Lessons from choir-singing.

Shelley Giglio tweeted this picture of choir practice.

I told you last week that I had musical news to report. The report, which you're aware of if already, is that I'm so humbled to get to be a part of a movement that's turned my life upside-down since sophomore year at Samford.

Passion Conferences unite a generation--mostly college-students--for Jesus's fame and reknown. This year? The Georgia Dome opened doors to 40,000 pairs of feet shuffling in for opening session.

Whoa baby.

The Passion choir--all 200 of us--is but a drop in the ocean of 40,000, but this experience of ushering in some of the hymns of our generation just stirs my heart. 

Because the thing is, I'm not that great at singing. Sure, I can carry a tune in a bucket and avidly cheesed it up in Samford Step Sing, but I'm talkin' we are backing Chris Tomlin and Christy Nockels. Let's just say that not every ounce of blood from the two Baptist ministers of music in the family trickled down to me.

But that's the blessing in this.

We are baby ants up there!

Looking out over a wall of faces in the Georgia Dome last night, seeing things from the flipside I'm not used to, it hit me. It just makes you just wanna bless, free, and speak truth over that generation of students--in a desperate kind of way.

"If any message, whether in print or person, was truly His idea and doused in His anointing, 

He has tested it meticulously on His messenger."

- Beth Moore, So Long Insecurity

Remember that advent season? That time of experiencing (still experiencing a bit) a time of binding and captivity? Time of experiencing battle with the enemy? I was just there. That season was doused in His annointing for such a time as this.

Because yesterday, today, and until Thursday, I can sing out and look over faces and declare louder than I could six months ago the freedom that is knowing Christ. It's a sharper image to me. It's a story I can actually tell now because God tested that message meticulously on me, the messenger.

I never desire that these posts be about me. I don't. Sometimes, I really don't know how to tell the story otherwise though than through just messily explaining what God's teaching me. But I still think He doesn't want me to keep this lesson to myself.

The one about meticulous testing.

'Cause when the clouds start to unblur and the sun peaks through, testing always begins to make a lot of sense. I know we all know this, but sister, it's a reminder I think we're going to need to tell each other a lot in this life.

At least someone can keep reminding me!

Click here to watch a live stream of this year's conference or to learn more!

Love has come, Your Love has won.

"The war is over / Love has come / Your Love has won."

- "White Flag," a Passion 2012 song

Here, we have our 2011 Christmas card. Let us take a moment and recognize the use of the Oxford comma... Okay, moment over. Nice work, Mama Sha-nay-nay!

But this day?

My, oh my.

The war is over, the battle is won.

!!!!!!!!

We. Were. RANSOMED.

Somehow, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" and Israel's advent has made a lot more sense this year, and I can't stop combing through the lyrics. Sometimes those 12th century Latin composers just get it right, ya know?

We have been rescued by a King.

Sing our for joy for the brave little boy who was king, but made himself nothing!

p.s. My career holds dear all facets of social media, so of course, I have watched this about six times. Have you seen this? Cool. Very, very cool. Told ya I'm a fan of Elizabeth and Zechariah...

It's a BOY!

Merry, merry Christmas, y'all!

Loves like a hurricane.

Photo "Storm Serge of Hurricane Felix" courtesy here.

Katrina. That's all I needed to say; your mind is thumbing through a broken blur of messy pictures. The author below lost everything due to Katrina. Obviously, I love pictures--I need God to give me pictures to help me grasp His promises--and this one's pretty cool:

"When Jesus calls us to abandon everything we have and everything we are, it's almost as if He is daring us to put ourselves in the flood plain. To put all our lives and all our churches, all our property and all our possessions, all our plans, and all our strategies, all our hopes and all our dreams in front of the levee and then to ask God to break it. To ask God to sweep away whatever he wants, to leave standing whatever He desires, and to remake our lives and churches according to His will."

- Radical Together by David Platt

Can we do that, brothers and sisters?

Better yet, can I pray that and actually be aware of the

implications that come with the prayer...

When I get through the teetering stack of four books on my nightstand, I'm downing Radical Together. Click here to read the first chapter.

Blog post title: "How He Loves" by the David Crowder Band and like a million other bands. But I heard Davido sing it first so I'm givin' him credit.

