i am not God.

I guess anyone who sees the title of this post thinks.. "DUH!" I guess I am the one that needs reminding of that constantly.

I went through something called Redemption Group at Mars Hill. Normally it's once a week for 10 weeks, but this time was different because they did it in 4 days. It was for current or potential leaders that haven't gone through redemption group before. It was more than just a learning experience about how to give some biblical counseling... Pretty much every one of the 20ish men and women that went through this immersion felt the Holy Spirit move in their lives in an amazing way. Sin was revealed, Eyes were open to the depravity of our fallen state and mercy and grace poured over all of us. I went into the immersion thinking I was going to get my world rocked, and I had all these sins in my head that I expected to be dealt with and when it came time for me to share my story, NONE of that came out. The Holy Spirit had a different agenda for me. When I opened my mouth I spoke about being incredibly selfish my entire life, and just how I have been deceiving myself and others.

I wanted to hold onto that sin and deal with (redeem) it. However, that's not how it works. We don't have the ability to redeem. We are a fallen bunch of sinners. Us redeeming our own mess is like rubbing 2 turds together... in the end you just end up with a bigger pile of crap.

So this weekend we all took a big long look at the mountain of crap that we have made for ourselves and realized that we are in desperate NEED for a savior. and THAT is why the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not just "good news" it's the BEST news. God continually pursues us, and we can never out-sin his grace.

feeling the power of the Holy Spirit this weekend was really intense. It is unreal and unfathomably amazing that he dwells in us. He gives us the ability to repent and delight in God and trust in his plan for our lives.

I hope that all you who believe will see this, and trust in God with your life. Let God be God and you be his son or daughter. He has good for you and he will get his glory regardless... you can't mess that up, you aren't that big.