I shall fear no evil...

What are you afraid of? When someone asks that question, we typically think normal things like snakes, spiders, heights, the dark…But what if someone asks “what do you fear?” Our answers might change a bit. We fear rejection, death, getting caught….

When I think of things that I’m afraid of, I usually think of things that can harm me. When I think of the things I fear, I usually think of things that have painful consequences.

So where is all this going? Earlier in my walk I often heard the term “God fearing man” or some other variant of that phrase. Before I was able to grasp the beauty of a God with so much depth, I really struggled to put together the God of love that rescued me and the God that demanded fear from His people. Then, it hit me. To fear God is to acknowledge His power and to show respect for His authority.

Think about it this way. When you’re driving down the highway and a cop pulls into your lane, what is your first reaction? You get nervous don’t you? You have a “fear” of the Police because you acknowledge they have authority and power over you. That doesn’t mean you’re afraid of them. Most of us are honest people that don’t need to worry about the Police harming us. When you’re walking downtown at night, don’t you feel safer having them around? So why do we usually get nervous when they drive behind us? We get nervous because we fear the consequences if we get caught braking a law don’t we?

Fear of God is no different. We all need to acknowledge His power over us and we all need to fear the consequences of our disobedience and sin. However just like having the Police around when you’re in a dark ally makes you feel safe, having God around in your life is also a very good idea. Fearing God simply means understanding His power and sovereignty. The last time I checked, those were also great reasons to love and worship Him too!

Can I see some ID?

Where we put our identity is a very important thing. It’s how we define ourselves and to those around us. You may not know it but we all spend a great deal of effort trying to get others to see us in the same way we see ourselves. It’s safe to say we’re not always successful.

If someone walked up to you and asked you to describe yourself, how would you respond? Chances are the first thing you think about (or what you consider the most interesting thing) is how you choose to define yourself. Try it. Spend a minute describing yourself to an imaginary partner. Don’t just keep reading; really think about it for a minute or so.

Tell me a little about yourself.

What did you come up with? Was it that you’re a teacher? Play in a band? Play a sport or are in a club? Is it something you like to do or are proud that you get to do? Almost all of us at one point or another link who we are with what we do. For the longest time I based my identity around motor sports. I couldn’t wait to tell people I drove race cars because it set me apart and made me special. The problem was when the people I was talking to didn’t know or care anything about racing; I felt this immense sense of rejection. If the thing I put my identity in didn’t matter, than I didn’t matter. That was powerful stuff! How I defined myself had real significance to how I felt.

So here’s the ultimate question. If you put your identity in something you do, then who are you when you can no longer do it? What happens when you get cut from the team? Break up with that person you were dating? Have to change careers? What happens when your sense of identity and value falls apart around you?

Instead, lets all strive to redefine ourselves on who Christ is instead of what we do. If you are a follower of Christ, you have been made new and set apart. If our identity and connected sense of self worth is tied to Christ, now what happens when we get cut from the team, dumped by our boyfriend/girlfriend, or lose a job? Does anyone see where I’m going with this…..?

Proverbs 18:17

"The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him." (NIV)
"He who tells his story first makes people think he is right, until the other comes to test him." (NLV)

I always seem to be on the listening side of my friends as they wrestle with ideas or decisions in their lives. I am not sure exactly why people naturally come to me for advice or to just talk, but I am very humbled by it. When someone is willing to invite you into an area of their lives that they are confused about or struggle with, they are showing you how much they value and respect you as a friend.

One of the things I've learned through this process is how different a situation can seem to different people. It is very easy to get caught up in the story of how so-and-so wronged a person, or how a certain situation is completely out of control. When I start to hear a story about a situation, I always try to tell myself there is a second, or even third side to the story. I will usually put myself in the position of others in the story and try to figure out why a situation developed.

Of course, when the situation involved other people, especially brothers/sisters in Christ, there are boundaries. When is it OK to offer counsel and when must we send our brothers and sisters to the source?

When will giving advice spur on someone to good deeds and when is it just making room for gossip?

Are they just trying to stir something up? Are they more interested in telling you how wrong someone is instead of genuinely trying to understand the situation so that they can proceed with wisdom and love? I believe that often, we need an outsiders perspective on a situation before we can proceed with a clear head, however there is a fine line and it is very easy to cross over into the land of destruction. Make sure you filter a persons reasons and listen to their heart before you allow them your ear.

How solid is your vision?

Proverbs 29:18(a) tells us

"Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint" (NIV)
"When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild" (NLT)
"Where there is no vision, the people perish" (KJV)

I freaking love this verse! It reminds me of the consequences, but more importantly, it reminds me of how easy it is to lose my way. The second I lose sight of my future, that's the second I make poor choices in my present.

I'm a pretty weird guy. For example, I am passionately in love with my kids. For those of you who know me that's a pretty funny statement since I don't have any kids yet. In fact I'm about as single as it gets. Suffice it to say, it will be a long time before I get to meet my children, but I stinking love them all the same.