Hide/seek.

Photo courtesy of Tumblr.

"A girl should get so lost in God, that a guy has to seek Him to find her..."

- Talitha Ruth Piper

I always wondered who said that.

Found out today.

Those Pipers and their wisdom...

Good truth. I'd like to say I think the reverse is true as well.

On God's glory.

Photo courtesy of The Hope Movement.

I swear, if I could just get inside that head of his...

#CSLewis #cool

But really,#JesusChrist #love #glory

On taking the next step.

Photo courtesy of some Tumblr. Can't remember.

This is probs the first part in a 22-part series called Ashlyn Doesn't Know What She Is Doing After May. But--and I apologize for it's length--this below is how God swoops in and provides me my manna portion daily. How I know the next step is going to be okay. I just keep obeying Him. And it will be okay. He tells me so.

Whew. Deep Breath. Praise God.

Below, transcribed from "Zealous for One Thing," Church at Brook Hills. God through D. Platt says it better than my elementary verbage can. It's long, just go with it:

"...And as we obey his commands, he directs our steps. Paul had no idea what was coming that night. (I should maybe tell you we'd just read Acts 16:6-10.) He couldn't have organized. it. Planned it. Forseen it. He was OBEYING. And as he obeyed, God lead him. As a result, the Gospel for the first time would go into Europe, to most of our ancestors in this room. He couldn't have planned it. He was obeying and the Sprit led. Isn't that Proverbs 3:5-6?! 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways--in your ways, as you're walking--acknowldge Him and he will make your paths straight--he will make. Them. Straight.'"

"God is not up in heaven trying to keep His will from you. Trying to make it difficult on you. He wants His will to be accomplished in your life, Christian, so much that he has put His Spirit inside of you! He's not even going to just give you directions; He's saying 'I'm going to LIVE in you. And I'm gonna change your thoughts and your desires. And I'm gonna drive your steps. You walk in Me, you abide in Me, and I will direct your steps.'"

(here's where it gets gooooood...)

Now it's not always the most direct route. God could've given Paul this visition a few nights before he started to go this direction. The Spirit somehow stopped it. He could've given him this vision from the beginning, he could've laid out his plans. Ever wish God would do that in your life? (Chyeah. Like, daily. I hate surprises.) Like, all those questions... But there are so many things not in His word for sure! Like, 'Who am I gonna marry?' Her name isn't in here. I mean, ha, it might be, but I dunno which one--there are a lot of names. 'And so what job do I take, where do I live? (Hello, my name is Ashlyn and this is the story of my current life.) What decision do I make here or here?' We're wrestling with these. But you don't have clarity in the Word on it."

"And you're thinking, 'Man. It'd be nice to have a little Macedonian vision, and aight--BOOM. There she is.' It'd save a lot of dating stress if you could just have a vision, right? So we WANT that. And the reality is, God could've given that, but He didn't. Maybe there's something deeper here than just instructions on where to get to. Maybe the destination is even deeper than Macedonia..."

"Maybe God Himself is the destination.

Maybe he's the goal--maybe more than the answer to our questions is."

My next job stint isn't. My next little appartment in the city isn't. Some guy isn't.
The Creator of the Universe wants me desperately to arrive at His feet.
Talk about love...

Love, actually.

Photo courtesy of The Hope Movement.

DISCLAIMER: I've been thinking. And I should probably be more vulnerable in life. Because I'm more the type to not show all my cards at once and try to be Little Miss Perfect. But after all, C.S. Lewis said to love at all is to be vulnerable, and he is in my Top 5 Favorite Humans Ever.

So here I go.

It's Valentines or whatever, and I pretty sure the going trend for bloggers is do something Valentines-y on your blog. But I'm not in love. Never have been. Don't really wanna be right now. So this is my post about love.

This story starts two summers ago, when I got a little rocked--slight rejection by a guy (okay. Whatever. Rejection.), an internship at a well-known magazine that I couldn't figure out why I hated, etc. In my "Ohmigosh-it's-FINE-I-totally-always-can-fix-everything" mindset, I kept trying to repair situations. Band-aid it. But nothing. Was. Working.

