The Alpha Summit

A few weeks ago, I got the chance to attend something called "Alpha Summit," a three day men's conference at Gateway Church. This was something I never thought, in a million years, that I would ever attend.

Growing up, my dad always pushed religion on me and I know he meant well, but when you're a teenager, and for those of you who are in the teen years and are reading this you can back me up on this, it's not really something you want pushed on you. It's something you want to experience yourself, it's something you want to figure out on your own. Dad always wanted me to go to something called "Promise Keepers," and I'm sure most of you have heard of this. He always wanted me to go with him but I turned him down time and time again.

A little background on me before I continue this story. I grew up catholic, went to church every single Sunday with my mom as well as her parents who we lived with for 13 years of my life and it's a HUGE reason for why I am where I am right now. My grandfather was a Godly man, a man that was after God and make no mistake about it, God told him "well done my good and faithful servent" when he went 'home' a few years ago after dying from cancer. He was a huge influence no my life but that influence didn't take hold until I moved out here to Texas.

I don't reget growing up catholic, I really don't. I will be honest though, and please don't take this as I have something against the Catholic Church because I don't at all, but after I started attending Gateway, I had more questions than answers. When I'd go to church on Sunday's, if you had asked me a few hours after church concluded what the priest talked about during his sermon, I couldn't tell you because most of the time he'd get off on some tangent that had nothing to do with the passage of scripture he just read. Now, I understand that not all Catholic Churches are like that, I'm sure there are some great priests out there and if you're a part of a church that has a great one then that is awesome and you are absolutely blessed.

Anyway, back to Alpha Summit. Here I am, 27 years of age and I'm going to a men's conference and excited about it. I've been in a walk with God for the past six months and I'm wanting more and more is what I got. As a matter of fact, I got a whole lot more than what I bargained for. It was a conference about leadership, about men being leaders in their homes and in their families but more important that that, it was about 1,200 men being ALL IN for God. That was the mantra of this conference...ALL IN.

The speakers were great, the power of God was evident in that room for three days and it was the most emotional time I've been through in a long time. Whoever said men didn't know how or couldn't worship should have been in that room on Friday evening because 1,200 men blew the roof off Gateway Church, finalizing with a song called "Overcome." If you've never heard this song, click on this link which will take you a live performance of the song from New Life Church in Colorado where it originated.

I remember hearing this song for the first time at Gateway about a month ago and I couldn't get enough of it. After that, every time I hear it, there's always something that moves inside of me and just shakes me to the core. It's a song that tells us that we can overcome ANYTHING because Jesus himself OVERCAME the cross. He OVERCAME the lashings, He OVERCAME the ridecule, HE OVERCAME the persecution so we can have the opportunity to live in freedom and make mistakes and still be forgiven.

What I didn't expect, after spending three days in His presence, was going back to the regular service on Saturday night and then to the Encounter service on Sunday night and just being emotionally and physically drained. I will tell you this, I had never read the bible so much and continued to want more than I had after those four days. I wanted to hear from God, I wanted to know what His plan for me was, I wanted to know what He expected from me. But, what I ended up hearing was so humbling, because what I needed was what I had just finished learning for the last three days....how to be a leader.

I was asking God what path He had for me and it was almost like being smacked in the back of the head as if He was saying, "what have I been teaching you for the past three days?" So, on Saturday night as service was wrapping up, I decided that I would go up front for prayer for the very first time. I had never led anything in my life, I was always the kind to be behind the scenes to be a "follower." But after that conference, I was ready to be a leader, I was ready to be the person that He called me to be.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you? What is He calling you for or what is He calling you to do? Have you ever just sat in your room without a sound anywhere and just listened? I hadn't either until I started this journey, now I want to just sit and listen to all I can take in and it's been a fun ride.