Home Sweet Home!

Yes, it is good to be home, but I know I will shortly be missing the excitement, the university students and all that come with traveling to different countries around the world. I need to relax and rest for sure. I got home to Austin/Dripping Springs, TX around 5pm on Wednesday afternoon. That Int'l Date Line still messes me up. I left Sydney, Australia at 2:45pm on Wednesday afternoon...and arrived in LAX at 9:45am Wednesday morning. Then I left LAX at about 12noon and arrived in Austin at 4:45pm Wednesday afternoon.

I will post a few more pictures and then "as requested" will continue the blog as a Jim's Blog and what is going on in my life. How exciting!?
I know I have had many, total of at least 50 that I know around the world following along on the blog, so thanks for your comments and emails. I will post every once in a while, so long for now.

jim

So Long From Down Under

WOW! It has been a beautiful ride, even though it is a dreary day as I pack up my things and will be heading to the airport in a couple of hours. Todd gets to stay an extra day, but as for me, I am ready to go home, see my family...and go back to work!?
Well, Sydney did not disappoint as the final closing city of this World Tour. They pretty much packed the house and were singing and dancing from the start. There were about 9,000 or so in attendance. They did not want to leave and parts of us did not want them to leave either. They gave a huge offering for the World Tour and prayed "back" to Hong Kong and for their nation as well.
Since Louie said it from the stage, I guess it is no secret any longer. Passion plans on going to 5 more cities, internationally, next spring. So, if you feel led to take a vacation, watch the blog and come volunteer.
I will post some pictures maybe while I am at the airport or in the next 24 hours. Let me know if you want me to keep the blog going or do I end it for now. It has been fun and a great honor to be part of this 17 city world tour. I have met some great people I know I will never see this side of heaven. It is wonderful to know that I will see and know people of every race in heaven.
Time to pack up; thanks for the comments and your following along. I will post another blog from Texas.

Jim

Beautiful Sydney...For His Fame!

Well, we took a quick venue visit and were then able to see some of the sights in beautiful Sydney. Todd will be here a couple extra days and I am sure will post some beautiful shots of the City and places I will not get to see as I leave Wednesday morning for LA and then home to Austin, TX.

As we prepare for this last Passion City on this 17 City World Tour it is beginning to sink in that we are closing this chapter out of our lives and will never know what God has/will do until we reach heaven. It has been quite extrordinary all we have seen and I am glad to have taken pictures as I forget the specifics about each city until I can look back and see the faces and locations we have been. But, as you read this, please be praying for Sydney and all of the cities and students that have heard the message.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers and I hope we have in a small way kept you informed of what has been going on in some small fashion. Stay tuned for the Sydney report and some final thoughts from USA.

G'Day Mates!

Hello from Sydney, Australia. The weather is beautiful and this city looks gorgeous as I look out over the Bay here in Sydney. I hope to post a lot of pictures as I have a whole day to see the city before we start the load-in and preparation for this final city on the World Tour.
I am a little tired from the long night-time flight from Hong Kong to Sydney. It was a long day; The first group of us left the hotel in Hong Kong at 3:30pm and the plane took off at 7:30pm and we arrived in Sydney at about 7:30am.
With that in mind I am going to call it an early evening. I went out for a little while and took the pictures you see as I did not want to get messed up with jet lag and will get in bed early to make up for the lack of rest/sleep so I will be in good shape tomorrow.
So, that is it for now and if I see any croc's, tasmanian devils or kangaroos I will be sure to let you know.

Bittersweet Travel to Sydney, Australia

Yes, as we pack to travel to Sydney, the last stop on this world tour, it is a bittersweet feeling. I have been waiting for this stop for some time as the end of the tour and as a beautiful place to see. The venue holds over 10,000 and they are expecting a full house, so we will see how it all comes together in the end.
Pray for us as we complete this whirlwind world tour and thank you for your thoughts and prayers during this 17 city world tour event all for the fame of one name.

That is it from Hong Kong, China, so long and "shine your light...for the glory of His name."