At church, David Platt announces a 4-part series on what else, love. Awesome. TotesmyfavoritesubjectthissummerNOT. But the Lord led us as a church through a book named Ruth. A chapter a week for a month. Step by step...

And after each sermon, my songbird girl-crush Mandi Mapes would sing over us a song she'd written to correspond with that chapter. Fast forward: Week 2. She climbs up on her stool, and the guitar starts this haunting, rolling tune. Held captive, I could feel God speak: "Ashlyn. Listen to me." Tears started falling (I don't cry much, but I cry 2/10 church services I go to, I think). Every lyric pierced me. And still does, because this weekend driving back from Birmingham, I blared it and there I was cryin' all over again in the left lane on I-65.

You see, the first time I heard the chorus, I was thinking of the earthly love story I was certain God had in store for me. As in, guy-meets-girl. Maybe it's going to be written, but my Father tells me if he doesn't want to write that, whoa baby--his plan is even better. But the second time it all clicked. No one's ever gonna love this weird, stubborn, impatient, flighty, joyful soul more than the One who loved it so much that he chose me before my feet lighted on planet earth.

"I already know Who's gonna save you,

I already wrote the end of the story.

You were made for Me and I'll never leave you.

And in the end, it's all for my glory."

- Mandi Mapes, "I Already Know"

Just trust me and go listen to the song, or series of songs, or even series of sermons. They're spectacular. Because how cool is it that our heart can be won by a poor man born a baby refugee in the rough-and-tumble Nazareen neighborhood, who wandered his entire life, was murdered to display His love for His people and ultimately to rise back to life. And they have proof. I mean, who does that? Why'd he do all that? Oh, you know. Just for His glory. Just to show His power over literally every single thing we think is strong in this world: Death. Sin. Nations. Rulers. Romantic love, if we're honest...

I don't have it all figured out. I write to get things off my chest and to sleep better and always freak out about pressing "Publish Post." So I'm not saying I remember all this every minute of my life because I don't. But I know it to be true. I know Him to be true.

So yeah, maybe I am in love.

And if every girl Taylor Swift jammin' girl wants her love story, I already got mine.

And it is sooooo good.

James one:twenty-two.

Photo courtesy of We Heart It.

This may be controversial to post? I dunno. But I read this line a few days ago in a book (thanks for the recommendation, Emi!). My heart skipped 2 beats. And for once, my mind was quiet. Whoa baby. This quote is literally haunting me because I've been working through this notion for a few weeks now:

"You guys are all into that born again thing, which is great. We do need to be born again, since Jesus said that to a guy named Nicodemus. But if you tell me I have to be born again to enter the kingdom of God, I can tell  you that you have to sell everything you have and give it to the poor, because Jesus said that to one guy too... But I guess that's why God invented highlighters, so we can highlight the parts we like and ignore the rest."

-Rich Mullins, by way of The Irresistable Revolution.

Revolt.

The absolute best spot to write a verse/word/Holy Name. Photo courtesy of Pure Belief.

"Many good things have been said far too many times

and just need to be lived."

- Shane Claiborne, "The Irresistable Revolution"

Mark thirteen:thirteen.

Photo courtesy of The Hope Movement.

Am I okay with that? Are we okay with that?

Because we should be. We're called to be, Christian.

And do we really want it any other way?

Cool how God editted dance from my life. For the sole reason to be able to actually dance in greater freedom. His freedom. Yeah. Speechless on that one. Praise be. Photo courtesy of Pure Belief.

"We are not presented with a functional god who will help us out of jams or an entertainment god who will lighten our tedious hours. We are presented with the God of exodus and Easter, the God of Sinai and Calvary. If we want to understand God, we must do it on his terms. If we want to see God the way he really is, we must look to the place of authority--to Scripture and to Jesus Christ.

"And do we really want it any other way? I don't think so. We would soon become contemptuous of a god whom we could figure out like a puzzle or learn to use like a tool. No, if God is worth our attention at all, he must be a God we can look up to--a God we must look up to... The moment we look up to God (and not over at him, or down on him) we are in the posture of servitude."

- Eugene Peterson, fun fact I just learned: he drafted The Message.