an itching inside of me.

God is so cool. He's laid a few things on my heart this past weekend. Here's the jist of it all:
Agape got back from our mini tour last night. 6 concerts from friday night to sunday night. they were all great, don't get me wrong, but one concert stands out in my mind by a mile. after a long two days we pulled up to Teen Challenge. the name suggests a place for teens, but actually it's for women ages 18 +. Something to do with the government in california and the fact that God is a big part of teen challenge; if minors were involved God would have to be taken out of the equation, so 50 women who were 18 or older lived atop a beautiful hill surrounded my green mountains, birds, trees, and every other awesome thing God has created in nature.

While the sound crew set up the sound equipment and risers, the rest of us got to walk through the rows of women, starting conversations. A few other girls and I started talking to 5 ladies and we quickly figured out how great the concert was going to be. They were all funny, nice and chatty! (characteristics we don't often come across on agape tours.)
it was time to start the concert and we were already pumped up. They clapped and cheered whenever anyone had a solo or a intro, sang along with our songs, and worshiped God openly.
After a full set and lots of smiling, one girl who was probably about 20 years old got up and announced that all 50 women wanted to sing a few songs for us! we sat down in their seats on the lawn and they got up on our risers, sopranos and altos. it was so much fun! they sang three songs, and they weren't focused on whether or not they were standing in the correct way, singing the exact part, making the phrases energized or dropping their jaws, they were singing to God.
After their songs we all got into a HUGE circle and held hands. It was probably my favorite prayer i've ever been apart of. Two women from Teen Challenge prayed, but something about it was so different. not only were they praying completely selflessly, but they were just so humbled and... I don't know! something about it was so different!
We then helped them take all the chairs back inside, it was dark out by then and getting chilly!
they encouraged us singers to find a girl or two and just talk with them. They were all so willing to share their testimonies.
a few other girls and I were standing in a circle with Jillian (23) and Ashley (19). We weren't asking them questions about their walks with the Lord or trying to encourage them with Gods love, it was completely opposite of what we were used to doing. They were asking us about our stories and families and hardships, and as soon as the first of started crying Jillian asked if she could pray for us. They prayed for us! Gosh, they're so awesome.
There's so much more i could say about that experience, but I would be writing for days.

We have the mindset of going into a situation with Agape to encourage people, but these women completely flipped the scripts and were acting like older sisters! Praying for us and caring for us like they'd known us forever!
They were ON FIRE for God. It was kind of like being up at Hume lake, everyone loved the Lord, and no one was afraid to say it.
A "pocket" of Jesus lovin' if you will.


I want my church to be like that. I want that SO badly. Pretend everyone in the world was a Christian, loving God with all their hearts. Would that change the way you talked to everyone?
See, these women wouldn't change the way they spoke to me if I wasn't a Believer. "Praise Jesus", "I will have 50 women praying for that", "God is so great" are just a few of the phrases that those women say in their everyday conversations! It doesn't matter if you know the Lord or not, because they do, and they are excited about it.

Chad talked about submitting to authority on saturday night.
Read Matthew 8:5-13.
Jesus" was astonished" with this man. How often does Jesus, the Son of God get astonished by a man? not often, i'm sure. That centurion knew what's up. He had 100 men under him, but he didn't let that get to his head. He really got it. Jesus was clearly above him on the authority chain and that man understood that.
Chad dug a little deeper with the whole subject, but i won't preach his whole sermon over again. :) It was just an awesome thought, and a good reminder to respect my elders.

Then the next morning Jon preached at the church we were staying at, about how WE are the church, not the pretty building with the white, shining steeple. Another cool thought.

I want my church--us-- to be madly in love with Jesus, to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit", and to be focused on God.
Enough with the drama of who's sitting with who, what so-and-so is wearing, where you're going to stay on your missions trip, when the sunday school teacher will let your kids out of class, and why he chose that verse to speak on. Who what where when why.
I'm an awful example myself. Lets ALL change. This world terrifies me, and I feel like/know that i'm running out of time to change things!

I don't want us to be lukewarm for Christ. Revelation 3:15-17.
Choose a side! HOT or COLD. Either be all-out for Christ, or don't be at all. Sounds harsh, I know, and I want everyone to be hot, on FIRE for God.


I'm clueless as to how i'm going to change things in this world.
I'm not going to stress it, it'll happen in Gods time, I just have something itching inside of me to get out and get everyone in the right place with God.
Future missionary much? Sounds like it as of now, but i'm for sure not going to get ahead of God and start planning out my whole life. Just going with the flow. :)