Hong Kong, China

Ok, it was a long night in Hong Kong. The venue people were great, even though the building is owned by the Chinese government. They were concerned about a few things, but as they got to know Todd & I, (they asked to see our Police badges), they were impressed and gave in to allow us to do what we needed to do. One thing, was just to allow the students to come up to the front of stage without having several of their security there or preventing them from standing there...as they tried to do in Tokyo.
Anyway, it was a very exciting and loud night. They were expecting about 2000, what the venue could hold, and had every bit of that, including several hundred from "mainland" China. If any of you have heard "SAM" Lu's story/DVD, she was there from mainland China. They were loud and ready to dance. It was a great time and another city where God is working in the lives of college students. The church here appears to be strong and the locaql ministries were very excited about what Passion is all about. Passion does not like to come into a city and do some great conference and leave the local church to "re-direct" or change what Passion came in and did. Passion is all about proclaiming the Fame of Jesus and emphasizing "letting your light shine for the Glory of God in your every day life. About making your life count for "something" that is more important than anything else. That "something" is the fame, renown, Glory of Jesus." Isa. 26:8 (268generation.com).
Ok, sorry, most of you know what Passion is about...and it is not about Passion. Louie often says Passion can go by the wayside tomorrow and God's work will continue. Passion is only a small ripple in what God is doing.
Well, the time is running out and this great 2008 World Tour is drawing to a close and as exciting as it has been, there is a growing sense of disappointment as it draws to a close. I am excited about getting home to family, but sad about leaving this part of my life that has changed it forever. I know there are great cities in this world where university students love God and love to pray, read God's Word and worship to the fame of Jesus.
We leave for Sydney, Australia, tomorrow, Saturday and close out the tour on Tuesday night...so when you wake up on Tuesday morning, don't forget to be praying for the event. I think Sydney is about 15 hrs ahead of CST.
Thanks for your following along and I hope to post again before I leave for Sydney.

Isa. 26:8
"...the desire of our hearts is for His renown..."

Jim

Arrival in Hong Kong

Well, I typed this once and it did not show up, so here goes again.
I arrived late last night, actually early Wednesday morning with the production team and some others. Todd and the bands will arrive sometime later this afternoon, Wednesday afternoon. I think we will head to the venue about noon here. We got in so late I did not see where we were. I woke up and see that we are real close to the Bay and can see the water from the top of the hotel. A couple pictures to show for now.
One last thing; Can I ask you all to pray for our house in Sugar Land(Houston), Texas. For those who do not know, we had to move to Austin area in September and our house has not sold yet. We have had only a few visits, due to housing and loan conditions in USA. We now have an offer on our house, but it is lower, of course, than what we are asking. We are making counter offers and want God's leading in this. Please pray for God's will in this, not ours.
Thanks,

Another Tokyo Note!

I just went to grab a bite to eat before I leave for the airport in a couple hours for Hong Kong and realized I forgot another tidbit about Tokyo, Japan. I have talked about the cleanliness and the politeness of the Japanese.
I have to tell you this one grabbed my attention as we arrived a couple nights ago AND will attatch a couple pictures in the next 24 hours about this. BUT, do you know that even the construction sites are kept very neat and clean. The construction site is lit up by "lighted" cones at night with flower beds around them. Can you believe it? The construction sites in downtown Tokyo have lighted traffic cones with flower beds surrounding them. Amazing.
The people are also very polite and law abiding. You know how in the States at an intersection when people are waiting to cross the street at a light they "may" wait for the "WALK" sign before they cross the street, but mostly just walk whenever they want? Well, here in Tokyo, at least, they all wait for the light to change, even if no one is coming. There are a lot of business men dressed in their suits who ride old bicycles as well to get around town.
Oh well, just wanted to drop these few comments and will post some pictures of the construction sights with flower beds. Pretty Cool.

Sayonara for now from the Land of the Rising Sun!

Jim

Sayonara Tokyo!

Well, good-bye to another Passion City. It is rapidly becoming a "bittersweet" for me as each City goes by...rather quickly I may add. It is exciting as I will be home now in about 8-9 days and then again it is sad as I see it is almost over. There is no way of knowing how Passion has been used and the impact on students around the world. I only know what little I see in the students faces as I watch them intently and hear them talk (in English) about how their lives will change. I pray that God will "continue the work He has begun in their lives" (Phil. 1:6).

