To say last night was amazing is… well, I don’t know. All I know is that amazing just would not cut it. To better describe the last night of Hillsong's 2013 Conference one would have to use words like inspiring; revelation; mind-opening; surprising; emotional; humorous; love-filled; spirit-filled; infinite; you know, something along those lines.

However, because it is physically impossible for me to rewind time and bring you with me, I suppose I could just give you the key points I received from Pastor Judah Smith's all-those-above-words-and-a-bit-more message.

1. John 3:16 + Romans 5:6-8 are alive and real because God is love. (1 John 4:8). It is literally impossible for Him not to love us and everyone including the bad people because He knows no other way. He is love and He will always be love

2. God is a groupie. For example, look at Justin Beiber and his groupies. A bunch of people willing to do anything to meet, see, and hear Justin Beiber no matter the cost. They follow him to all - if not, most - of his shows; they dream of the day that he will be theirs; and every thing he does they hope it’s for them even though they know that there’s a strong possibility that won’t ever happen. Hence, God is our groupie. He longs to be with us, to hear us, to speak to us, and to see us even though He knows some will reject Him. God longs for our praises and will never stop looking for them.

3. He’s got a bad case of the so-loves. I mean just look at John 3:16 for example. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him shall not die but have everlasting life.” With that then comes so many other things:

For God so loves us that…

He continues to forgive us EVERY time we stuff up (1 John 1:9)
He helps us find our way when we find ourselves lost. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
He wants nothing but an awesome life for us. (Jeremiah 29:11)
makeup, muscles, clothes, and looks don’t matter to Him. (1 Samuel 16:7)
He will NEVER forget you - even though it feels as though He has. (Isaiah 49: 15-16)
His loving ways will remain the same forever - (Hebrews 13:8)

There are so many other cases where His love is evident. It’s not only the Bible that will show you them, just look back at your life ad see the proof! It’s unbelievable to think such a great being can work on such a microscopic level too.

4. He is the Hosea to our Gomer. If you flip through the book of Hosea, you will find a story of a wealthy and prominent man in society who was told by God to marry a woman of lesser value, a prostitute (Mind you, back then that had got to be one of the most embarrassing and awkward things you could do). So Hosea married her and they were living a pretty good life with their 3 kids until one day she ran out on him. Hosea looked everywhere for her only to finally find her back in the slums selling herself again. It was after he had seen his own wife in her demoralizing position that God told Hosea, take her back (Hosea 3:1). God wanted Hosea to forgive her and have her come back with him. (Just hold on, it gets crazier). Not only did he have to take her back, he then found out that he had to buy her back - his own wife! Being the man he was, Hosea bought her from another and then proclaimed his love with a new set of vows (Hosea 3:3).

Imagine that, having to buy something that you didn’t lose, that you cherished, that you loved, something that was already yours. That is what God did with us. We were His until sin took us away. He then had to send His only son to die for us as a wage to get us back. If that is not real love I do not know what is.

The message given by Pastor Judah went a bit deeper than what you just read but the whole point of it still remains. We are loved so much by God that it’s too crazy to wrap our heads or hearts around it. In short, we are loved by God.

I just want to end this post with some of the last words Pastor Judah said:

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. - 1 John 4:10-11

Teniola Komolafe May 5, 2013

Music of the Month

1. Ellie Goulding - Your Song

2. Bridgit Mendler - Ready or Not

3. Hillsong - Stay and Wait

4. Matt Corby - Brother

5. Phil Wickham - Divine Romance

6. Ben Rector - When a Heart Breaks

Teniola Komolafe May 5, 2013

Music of the Month

1. Ellie Goulding - Your Song

2. Bridgit Mendler - Ready or Not

3. Hillsong - Stay and Wait

4. Matt Corby - Brother

5. Phil Wickham - Divine Romance

6. Ben Rector - When a Heart Breaks

Teniola Komolafe May 5, 2013

Music of the Month

1. Ellie Goulding - Your Song

2. Bridgit Mendler - Ready or Not

3. Hillsong - Stay and Wait

4. Matt Corby - Brother

5. Phil Wickham - Divine Romance

6. Ben Rector - When a Heart Breaks

Teniola Komolafe May 5, 2013

Music of the Month

1. Ellie Goulding - Your Song

2. Bridgit Mendler - Ready or Not

3. Hillsong - Stay and Wait

4. Matt Corby - Brother

5. Phil Wickham - Divine Romance

6. Ben Rector - When a Heart Breaks

You are not alone

Teniola Komolafe April 29, 2013

How many times have you heard someone say, “You are not alone?” Whether it was directed at you or to someone else, it’s probably been quite a few times right? However, no matter how many times you have heard it please don’t ever become desensitized to that truth. Don’t ever forget that it is truth.

Last week I attended a Hillsong album recording with a few friends. Although admission was free it was still sold out. By that I mean that everyone there was sold out for Jesus. It wasn’t about watching a show, showing up to meet friends, or showing off your religiosity. As the pastor said, that night was about “your spirit identifying with its creator”. That’s exactly what happened. I loved being in the midst of so many people who were so on fire for God.

It was such a humbling experience because it reminded me of how far God has brought me. My entire life I have always grown up in or around the church. As I grew older and moved away from home for college my relationship with Christ became stagnant. I allowed the things around to affect me negatively. In my eyes it seemed as though no one else was going through the same things I was. I invited people to youth group but most of the time they were too busy; I stayed in some weekends while others went out because God was calling me to be different; not to mention the ride to church was a lonely one because again, like most times my friends had other plans. After a while I found myself questioning my beliefs and asking if this was really a life worth living. It was a difficult time in my life because this new road God was calling me to walk left me feeling abandoned. Even though I had grown up in the church I seriously considered leaving it for a while (Man, let me just take a moment to say that doubt, lies, and cloudy thoughts will have you feeling every emotion God never desired for your life).

Moving on to my senior year, God brought me the most amazing set of friends. Friends that understood the lifestyle God was calling me to lead, friends that I could pray with, and most of all these same people were asking me to join in on their youth group! I remember one service I found myself crying during the praise and worship. At that moment God reminded me: “This is what you prayed for freshman year. A group of girls - and some guys - that you could grow close to so you would not feel alone as you grew up in me.” Funny how I had forgotten that prayer until then. Looking back though, I’m glad I did because it made me appreciate those God-given friendships all the more.

Long story short, this is why I urge you Christians to remember that you are not alone. The world will have you feel like you’re a crazy Christian; too religious; uncool; and amongst a bevy of other things, unwanted. There are other people out there just like you who want more people like YOU as a friend, just patiently wait on God for them. Although, even when you are waiting you still aren’t alone - you have Jesus.

Lastly, I just want to share this with you:

Romans 5: 3-5 “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”