Category : Life
If I were to grade myself on a scale of 1 to 10 on how well I’ve been updating around here, I’d give myself a D-. But rather than apologize for a paragraph and rattle off reasons for not writing here, I figure that it’d be more productive if I were to just fill in some of what’s been going on here in Sydney.
Intensives finished a few weeks ago and we’re into the meat of our semesterly (I think I just made up a word) schedule. I absolutely love the classes and teachers that I have. I have three different music classes a week, two Old Testament classes, two personal leadership, and then chapel four times a week.
A few weeks ago, I went with three incredible people from my tutorial class to Mona Vale and went to the beach there. That was such a fun day and it ended with me getting probably the worst sunburn I’ve gotten in my life.
Then this last Monday, my entire tutorial class took a trip in to the city to do the touristy thing down at the opera house.
I love being here. This college and this church are challenging me constantly to become that man I was born to be. I leave every class feeling more like that man I was born to be.
This wasn’t very many words and only had a few pictures. But I will try to do better at updating this thing.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. – Ephesians 2:10
This is a picture my friend Justin took last night at an event called Elevate. Elevate is an event that happens a couple times a year where the entire creative team from all of the Hillsong comes together and worships and is challenged and inspired by the words spoken. The night was epic. Joel Abell brought a great message about the unforced rhythms of grace and definitely challenged me as to how I am going to live life this year. It was what happened on the way home though that I really received a revelation from God as to what I’ve been doing and what I am to do.
I was walking home from Maccas at about 10:30 and started praying and talking to Jesus about how amazing the night was and how I’m so thankful to be here and be a part of it. Now, I’ve been a fan of Hillsong music for around three years and I came down here with certain expectations of what I would see, hear, and feel during church/worship/whatever. God revealed to me that lately in times I’ve worshiped, I’ve been worshiping to try to get a feeling to come over me. I’ve been seeking an emotional state where I just start weeping during worship because of what’s going on. Then God whispered these words into my ears, “Don’t seek a feeling. Seek me.”
I’ve talked about how worship is more than a feeling before, but this really hit me last night as during the night, Joel Houston talked about freedom in worship and not abiding to the, “raise your hands during the chorus, sway during the verse” model we sometimes get caught up in. As people were really pressing into God and seeking God in that time, as I was pressing into and seeking after God in that time, worship felt different than it has since I’ve been here. It wasn’t about getting this mushy feeling inside. It was about worshiping God because he’s God.
Holy are You, God.
Holy is Your Name.
With everything I’ve got
My heart will sing “How I love You.”
This week was the first week of classes here at Hillsong. The first two weeks of classes here are known as intensives, where they squeeze a semester’s worth of two subjects into two weeks. I know. Anyway, yesterday all of the first year students were in a lecture with Robert Ferguson and he gave an illustration of God and our gifting and character that left me in awe and the room stunned.
There are flashy gifts in the Kingdom of God. There are the more prominent gifts. There are gifts that are more noticeable because it involves being on a platform singing or speaking. But those gifts don’t say anything about the person who has received it. It’s a testimony of God’s goodness that he would gift us. Like Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:4-5, There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. Ferguson then went on to say that it is our character in which we use the gifts that says something about us.
This was making sense to me, but my spirit hadn’t fully received what he was saying until he illustrated it out for the class. He opened his wallet and took out a fifty dollar bill. He asked who in the class room needed fifty dollars. A few people raised their hands and he walked over to a young woman from New York who raised her hand. He asked her if she needed the money. She said yes. He asked if she had prayed for God to provide. She said yes. He then gave her the fifty dollars from his wallet.
He asked the class, “What does this gift say about her?”
The room was amazed. I may have had to pick my jaw up off of the floor.
“Nothing.”
It spoke of his generosity, but it spoke nothing of the young woman from New York.
In the same way that Robert Ferguson’s gift of fifty dollars to the young woman said nothing about her. God’s giftings he’s given us say nothing about us. But it is a testimony to who He is. It’s what we do with the gifts that says something about us.
I feel like I’m starting to settle into living here. The last five days or so have been pretty packed with walking, setting stuff up, walking, trying to get a cell phone, more walking, awesome church services, and did I mention walking? My house is about two miles away from the church. So a trip to the church or the stores right by it is four miles round trip on foot. Yesterday, we all went to two services, the 10:45 and the 6:00 which made for over eight miles total and left everyone pretty exhausted by the end of it.
Today, I pretty much chilled at the house. Let the blisters on my feet heal up. Let the sunburn cool down a bit. It felt nice to just relax.
I did get my debit card from my new bank in the mail today, so I’ll be able to go shopping for a few new things that I need. (Having to have cash on you to buy stuff is a pain!) While I’m on the subject of shopping, here’s an interesting thing about living here. Shops and stores and such are only open until 5:00 most nights. Thursday nights are special and things are open until 9:00 but that’s it. So if you don’t have what you need by 5:00, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to get it. That may become a tad frustrating when school starts and classes run until 4:30-5:00. But we’ll deal with that when the time comes.
Church over the weekend was amazing. I went to three services over the weekend, Saturday night, Sunday morning, and then Sunday night. My housemates who have been here for a semester or two say that Church is the highlight of their week. I can see why.
The fact that this day is finally and already here is unreal.
See you all on the other side of the world.
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