Love lead me on.: January 2013

Drowning.

This is what initially came to mind as I pictured the word immersed. Someone submerged and immersed in water, drowning and gasping for breath...not exactly positive imagery.

And looking up the definition of "immerse" I found that this is one of three definitions.

The first states that it is "to cover completely in a liquid". The second is to "baptize by submerging in water" while the third and most clearly relevant one states "to engage wholly or deeply; absorb."

This is where a recollection of the past four days begins. Immerse 2012. You might say we were drowning but only in the most positive of ways :), surrounded by and sinking into the love and grace of God! :) Haha.

I had the opportunity this past week to attend Cru's Christmas conference and what an immense privilege and blessing it was. Engaging deeply in the life of Christ and being reminded of the grand invitation to step into the epic story He is telling, Immerse 2012 was a conference worth remembering. Here are some of the highlights:

Opening for worship, the song "Forever Reign" screamed the truth out we all need to resonate and be immersed in. Forever reigning, our King has appeared and because of this, our soul can feel again. Our soul can know its worth secure in Him. The first speaker, Brian Loritz, preached the hard Truth that the gospel of Christ must never be confused with religion. The gospel states I am accepted therefore I do, not I do, therefore I am accepted.

Break out sessions
The second day there were break-out sessions with topics ranging from how to have girl/guy friendships in the Body of Christ without something more attached to it to the one I went to which was how to freely love others by the power of the Spirit. The one I attended was absolutely wonderful and proclaimed such freedom to walk in the truth and how devoting more of your time and life to Him frees you to love people more by His power. Was a great reminder our greatest call is to love and not be the Savior who rescues people!

Skill set sessions

The last full day there were skill set sessions ranging from advanced evangelism, how to effectively lead a small group, healing from addiction, and how to truly change by the power of the Spirit. I attended the first option and came away with a fresh perspective on sharing my faith and it was awesome!

Amazing Grace.
And for the moment that touched the depths of my heart and stands very vividly in my memory. Before this, Mike Erre, a speaker paved the way for it, paving a very powerful message relating to identity. His main point derived from the central message of the gospel Ephesians 1 that we have already been chosen in love to be His children. Mike provided the horrifying facts behind the cultural context of this passage that explained how deformed and imperfect babies at the time were left at the top of the hill to be abandoned and eventually die. Ephesians 1 paints the picture of our beautiful God who runs to the top of the hill to the unwanted, the hurting, the empty, the sick, and provides them with permanent adoption into His family.

Delving into the profound implications of this radical idea of being chosen amidst our sin and mess, Erre chose to examine the perfectionist cloud hanging over our society. The airbrushed women, million dollar bank accounts, billion dollar Hollywood industry, and an emphasis on perfect grades, all shoving us to be immersed in the lie that we will never be "good enough", never have enough, or be satisfied as we are.

The truth He proclaimed at the end was that the deepest longing of the heart is to know we are loved in spite of the darkness within us, that there is a Father longing to wrap His arms around us and make us new.

He painted the picture of a child who has been abused his entire life and because of this picks up habits such as hiding food around the house due to his punishment which included being starved. Once he is later put in the foster care system, his new loving parents take him into their home and are grieved to find out he is still hiding food around the house as a result of the pain.

He went on saying very seriously: "You don't have to do that here. This is not like your old family. You willnever be hungry again."

Just as this child experienced a new adoption with loving parents, so have you. You now have a loving Father who has in the riches of His grace and mercy, bestowed upon you the blessing of a new title: a beloved son or daughter of the Most High King. You have a Father who will never leave nor forsake you and who offers you a new life in Him: one where you will never go hungry again.

Hearing this John 6:35 came to mind.

"I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." -John 6:35

About to close His talk, Mike paused and the crowd sensed a change. Looking us straight in the eyes he addressed the audience and said these words:
"I know there are some of you in the audience who are having a hard time buying into this idea of God's love. It sounds too good to be true, you don't know why people are so excited about Jesus, you are still figuring this whole God thing out. I want to ask if there are any of you out there right now who are struggling with this and would be bold. Come up to the front of the stage so that we may cover you in prayer and anyone who feels led can come up to pray over you."

With that, a bold boy jumped out of his seat and literally ran to the front of the stage. Slowly as the minutes went on, more and more people gathered at the front of the stage til there were about 30 people surrounding the stage. Mike then called up the prayers and with that, me and about 60 others rushed to the stage and layed hands upon each and every one of them.

The worship band came on stage and that is where the most moving and spiritual moment emerged. "Amazing Grace" rang out and the room was filled with a beautiful choir of voice crying and singing out to God.

"My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love,
Amazing grace."

Amidst the doubting, amidst the trials and pain, amidst the diversity in the room, we were able to unite as a body of believers and lift up praise for the unbelievable riches of His love that redeems and the grace that brought us to stand there in that room.

Lifting my eyes from the boy that I had prayed over, I was overwhelmed by emotion as I watched the prayer and support unfolding all around me. Acts 4:32 sprang to mind and the feeling of being "of one heart and one mind" brought joy to the inner depths of my soul. I knew it was a moment I would not forget for some time.

Outreach day.

Tagging along with the U of I campus, we went to a church New Covenant Life Church Center in Indianapolis to be prepped for outreach. Before this we had been given "Knowing God Personally" booklets and walked through the basic steps of sharing the gospel with someone. This was incredibly helpful and by the time prepping was done I was so excited for this opportunity to see God move!!

