. . . In My Chuck T's

What are we living for?

2007-02-12T22:45:00.000-08:00

It's interesting. I found out today that things that used to be important to me are not longer that important. I used to be all about making the grade. I had to perform at my best so that I would make the grade. I found out today that I was docked two letter grades for an inappropriate remark I made in a homily that I preached for my preaching class. Now, normally I would be at my wit's end over that penalization, but right now it just didn't seem like that big of a deal. Maybe I'm being insensitive and maybe I'll be disciplined by the Spirit later about it, but right now I see more important things in my life.

I sat at dinner tonight talking to some of the guys on the team. We weren't really talking about anything significant, just shooting the breeze. I began to feel the tug of my rational side saying, "Davey, you really need to go to the library to do some work." But I just couldn't find the motivation to leave the conversation and go to the library right then. I began to feel guilty that maybe I was losing my motivation for school work (which may be true). But I realized in that moment that everything I'm studying right now is preparing me for what I'm already doing. I can simulate teaching people from scripture, and caring for their needs, and running the business of the church, and debating philosophies of ministry, but that does absolutely nothing compared to getting my hands dirty in ministry right here, right now.

If I live for the grade, or for the fleeting feeling of affirmmation from a professor or a colleague, then I've failed my calling, because all of that will fade away. II Corinthians 5:1 says, "Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands . . . So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it." The things that will have eternal value in my life are consuming much of my time right now, and I don't think that is a bad thing. (Disclaimer - I did go to library eventually tonight, and I got a bunch of work done - just in case you're reading this, mom.)

I'm Back!

2007-02-11T19:32:00.000-08:00

Ok so I'm back. I can't promise that I'll remain here for a while but I'll try. I missed blogging. It's a great way to get your thoughts out and just let the stream of consciousness take over for a while. It's an amazing thing to write and just let your thoughts flow from your head down to your fingertips and out on the screen for everyone else to see. Hmmm . . . that's kinda of scary now that I think about it. Ok this will be a censored version of my thoughts, don't worry.

So tonight was an incredible night. We've been seeing some amazing things happen on SWU's campus and on our baseball team and I wish that I could go into it all, but I really don't have the time. I've got some last minute tying up to do on a valentine's gift for my beautiful girlfriend (hope she's not reading this).

Back to tonight: One of my buddies on the baseball received Christ tonight!! It was awesome!! We've been praying for him and talking to him about Jesus for a while and he's been showing up at Bible study almost every week, but he's been holding off on a decision. Finally, tonight he accepted Christ into his heart to be the Lord of his life. As I sat and ate dinner with him afterwards I explained to him how this is just the beginning and not the end of the journey and how exciting the rest of his life is going to be as long as he makes Jesus his first priority.

I want to tell you a little about why this story is so cool, because I feel that God spoke more to me in this experience than he did to Bud (that's this guys name) or anyone else. A few weeks ago I mentioned something to my Media Ethics teacher that I really wish that God's hand would just write on the wall his will (in regards to what I'm supposed to do in the future). I was really frustrated because it seems that God spoke in all these awesome ways in the Bible and yet we don't get to have encounters like that with God anymore. Elijah saw him in fire from heaven on Mt. Carmel, Moses saw him in a burning bush, and Daniel saw his hand write on the wall. So I began praying that God would write it on the wall what I was supposed to do with all these decisions I'm presently making.

We went to Newspring last Sunday (great church; Perry Noble, the pastor, has a blog site and there's a link to it on my sidebar). Perry did a sermon about telling your friends about Jesus and bringing them to church (in religionese that's called evangelism). At the end of the sermon he had us go write a name or two on the wall of the sanctuary of a person that we would commit to pray for that week and to whom we would extend an invitation to church the next week. So I felt that I needed to write Bud's name on the wall.

As I approached the wall with the pen in my hand I had one of those de ja vu moments. It was like I had been there, or was expecting to be there . . . right there in Newspring sanctuary, facing the wall, I felt God speak to me. His words were few but powerful, "You wanted to see Writing on the Wall, Davey. There you go." Before me were hundreds of people's names who did not know Jesus, and at that moment I knew what God was saying to me through the writing on the wall. "Davey, I'll take care of everything. You just be concerned about bringing people to me." I can still feel those words resounding in my soul right now as I type. It stirred me to the core and for the first time I "heard" God speak to me as clearly as writing on the wall.

So my prayer is that through these thoughts and words, you too will be stirred. That if there is someone out there in this wild cyber world who is down on their luck and their life is in shambles, they would run across this blog and it could somehow offer them encouragement. There is a God out there who longs to live inside each and every one of us and if you turn your life over to Him he will radically revolutionize your life!

Spinning Wheels . . .

2006-06-28T13:52:00.000-07:00

So we're shooting this video for camp (that's coming up in 2 weeks) and it seemed like it should be easy. Have you ever seen those new Mac commercials with the one guy who represents a Mac and the other guy who represents a PC. Well, we're spoofing that with one guy representing NTS Camp ("Never the Same) and some nerdy guy representing another camp (like math camp or chemistry camp, etc). Very simple commercials, but it requires a solid white background and solid white floor.

