268Blog

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Passion Ripples

Shine.
That continues to be the heart of Passion 07...and the ripples are making their way far and wide. This e-mail came over the weekend and we asked permission to share it here. It's what Passion is all about.

Hi, I feel kinda weird writing this email. And i doubt if it ever gets to Mr Louie Giglio. I am a Senior at University of Florida. I got a new roommate this semester and she is a Christian and I have never really been into the whole Christian thing because every pastor or speaker that I have ever listened to didn't speak in a language I could understand. I have believed in God and Jesus, but never really understood it because the preachers at the church that I have always been forced to go to every Sunday of my life. They speak all high and mighty and I never really felt connected, and I felt like God was only for the perfect people. Well my roommate went to this Passion Conference over winter break. And she came back and moved into my apt and she was real and genuine about all her Christian stuff, like I have never seen before in a person. She said that God changed her at this conference, so i was like what are you talking about. And she told me. She told me about how God was cool, and how God really wanted a deeper relationship with her, and she wanted to really love God the way he loved her, so of course I was like well huh? She then said you need to listen to Louie talk about God, so I asked who Louie was, and she put on the Indescribable talk, and then we watched tha Passport talk. And in the Passport talk you said that christians do not have to hope for the best at the end, that they do not have to do enough good stuff. You explained how to get to heaven in a simple way, in a way that I have never heard before. I actually got it, I got it that it is not about being so good, cause I am not a good person. I have screwed up a lot. But then you said grace, and talked about how is was different than other religions. Because God is a loving and a kind God who wants to forgive me. My roommate then explained that he wants to forgive me.
Now for one of the reasons I am thanking you. One, I am now a Christian. And two, my roommate said that she had never really cared about telling others about how much God loved her before she went to this conference. So though I am not sure who will ever read this. Please tell Louie thanks from me, for talking about Christ in a way that a college kid can understand. I know that Jesus has changed my life and as I get ready to graduate college in May, I am gonna be a different person. I am sorry this is kinda rambling but I just had to tell you that I now know about the Grace of God, and I have life for the first time in my 22 years


Ashley

88 Comments:

  • That's so awesome! Praise God!

    By Blogger Elder Leaf, at 1/30/2007 4:10 AM  

  • Praise the Lord!

    By Blogger Daryl, at 1/30/2007 4:27 AM  

  • God is Awesome!!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 4:40 AM  

  • Wow, this is amazing! What Ashley is writing there is so true! I was from a traditional church where the sermons were all high and mighty and I never really felt connected too! My parents forced me to go to church every sunday.
    I also felt that God was only for perfect people, and that I 'the not perfect' was just not ment for God. I mean why couldn't I understand what they were saying in church? And why didn't I feel connected?
    This all changed 4 years ago. I was saved at a concert from Daniel Bedingfield, and when he sang 'Create in me a clean heart' I just cried and cried and I knew God was there. In that period God brought all kinds of people to me who helped me. I decided to go to a different church and there I connected with people from my age who were christians too. We went to Soul Survivor gatherings, worship concerts and so on. And still God puts people onto my path, it' s so amazing. 2 years ago I didn't know what Passion was. I remember that a friend of mine gave me this cd of Chris Tomlin for my birthday and he said: you should listen to it, it's a great cd. I wasn't that much into christian music but did play it and I was blown away by the first song 'Indescribable', later that year I found out that Chris Tomlin was part of the sixstep family and in that way I got connected with Passion.

    My parents at first were not happy with the fact that I left 'our' church. I can understand why they didn't like that, because my parents are both in their 60's and they have been raised in the same traditional church all their life, their parents belonged to that church and their grandparents. Going to a different and more charasmatic church was something they could not understand and they gave me a very hard time. I prayed to God if he would let them see that this was the best thing for me. And He did! It took some time but they now see that it's the best for me. They also want to know more about worship, and about healing and they ask me a lot about these things.
    Still they don't agree with the fact that I want to be baptised. I was already baptised as a baby but I know that if God wants me to be baptised that my parents will agree with it in the end. I have my trust in God.

    By Blogger Jacoline, at 1/30/2007 6:06 AM  

  • way cool

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 8:16 AM  

  • that is absolutely incredible! brought tears to my eyes! our God is a God who saves, rescues, heals and delivers. what a Saviour! thank You Lord

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 8:25 AM  

  • what an amazing story...praying that God will use Ashley to shine for Him and that He will continue to use those four days for His glory and that alone...

