The multi-ethnic church family that I am a part of is amazing.  Thus far I have heard from Pastor Grace from Lagos, Nigeria, Pastor Rice Broocks, Efren Penaflorida from the Philippines (CNN Hero of the year), Pastor Yesupadam Paidamula from India and Darlene Zschech from Australia.  You can actually listen to the podcasts of all theses speakers at www.en2010.com website.

That does not even mention the Amazing Grace moment tonight where 50 different languages sang together in glorious [praise unto God.  When all the voices joined in together in their own native languages all at once, it was like a sound I have never heard before (literally). But it was more than that, as I believe it was a sound like heaven, and tears began to stream down my face.

After closing out the night with another 2 songs and jumping around like I was 10 years younger it is time for so sleep though ever so brief.  It is 12 midnight now and we have a sound check at 7:15 a.m.  Couldn’t somebody else say “check one, two three” in the mic for me?

Nevertheless, it was really exciting to begin to meet everyone and start to work things out as a team.  On our particular team we have 11 vocalists, one from South Africa, one from New Zealand (now in Singapore) and the rest from the Philippines.  All of our hosts from the Philippines are so very nice and accommodating.

At the same time we are leading in our venue there is another team leading simultaneously in the venue right above us.  We can’t all fit in one room so we are split up into two venues.  It will be a technological and logistical trick, but they seem to be pulling it off thus far.

One funny thing is where Karla and I are standing on the stage.  The stage is huge and we are on the ends, opposite each other.  So we wave at one another every now and then as we lead our separate sides of the auditorium. I joked with everyone that we were the white bread ends and the rest of the middle was international (or as my friend from New Zealand, said, a reverse Oreo).

Going to bed now… good night.

We took another cab back to our hotel (a out a 20 minute drive with traffic).  The traffic is a bit crazy as you might imagine.  Lots of cars trying to fit in very tight spaces… wow!

We are getting a bite to eat right now and headed over to the conference venue (about 5 minutes from our hotel).  We will participating in a 5 hour rehearsal.  I don’t think I have rehearsed that long for anything since I was in college.  I should sleep well again tonight.

The flights were smooth, the connections were great and every plane left and arrived on time.  With that many connections and that far of a distance, that is really awesome in my book.  We got all of our luggage (though Karla had to sweat hers out since it came up near the end of the pile), and a very nice couple from Victory Church here in Manila took us to our hotel.

Tonight the goal is to sleep (which I don’t feel like will be a problem), and get our bodies used to this time zone.  At least no one will walk by me while my head is bobbing and my mouth is wide open, which is about the only sleep I have been getting the past 24 hours.

Tomorrow we have a dress rehearsal with the worship team at 3:00pm, and it will be our first opportunity to meet the rest of the worship team. I know it will be a great experience worshiping with our extended spiritual family.

I’ll keep you posted the best that I can.

We are excited about the opportunity to be a part of this incredible gathering of nations in Manila, as we lead worship.  I know it will be an incredible time.

But for now I am getting ready for the comforts of the airplane and the ease with which I can sleep (NOT).

So here is what I am not going to do.  I am not going to Google image search this fiasco to see all the “outrageous” outfits everyone is talking about.  I am not going to YouTube footage of it to see what all the “fuss” is about. And after I get done typing this blog, I am not going to give a second thought to what movie awards were given out by MTV as if that would influence what I might view myself.

Here is the reason why.  I don’t need to see it or hear it to know what I already know.  Can fresh water and salt water come out of the same spring? (James 3:10-12)  I am sure there were lewd outfits, unabashed profanity, and blatant disrespect for women and sexuality.  Why is everyone so shocked?   MTV (More Trashy Viewing) is what it is.  It is like me going to see a pornographic movie, exiting the theater and sending a tweet to all my friends saying “can you believe they just showed people having sex in that movie?”  I mean seriously, who goes to a zoo and is astonished to see animals there? It would be the same people who watch MTV and expect to see something redeeming or even at the very least entertaining.

I know some will feign they were doing “research” as a “cultural watchdog trying to stay relevant to the world around us.”  And everyone has to strike a balance on how to stay “in touch” with the audience you are trying to reach, being all things to all people so as to win some (and I am primarily speaking to those who are leading others to Christ). But the end result and the motivation for whatever we do must be the same as the Apostle Paul’s, “for the sake of the Gospel.” So if we want to be relevant remember this simple thought, Truth is relevant.

