Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Confluence, again
So just now I heard Malisa tell me that on facebook they have an add to "make the perfect man...why search for mr. right when you can make him right now!"...that's ridiculously scary haha. Somehow though I think it's really apropriate with what hit me real hard about confluence this past weekend and connector tonight. Lately I've been living a me-based life and hating every minute of it. Here's a prime example of how I've been acting. In a way, I've told myself that no one fits the mold I feel they should fit so therefore no one gets me and no one is realiable and no one is how I wanted them created so I should just give up on them and deal soley with me. I pushed everyone out of my life (especially God) and the sad part is that I didn't even realize it. David Platt mentioned this weekend how sometimes we keep God at a distance but yet expect Him to give us all the blessings and comfort that come with a relationship with Him. RELATIONSHIP...I feel like I've drifted from that with God and Confluence allowed me to recognize that real quick. A lot of what David Hartley posted below really goes along with my experience from the weekend. When worship started the first day I was bitter and incapable of giving God the praise he deserved. I actually spent a whole song just staring at the floor thinking there is no way I can get back on my feet and let people back in my life without letting God back in, yet I can't do that either. I can't even worship or for goodness sake even pretend to worship Him at this point. Then David Platt spoke and he talked about our self-sufficient society and I was like woahhhh, God is crazy awesome. This is literally the exact thing that I have been hardcore struggling with for the past few weeks and even though to be honest I wasn't really that pumped for confluence either, I am SO incredibly glad I went. I can't say I have changed drastically and I will never again return to my prideful self and pretend like I can handle it all alone, but I feel like a new person now at least...a new person with a new outlook on how much I need God and how little He needs me...errr I should really say how He doesn't need me at all. I don't know...it hit hard...and connector just added to the point for me this week. Get out - be a friend - love - spread it. David Platt mentioned how that is God's plan for our life...and now here's Mike up front in connector talking about how we need to push out of our shells and comfortable apartments, dorms, whatever and just care about other people, no matter their background. Before I became a christian the only reason I understood evangelism at all is because I figured that these people truly believe that Christ has saved them and drastically changed their lives for the better and therefore they care about me enough to want to share in that with me. I figured that if they truly believed that and wasn't sharing Christ with me, then they didnt really care about me or didn't truly believe. Now I'm convicted by that all the time. Usually I just brush it off, but hopefully this past weekend and tonight's confluence will pop me out of my shell and get me to be brave and talk to people like I need to - like we all need to. God has put people in my life that I need to talk to and love on. I see them and recognize them but I refuse God's plan for me. That's crap and I hope I learn not to accept that and to strive for more. I hope everyone at the BCM feels the same way. Despite all of the crap we throw at God and all the stuff we keep Him out of, God really wants to use us. Let's make it happen.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Confluence
Wow, what a weekend. I think this is going to be a long post.
I have to admit, when I first signed up for Confluence I wasn't expecting anything spectacular. A conference in McDonough, GA on the same weekend as both GT Six Flags Night and a home football game didn't sound that much fun. It didn't help that I haven't missed a home football game since freshman year.
But still, to Confluence I went. It wasn't in Jekyll Island anymore and it wasn't called Fall Conference. I'm still not sure if the name change really means all that much in the long run. I think a big fancy name like Confluence might just sell short what really happened this weekend. If I had a chance to rename it, I might pick something like Long-Needed-Punch-In-The-Face-Fluence - you know, something clever like that. I'm sure we could pack the house with a name that catchy.
Our car was one of the last to arrive and we missed the (apparently) delicious BBQ served earlier. Still, we pulled up to this giant church parking lot and there were a boatload of excited people waiting for us. We heard yells, screams, shouts, and some sort of horn as we made our way inside. Inside, we were assaulted with high fives and assorted candies by people I've never seen before in my life. I wasn't really feeling the atmosphere at this point but I went along with it.
Steve Fee was a pretty awesome worship leader the whole weekend. I had seen him before at North Point and Buckhead church and always thought he was very talented. I understand that worship is what we make it, but Fee seems to have a gift for getting the people to connect to the words in his songs. He also understands our tendencies to shy away from true expressive worship. He did his best to call us out of our shells and into an authentic worship experience built only by the movement of the spirit.