    By Blogger The BOB-O, at 1/30/2007 8:50 AM  

  • where can we email them? maybe louie might not get it, but i do have some questions about some stuff.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 9:03 AM  

  • info@268generation.com. It's on the 268 site under "about" and "contact".

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 9:15 AM  

  • right on. what a great story Louie!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 9:26 AM  

  • Praise GOD! Keep shining, all! This is what it's ALL ABOUT! :)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 9:43 AM  

  • Amazing Grace! Your chains are gone, you've been set free! Your God your Saviour, has ransomed you! And like a flood, His mercy reigns. Unending love, Amazing Grace!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 10:02 AM  

  • Thank you guy for sharing this amazing testimony. I live in Brazil and I couldn't make it to the conference this year (same way as I couldn't in years past). I just heard from a friend who was there with you that maybe you guys are coming to Brazil next year. Those are great news.

    Anyway, thatnks again for the testimony. The Power of God's Grace is truly irresistable. What a Savior we have!

    in Him,

    Eduardo

    By Blogger Eduardo Mano, at 1/30/2007 10:31 AM  

  • Jesus is Lord.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 10:32 AM  

  • Dude, God is so awesome. That is really what it's all about. Go God!!! If only one person comes to Christ, it was all worth it. Thanks again you guys and girls for all your tireless work.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 10:36 AM  

  • i read this & just started crying. it's so beautiful & amazing. such truth..that we stand on, like you talked about in the Chris TOmlin podcast. we all have been touched in this way..by Him..by a friend..by someone we don't know & the only way all three of these are connected is CHRIST our SAVIOR! SHINE! SHINE! SHINE! Jesus..Jesus..praise Him for everything we breathe in.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 10:45 AM  

  • Praise God. one day every knee shall bow. Keep shining!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 11:39 AM  

  • PRAISE GOD

    By Blogger Unknown, at 1/30/2007 11:42 AM  

  • All hail the power of Jesus' Name!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 12:43 PM  

  • amazing. to see the beauty of the Lord work in her is amazing. truly stunning. truly beautiful.

    By Blogger david phillips, at 1/30/2007 12:50 PM  

  • sweet ... let's continue to shine for Him!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 12:54 PM  

  • Louie,
    That is why what you are all doing is so important. I pray that your sails stay full as this tour continues... I am looking forward to being up close in Birmingham. The vision and following of the Spirit for what is coming up in the next few years is an amazing thing. I am just glad that I get to stand back and witness God at work in that way.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 1:58 PM  

  • It is just so beautiful to see hearts being changed. I feel like I work in a mission environment (high school) and though I try to teach religion in a real and relevant way and tell my students about Christ and what He has done in my life. I'm pretty young (22) so they do listen but they almost never tell me what they think, good or bad. It is so moving to read the testimony here and hope that the more I shine, the more my students may come to know Christ.

    By Blogger Morgan, at 1/30/2007 3:51 PM  

  • beautiful news. praise Jesus for giving us another sister!! :-D another person who will be at that stinking HUGE party in heaven!! woohooooo!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 4:05 PM  

  • Wow, its amazing to see what can happen because of 4 days out of a 365 day year!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 4:06 PM  

  • Wow, its amazing to see what can happen because of 4 days out of a 365 day year!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 4:06 PM  

  • I wrote that email, and thanks everyone for the being so happy...i just find it pretty cool

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 5:32 PM  

  • I wrote that email, and thanks everyone for the being so happy...i just find it pretty cool

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 5:32 PM  

  • Thank you, Jesus

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 5:35 PM  

  • beautiful.

    By Blogger '09 Ukraine Orphan Care Trip Team, at 1/30/2007 5:39 PM  

  • Shine!...it all starts in your dorm, across the hall and then around the world.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 5:47 PM  

  • GOD. SHINE!!!


