremely challenging and I'm sure his next book, Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit, will be as well. The book will be released September 1st. Here's a preview:

Extravagant Worship

In an earlier post I mentioned the three anchors of Passion City Church -- The Glory of God. The Grace of God. Extravagant Worship. This month's gathering focused on Extravagant Worship.

Louie started his sermon with a video clip of Michael Jackson fans. As you can imagine, the fans were hysterical. Louie's point: We were wired for worship -- and we're really, REALLY good at it.

Worship is not an option -- WHO or WHAT you worship is. Louie defined worship as us responding to what we value most in life. You only get one lifetime of affection. Who or what is on the receiving end of it?

"For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God -- this is your spiritual act of worship." (Romans 11:36-12:1)

A Contemplation & Celebration

To be in the same venue that will host the likes of Dave Matthews Band and Kenny Chesney for the purpose of amplifying -- and I mean AMPLIFYING -- the name of Jesus Christ was amazing. Louie also took time to reflect on the cross, sharing that because of the cross, we can be Alive. Clean. Embraced. Healed. Free.

For "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Happy Easter!

Passion City Church

Emily and I visited Passion City Church last night. Two of the top names in Christian music taking the stage to lead worship can only be described as "surreal." But like Louie said, it's not about them. It's about God.

Louie shared the three anchors of the church: The Glory of God. The Grace of God. Extravagant Worship. But don't be fooled by "Extravagant Worship." It's not just music. It's justice. Compassion. Mercy.

According to Louie, the church gave away 100% of its offering from the first gathering. Last night's focus was on women and children who are trapped in sex slavery and prostitution. Did you know Atlanta is among the top three cities in the U.S. for child prostitution? Wellspring Living is one of two organizations in Atlanta that exists to create restorative environments for victims of forced prostitution. A portion of last night's offering was to allow a 17-year-old join the program. Sari Bari -- a project in India providing rescue and restoration to women and children through micro-enterprise -- was featured as well (One Million Can).

These guys know what it means "to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8).