First Gathering: Confession

It's 12am. I should be working on tomorrow morning's song list and powerpoint, unpacking random gear from this evening's gathering, or more importantly, sleeping. But having a full stomach filled with applebee's goodness and a re-filled soul from tonight's festivities, I just can't do anything but think. So it's blogging time. Perfect.

Tonight was the kickoff to The Gathering, the latest ministry that God's blessed me with being apart of. The Gathering has been in the works for years now, even though I wasn't aware of it. The title of my blog summarizes the heart of The Gathering so perfectly; ...to be authentic. Tonight was a very sweet tasting, genuine, authentic time of fellowship, prayer, and intimacy with the Holy Spirit. Exactly what the vision in my heart has been longing for and seeking.

The topic; confession. And before I go any further, let me confess to my micro-managing problem. This morning I woke up with a pretty intense headache. From there came the nausea. And from there...well, you can take it from here. My first thought while lying in my bed, face into the pillow, not even able to blink my eyes from the painful throbbing, "I'll have to cancel The Gathering. I have too much to setup, too much to finish getting together, too much, too much..." My next thought, "well Thomas, if you would quit micro-managing, you wouldn't be in this predicament, now would you?" Yes, I do argue with myself quite a bit. Don't judge me. From the depths of my pillow came my first confession of the day. When I was finally able to actually focus on my phone and somewhat think, I swallowed my pride and asked for help. Here's another confession; I've been blessed with amazing people, who are capable of amazing things. I recruited help to finish setting up the aesthetics part of the evening. As I'm worrying whether I'll be able to make it at all, I realize that I don't feel anything. No headache. No nausea. Nothing. The second I confessed my shortcomings and laid down my pride (not necessarily in that order), is the second I felt better. Do I believe in healing? Absolutely. Do I believe I was healed? Absolutely. Not only from my physical ailments, but from my spiritual and emotional ones as well. But all because of a simple confession?

Confession is a powerful act. It's also an act that we don't practice, as Christians, enough. Like we talked about tonight, the church (us) would be in such a different state of being if we truly trusted our brothers and sisters and confessed and confided in one another. Because confession isn't just for our benefit, our gain, or our pleasure. I believe there's a larger picture to see. There's a spirit of humbleness that fills the space when we confess. We are all of a sudden on a different playing field. Instead of the stages we stand on, pulpits we stand behind, or pedestals that we live on, we're all of a sudden on the same hard, dirty ground. We are all the same. We become one. And in this we are able to lift our praises as one voice, breathe in the environment as one body, and operate in one mind.

My prayer moving forth into this year of 2010 is that we (the gatherers) continue to practice the lost, ancient art of confession. Not just when we gather, but in every day life. And I pray that in doing so, we are humbled so that we "may be active in sharing [our] faith, so that [we] will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." - Philemon 1:6.

With love,
---Thomas