carry the name

i was lucky enough to travel to GA over Valentine's day wknd to see some very special ppl :) ahh i just love being in the South-- the smell of fresh mountain air, the sun on ur face, the sweet sound of southern accents, and who can pass up sweet tea?! yes, i will take it anyday :) one of the best parts was when i got to experience Passion City Church in downtown ATL. get this- Chris Tomlin is the worship leader and Louie Giglio is the pastor- what?! best.service.ever. i mean you walk into this huge building built for theater productions/concerts and it is just packed full of ppl-- about 5 floors high!! mallory and i had the pleasure of climbing all those stairs to the very top of the balcony haha which she has never experienced ;) but it was one of the best worship experiences i have had in a long time. i just kept looking around at all these ppl, and then back at chirs, and then mal, in awe. what made it more percious was just being there with someone who has a very special place in my heart. when you get to share not only the love for eachother but the love and bond of Jesus..ahh soo good!! (mallory and i met at Winshape (in GA) and have been best friends for the past 4 yrs!!)

ironically enough that night the Grammy's were on and Chris Tomlin was up for an award but instead of going to the Grammy's he chose to be at church that night to worship with us :D how cool?!!

and if you have never heard even a snipit of louie preach u need to check him out!! don't worry i will post a lil sampling ;)

well as you know Africa is quickly approaching... can not even believe in 30 days from today i will be standing in a dif. COUNTRY!!! something i was reminded of during louie's sermon though, was it doesn't matter if i go to Africa or the grocery store, i won't get any more credit by being in uganda, but it matters whose name i am carrying when i get there. Jesus. Jesus holds the name that is above ALL names. but we live in a culture that throws His name around like "Tom" or "Lauren". we are born name carriers. think about it-- we wear Nike, Abercrombie and Fitch, AE, etc. we talk about Lady Gaga, Usher, Justin Bieber, etc. ok you get the point... we have to be bold- we must be obedient- the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tounge shall confess.
Louie left us with this assignment: Carry the name!! wear it, live it, speak it, share it, bring it, love it.

it was really encouraging to hear that no matter where i am i need to be bold with the name of Jesus. there will not be more spiritual credit or bonus points for traveling to uganda just to share the love of Jesus-- it's something i should be doing in my daily life. simple.

so speak up the name of Jesus-- He loves YOU!!