Hey, Breakaway brothers! I'm on a 747 on my way to the land of Oz: Sydney, Australia. They're about 16 hours ahead of us, so I'll be losing time as I travel. It's a long flight from Atlanta, but it's going to be a great trip!
A couple of years ago I met the guys from Hillsong United, the youth ministry of the huge Hillsong Church, at a music festival. Aside from being really cool guys, they are also passionate about following Jesus and loving the poor. Joel Houston is one of the leaders of the worship band and has become a bit of a friend (or "mate" as they call them in Australia.) He worked it out for me to come and speak at their annual youth event, Encounterfest. I've only been out of the United States two times before, and this is definitely the farthest from home I've ever been. (I mean, you can't really get much farther.)
I don't know how many of you have a passport. Mine has only a couple of stamps in it. People laugh about their passport pictures. They joke that customs agents have to squint at your picture to see the resemblance because the pictures are typically so bad. But your passport is a record of where you've been. It shows where you're from and where you want to go. When you go through customs, you have to state the purpose for your journey.
It's an interesting allegory for our reputations in real life. We're the traveler; the Holy Spirit is our companion and our friends and acquaintances the customs agents. We need to be prepared to ask ourselves, Are we really who we say we are? If someone were to "stamp" where we've been, would it be consistent with where we say we want to go and the purpose for our journey? Are the places we've been, both literally and in our minds, honorable? Would our "passport" match up with who we say we want to be?
More from Australia in my next blog. Until then, I'll catch you mates later! 
