Becoming Chris Kamalski

Passion...13 years and the wave of awakening in universities is growing!

I just spent the past 5 days in Atlanta at my 8th(!) Passion Conference as a part of Passion 2010. Joining 22,000 university students from almost every state in the US, as well as 40 countries throughout the world, I am more convinced than ever that the glory of God is rising up in creative, beautiful ways throughout the whole wide world. God really is redeeming all things!

This logo makes me happy, as I know my heart is going to explode with the greatness of God shortly after seeing it.

I thought I’d repeat what I wrote yesterday:

Suffice to say, I return home to San Jose with an awakened heart, a sharpened mind, wide open eyes to the global generation of university students God is stirring to join His work throughout the people groups of the world, engaging worship + justice together in a beautiful expression of a life poured out for the glory of God. I feel centered, slowed, and dependent again on the person and presence of Christ in my life. I am eager to turn my attention forward to the next few months of preparation and fundraising so that I can return to Pretoria, South Africa with NieuCommunities for the next two years. I am called to step out in faith, to believe that God has called me forward, and to obey what is unfolding in my heart as a result of the Spirit’s internal work. I am ready.

Here are a few unedited scribblings, quotes, and thoughts from the past 5 days of FANTASTIC teaching from gifted communicators around the world. I’ll unpack these in greater depth upon a bit of rest and recovery these next few days.

The heartbeat of Passion, the glory and fame of God.

Scriblings from Passion 2010

• “The tragedy is when we hang onto a little life, believing that Jesus is not the best thing there is. It is good to trade something small (a life I run and am in charge of) for something large (the Grand Epic Story of God, centering on God)” (Louie Giglio)
• “It is possible that the reason something is happening to me is so the Son of God can be glorified in my life.” (Louie Giglio)
• “Jesus…wake me up (A powerful prayer). When you get a wake up call, you celebrate the one who woke you up. You invite Him into your home, and pour something expensive over him in worship.” (Louie Giglio)
• “It stinks behind our gravestone, and yet Jesus is not afraid of the smell. God wants to bring us back to full life (“Unbind Lazarus, and let him go”) (Louie Giglio)
• “Somehow going through the fire says more to the world than in the normal moments we exist like everyone else in the world.” (Louie Giglio)
• “At some point our songs must grow legs and move into a broken and hurting world to bring justice.” (Louie Giglio).

The unified cry of 22,000 university students this week (Not my photo).

• “You will never live a day in the Spirit accidentally. Quit trying to run in someone else’s lane. Run your own race, seeking to imitate Jesus!” (Beth Moore)
• “I have been given all things pertaining to life and godliness. If I believe this and am living an ungodly life, whose fault is it?” (Francis Chan)
• “It is always a mistake to decide what we want to do before we become who we want to be. Who you are on the inside completely determines what you will do. Your talent has the potential to sweep you past what your character can maintain. My talent, education, and ability may make my name known prior to my internal world being fully matured. There are no exceptions to this. As an adult, no one will force me to consider who I am becoming. They will focus on who I know and what I am doing.” (Andy Stanley)
• “Honesty is the foundation of every single relationship. Purity paves the way for intimacy. Generosity insures that the things I own never own me. What are the words I want to define me? These words form an invisible perimeter around my developing character (who I am becoming). If we get this right, we can become leaders worth following.” (Andy Stanley)

The word theme we gathered around (Not my photo, taken from playback).

• “God’s God-centeredness is a powerful test of our God-centeredness. Is our God-centedness a cloak for our true man-centeredness? If I am a God-centered person I will love God’s commitment to God. Does my opposition to God mean I am truly man-centered (even me-centered)?” (John Piper)
• “Self-forgetfulness in the presence of Greatness (God) is the capstone of joy. God is the one being in the universe for whom self-exaltation is not a thing of ego, but actually is the most loving possible conclusion” (John Piper).

Does Atlanta employ the same sign welcoming committee as St. Louis?