So this last weekend I went to YS Palooza. A youth ministry networking conference in Irving and I was really excited because I went last year and got some amazing networking, reconnection, and amazing encouragement from the Lord. This year I expected just the same, but I was mistaken.
It was so much more.
I had a feeling that God was up to something after the first worship gathering where Shane and Shane led us in worship and if you haven’t ever experienced that, then you probably should. Like now! Actually wait until after read this post then go! It was nothing short of amazing! Great worship, but it was nothing compared to the worship that I experienced that Friday night.
After a day of great training given to us by Doug Fields, Walt Mueller, and Brian Berry we had another chance to worship the Lord again. Shane and Shane led in worship singing, “It is Well” and it was ridiculously awesome. During the verse where it says that our sins have been nailed to the cross and that they are no more (mind you I am paraphrasing) something amazing happened.
You ever had a worship experience where you felt the presence of God so in your heart and soul that afterwards you couldn’t explain even a word of what that experience was like?
Yeah that is what happened.
In fact its taken days to even try to explain this moment to you, and I am fairly sure that you will still not get a true picture of what that moment was like, and maybe that’s the point. Maybe I don’t need to explain what that moment was like but what I learned from this experience. I don’t remember a lot from that moment, but what I do remember is that the presence of God was so present and so alive that I could stay there forever because it was pure and uninhibited joy. Then I heard something in my heart.
“Brad, your sins are gone. You can stop apologizing.”
Hearing the spirit say to me, “Stop Apologizing” was quite weird, but the next day it made perfect sense.
We sin all the time. All the time.
One second we can be praising God and the next cursing him by our actions. It’s a part of being human. We naturally do things that go against being holy, but that doesn’t mean we should stop trying. I love the phrase that John Wesley once said, “We are going on to perfection.” Notice he doesn’t say that we will be perfect, in fact we never will but that we should journey towards it.
One of the mysteries of our faith is one of the most amazing things about God. That while we weren’t perfect and would never be perfect Christ died for us.
I am not saying that we since we aren’t perfect and will never be that we just give up and admit,
“Well I am a sinner, and that’s that.”
No.
Christ died to save us from that. When we accept him into our heart our former identity of sin, sin, sin died with Christ on that cross.
I pray that you will be blessed with my words, but also know that these are not my words but the words that I believe God has placed on my heart today, so I hope you hear what I heard. In all things worship and give praise to God. At all times!