    Welcome to the family Ashley!! I love you all family!!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 6:05 PM  

  • That's awesome! It's all about being faithful where the Lord has planted you for this season ... Acts 17:26.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 6:15 PM  

  • praise Jesus! incredible story! :)

    By Blogger Joe, at 1/30/2007 6:46 PM  

  • His grace is amazing! and it's enough!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 6:56 PM  

  • incredible story. thanks for being willing to share ashley!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 7:08 PM  

  • wow. that is a beautiful picture of how we each should be living our lives...bold yet loving. What a challenging letter.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 7:14 PM  

  • This is awesome! It is what Passion is all about! Sharing God with our fellow students on campus! I love it!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 7:35 PM  

  • Wow God, thanks for showing us that u change lives! u 2 people (w the testimonies) are so encouraging to us! Especially to me. Ive lived through so much for so long AS a Christian, I forget it's JESUS who fixes me when I mess up, and not me. I forget JESUS is still in the business of cleaning us up. Thanks for reminding me. I needed to hear that tonight.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 7:55 PM  

  • Thats our Jesus! He rocks!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 8:01 PM  

  • God is so amazing!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 9:09 PM  

  • Amen. A hard road ahead. Ashley (and her roommate, friends and family) will definitely be in my prayers.

    By Blogger Lindsay Rae, at 1/30/2007 9:14 PM  

  • shine.!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 10:14 PM  

  • To cool!! Praise to God. way to go Ashley. Thanks Louie. I am spell bond to that testimony!! God rocks.

    By Blogger Liz, at 1/30/2007 10:20 PM  

  • ashley that is awesome, congratulations on finding life, i am so happy for you, and i am so glad you had a roommate that was able to lead you to jesus, god works in mysterious ways. i am praying for you and your situation that god will make himself more and more real to you everyday. thank you for sending this email it is such a blessing to hear your story and thanks louie for sharing it.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/30/2007 10:31 PM  

  • This has nothing to do with this post, but I was thinking about this over the weekend and didn't want to forget to share.

    I was thinking about Louie's talk about the party in heaven and how it's our tiny corner of heaven that will be rocking out Chris Tomlin style or whatnot, and how the body of Christ incorporates rather than assimilates, and then I was thinking about how much I love the Passion: Hymns Ancient and New CD, and I thought it would be awesome if someone, not necessarily Passion, but someone started updating some African-American spirituals because that has such a rich tradition in our American church and so many of the songs have powerful, powerful lyrics. It would be awesome to bring that calling out to Christ back into our worship.

    By Blogger Morgan, at 1/30/2007 10:42 PM  

  • this is an amazing story that reminds us that we do need to "DO Something Now" . Which means telling everyone al about the Love of Christ and how real it is to us

    By Blogger Leona, at 1/30/2007 11:18 PM  

  • praise God!
    welcome to the big fam of believers, ashley!

    By Blogger steph, at 1/30/2007 11:21 PM  

  • beautiful news!
    excellent roommate!
    and welcome to the family Ashley! :)
    thanks for sharing,
    blessings to you~

    By Blogger Kimmer, at 1/30/2007 11:24 PM  

  • Praise God. I often tell people, "there are many speakers who have solid theology, and there are many speakers who can connect with this generation, but Louie is one of the few who can do both very well." Thank you for pointing this generation to the greatness and glory of God! And thank you for not watering down the truth!
    Kingdom Obsessed,
    Mark
    PS-The military community at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan, has been blessed by your DVD series.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/31/2007 1:06 AM  

  • Welcome to God's family Ashley. May your life be filled with His peace, love an joy and may you too shine just as you roommate did!!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/31/2007 4:38 AM  

  • awesome! God is so amazing! Praise God for how He worked at Passion and is using Passion to prompt this generation to Shine for Him! Hallelujah! A new sister is coming to the gigantic party!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/31/2007 9:52 AM  

  • Praise God! It's amazing how God can use a tiny spark to ignite a passionate relationship with Him. What an amazing God we are privileged to worship!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/31/2007 11:15 AM  

  • Wow! That is soooo AWESOME! Louie, thanks so much for passing this along! Praise God! This truly is what Passion is all about, the central reason why we are still on earth and not already at "the Party" - to live for Jesus in such a way that the Lord reveals Himself to others and tells them about Himself through us, as He did through Ashley's roommate! And for others to grab onto Jesus as their Lord, learn to live for Him, and join us at "the Party!"

    May God's ripples through Passion 07 continue to flow forth in His power!

