This past week I had the incredible opportunity to attend Passion 2024! If you have no idea what I am talking about, Passion Conference happens every first week of January since 1997! It was started by Louie and Shelly Giglio. Louie is the Global Pastor/Director of Passion City Church. It is a conference that brings together 18-25 year old Young Adults from all over the WORLD! How cool is that?! For 3 days, we gather in a stadium and hear from different pastors/speaker, and sing along with worship bands. This year, 55,000 Young Adults from all over the world gathered in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium and praised the Name of Jesus. It is just a life changing experience, and it is just so cool that we get to start off the year with such an inspiring conference.
This was my second year attending and it was for sure my favorite. One of my favorite Pastors to hear from is Jonathan Pokluda. He is the Lead Pastor at Harris Creek Baptist Church in Waco, TX. He has a podcast called, "Becoming Something" that I listen to every week. He was at Passion this year and I was so excited to hear from him. He ended up preaching my favorite message of the week. It challenged me and became my goal and truth for the year.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
John 14:6
"Jesus is the only way to heaven and that's loving because it's true."
Jonathan Pokluda
Jonathan told a story about the time he and his daughter were in Zambia. They had to fly home quickly because his daughter had caught a virus that they did not have a diagnosis for, so the safest thing to do was to get his daughter back in the States. He said no one in the airport was able to point him in the right direction because of the language barrier. He gave a hypothetical situation. What if he had asked someone for help and they just told him, "Oh any of these gates will take you home. Just pick one and get on the plane." Obviously, that is not true because there is only one way to get back home.
This is an illustration that applies to Heaven and our eternity. If someone came up to me and said, "Following Buddha is the only way to eternal life." and I replied with, "Yes, if that is what you feel is true, than it must be true." I would just be a flat out liar. The proper response would be the verse above. "Jesus is the way, the truth and the life." That would be the most loving thing I could say to someone who believes any religion will grant them eternal life.
In our world today, culture tells us to accept everyone and everything. We are called to love as believers, but we can still tell someone the truth while loving them. We are called to spread the Gospel whenever we have the chance, even if it is not received well. It is not loving to tell someone a lie just because we are afraid of their reaction to the Gospel. I am typing all of this because it is something I need to hear. My encouragement for you this year is to tell people the truth and goodness of the Gospel. It is simply the greatest and most loving thing you can tell someone.
Prayer Points: Please pray over these requests:
Lord, give me courage to tell others of Your faithfulness & goodness.
Father, use me for the sake of the Gospel.
Lord, let my words be Yours, and not my own.
Lord, help me to love others like You love them.
Dear Father,
Thank You for making a way for us to be with You for eternity. Help us to have hope that even in our darkest days, You are faithful. Fill me with Your wisdom, so that I may tells others about You, and all that You have done for me. Fill me with truth, so I will lean on You in the midst of these conversations, Lord. Thank You for loving me, and being so kind to me. May I love others the way You do, Father.
In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Your Friend,
Haley Thorpe