God of this City

I can't resist posting this. Chris Tomlin performed a powerful new anthem at the Passion Conference (It's the title track of the new Passion CD). The song itself is "ok", until you hear the backstory- which I found online and posted below. What made it so powerful for me was that I've been there (not to Pattaya, Thailand, but to the red light districts in Bangkok...and some of our World Race team did serve in Pattaya). The picture of God literally pouring this song into these guys (an Irish Band called Blue Tree) in the middle of one of the Pattaya strip joints is astounding.



When asked about the song, Blue Tree lead vocalist Aaron Boyd recalls:

“There’s a couple from Carrickfergus, Ian and Leslie, and they moved out to Thailand to a place called Pattaya. We got asked to go and be part of an event called Pattaya Praise. Pattaya is a seaside town/resort place, and physically, it looks to be like the darkest place you’ll ever go to. And spiritually, it is THE darkest place we have ever been to. You just feel the evil. You just feel the enemy all over that place. It’s a very small place. . . But in that small area in Thailand, there are 30,000 prostitutes and that figure excludes kids and excludes anything that’s outside of the range of, say 18-30, and who are female. . .

Part of what we were asked to do was to go out and be part of an event which runs for four or five days. It had things like 24/7 worship and prayer and social action going on helping the people who clean the streets every morning. We played in a school and ministered in an orphanage and tried to get a heart for that city. As a band we were getting cold feet because we had four days in Bangkok to start, and in those four days it was great. We’d be quite hyperactive, and it was flat-out, four days; not an hour was lost to sleep in those four days. On the Sunday we managed to play in one church and it was brilliant, but we wanted more. And then when we got to Pattaya . . . we said, ‘If you can get us anywhere else to play, anywhere, we want to play. We just want to do what we do in the middle of somewhere and just go head-on into it.”

“There was a bar called The Climax Bar - on a street that’s about 10 metres wide, it’s a kilometre long and it’s filled with everything you can physically imagine. And I promise you, as a red-blooded male, to keep your head in the right place you’ve got to look down at the ground and walk down that street and pray because it is just so in your face. People hit you with menus about everything, flashing lights, just everything you can imagine goes on in that place. You see kids as young as eight, nine, 10, just selling themselves, you know?! You see 60-year-old guys walking down the street with two 13 or 14-year-old girls. Forget about the Christian thing, you just get raging! You properly get raging when you see that happening, you know?!”

. . . We got the chance to play in this bar, a two-hour worship set in this bar. I don’t think the people in the bar spoke a word of English but we basically got to go in. The deal was that we play and we bring a following of people with us; so we’re there, set up, really good gear! So we all set up and there was like 20 Christians all standing in front of us, and the deal was we play, they buy lots of drinks, alright? I don’t think the place has ever sold so much Coke in its whole life in one night!

And we got to play for two hours. And just the way the band set up, we like using loops, and at one point I just started singing out. I started singing “Greater Things”, something along those lines, almost prophesying over the city. And without going into the band dynamics, slowly this groove emerged from this thing. And long story short; we walked out of that Climax Bar with pretty much a nailed song, as strange as that sounds. Then we were on the way home.

We were all. . .it was that tumbleweed silence, you know? It was like, ‘What actually just happened in that time?!’ It was one of the most powerful worship experiences we’ve ever had. I actually remember looking out, and you’re looking down a wee alleyway, into the street, and it was just 50 or 60 probably British tourists and they’re just sitting there listening going, ‘What is this all about?’ Coming from The Climax Bar which is pretty much a strip club. Just, here we are singing about Jesus in the middle of this. . . It was one of the most random experiences but it was a God thing, God was there.”

Powerful Video

Wow. I stole this from my World Race friend Michelle's blogsite. It's powerful.

Passion-Dallas

I spent this weekend at what must have been maybe...my 5th or 6th Passion Conference/Event in the last 11 years. This was my first time as a complete "spectator" and not the guy in charge. That was actually nice. I went with some of the college kids from Bayou View. I really enjoyed being with them and seeing them continue to press in to Jesus. My successor- Adam, is not only doing a great job but he drove all the way too!! (When you've driven these trips as much as I have over the years you really appreciate just sitting back and enjoying the ride!)

As always, the worship was amazing and the messages hit their mark. This marks I think the 2nd year that Passion has rallied college students to worship with their life and their "giving" in addition to other ways. There were just over 6000 students at the event in Dallas this weekend and they gave enough money to dig 5 wells in Africa (over $15000.00) and over $80,000.00 to fund the Passion World Tour in Seoul, South Korea later this year. And if that wasn't enough, they gave the shirts off their backs- literally- as they filled a 26 foot truck with their own jeans, hoodies, caps etc. that were delivered to college students at Union University that lost everything in tornadoes a few weeks ago.

Heather Mercer- one of the missionaries that was captured several years ago by the Taliban in Afghanistan spoke briefly. What a challenge. Ministers from Korea were on hand. South Korea has more than 10,000 missionaries serving around the world (2nd only to the US). The college pastor from a single church that has sent out more than 1000 of those missionaries was at the conference last night.

No doubt- God is big and is on the move. Here are a few of my notes from the weekend:

Francis Chan challenged us to be faithful in the small things. He was so dead-on when he said that this generation will give up their lives in a heartbeat- everyone wants to do the "huge" thing for God but what about the stuff we generally consider "little"- like emptying our wallet for those Wells in Africa or getting up a little early tomorrow to spend time in prayer?