But what really amazed me this weekend was David Platt. Actually, let me rephrase that. What really amazed me this weekend was the Holy Spirit's work through David Platt. I knew we were going to be in for a crazy weekend right from the first message. This guy wasn't pulling any punches. One of his first statements is bold and unnerving: God doesn't need us. He called us out immediately, asking if we could really claim a complete dependence on the Holy Spirit. Do I have a desperation for the Spirit of God? Woa - these were some hard questions.
Why must we be desperate for His presence? Here were David Platt's four main points:
1. We have an assignment we cannot fulfill.
2. We have a priviledge we cannot forsake
3. We have a family we cannot forget
4. We have a God that we cannot fathom.
This was a little shellshocking. It made me realize how easy it is to go on planning events, and living a religous life utterly devoid of the Holy Spirit. It left me feeling more than a little uneasy.
That night we checked into our hotel (the Microtel! Woo!) and headed off in large mass to the Waffle House within walking distance. We crowded into the booths there and shared in laughter and food.
Fast forward to the next morning as we shuffled out of our hotel, into cars, and finally into rows at the church. Steve Fee once again leads us in some awesome worship and David Platt walks slowly on to the stage. He spends some time talking about God's will and how not to do it. Here's some of what I wrote down on how NOT to find God's will:
- Not coincidences
- Not by picking random spots in the Bible
- Not by simply walking through open doors
- Not by avoiding closed doors
- Not the still small voice method
So how do we discern God's will? Platt tells us to turn to Matthew 28:16-20. This is the great commission. Uh-oh. This was another tough message to hear. Turns out God's will for our lives was written there in red letters at the end of Matthew. Platt continues to ask us tough questions about how we are fulfilling this great commandment in our own lives.
After the message we had a fine afternoon of relaxation. Most everyone went to Mellow Mushroom while a small group including myself ate at Zaxby's. I even managed to get in a nap afterwards, something I really needed.
Fast forward again to that night. Steve Fee once again seems to "get" authentic worship. But he's not the one I want to hear from at the moment. I'm waiting to hear from David Platt, to hear what his final points, to get to the bottom of this uneasiness in my heart.
Finally the time comes. Steadily, slowly Platt walks out onto the stage. He asks us to turn to Luke 9:57-62.
This is not an easy passage to teach. It talks about hard things that are difficult to understand. Give it a read and you'll see what I mean. Platt poses three questions based on this passage:
1. Will we choose comfort or will we choose the cross?
2. Will we settle for maintenance or will we sacrifice for mission?
3. Will our generation be marked by indecisive minds or undivided hearts?
Comfort vs. Cross. Maintenance vs. sacrifice. Indecisive minds vs. Undivided hearts. This is it: this is key. Christ is calling us to sacrifice all. Not some, not half, not most, all. I was filled with confusion over this: What can this possibly look like in my own life? Does this mean drop out of school? Move to Africa? Sell everything I have? The thoughts that rushed through my head were very confusing.
As we talked about the weekend later that night amongst our own group I realized that God had been saying many different things to us all. For some, they realized that they been convicted over playing a pretend religious life on the outside while the inside was turmoil. For others, I heard struggle over what to do with their lives when graduation came. Still others questioned what it meant to sacrifice it all and still had no answers.
I still don't have all the answers, but I figured out one thing God was saying to me.
I have a confession to make: I'm addicted to approval. I can't think of a better way to say it. The decisions I make on a day to day basis are largely motivated by my own selfish desire for others to approve of my actions. This means that, for the most part, I have worked my way into situations without the presence of the Holy Spirit as a guide. This realization both disturbs me and frees me. Though its not something I am happy about, knowing the source of this uneasiness I have felt on my heart frees me to give it up to Christ. Theres a reason I was able to leave McDonough with joy in my heart: Christ died for this sin too.
There's still more to be said about everything God has spoken about this weekend, yet, I cannot speak for all. I have seen the presence of the Holy Spirit working in people's hearts this weekend and it is a beautiful thing. I cannot wait to see where God is taking this thing from here.
----
If you've got a story that you want to share about Confluence this weekend, feel free to leave a comment or send one of us an e-mail. You are welcome to keep anything you want to be posted here anonymous.
