Passion 2006

Here comes the big post. I would like to tell you Passion '06. Just try to imagine about 18,000 college students from all over the world coming together for one purpose. As the conference put it, the purpose is described by Isaiah 26:8 which says, "Lord, we love to obey your laws; our hearts desire is to glorify your name." There were students from all denominations, states, countries, and personal backgrounds that came to this conference. It was held in Nashville, and there are many different ways to describe how big it was. There were FLOODS of people coming up and down the streets. Every single seat at the GEC (Gaylord Entertainment Center) was filled. As Louis put it, "I'm glad to see so many college students in one place who are sober!"

Despite all the people there, we also had some time to get into small groups and also to hear various speakers. I will not talk about all of them, I will just mention what I got out of it. The most practical and applicable part that I took out of this conference, was when I went to the Breakout called, "Habitudes." The session was described as, "It will focus on truths regarding how to best lead yourself, connect with others, and lead your team." It did that through giving images that help to give you a clear picture of different types of leadership and organization techniques. The six images are the mirror effect, rivers and floods, Paul Revere Principle, Bit Market, Big Rocks First, and Life Sentence. I loved this workshop because I learn through pictures and this helped me a lot. All of these I loved, but the one image I liked best was Rivers and Floods. They are both bodies of water, but floods damage and rivers are useful in many ways. Rivers are flowing in one direction, with a single purpose. Floods go everywhere and cause unspeakable damage. Just think of Katrina or the tsunami's around the world. This image also gives the impression that in our ministry we start off as rivers. We have clear focus and great clarity. Then we try to take on thing after thing, it ends up flooding. The questions are, "What is your River?" and "Are you starting to flood?"

If you want to learn any more about this, go to www.growingleaders.com. Habitudes was by Dr. Tim Elmore. I personally do not have the books, but this has helped me out. There is so much more to say about the conference. We talked about how BIG God is and how SMALL we are. It just blows your mind. There was a lot of focus on suffering and the fact that we have the potential to change history. Personally that kind of freaked me out. Although you have to remember that God is bigger than you think. I know I'm guilty of putting him in a box. If you have any more questions, feel free to comment. I hope you all have a great rest of the day.