Anyone can state the obvious, the darkness is getting darker.  I would rather spend less time commenting on the culture around me and more time influencing the culture.  Though there is nothing wrong with social commentary, we all do it and it has it place, there is far more benefit to social justice. So in essence we get to choose whether we want to react after the fact or whether we prefer being on the offensive while exerting our God given influence.

The Bible is clear that we are to be in the world, but not of it.  I am trying my best to live that way, though at times I know I fail miserably.  However, because of this truth I know I’ll have to take a bath in the toilet enough as it is, living in a world that has lost its moral compass.  And although some things are unavoidable, I don’t have to dunk my head in the toilet by my own choice,  and if I do, then there is no need to act like I am surprised to have smelled something less than “fresh” while down there.

With that in mind the word consecration comes to mind.  Maybe there is a time of consecration taking place in the Body of Christ, where those that love Him are being set apart for His purposes.  Holy is being “set apart by God and for God (His purposes).”  Consecration then is to devote, declare and dedicate ourselves to be those that are holy as He is holy.

One of the ways we do that is by confession.  Confession of what you may ask?  Sin.  And here is where we can all go astray.  I have a tendency to call sin in my life anything other than sin.  Christians usually use words like “mistake” or even better “a liberty.”  The non-believer typically would say, “it’s none of your business,” ‘its my life,” and/or “you cannot force your morality on me.”  God would call all things that do not measure up to His divine standard the same thing, sin.

Let me just address the “mistake” or “liberty.”  In most cases, when juxtaposed with the holiness of God, there are not too many legitimate mistakes or liberties.  I did not say there were not any, just not many.  It has become an overused excuse.  A mistake is something I did not intend to do, don’t want to do again and am truly grieved about what happened, not just sad I got caught.  A true liberty should lead to freedom, not deeper darker “liberties.” So let’s get honest with ourselves and God and not try to weasel out of our desperate need to confess, repent and fall on our face before God because He is holy and we are supposed to want to be holy like Him.

This is not directed at anyone in particular other than myself.  I know there are things that God is working out of me, and there are areas of my life that He wants to change so that I can bring glory to His holy name.  Until we all recognize our desperate need for a Savior and our ongoing need of the help of the Holy Spirit to live holy lives, we will continue to make “mistakes” and exercise our “liberties.”  The great news is that Jesus welcomes sinners, which like Paul said, I am one of the biggest.  But in His arms, through the power of the cross, salvation and the help of the Holy Spirit I can now live a life that reflects God’s true character.  Make no mistake about that, He is not just the standard for our holiness, He is our source.

The problem with this approach is that the voice of the people is fickle.  One day you are a hero and the next a pariah to society which should be warning enough that image is not everything.  Ironically enough Jesus had a public relations problem.  His problem was the people had an image of the Messiah that Jesus didn’t quite fulfill.  The way He approached life was a public relations nightmare for ascending the throne of power and becoming a conquering King.

A bad public image plagued His entire ministry. A carpenter from Nazareth? A wanderer?  A friend of sinners?  “This is not the makings of a political powerhouse,” most people thought.  “To top it all off He claims to be able to forgive sins and that He is in fact the Son of God,” and literally all hell breaks loose because of these audacious claims.  No PR guy could stop the chain of events that would follow.  The end of His ministry is a microcosm of His image problems with the people.  In less than a week’s time Jesus goes from parades, praises, and Hosannas, to crucify Him!  This would be the most poignant example of the fickle nature of the “voice of the people.”

The truth about Jesus was that no conflicts between His public and private images existed.  He was the same no matter where he was, God in the flesh, full of love and compassion.  There were some other characteristics that raised eyebrows as well, like brokenness, surrender and holiness. All of these played a major role in making a way for Him to secure the ultimate victory for our eternity through His death, burial and resurrection.  It also made a way for us to experience these characteristics in our own lives as true marks of our faith in Jesus Christ.  In fact, we must have brokenness, surrender and holiness present in our own lives if we are to truly reflect the image of God to others.

The Latin term for Image of God, is “Imago Dei” and was the title of our sermon series during the month of April.  All too often we say we want God in our lives, but we want to make Him in our own image.  When He does not line up with our pre-conceived ideas of how things should be, we become “fickle” and turn away.  However, we were made in the image of God and Jesus made a way for us to bear His image like never before, we just have to follow in His footsteps.  It may not be exactly what we thought, but it is exactly what we need.