P.S. If you didn't make it to Confluence, you should check out Platt's sermons available here. Particularly check out 9/7/08 "What the Gospel demands." Its pretty close to what Platt was saying over the weekend.
I have to admit, when I first signed up for Confluence I wasn't expecting anything spectacular. A conference in McDonough, GA on the same weekend as both GT Six Flags Night and a home football game didn't sound that much fun. It didn't help that I haven't missed a home football game since freshman year.
But still, to Confluence I went. It wasn't in Jekyll Island anymore and it wasn't called Fall Conference. I'm still not sure if the name change really means all that much in the long run. I think a big fancy name like Confluence might just sell short what really happened this weekend. If I had a chance to rename it, I might pick something like Long-Needed-Punch-In-The-Face-Fluence - you know, something clever like that. I'm sure we could pack the house with a name that catchy.
Our car was one of the last to arrive and we missed the (apparently) delicious BBQ served earlier. Still, we pulled up to this giant church parking lot and there were a boatload of excited people waiting for us. We heard yells, screams, shouts, and some sort of horn as we made our way inside. Inside, we were assaulted with high fives and assorted candies by people I've never seen before in my life. I wasn't really feeling the atmosphere at this point but I went along with it.
Steve Fee was a pretty awesome worship leader the whole weekend. I had seen him before at North Point and Buckhead church and always thought he was very talented. I understand that worship is what we make it, but Fee seems to have a gift for getting the people to connect to the words in his songs. He also understands our tendencies to shy away from true expressive worship. He did his best to call us out of our shells and into an authentic worship experience built only by the movement of the spirit.
But what really amazed me this weekend was David Platt. Actually, let me rephrase that. What really amazed me this weekend was the Holy Spirit's work through David Platt. I knew we were going to be in for a crazy weekend right from the first message. This guy wasn't pulling any punches. One of his first statements is bold and unnerving: God doesn't need us. He called us out immediately, asking if we could really claim a complete dependence on the Holy Spirit. Do I have a desperation for the Spirit of God? Woa - these were some hard questions.
Why must we be desperate for His presence? Here were David Platt's four main points:
1. We have an assignment we cannot fulfill.
2. We have a priviledge we cannot forsake
3. We have a family we cannot forget
4. We have a God that we cannot fathom.
This was a little shellshocking. It made me realize how easy it is to go on planning events, and living a religous life utterly devoid of the Holy Spirit. It left me feeling more than a little uneasy.
That night we checked into our hotel (the Microtel! Woo!) and headed off in large mass to the Waffle House within walking distance. We crowded into the booths there and shared in laughter and food.
Fast forward to the next morning as we shuffled out of our hotel, into cars, and finally into rows at the church. Steve Fee once again leads us in some awesome worship and David Platt walks slowly on to the stage. He spends some time talking about God's will and how not to do it. Here's some of what I wrote down on how NOT to find God's will:
- Not coincidences
- Not by picking random spots in the Bible
- Not by simply walking through open doors
- Not by avoiding closed doors
- Not the still small voice method
So how do we discern God's will? Platt tells us to turn to Matthew 28:16-20. This is the great commission. Uh-oh. This was another tough message to hear. Turns out God's will for our lives was written there in red letters at the end of Matthew. Platt continues to ask us tough questions about how we are fulfilling this great commandment in our own lives.
After the message we had a fine afternoon of relaxation. Most everyone went to Mellow Mushroom while a small group including myself ate at Zaxby's. I even managed to get in a nap afterwards, something I really needed.
Fast forward again to that night. Steve Fee once again seems to "get" authentic worship. But he's not the one I want to hear from at the moment. I'm waiting to hear from David Platt, to hear what his final points, to get to the bottom of this uneasiness in my heart.
Finally the time comes. Steadily, slowly Platt walks out onto the stage. He asks us to turn to Luke 9:57-62.
This is not an easy passage to teach. It talks about hard things that are difficult to understand. Give it a read and you'll see what I mean. Platt poses three questions based on this passage:
1. Will we choose comfort or will we choose the cross?
2. Will we settle for maintenance or will we sacrifice for mission?
3. Will our generation be marked by indecisive minds or undivided hearts?
Comfort vs. Cross. Maintenance vs. sacrifice. Indecisive minds vs. Undivided hearts. This is it: this is key. Christ is calling us to sacrifice all. Not some, not half, not most, all. I was filled with confusion over this: What can this possibly look like in my own life? Does this mean drop out of school? Move to Africa? Sell everything I have? The thoughts that rushed through my head were very confusing.
