Hello rapsville! How are you doing?
I'm ALIVE!
My legs tell me what I've done last night. They are complaining how there were abused and overused. Sorry but I'm not sorry about what I've done. In fact, I feel so proud of this pain because I got this from praising and worshiping God. I danced, clapped, jumped and screamed my lungs out last night at Passion Manila 2014. It was an indescribable experience! God is beyond awesome.
I was alone. Don't care. I came there expecting to see Kristian Stanfill, David Crowder and Brett Younker in person for the first time. They are awesome musicians judging from their Youtube videos. Their songs are good and I like listening to them. Above all that. I anticipate something more from a usual concert experience.
From a job interview in Makati, I went to Araneta past 6pm. The venue was almost full and mostly with young people. Earlier, I was planning to get a seat at the front, unfortunately, a lot of people came earlier than me. I roamed around looking for the perfect spot where I can see the stage equally from right to left. The lower box facing the stage was indeed the spot for me.
The 2nd day of Passion Manila was a sold out. It started around passed seven o'clock. It was Kristian Stanfill who broke the ice with a very energetic God's Great Dance Floor followed by Don't Ever Stop. Never heard of the second song before, anyways, it was another song added on my playlist the next day. There was sudden shift from praise to worship with 1000 reasons and Oh Praise Him by David Crowder. This guy with the beard has some killer vocals, just saying. Next song in line was Burning With My Soul which has a very dramatic introduction which I proudly captured with my android phone. After that, the crowd got all excited hearing the opening stanza of the song One Thing Remains. Well, I can't blame them, I felt the same way, it's one of my favorites. Then, Our God closed the first half of the event proceeded with Loiue Giglio's preaching.
It's the first time I am hearing from Louie Giglio. I think he's a very entertaining man.The message centered in Luke 15 of the scripture. I was not able to take notes but trending topics in my head were Prodigal Son, Extravagant Father, Freedom Fail and Non-Dancers dancing on God's Dance Floor. I can't get over the message about the Prodigal Son because I have received this message for the second time this week! And the thing is the message was with the same context, delivery and wordings-- that the parable of the Prodigal Son isn't all about the Son but about the Extravagant Father. So I thought God is really emphasizing this to me. Honestly, this creeps me out but rest assured I got it all settled Lord. But then, there was a continuation of the same message I received last Sunday at the Church when Pastor Louie talked about the second son. It was a short but powerful message.
The delivery of the gospel was followed with a soulful song Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone). God's presence filled up or rather over poured the dome that moment. One of my favorite songs played was How He Loves Us by the anointed guy with the beard. The song captured the whole crowd, I really not wanted to stop singing that song. It was like an anthem. The next two song were new for me- I Am by David Crowder and My Heart is Yours by Kristian Stanfill. Great songs.
Pastor Louie Giglio appeared on the stage one more time bringing a mash up of the sound produced by stars and whales which amazingly brought us to singing How Great is Our God. The worship continues with songs lead by Kristian Stanfill, Lord Our God and Whom Shall I Fear, then the stage blacked out. Araneta is definitely not ready to go home that moment so the crowd screamed for more. The hosts didn't disappoint playing the song, God Of This City. Singing this song, I found myself together with the whole Araneta praying for Manila. Another stage blackout and I thought it was closing time. Then, there were beam of lights and booming sound to beat of God's Great Dance Floor. It was the celebrated piece of the night with the declaration phrase of "I' am alive!". The whole Araneta including the non-dancers are jumping, moving, and dancing to the beat of the song and it's all for God's glory!
The victory song ended but I was hopeful there is still more. This event might be finished but God isn't done with me yet. With this moving experience I had, I know God has placed seeds of wonders in my heart. I believe I am different from who I'am 2 hours before the Conference started. The event was closed at around 10:30 pm.
I went home from Cubao to Pampanga with an overwhelming indescribable joy in my heart.