We get to the church to shoot this thing and spend literally five hours spinning our wheels. We could not get the background and flooring right. To be honest it looked really ghetto (not to bring race issues into this) and cheap. We want it to look exactly like the Mac commercials. So after setting up and tearing down set after set, sifting through idea after idea we finally called it a night, having not taken even a frame of video.

I obviously went to bed last night feeling like a failure, feeling like I would never be able to pull this one off and then my boss would be ticked at me (he had already yelled at me earlier that day for the first time). Ahhh! It was such a good idea too!

This morning I have the brilliant idea of checking a photography studio to see if they have what we would need. "Oh that will never work, Davey. We'll never get into a studio."

I left the studio this morning feeling like an accomplished, triumphant, valient hero. We have a time slot tomorrow from 12-3 in the studio to shoot it and the guy offered to help with lighting techniques. HALLELUJAH!! (don't know if that's spelled right; sorry, Handel).

It's amazing what you can get if you just check. Granted, we had the idea of shooting it in a studio right off the bat but we dismissed it immediately, thinking it would be impossible. It would have saved us a lot of time, hastle, and frustration had we just checked on that to begin with.

Lesson learned: Dream big, make connections, and try, try, try! You never know what could come out of it if you strive for excellence!

Wow . . . Must be a God thing

2006-06-27T08:41:00.000-07:00

Ok so right after I posted that last blog, I opened up the Bible and read a little in my quiet time (I hate the term "quiet time" because I get loud sometimes when I'm spending time with God). Anyways here's what I read:

Job 21:7-16

"Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes. Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of god is not up on them. Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and never miscarry. They send forth their children as flock; their little ones dance about. They sing to the music of tambourine and harp; they make merry to the sound of the flute. They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace. YET THEY SAY TO GOD, 'LEAVE US ALONE! WE HAVE NO DESIRE TO KNOW YOUR WAYS. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?' BUT THEIR PROSPERITY IS NOT IN THEIR OWN HANDS, so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked."

. . . and . . .

Psalm 90:10

"The length of our days is seventy years - or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away."

Verdict: Life is fleeting, money is not eternal! How are we going to serve others today?

It's a shame . . .

2006-06-27T07:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took some time to read some people's blogs. One blog I love reading is Perry Noble's, the pastor of NewSpring Community Church. I was scrolling through some of his archives and found this blog post. It's from a few days ago but it caught my attention I guess because of all the youth work that I've been doing lately. READ IT!

The funny thing is I only read point #4 about fundraising and how the church should never make youth raise money for trips they go on. Interesting concept.

Then something extraordinary happened . . .

Not ten minutes after I read that section (remember that I read only THAT section of that blog post) a boy walked into the office telling Derek (the Junior High leader here) that he wouldn't be able to go to camp because he and his parents couldn't afford it. I was dumbfounded! I had just read that! So immediately God grabbed my heart.

Allow me to chase rabbits for a second . . .with blow-torches . . .

It's a shame that the church is known as a power-hungry money-grabbing institution. The same kids who "can't afford" to go to camp have parents driving nice cars, living in nice houses and buying new toys to take out on the lake (seadoos, jetskis, boats, etc.) "250 dollars to go to camp! Dang, that church just wants ALL our money!" So they instill in their kids that spirituality and the Church is not worth investing money in. The truth is THIS church (Daybreak) as well as most do (or at least should) find a way to get kids to camp no matter what.

We put on a cutting edge, grade-A camp so we can create an environment where the kids have a great time and learn how they can apply spiritual truths to their lives. We create an environment that appeals to them and pumps Jesus up! And it costs a lot of money to do that. Daybreak Student Ministries definitely does not pocket even a dime of that money. But for some reason the Church nationwide has built up a reputation of being pocket-stuffers.

This kid that walked into my office, however, struggles financially. We put out memos in the church that there are some kids that don't have the financial capacity to get to camp and yet we still have people walk out the doors of this church after being "filled by the Spirit" on a Sunday morning and they never even give these kids a second glance. I see offering bucket after offering bucket go by me empty with a hundred people passing it in front of me!

SHAME ON THOSE PEOPLE who think life is about what WE can get out of it. News Flash . . . whoever dies with the most toys still dies! And I've never seen a U-Haul being pulled behind a hearse.

Wouldn't it be nice if the Church was known as the most self-sacrificing, selfLESS, giving, serving institution in the world? Wouldn't it be nice if people recognized a need and met those less fortunate where they were at? Wouldn't it be nice if the Church's focus was to bring heaven to this wretched world instead of worrying about "when we all GET to heaven?" Wouldn't it be nice if people saw Jesus when they saw the church?

Let me promise you this (I can say this because God himself promised it) that if Jesus' name is lifted up and people see Jesus through our actions and words - there will be NO mistake - He will draw ALL men to Him, period! And HEAVEN WILL CRASH INTO EARTH WITH COSMIC EFFECTS!