As we talked about the weekend later that night amongst our own group I realized that God had been saying many different things to us all. For some, they realized that they been convicted over playing a pretend religious life on the outside while the inside was turmoil. For others, I heard struggle over what to do with their lives when graduation came. Still others questioned what it meant to sacrifice it all and still had no answers.
I still don't have all the answers, but I figured out one thing God was saying to me.
I have a confession to make: I'm addicted to approval. I can't think of a better way to say it. The decisions I make on a day to day basis are largely motivated by my own selfish desire for others to approve of my actions. This means that, for the most part, I have worked my way into situations without the presence of the Holy Spirit as a guide. This realization both disturbs me and frees me. Though its not something I am happy about, knowing the source of this uneasiness I have felt on my heart frees me to give it up to Christ. Theres a reason I was able to leave McDonough with joy in my heart: Christ died for this sin too.
There's still more to be said about everything God has spoken about this weekend, yet, I cannot speak for all. I have seen the presence of the Holy Spirit working in people's hearts this weekend and it is a beautiful thing. I cannot wait to see where God is taking this thing from here.
----
If you've got a story that you want to share about Confluence this weekend, feel free to leave a comment or send one of us an e-mail. You are welcome to keep anything you want to be posted here anonymous.
P.S. If you didn't make it to Confluence, you should check out Platt's sermons available here. Particularly check out 9/7/08 "What the Gospel demands." Its pretty close to what Platt was saying over the weekend.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Worship
Last night's Connector was all about Worship. One of the passages that Cyndi spoke about was from Nehemiah. When Ezra the scribe opened the Bible, an entire crowd rose to their feet. Then they all bowed to the ground to worship God. We're talking thousands of people. Wow.
For me, it was nice to get a reminder that worship isn't all about a band and some singing. Instead, worship can be done in so many ways... in fact, worship is a 24-7 act in response to God. We should worship God with every step we take during the day, in our interactions with others, in how we handle situations. Basically every single thing we do should be for God's glory.
It's hard to be that way, though. I often find myself making everything about me and my needs, and I become blind to the perils of those around me. I become selfish.
My prayer for myself and all of us is that we make our lives become a constant act of worship to God. I hope that we will know that God is present and desire to do nothing but glorify Him.
For me, it was nice to get a reminder that worship isn't all about a band and some singing. Instead, worship can be done in so many ways... in fact, worship is a 24-7 act in response to God. We should worship God with every step we take during the day, in our interactions with others, in how we handle situations. Basically every single thing we do should be for God's glory.
It's hard to be that way, though. I often find myself making everything about me and my needs, and I become blind to the perils of those around me. I become selfish.
My prayer for myself and all of us is that we make our lives become a constant act of worship to God. I hope that we will know that God is present and desire to do nothing but glorify Him.
9/16/08 Connector
Hey everybody!
Sorry for the late post, but I've been busy doing some homework (as Georgia Tech students are occasionally found to do) until just now. Tonight we had the first Connector since this blog thing got started (as far as I'm aware), as well as the last Connector before Confluence (this weekend!).
Quite a number of individuals contributed to this week's Connector service, and it showed. We had great mini-speakers (that's what I'm calling 'em) in Brandon Cullum and Mike Whelan (as per usual), followed by a brief activity/game and a quality video from Will Marshall, Lindsay McCurdy, and Malisa Thompson. (Sorry about the parentheses and all the first/last name combos. It's just my thing.) After that we had some great leadership in Cyndi Forman with some moving speech (and tying in a good bit of scripture). To wrap it up, we had Charlie Hunter, Caitlin Collins, Andrew Harvard, Jonathan Barth, Oliver Albrecht, and Chris Mize (that's everybody, right?) lead us in 5 great worship songs in a top-notch performance that deserves everyone's congratulations. (Seriously! 5 songs in a row after a regular school day and an earlier practice? That takes some major stamina!)
