Passion 2011 Part Two

For this second installment of sharing about my experience at Passion 2011 I would like to expound upon the aspect of worship there.




I’ll start by saying that my time worshiping God at Passion was transformational! In the last few months prior to attending Passion, through my own busyness and lack of focus, I had forgotten what worship is all about. That is, exalting and lifting high our King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Most High God! Worship isn’t about the ‘good’ feeling that I receive. It’s about no matter what I feel, declaring that God is worth it all.



At Passion I had abundant opportunity to do exactly that. As I write that, it’s just words on a page, but as I think back to those times of worship at Passion I remember what it felt like to put aside what I felt, thought, wanted, needed, feared, etc. to give every ounce of my strength and existence into the exaltation of my God, the God of the universe! With 10,000+ (yes, ten thousand plus!) people singing around me, with me, unto God for His glory!



Passion 2011 took place in a dome in Fort Worth Texas. It was dark except for the stage lighting and the sound was turned to the point that it felt as though the worship leaders were leading me and no one else. It was personal. But at the same time I could hear the sound of everyone in the dome singing together! This environment enabled me to break free of my thoughts concerning the others around me and gave me the feeling that it was just me and God. I had the freedom to sing, shout, clap, dance, jump, sit, cry, etc. And I couldn’t tell if those around me even took notice. This is what worship should be. Giving adoration to God, without the fear of offending others with style or preference.



It was an incredible experience! As I stated earlier, it was transformational! Since returning from the Passion conference, this feeling of freedom in worship, and the importance of it, has stuck with me. Not to the degree that I am a distraction to others worshiping around me in my local congregation! But, I realize now in a way that I didn’t before that it’s just me and God. It’s to be all about Him, and praising Him for all that He is!



There is an aspect though of worshiping God in song that isn’t just about the individual and our Maker. And it was because of the number of people at Passion that I realized this. As we have opportunity to sing to our Savior in groups with fellow believers, it serves as testimony to one another of His faithfulness. I knew this in theory before, and had even experienced it in small scale prior to Passion. But there in Texas, singing with 10,000+ others about the God of the universe, drove it home in a way that I will never forget! I felt like I caught a glimpse of heaven as we all sang out at the top of our lungs!



And so as you sing in your local churches remember who you’re singing to, why you are singing to Him, and the testimony that it may be to those who join in worship with you!

By Micah Horneman

Passion - Part One

A few months ago I was blessed with winning a free admission to Passion 2011 in Ft. Worth, Texas from this very blog! I was thankful, and excited. But I didn’t have a clue what was in store for me at Passion! A friend asked me on my way back from the airport, “Can you describe it in five words?” I laughed, and said I couldn’t. But here’s what I did tell my friend. “Incredibly awesome beyond all hope!” 

This is my first post of three about my experience at Passion 2011. In this first post I hope to give you at least a vague description as to what it was like, and hint at what God did there... And then of course in my two following posts I’ll go into detail as to how God worked at Passion 2011 in my life.

Passion is an event orchestrated to engage young adults with God and tangible means of showing Him to the world. The focus is on the Word, Worship, Community, and Ministry. 

Each attendee was asked to bring towels and socks for the homeless shelters of the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. It was great to drive through downtown Ft. Worth and know who was going to the conference just because they were carrying towels and socks! Beyond that, we had opportunity to give monies toward a project to bring the Bible into a language that has never had it before! As well as many other ‘micro’ projects around the world! It was awe-inspiring to see what 10,000+ college age individuals can do when given an obstacle to overcome!

The conference was broken into three types of settings. The main sessions, community groups, and an area to support various ministries through prayer or finances. 

The main sessions were an incredible time of glorifying God through worship in song and hearing from His Word. There’s much to be said about over 10,000 people joining in corporate worship, but I’m going to save that for another post! It was also great to hear from individuals who clearly spend abundant time in God’s Word sharing with us what God had laid on their hearts.

The main speakers were; Louie Giglio, Francis Chan, and John Piper. Also we were lead in worship by Chris Tomlin, David Crowder Band, Charlie Hall, Christy Nockels, and Kristian Stanfil. What was great about these main sessions is that it was exceedingly clear that the focus was to be entirely on God! And noot on those who were helping to point us to Him through music or message.

Community groups were a time to break up into ‘smaller’ groups in order to more deeply interact with each other. Smaller, meaning that each community group had a couple thousand individuals! And to allow true interaction to actually happen we broke down further into family groups, with about 6 people per group. These family groups were a great time to interact about what God was doing in each of us throughout the weekend! We also took time to pray for each other, and help one another in grappling with what God was doing in each of our lives.

To some it all up: Passion 2011 was AWESOME, and I would strongly encourage anyone to go! God used it as a major catalyst in my life to refocus me towards His plans for me! If you’d like to read more about that, look for my two follow up posts!

Written by Micah Horneman

PASSION 2011 Registration Winner