As a single 25 year old, it's way too easy to rush into a relationship or even marriage, but when I think about my kids, things get a whole lot different. I am not willing to settle on the mother of my kids. The woman who will raise them and teach them many of the values they will carry though their lives is the second most important person they will ever know next to Christ. I owe it to them to be patient and be picky. Without that vision I would surly "run wild" as Proverbs warns about.

How solid is your vision in life? Do you know where God is leading your family? Do you know where God is leading your ministry? Do you know what God has in store for you? Unless you have a clear understanding of what is before you (sometimes God tells us exactly what it is, sometimes God just gives us an idea), you will find it very hard to restrain yourself in the present.

How God directs our lives (part 2)

I had intended to continue this topic with another story early on in my faith, but I think that talking about what God has been doing to me recently is far more interesting and relevant. If you remember from part 1, I talked about Outside Influences and how God uses things around you. In this post, I want to speak about God moving from within.


To preface this story, you need to know a little bit about my life a year ago. I was still in college at Clemson University, getting ready to graduate after my third senior year (yeah, another story for another time). I was serving at Newspring Church in Anderson, SC and was absolutely loving every minute of it. You see, Newspring was the church I dedicated my life to Christ in. It was the church I grew up in. The first church I ever went to that was fun. After one particularly awesome Sunday, I told God I never wanted to leave this place. In fact, I had already made future plans so that I could stay in town.


About a year ago, I walked into church, sat on the right hand side, 4 rows back, and began to worship God. Suddenly, a thought popped into my head.



--You're not going to be here much longer



"Interesting", I said to myself. More interesting was how I took that thought. There was no nervousness, no fear, no arguing. Even stranger, there was no doubt. I just got that thought, and knew that it was true. That's what made it truly interesting.


You see, by that point in my life, God had already stripped away the girl I was dating at the time, the job that I intended to keep after I graduated, and the plans I had for the next 18 months of my life. I had suddenly found myself in a position of total loss, and amazingly enough, total freedom. I had the freedom to answer God's call in my life and to follow his direction.


It was hardly a surprise to me when a few months later, God gave me this burning passion to move to Charlotte. For the last 7 years I had lived only 2 hours away from Charlotte and never thought about it, never went to it, never cared about it. Suddenly, it was all I could think about, all I wanted, all I was looking forward to. I knew God had put it on my heart and I knew that it was the next step in my journey. I just had no idea why.


So I did what I had to, I moved to Charlotte after graduation. Two weeks later, I came back to Newspring for our youth trip to Panama City, Florida. Some day I will have to blog about what a stinking amazing experience that was!! I am so blessed to know the most amazing students and leaders on the planet!! For this story however, you just need to know that the week was one of the most amazing of my life in youth ministry, but it was the bus ride home that was truly interesting.

The way my life was about to unfold, we were going to arrive in the parking lot of Newspring Church and I was going to get in my car and drive to Charlotte for the last time. That night would be the last I had with my students and my friends as a volunteer of Newspring Church. I should have been depressed. I should have been torn up, doubting my decision to leave, clinging onto the relationships I had made. After all, I had nothing in Charlotte but a strange new city that I didn't know.


--If this is what I'm taking you from....... Imagine what I'm sending you to.



"Interesting".


I wasn't the least bit depressed. If anything, I was even more excited than ever! I couldn't even think straight the whole way home. I didn't know what God had before me, but I knew it was going to blow my mind to little bits. God had given me the most amazing send off I could have asked for. In his amazing power, he took a moment that should have been one of the saddest, and used it to fire me up like charcoal grill with 7 gallons of lighter fluid and 1 briquette.


And the really crazy thing is that he hasn't freaking stopped!! In the last three months he has been using the desires of my heart to direct my path. He is pumping me up to a level I never dreamed of, making me a bigger nut than ever. I can't sleep at night because all I can think about is the work he is calling me to. He has put me on a path and is moving my life forward at a speed that only He is capable of and I love it!

I pray that he never stops pulling at my heart. I pray that he never stops redirecting my desires so that He can direct my path. And I pray that He never stops blowing away the expectations I have.

What happens when you tell God "no"?

I look back on my past decisions, and there are literally dozens of times that God called me to act and I told Him "no". The ones that affect only me are easy to deal with, but what really messed me up were the times that He wanted me to interact with others.


You see, I worried that every time I didn't share the Gospel when I was commanded to, or show someone an act of kindness, I had ruined God's plan. In my mind I had gotten in the way.


Of course, the very notion that I could possible interrupt God's plan is completely ludicrous. I don't know when I decided that I was important enough to screw with the creators master plan, but sure enough, I felt like every time I said "no", I was doing just that.


This process revealed some interesting things to me though. Obviously, I can and do say "no" when God seeks to act through me, and obviously I cannot get in the way of His plans. So then, what does happen when I say "no"? What is the consequence of my action?


