Post-Passion Processing (Part 1)

Well, I’m back.

It has been nearly two months, and I will not deny that though the grace of God has certainly abounded in my life, it has been a difficult two months. And so it was in a volatile yet determined state of mind that I went into the Passion ’07 conference this past week. Some of you may recall my discussions of some of the things I learned at Passion ’06 last year, but I was in a very different place spiritually one year ago. I wish I could fully communicate to you how God used this week of teaching, worship, and incredible fellowship to alter my life and strengthen me and renew me. I wish I could convey just how faithful He has been to me in the way He has never given up on me and the way He has continued to pursue me, though my attempts at pursuing Him have been half-hearted at best. But I would never be able to find the words, so I just want to share with you some of the things He taught me and is now teaching me through my experiences at Passion ’07.

For those who did not attend, the focus of Passion this year was, as it always is, the glory of God. Specifically, the messages and community groups dug into the book of Colossians to take a look at Christ our Savior, “the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15), and the one who deserves to be first and foremost in our lives.

But, as typically happens, God did not limit Himself. Indeed though the truth of each of the messages and breakout sessions was encouraging and applicable, and the worship was Spirit-filled and powerful, I must say that the overwhelming highlight of Passion ’07 for me was the time spent in my community and family group. Again, for those unfamiliar with Passion ’07, there were something like 24,000 college students in attendance. Those 24,000 were broken down into 20 smaller community groups, and each community group was divided into smaller family groups of about eight people.

After being settled into my family group on the first evening of the conference (settled into family group = “Find someone you don’t know. Now you two people find two more people you don’t know. Then you four people find four other people you don’t know.”), I wrote down each of my fellow group members’ names in my notebook: Nathan, Amy, Joel, Erin, Barry, Heather, Denice. And then I wrote this short prayer, “Father, use these people to impact me in a powerful way over the next few days. And use me to speak into their lives as You will. Thank You for bringing each of us together; for Your sovereignty and Your perfect wisdom. I am excited and expectant for You to do great things.” I had no idea how completely this prayer would be answered in the days ahead.

You, my dear reader, are probably at this point thinking: “Okay, this is all well and good for you, but I want to know about Passion, and Louie, and Piper, and God!” And so I will here remind you that I will get to these things in due time, but the heart of Passion for me this year was the time I spent with my family group. I again find myself short of words when I try to explain what made these times so meaningful to me, but God used these seven complete strangers to convict me, encourage me, exhort me, and pray for me throughout the course of those four days. There was an honesty and openness among our group as we together processed what God was revealing to us of Himself. There was genuine care for each other as we listened to each other’s struggles and in turn sought to speak truth into specific circumstances and areas of confusion. I should not need to say that I came out of Passion seven friends richer.

How does any of this apply to you? Perhaps not very well yet, but I want to give you a picture of how God worked primarily through a means that I did not expect before I attempt to digest and share the more formal content of the conference. In short, Passion was exactly what I needed at this exact time in my life, but God knew that long ago and He planned for it to be so. And Passion was just the beginning of what I trust will be one of the most incredible and God-centered seasons of my life so far as I run after God with renewed motivation and strength.

I think I’m on the brink of something large.