    By Blogger Marcia B, at 1/31/2007 12:32 PM  

  • Hey Everyone! I was a volunteer at Passion '07. First, I want to say how awesome it is to hear of how God is working even now. What an awesome God!
    I am writing in hopes that if I post this, I will get prayer going around the world for this request. I teach Kindergarten in Indiana. I knew at the beginning of the year that one my boys has leukemia, but it was in remission. I got a call this morning from his mom. She said that the leukemia has flared up again and he is going to be admitted to Riley Children's Hospital starting tomorrow and therefore, is being withdrawn from school for the remaining of the year and will start chemo tomorrow. My heart is breaking for this boy. His name is Isaac. Isaac is such a joy and has such a quiet spirit about himself. I am literally emailing everyone I know to ask for prayer for healing for this 5 year old. He has had such a hard life. In the summer, he had a surgery to try to get all the cancerous cells. I'm not sure what type of leukemia it is, but because he already had this surgery, chemo is basically his last chance to be healed or to go back into remission.
    Prayer is such a huge thing. We've seen it move through the world. Our God can move a mountain. So I'm asking you to pray that He will move a mountain for this little boy and cure him if it is in God's plans. Also, pray for his family. I know how hard it is on me to be his teacher and have him going through this. I can't even imagine being his parent and seeing him suffer. Pray for wisdom for the doctors.
    I told the mother that I will be keeping in touch and going to Riley to see Isaac. I will be bringing him books and activities for him to work on when he feels up to it. He is one of my smartest students in my class, but I also just want to let the family know I care and God cares. I don't know if they are believers, but sometimes actions speak louder. Hopefully I can be some kind of light in their world.
    Sorry this is so long. I just wanted to get the prayer going and this is one of the best ways I can think of.
    God bless!
    Jennifer

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/31/2007 2:08 PM  

  • I am a seminary student, and this e-mail is why I feel it is so imperative to learn how to communicate. Praise God for your roommate, and praise God for simple words and, most of all, LOVE!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/31/2007 2:21 PM  

  • so, so cool!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/31/2007 3:09 PM  

  • Amazing.... Absolutely AMAZING!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/31/2007 8:45 PM  

  • My roommate wrote that email, and I am so glad that God changed me at Passion I just hope that everyone can take the challenge that was given to us to SHINE for Christ. Ashley I am so happy we are roommates our last semester in college

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/31/2007 9:04 PM  

  • wow, julie..thanks for posting! so glad you shared openly about what God was doing in you!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/31/2007 9:13 PM  

  • hallelujiah

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/31/2007 9:52 PM  

  • Praise God

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/31/2007 11:43 PM  

  • Truth for me two. I accepted Christ for the first time while at Passion. I had walked the aisle when I was 8 and was baptised and led the 'good' life, but I never started the relationship. God literally smacked me across the face (in the kind way God does :) I was just broken like I have never been and was baptised just three weeks ago. Praise be to God for Passion--the worship, community groups (Go Blue Stripes), and my family group.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/01/2007 12:15 AM  

  • Um. Please tell me my computer is doing crazy things, but is it too late to buy Bundle #1???? It's telling me it's not available in the US store.

    Help!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/01/2007 1:15 AM  

  • Wow. That is simply amazing... God is amazing!! What an encouragement this is for us to continue the movement that Passion has started! God bless you, Ashley --- and welcome to the Family, God's Family! :)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/01/2007 2:01 AM  

  • PRAISE GOD!! How great is our God guys!! That is AMAZING!!

    By Blogger Ashley, at 2/01/2007 9:57 AM  

  • Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cheahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/01/2007 11:40 AM  

  • sweeeeeet.
    i think we all know ashley's story, becuase we've either experienced it or someone told us a story just like it.

    its so awesome to know that the redemption story gets through to college students that have been so confused and sometimes angry and frustrated... becuase sometimes its hard to believe that my floormates and classmates... might get it.

    p.s.
    i want louie to read MY emails! hahaha

    Brandon
    Western Kentucky University
    brandon.bowman912@wku.edu

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/01/2007 11:54 AM  

  • YOU ARE REDEEMED ASHLEY! A brand new creation! Your life will never be the same. I hope you read these comments. :) I'm praying for you now. Praying you also forgive yourself. Hebrews 8:12 says God forgives and FORGETS! Psalm 103:12 says the same thing. Rise up precious and know that you have a clean slate. I'm so happy for your new life in Jesus.

    By Blogger Beth, at 2/01/2007 12:38 PM  

  • That's sooo Amazing!!!!! I love stories like this. God is so AWESOME!!!

    ps: for anyone that doesn't have iTunes (even though you should probably get it! lol) the Passion bundle is up on WalmartDownloads.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/01/2007 1:23 PM  

  • Praise God All Mighty!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/01/2007 4:12 PM  

  • http://www.268generation.com/passion06/www/kneel.htm

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/01/2007 7:15 PM  

  • GOd is so good!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/01/2007 8:03 PM  

  • you can also connect to kneel info from the passion07 main page.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/01/2007 11:32 PM  

  • So sweet...