There are many answers to this question, but I choose to break it down in one of two ways.


1. God will still fulfill his plan, and he will still use you to do it.
2. God will still fulfill his plan, and you will miss out on it.


For an illustration of point number one, simply read the book of Jonah. Here we find a great example of God telling Jonah to go to Nineveh to reach the people in His name. Jonah, ever ready to be used as an example in my blog, told God "no", and ran away from his calling. God chose to still use Jonah to fulfill His plan, but here's the catch (isn't there always one?)...


It took a storm, a near death experience, being swallowed by a whale, 3 days of the foulest smelling voyage I can imagine, and only to be dumped on the shore where his next step was to preach to a city filled with people he despised. God still used Jonah, but how much easier would Jonah's life had been if he just hopped on his camel and took off? When we tell God "no" and He uses us anyways, the trip is always much harder than it had to be.


Point number two is much easier to deal with and far worse than the first. In this case, God still accomplishes what He set out to do, but you miss out on seeing His glory and His work. You miss out on connecting with the God of the Universe that wants to show you how amazing He is so that you can understand how amazing your relationship with Him is. Without that image of God's greatness and His divine power, it becomes all to easy to become stale in your relationship with Him.


This is by far the worse thing I can imaging. A slow, stale, quiet death. Drifting unheard of into the night, never making a peep. Never realizing your potential in Christ and never knowing the power of the King.


My prayer, is that we would all say "no" a lot less in our daily lives. Especially, the BIG things. The more stupid, impossible, unreasonable, and painful the call, the more God will use it to rock your face off and be glorified in the process.


What is it God is calling you to? Where have you been telling God "no"?

How God Directs Our Lives (part 1)

What better way to start off my new blog than with a story of how God radically shaped my life early on in my walk. Of course, I'm certain God had many things to do with my life before this moment, but one of the coolest things about being a Christian is being able to recognize God at work, and this was the first time it really hit me.

I had been saved at a Clemson FCA event two years prior. Sadly, my life had little change to show for it. I knew that if I wanted to take another step towards Christ, I needed to get my butt to church. Thus, I began searching for a church in the area, or "church shopping" as my Southern Baptists friends informed me it was called.

At the time, I worked in the restauarnt industry with some amazing Christians. Several invited me to their church in Greenville, SC, which I of course accepted. The Sunday I attended, I was met with an odd dichotomy of classic church and contemporary worship. There I sat in a pew, surrounded by stained glass, listening to.....is that a guitar on stage?! And drums?! And is that college students wearing shorts and a T-shirt to church on a Sunday?! I mean, I know I haven't been to church in a while, but when the heck did this all change?

I wasn't really sure if it was "right", but I liked it. I liked it a lot. I learned a new word that Sunday, Worship "band". I knew that God was about to get exciting in my life, but I grossly underestimated just how much. I guess you can say my faith began a trend in that aspect, but that's a topic for a much latter time.

After the "band" was finished, the Pastor came out and preached a great message. I was really digging all of it. It felt fantastic to be around God and His word again. I wanted to wrap myself in it and learn more and more. The hunger that had plagued me for years was beginning to be satiated. Then my experience took a very unexpected turn.

At the very end of the sermon, the Pastor through the most vicious curve ball I had ever seen to this day. It went something roughly like this...

"Scientist are offending God by trying to clone human embryos. You know who wants to clone human embryos? The Homosexuals! That's who! They can't reproduce naturally, so they want to clone an army of Homosexuals to take over."

::blink:: Umm.....

Did that just happen? Surly I just totally missed something. I even turned around (keep in mind I was on the 2nd row) and looked at the rest of the congregation to see if anyone else caught that. I was hoping to see some pained or confused faces, but all I got was intent focus as if nothing out of the ordinary had just taken place. Suddenly, I was in the Twilight Zone.

Suffice it to say, I continued "church shopping" and the next week lead me to Newspring church on Easter Sunday. That was to be my home for the next four years of my walk, the place I was baptized, and the place where I made the commitment to live my life 100% in the name of Jesus Christ.

A few months later I asked my friends about the odd sermon, no one remembered it. The more I asked and thought about it, the more it became apparent that it was a section of the message devoted exclusively to me.

Later, I retold this story to some friends, and ended by saying, "If it wasn't for those 60 seconds, I probably would not have ended up at Newspring Church." Suddenly WHAMMO!! A ton of God bricks landed on my heart, and for the first time I saw how God was directing my life in the most spectacular way. I saw how God used a very public message to speak to me in a very personal way, and in his supreme power made it practically disappear to those around me.

God put a desire in my heart (to attend church), allowed me to step up and take an action (the wrong one), and acted within that decision to lead my down the right path. You see, I had been invited to Newspring months before, but refused to go because I didn't like the guy inviting me.

To me, this is a very powerful example of how God uses Outside Influences to direct our path. More on that topic next....