Day 311: A God Encounter

You know those days when there's something major happening, and you just know that it's gonna be a good day?

Hillsong church hosted A God Encounter, an evening where the entire church (as in all 4 campuses and all 35 extension services) came together in the Sydney Entertainment Center to full on worship God while recording a new album at the same time. There's not much I can say, considering it was a mind-blowing experience. Well yeah, my morning was great, and the afternoon was just rehearsing and hanging out with good friends, but man the evening was AMAZING. I can't say much about it's technical stuff, but one of the highlights of the night (maybe my week. Maybe even my YEAR) was a specific song that was sung by the one and only Darlene Zschech accompanied by Hillsong Stockholm's worship pastor on piano. All I can say about this particular song is that not only did I cry inside because of the message (and the EPIC PIANO LINE, OH MY WORD IT'S SERIOUSLY ONE OF THE GREATEST I'VE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!), but I also felt such a peace at heart for the moment. It's awesome to see what takes place in the DVDs, but to actually BE there? It's a whole different experience. You don't get the mass quantity of God's presence in the DVD, but you definitely can see it. I consider it one of the highest honors to have been a part of it. Thousand of hands raised high, thousands of voices joined together in worship, and a bunch of songs that will certainly impact churches everywhere; these are the things that will stick with my memory of tonight. I'm glad they called this evening a God encounter; it's exactly what it was.

God bless,
Steven

Day 310: Men and Their Meat

So Men's Conference is over. It was only 24 hours, but it was a great conference; the leadership of this church are some of the best I've ever known. There's so much wisdom built up from the pastors, elders, and teachers of this church; when you have people like Brian Houston, Joel A'Bell, Robert Fergusson, Scott Samways, Mark Hopkins, Duncan corby, Ian Woods, and Robert Fergusson on the same team, you know there's something heavenly happening. A. R. Bernard gave an incredible word to end off the conference, and we all left impacted and ready to be the kind of men God calls us to be. I also got to have some more bonding time with Josh; Laz had to work all day today, and Donny had to catch up on his assessments, so we were the only ones that went today. When we came back, I relaxed for a bit and then went to the city with Donny and Andrew to check out a sushi buffet we heard about. It turned out to be a very, very good dinner; well worth the trip.

This weekend is one of the most important of the church's year. Especially tomorrow. There's a lot of faith stirring over the city, and there's big expectations to see lives changed. We could really use prayer that the album recording will be an experience that will shake this city; I believe it.

God bless,
Steven

Day 309: You Go, Bernard!!

Today was awesome. Like, seriously awesome. I was supposed to get up super early to be part of a support crew, but I ended up sleeping through my alarm (I actually laughed about that happening). Christian Doctrine was a bit different today, because we had an exam; let's just say I will be retaking that due to my mind having gone blank at one point. After a lengthy break, chapel was next; it was such a great time, and we got to hear from the worship pastor of Hillsong Stockholm. Pretty much, my morning was good, and so was my afternoon. Our songwriting lecture was turned into a small preview of the Theology of Worship class that I'll be taking next year; Mary did a great job of presenting an idea of what we'll be doing for that class. when class was over, I had some time before the weekend REALLY started. Tonight, it was Men's Conference, and man was it great. Dr. A. R. Bernard gave an incredible message about the differences between Christians that live by preference and those that live out of conviction. He talked about how we should be men that live by conviction; with this mindset we can stand firm against all odds instead of being susceptible to pressure. It was an amazing word. When we got back here, I went with Josh to Hungry Jack's (because he was really hungry), and then we chilled with Donny and Becca. It was a nice way to end the evening; tomorrow should be just as good.

God bless,
Steven

Day 308: Taking Out the New York City-s

Today. Excellent. Here's why. Sisterhood was great; I got to work on camera 1 today, and it was loads of fun. Robert Fergusson spoke on the reasons why he love his wife (it was a sweet message, really), and how that reflects what guys like to see in girls. It didn't necessarily affect me, but I always enjoy his wisdom, and it was great that he could preach to the Sisterhood. After that, there was the chapel team meeting, which went great; we discussed the last 4 weeks of chapel and what we're going to do for them. IT's so weird hearing that there's only 4 weeks left of college.... but anyways, New Testament was also a great class; Duncan talked about the gospels and why some gospels are full on different from the others. After that, I attempted to work on the assessments that got marked not yet competent; little success, but I managed to re-upload two (only to find out less than 10 minutes ago that one of them is STILL NYC!!!). All this is going to do is make this weekend stressful for me, because I don't want to have to deal with these man! I can't wait for them to be over and done with... other than that and a nice trip to ol' Mad Mex with some good friends, my day was excellent. I just really prayer that I can get these assessments competent before the finalization day.

God bless,
Steven

Day 307: A Cool Box

Day off. An excellent day off. I got to spend some time to myself, and it was great. I got to go outside and marvel at God's creation, which was great. I talked with my dad over Skype, and even though there were some connection issues it was still nice to hear from him. The highlight of the day was the Box; it was by far the best one because we had it in the 2nd auditorium and aside from Powerhouse. Everyone gave very impressive performances, and I finally got to show my video! I could go into more details, but I am really, really tired, and I want sleep. So..... good night!

God bless,
Steven

Day 306: My Heart Is Overwhelmed

All you need to know about today is that it was blessed, highly favored, and that the upcoming album recording is going to be one of the greatest experiences of my life. Classes were great, chapel was awesome, the musicianship workshop was exceptionally fun, and the rehearsal for the weekend was amazing. I cannot wait for this weekend to just come already!!

God bless,
Steven

Day 305: Gets Me Every Time

I search for You God of strength
I bow to You in my brokenness
And no other King could have so humbly come
To save my soul and heal my heart
I have nothing more than all You offer me
There is nothing else that’s of worth to me

And I love You Lord
You rescued me
You are all that I want
You’re all that I need

I pray to You God of peace
I rest in You my cares released
I have nothing more than all You offer me
There is nothing else that’s of worth to me

And I love You Lord
You rescued me
You are all that I want
You’re all that I need

In Your freedom I will live
In Your freedom I will live
I offer devotion, I offer devotion

This was the first Hill-song that tugged at my heart; I'm pretty sure I listened to it over and over and over for about a month. This song still holds a special place in my heart; always will I bet. Today was... man, just unbelievable. I can't even begin on how epic this day was. I can tell you the massive highlights though!
So number one, I turned in all my assessments on time!!! Man, I was so relieved. Now I only have 3 left before I am done with assessments for this year.
Number two: my core tutorial group. Today, Tracey started off by asking for prayer requests. We started off with a few, but after a while it became a full on church service. Everyone laid down requests, and before we knew it we were praying over each other, praying in tongues, and just living out the Pentecost man!! I was so drawn back from that whole experience; we prayed with each other for about 40 minutes without stop, and we could have gone for much longer. It was such a powerful experience; we spoke over each other's lives and built one another up in love. I've spent an entire year living alongside these amazing people, and I love them all so much. I'm gonna lose so many people after this year's done... I need to stop thinking about it..
Number three: TV awards night! So this evening the city campus TV crew joined together to just hang out and recognize some of the team for their great work. It was lots of fun; we had some of the TV crew perform some live music, had some food, and got to know some of the other crew. The surprise came when I was actually nominated for one of the awards!! So now I have this random trophy:

I have to admit, this is pretty cool. I feel honored to be part of such an amazing part of Hillsong church; this entire year has been an honor, and it only goes up from here. God has really impacted me this past week; I haven't felt more inspired than I am now. Father, you're the best man; thank You so much for all You've done for me.

God bless,
Steven