From my perspective, as someone involved in the production of Connector this week (I handled the computer/projector display), I think things went great. If you'll allow me to geek out for a little bit, I'll elaborate. :) Instead of the usual Live Worship application we normally use for presenting the lyrics and announcements, Mark Lamb lent me the use of his MacBook Pro with Pro Presenter on it. After a really brief crash course, I got to use it for my first time while gearing up for Connector to start and was in a mad dash to get things ready in time. Especially the lyrics! I'm sorry for messing up a few times here and there, but I think I managed ok and I promise improvement next time it's my turn. I hope things went well enough from your perspective!
Finally, and slightly unrelated, this weekend is Confluence! This is the BCM's Fall conference, and should be great. It's not too late to sign up, so go by the BCM office ASAP and hand in your $82 if you want a spot.
I guess that's it for me tonight, everybody. I hope everyone who goes to Fall conference enjoys the weekend. For those of us not going, have a safe and blessed weekend, whether you're going to GT Night @ Six Flags, the Mississippi State game, both, neither, or anything else!
Peace,
Michael
Sorry for the late post, but I've been busy doing some homework (as Georgia Tech students are occasionally found to do) until just now. Tonight we had the first Connector since this blog thing got started (as far as I'm aware), as well as the last Connector before Confluence (this weekend!).
Quite a number of individuals contributed to this week's Connector service, and it showed. We had great mini-speakers (that's what I'm calling 'em) in Brandon Cullum and Mike Whelan (as per usual), followed by a brief activity/game and a quality video from Will Marshall, Lindsay McCurdy, and Malisa Thompson. (Sorry about the parentheses and all the first/last name combos. It's just my thing.) After that we had some great leadership in Cyndi Forman with some moving speech (and tying in a good bit of scripture). To wrap it up, we had Charlie Hunter, Caitlin Collins, Andrew Harvard, Jonathan Barth, Oliver Albrecht, and Chris Mize (that's everybody, right?) lead us in 5 great worship songs in a top-notch performance that deserves everyone's congratulations. (Seriously! 5 songs in a row after a regular school day and an earlier practice? That takes some major stamina!)
From my perspective, as someone involved in the production of Connector this week (I handled the computer/projector display), I think things went great. If you'll allow me to geek out for a little bit, I'll elaborate. :) Instead of the usual Live Worship application we normally use for presenting the lyrics and announcements, Mark Lamb lent me the use of his MacBook Pro with Pro Presenter on it. After a really brief crash course, I got to use it for my first time while gearing up for Connector to start and was in a mad dash to get things ready in time. Especially the lyrics! I'm sorry for messing up a few times here and there, but I think I managed ok and I promise improvement next time it's my turn. I hope things went well enough from your perspective!
Finally, and slightly unrelated, this weekend is Confluence! This is the BCM's Fall conference, and should be great. It's not too late to sign up, so go by the BCM office ASAP and hand in your $82 if you want a spot.
I guess that's it for me tonight, everybody. I hope everyone who goes to Fall conference enjoys the weekend. For those of us not going, have a safe and blessed weekend, whether you're going to GT Night @ Six Flags, the Mississippi State game, both, neither, or anything else!
Peace,
Michael
Friday, September 12, 2008
Coming Aboard
Hey everyone!
For my first post on here I just wanted to say I'm glad to be a part of this and I'm hoping to have fun. In the future, I'll try to keep posts far more relevant and important. (Well, as important as anything I have to say ever can be anyways. :P )
Peace!
Geolocate this post
Posted with LifeCast
For my first post on here I just wanted to say I'm glad to be a part of this and I'm hoping to have fun. In the future, I'll try to keep posts far more relevant and important. (Well, as important as anything I have to say ever can be anyways. :P )
Peace!
Geolocate this post
Posted with LifeCast
Sunday, September 7, 2008
First Attempt at Scrapbooking
So this is one of the things that inspired this blog... a way to make scrapbook pages freely available to anyone who wants to see them. (Not to mention that this is cheaper and easier.) So enjoy!
To view it full screen, click on the icon at the bottom right!
Look for more to come soon!
To view it full screen, click on the icon at the bottom right!
Look for more to come soon!
Welcome!
Welcome one and all to the first post of the new Georgia Tech BCM blog. I hope that we can use this to encourage one another and let everyone know what's going on here at the BCM!
-Adrianne
-Adrianne
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