Well, back to TOKYO. The City is beautiful, very clean and the people are amazingly friendly. They love to worship. The venue was packed out and we were even told we could not let anymore in by the venue personnel a couple times. For those who know the place, we were at C.C.Lemon arena. It looked like a new venue, but it may be that they keep it in such great shape. As I was walking in the place several times, it was like the maintenance guy was following me around with a vacuum cleaner. There were at least 2 rooms where we had to take our shoes & socks off, so that was cool.
The place could hold 2000 and we had that almost exactly plus about 100 volunteers, so the venue again was not to excited about that, but we kept secretly squeezing them in. They gave quite a bit. I think it was 1,750,000 Yen.
All to be used for Passion Hong Kong.
Well, I am getting ready to pack and am heading out to Hong Kong, a day ahead of the rest of the crew, bands and Todd. He gets to stay another day in Tokyo as I go on ahead. Passion Hong Kong is Thursday night, I think, and then Sydney will be next Tuesday night. So, as it draws to a close I will keep you posted. Let me get a couple pictures up for now, only a few pictures of the venue as my batteries ran out just as I got there.
Talk to you all soon, continue to pray for Jesus to become Famous all around the world and know that Jesus is worshipped around the world by people of all nationalities, races, and background.

Konichiwa TOKYO!

Ok, I hope for those who know Japanese, I did not butcher the spelling of the greeting. But, PASSION has arrived in Tokyo, Japan and my first reaction is that it is a beautiful and a very clean and safe City. The hotel is great, a 30 minute or so drive from the venue, but it is relaxing and a great view of Tokyo.

It is an early day tomorrow and will be a long one, that seems to happen a lot, but I am looking forward to seeing the faces of Japan in worship of the "Beautiful One."
The venue is sold out and will be packed out. It holds only 2000 and they may have underestimated the enthusiasm of Japanese students. It will be a quick trip as the event begins early at 5pm and has to end by 9pm as they need the venue for another event, so at least we will not be out to past midnight, which is usual.

Well, time to get caught up on some other emails, work and duties, will get back tomorrow night after the event with some photos and comments.
It is Sunday night here and most of you are still sleeping and will be preparing for your own Sunday worship in the states. I hope you pray for us and think of the faces around the world that have worshipped this past week and that there are many who love and want to proclaim the Fame of Jesus around the world. Think about that as you worship this Lord's Day.

Korea, Land of Prayer & Crowder

Korea, Land of Prayer & Crowder

WOW! WOW! That is all I can say. I have learned two things in the past 36 hrs. The people in this country and particularly the students here like two things. They love to pray and I will talk more about that in a minute. However they sure LOVE David Crowder. They love Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman to be sure, but this is Crowder country, no doubt. Somehow, someway they relate to, or David relates well with the students on this side of the world. It is amazing and they are amazing in their love of the worship music.
Back to their love of prayer. I have not seen anything like it on the world tour and that is saying a lot. In Sao Paulo, Brazil, the students were loud and wild and crazy with their enthusiasm when they started singing a song on their own when Chris stopped. But, here in Seoul, when there is a break or even in the midst of the songs, they are praying and will break out into prayer at any time. At one time in particular, when Chris had finished singing a relatively quiet worship song, the students, and I mean most of them were praying, and praying out loud, with tears running down their faces, they were talking with God. I know Chris hesitated for a good minute before starting his next song. They have done that throughout the event. During their prayer triangles they are very vocal and sincere in their enthusiasm to talk with their Father. They are not ashamed of their Faith and show it in their constant prayerful spirit. There is no way to properly explain what I am trying to say, so I hope you get the picture. They are a “praying” people and it shows in their lives. Even as I write this, just after the late afternoon even and just before the evening event, it brings “condensation” to my eyes to even think about their faces as they openly and joyfully praise and pray to their Savior. What beautiful faces and what a beautiful noise it must be to God to hear so many cry out in praise and exaltation to Him.
So, it is Saturday afternoon here, meaning it is about 3am back in Texas, CST and we will begin this last session soon, but I can not post this blog until we have internet access sometime tonight back at the hotel. But, it will be posted by Saturday morning U.S. time and we will be sleeping before our trip to Tokyo, Japan. Seoul, Korea was a tough one, because it was a 2-day event and the communication problems and some others as well, but God is faithful and He has seen it through. Talk to you soon…probably post some pictures I have taken as well. That makes this leg of the tour half over by the time you read this, 3 down and 3 to go, There is some very real excitement in that and some growing deep sadness as it draws to a close. There are not words to express the thrill I have experienced and the amazing wonders God has shown me.
Thanks for your prayers,

Ok, just finished the evening session and am at Hotel just after midnight local time, will send another blog tomorrow along with some photos.

Jim