    Ashley reminds me of another girl, who when she first came to Jesus sat in her first communion service - had never seen little cups full of juice before... she leaned over to a friend, "Like what is this for?"

    A few giggles of explanation, then the new girl friend of Jesus raised her little cup to the ceiling and said loud enough for the whole place to hear, "CHEERS!"

    Everyone burst out laughing at such simple love and precious faith.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 2/01/2007 11:51 PM  

  • what can i say, i had the same experience , i hust read this post and i have tears in eyes,i live in brazil , and i feel God in my life for years,but in every church i went´.i had been feeling more guilty than grace, but since i ´ve found passion on 722 web streaming on web, my life was hardly impacted,because i learned about grace and about how God loves mean even i am not a perfect person,i would also thanks louie Giglio and Passion and my pray is that God reach all of His Goals in your life guys, there´s no word to explain how you have blessed my life, every single day that i see louie´s talking on web, or here on blog , i´ve won "i am not but know i am" and i devoured the book in the true sense of the word, Here in brazil has a lot of guys who never had been in usa but sometimes we feel like a part of passion family because you guys have teaching us a Real God, a great One who love us not for our skills but just for his grace, Thank you again Louie...

    By Blogger max soares, at 2/02/2007 8:37 AM  

  • Amazing! I am rejoicing with the angels in heaven! Praise God!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/02/2007 9:56 AM  

  • Still wearing my "Shine" wristband!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/02/2007 10:17 AM  

  • Way to Go Ashley!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/02/2007 10:57 AM  

  • a couple of posts ago, i mentioned i was working with a middle school girl who asked if i would help her become a christian. she showed up to our ministry again this past wednesday and accepted Christ!!
    God is GOOD! God is AMAZING!!
    God is GOD.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/02/2007 1:52 PM  

  • wow! I got chills reading that! what an encouraging story to read about. Many times I get scared to share my faith and really I forget that all I need is a genuine heart really loving Jesus and it comes so naturally.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/03/2007 1:40 AM  

  • Hey! I'm still wearing my SHINE wristband too!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/03/2007 6:05 PM  

  • I went to the University of Florida years ago & when I was there I did not know Christ. I was so encouraged as a volunteer at Passion 07 to see Gators at Passion & I am encouraged to read your letter & hear that God is moving in Gainesville. Awesome.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/04/2007 12:08 AM  

  • I have a new Sister!!!!!! I am so excited for you Ashley! Your blog brought tears to my eyes. God is so faithful and He cares so much about you and for the whole world- so much love we can't even come to grips with. "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." 1 Corinthians 13:12. We only understand a fragment of God's love on earth- imagine when God opens our eyes to the big picture! It's going to ROCK!!!!! God is so much bigger than we can ever imagine, and He works in such unfathomable ways.

    By Blogger Taylor, at 2/17/2007 4:13 PM  

  • Hearing about Ashley at Thirsty did more to me than anything else I heard. It drove me to my knees where I wept for our college kids. I feel like I've been leading outreach not as effectively as I need to. I have been planning activities for my college class to do and asking them to invite their friends hoping to win some. That model is out the window now. We have to urgently reach these young folks for Christ. We have to go and seek them.

    Thank you for your love of these people Louie. You have helped the King make many Passionate and Thirsty to see them live for His Renown!

    By Blogger jdbegg, at 5/05/2007 10:39 PM  

  • Ashley's story is truly a story of love and redemption. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5/09/2007 2:43 AM  

  • I just first hear about your story, Ashley today in church. I was moved and in tears. I am a Christian and came from a long road like you. It was amazing to hear how God worked in both of our lives for the better! I can't wait to meet you in heaven!

    By Blogger CR, at 7/27/2008 5:14 PM  

  • To Ashley (Ice cream), Fruitcake, and families. Thank you so much for allowing Lou Giglio to share your story. You have touch more people than you could ever have known. I am sorry I will have to wait to meet you but am glad that you have such a glorious opportunity to look over us from above. Grace .... what an amazing gift. Candy A. Northpoint Community Church

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7/29/2008 12:35 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home