Coming to the church we were greeted by the pastor who opened with a absolutely breathtaking story from last year. A group from this same U of I campus had done outreach door to door, with survey and food in hand to come across a guy named William who lived in the area. William was down on his luck and at a place where he had come to recognize his own emptiness and need for something beyond himself. Opening his door he was surprised to find students waiting with a smile. Letting them in, the conversation began and the students later asked if he would be interested in knowing God personally. Explaining the gospel, something sparked in William and after the students had left, he went that very day to New Life to become a member of the church.

Now one year later after accepting Jesus, he is a new man. At 54 years old, he is in preparation to be a deacon at the church and is engaged to be married to the pastor's daughter. 2 Corinthians 5:17 could not be more true of this man, a vivid picture of what it looks like to be a new creation in Christ.

Hearing this I was blown away by the beauty of our God and how He would choose to use students like us in this man's life and the lives of many others in outreach. Leading up to this conference evangelism and sharing my faith has been something huge God has laid on my heart and seeing how central this is to the mission of Cru was so incredible! Their view on evangelism is "taking the initiative in the power of the Spirit to share the gospel and leaving the results up to God." Such a freeing thing to realize that our job is to take the initiative and to be faithful to the gospel, not to "convert" or change someone. Going out into the community and seeing God moving and changing people before our eyes brought the reality of Christ one step closer and the power we have in the Spirit. To grow a fire for sharing your faith, I guarantee seeing someone come to know Christ for the first time will do just that!!

And want to hear something crazy amazing!? In one day there were over 1000 gospel conversations and as a result, 72 people chose to put their trust in Christ!! Praise God!!

Oh...and Phil Wickam performed? No big deal or anything... ;)

His worship was the most inspiring and Spirit-empowered worship I have ever witnessed in my life!!!!!!! I felt as if God had given us a glimpse into Heaven and what worship will be there!! Here is one of the songs He sang!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6lZLY-SjUc "Heaven Fall Down"

International Night
There was another night all about the nations and how God wants to reach the world through us. It was an awesome night to hear about the international programs through Cru that are reaching people all around the world. One ministry is reaching out to women through the Iruna Project to pull them out of human trafficking and bringing them to Christ while another is ministering to college students in Asia. It wa s a night of worship and asking God for big things.

The goal for the funds of the night among the college students was $80,000...and guess how much was raised? Over $114,000!!!!!! Yeah Jesus!!!

Paul Tripp
The last few days Paul Tripp spoke and with words bearing the truth of the gospel day after day came tremendous conviction for me and the rest of the students in the audience.

His main point across his talks revolved around the fact that our biggest problem in is us. This is the biggest reason we are in desperate need of a Redeemer because the sin within us is not something we can change by our own strength. The issue is not merely our world or our circumstances but that which is inside of us. The greatest war is between the kingdom of self and the Kingdom of God.

Sin makes us shrink our lives down to us which we were not created to do and this causes despair. The words and actions of our everyday are telling of exactly what is present within our hearts! With sin controlling our heart and actions from the inside out, we will inevitably have empty lives for ourselves that will never satisfy. However the hope is that in Christ our vision enlarges to the greater story He is telling! His love now controls us and we are free to live an upward life towards His call.

Jesus came to break your bondage to you! Only in the acceptance of the news that you are in desperate need of Him because of your condition can the good news finally click. The sad song of humanity is that we make life our party when it is meant to be His all along!

Nerd Party

(Geeking it out!!)

Well whoever said Christians don't know how to have fun obviously have it wrong ;). There was an awesome party in the ballroom full of 3000 college students all dressed in the nerdiest attire rocking out and dancing like fools to "Call Me Maybe"...so I would say it was pretty awesome!!

(The four roomies for the trip! Abigail, Amelia, Me, and Megan!)

(My friend Amelia watching a youtube video on how to tie a bowtie :))

From there, we headed to worship in the main conference area. We got to rang in the new year worshiping God for all He has done and is yet to do in the coming year of 2013 which I believe is a whole lot!! We spent time in prayer for our nation, its leaders, our campuses, and each other which was wonderful.

Friends, if you made it this far into this very lengthy post, I thank you!! It was such a beautiful and God-given opportunity to attend Indycc and cannot wait to bring as many of you next year as possible to experience it!! Seeing college students from all over the Midwest from Northwestern, U of I, Michigan State, UIC, Purdue, Calvin, and many other schools come together to worship the King was absolutely stunning. and such a reminder that our generation is one I believe Jesus wants to use to change the world and carry the hope of His name!

There was incredible speakers, convicting and inspiring messages, beautiful worship, opportunity for outreach, but beyond all of this was the focus on Christ amidst every single one of these aspects: the One person we can be immersed in and never have enough of.

Drowning.

This is where we find ourselves in a life apart from Him: trying to fulfill the expectations of others, please other people, living into the dreams of the world, chasing after things other than His love, and this leads to suffocation. With Christ we find that He is the air we breathe, the refreshment for our soul, and the only One who will ever satisfy the deepest cries and hunger of our hearts.

Immerse 2012 was a beautiful experience and has only set the stage for this coming semester!! Get excited for seeing Cru launched!! I sure am and hope you come out to support what Jesus has in store!! :)

"In the path of your judgments,

O Lord, we wait for you;

your name and remembrance

are the desire of our soul."

-Isaiah 26:8

God bless my friends,
Taylor

Random pictures from Indycc:

(Out in the hall before the very first session!)

(Beautiful stained glass at New Life! Power of prayer baby!)

(This is awesome!!! haha Check it out!)

(Stairs was an option when the elevators were super crowded! My friend Megan and I ran up 18 flights a few times! Good thing we survived the conference ;))