Louie talked about enduring brokenness. He said, "One of the greatest ways to make Jesus famous is to praise Him when everything goes wrong, in the midst of brokenness" and "Our message is loudest when our lives are hurt the most." He spoke of exchanging emails with a young man that had lost his sister and was struggling with the goodness of God in a time like that. He didn't offer a pat or trite answer but simply said, "When you're going thru Hell- lock your gaze on the cross of Christ." What does the cross of Christ say to us in times like that? Among other things the cross reminds us that God loves us, that God allows for freedom but always maintains control, that He can take the worst situation (does it get any worse than being betrayed and beaten and crucified?) and turn it into something that glorifies Himself.

In one of our reflective times we were challenged to just be still and hear God's voice. This is what I think I heard:

• I AM forgiven
• You DO love me
• Live in the NOW

Not Wasted

To bring balance to the aforementioned blog (Wasted), the whole trip to the Coast was definitely NOT a wasted trip.

Not only did I get to go to church at Bayou View Sunday morning AND spend the night with the Gilreaths but Sunday night I was able to share about my World Race experiences with the folks at Agricola Baptist Church. They have been great friends ever since this adventure started.

Back in December 2006, a few weeks before hitting the trail with The World Race, they invited me to speak on a Wednesday night and tell them where I was headed and what God was doing in my life. Their Pastor is Tommy Mitchell- he was the Director of Missions for our Association for a while when I was Student Minister at Bayou View. Their Student Minister is my buddy and fellow Mississippi State Grad. Mark Williams. They warmly welcomed me back in ’06. A few members supported me financially as did the corporate church body during The World Race. They commented on my blogs, sent me emails and I know they prayed for me.

They had me back in their church last night as part of a monthly missions emphasis. I was warmly welcomed again and they promised to continue to support me emotionally and in prayer and financially if need be. They made me feel like I have a second church home to hold me up and hold my ropes.

Wasted

A wasted day. Thanks, Uncle Sam!

So, it started with a 3 hour wait at the Mississippi High Patrol License Office in Bay St. Louis. With plans to help drive the “new” church bus to Dallas this coming weekend for the Passion Conference I went to the MHP Office to get the “Air Brake” Endorsement for my 16 year old Commercial Driver’s License. Actually, to be more accurate, I didn’t “add” the Air Brake Endorsement, but I removed the Air Brake Limitation from my existing license. As if just going to that office isn’t bad enough. I walked in a 9:00 am and claimed my number- #22. They were serving number 4. It took 3 employees 3 hours to see 18 people ahead of me!

Anyway, I did finally take and pass the test. Then I learned that 1) According to a new law passed since the last time I renewed my license, that I now need a MS Dept. of Transportation certified Medical/Physical Exam Card, which means I have to get ANOTHER complete physical… and 2) I have to condescend to an actual Road Test (which I can’t do until mid-March because they are so short-handed and overbooked.

Is it like this all over the world? Slow, inefficient motor vehicle workers and ridiculous red tape?

The rest of the day? Every time I think I’ve finally finished all the paperwork necessary for my IMB Application, I get an email from them wanting clarification (all in regard to the medical portion of the application). So at least 3 times now I’ve had to go back to my doctors with these emails and get them to put together something more than 2 lines of chickenscratch about my kidney stones or cholesterol or happy pills or whatever. I need to finish the App. Before I got to Greece in March…at this rate, it’s questionable!

Southeastern Bible College Missions Conference

I'm at Southeastern Bible College (about 280 students) in Birmingham for a few days. I am representing AIM/The World Race at their annual Missions Conference. There are about a dozen ministries represented- people that I would consider "big kids on the block" in the mission world, like Wycliffe Bible Translators and the International Mission Board. Then there are some ministries I've never heard of and some independent missionaries. The World Race has generated a moderate amount of interest. I wish I had better promo materials. All I have is a handful of flyers from the home office and everything else is stuff I put together. Of course, I have some amazing pictures but the videos are all ripped from YouTube and they are pretty low quality.

It's encouraging though to be here with these other ministries and missionaries. (I plan to forward info about several of them to World Race Headquarters for future use...there are some people we will want to connect with in the future). The fellowship has been sweet. I feel like the smart aleck know-it-all-guy because every time someone around me starts talking about where they are serving…I can’t help but interject something because I’ve been there. I don’t mean to be that guy- really, I don’t. But I am. The World Race did that to me. So. There.

The keynote speaker is Dr. Billy Kim from Korea. He has been amazing. A US Army Sergeant sponsored him through college and seminary after the Korean War. He returned to Korea and began ministry in 1960 growing from a handful of people to a church of over 10,000 with missionaries all over the world. He translated for Billy Graham in the early 70’s before over a million people. He is a past president of the Baptist World Alliance. He has been incredibly gracious and inspiring.

Speaking of connecting with ministries in the future. I started emailing people about contacts in Eastern Europe about 2 weeks ago and the responses have been overwhelming in a good way. I will have plenty to do when I'm there and I shouldn't lack for a place to stay...which is really good. I'm looking forward to some work in Ukraine and in Romania in particular.

One of the missionaries here at the conference said this morning that as many as 1/3 of the women/girls in Moldova have been abducted for human trafficking (mostly sex trade). Can you imagine that? I mean, it's a tiny country, but still...1/3? He said unemployment is over 90%. They were probably better off in communism it seems. What a place to do ministry though. It's one of the countries I intend to visit on my trip this spring.

The next few weeks are shaping up to be slightly busy. I’ll be back on the Coast in MS next weekend to speak in a church, and then another church on Wednesday. I’m speaking at MS Gulf Coast Community College BSU on the 13^th as well. That following weekend I’m going to Passion in Dallas with the Bayou View college kids. Then back to the lake house for 2 more weeks of playing before spending some time with family and going to Greece!!