Recently I got a chance to meet a “hero” of mine. Hero is a weird word to me, because mostly I think of a hero as someone I admire, respect, and believe is changing the world in their own way.

So I met Joel Houston, a hero in some ways to me. In the States, Joel is somewhat unknown, considering that when he played at a conference I was at almost everyone had no idea who he was. Joel helped start Hillsong United, originally the youth band at Hillsong Church. I remember listening to a pre-release of an album from this new worship band from Australia back in 2002. I’ve been singing along with Joel and United ever since then as a person who loves music and loves their passion to worship God.

You know the feeling when you’re about to meet someone you would consider to be a hero of yours in some way? Well maybe it’s just me who gets super nervous. So I processed my thoughts on the ways I wanted to thank him and encourage him so I wouldn’t sound like a blabbering fool to him (I probably did anyway).

I told Joel how grateful I was for his passion to worship God and how he’s helped turn his passion into leading a generation of young believers towards worshiping and turning back to God.

Who is one of your “heros” and what would you tell him/her if you met them?