EMPOWERING!

2006-06-26T07:35:00.000-07:00

I learned a valuable lesson the other day. . .I'm not Superman! Wow it took me a while to figure that one out! No seriously, I'm not Superman, I'm not Batman, nor am I any other superhuman hero dude. I'm Davey. Your average American, twenty-year old, un-married, and I have limits.

We had an event this past Wednesday called "Super-Soak Me." We played all types of water games outside and got absolutely soaked! It was a blast! And while we pulled everything off, I was about to pull my hair out during the planning and setting up of everything. Why? Because I was in charge of everything, and I tried to do most of it myself! BIG MISTAKE!

You always hear things about delegation and how it's a MUST! It seems like when it comes down to it, it would be easier for me to do it all so I don't have to entrust someone else with getting it done, and then discover that it never got done. WRONG! My mindset up until now is that I can carry through MY ideas and MY visions better than anyone else because they're MINE. Sounds familiar doesn't it? The two-year old mentality of mine, mine, mine. That's exactly what I sound like. What happens when you take a two-year old's toy away? "No! Mine!"

HaHa. Oh I crack myself up drawing parallels to my attitude and a two year old's but seriously, that's what it's like. Inside I don't want to give away these things to other people after I've put in the time and energy to plan and envision, but the reality is, these people could probably take these ideas, run with them, and make them into something far more creative than I could have ever come up with.

So I learned a lesson in empowering. How do I become a Superman? By not thinking that I am one, but by entrusting other people with my vision, and they can in turn propel me to think bigger and better than I ever dreamed of. I want to be the kind of person that people are drawn to because of (1) the way Jesus shines through me and is made famous in my life (it's not about ME becoming famous but about JESUS being so) and (2) the way that I empower people by entrusting them to excell in areas that they're passionate about.

I read in John chapter 4 today two instances in which Jesus delegated jobs to his disciples. The first is in verse 8 when it says in parentheses that the "disciples had gone into the town to buy food." This was during Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman. Jesus' disciples had to do certain jobs so Jesus could concentrate on what HIS purpose and HIS destiny was on Earth, ministry. It's funny how John puts this little piece of "insignificant" information in his gospel in parentheses. It's like he says, "Oh by the way, even Jesus had limits in his human form. He got tired, he got frustrated, he couldn't DO everything." So if Jesus had limits and delegated, how much more limited am I, and how much more do I need to pass responsibility on to other people. EMPOWERING!!

Jesus didn't even baptize people according to John (ch. 4 ver. 2). He had his disciples do it. Why? Cuz Jesus had to preach. Who was going to get the people to come and here the message of the Kingdom and get baptized if Jesus didn't preach? The disciples didn't know jack squat at this time about the Kingdom because Jesus had not EMPOWERED them yet with the Holy Spirit. Hmmm. Never thought about that one. Pastors, Youth Ministers, church staff can't do it all. The church is a community and its survival is dependent on volunteers. Everyone has a part. Davey, get off your high post and let someone else get involved!

CORRUPT!

2006-06-06T06:51:00.000-07:00

Let me just say that kids these days are CORRUPT! I sound like one of those old men who are always walking around complaining how morally corrupt every generation is except mine. HA! The only difference is I don't wear dentures, I don't play chess in the park everyday, I don't feed the pigeons, I don't make frequent arrangements to pick up my Meds, and I concede that my generation is corrupt too.

Let me explain. I was hanging out with a bunch of 4th graders this weekend. Keep in mind that these kids are in 4th grade. We took them bowling Friday night and I had 4 kids in my car with me. Naturally I'm thinking I'll be the cool college guy that lets them listen to "cool Christian" music. So I start playing stuff like Relient K, Grits, Kutless, Switchfoot, etc. All of a sudden I hear this one of those little snot-nosed pip-squeaks yell out from the back, "This stuff is lame!" LAME!? Time-out. I consider myself to have a pretty good taste of music and a pretty good hold on the music industry and a 4th grader is telling me that my music is LAME?! UNBELIEVABLE?

So I chuckle and ask what kind of music he likes. He then informs me that he likes Greenday, Young Geezy, The Franchise Boys, Eminem, Nelly . . . you get the point.

So we get to the bowling ally and the only music that is played is secular MTV music . . . unedited. These kids are singing every word to every song ("Lean Wid It, Rock Wid It," "In Da Club," "Grills") THESE KIDS ARE IN 4TH GRADE! I didn't even know what MTV was in 4th grade! I listened to Rebecca St. James, Steven Curtis Chapman, Carman, Michael W. Smith. Talk about lame!

These 4th graders are so disrespectful too! I would never have talked to adults the way these kids talked to us! I wonder where they learn this stuff!

I wonder why our world is so messed up. Read Kenneth's blog. He'll tell you! He watched the news for about 12 hours the other day and witnessed first-hand how screwed up things really are in this world. I've figured it out! I know why!

Bad

Parenting!

You thought I was going to say MTV right? It's not their fault. They're just pointing the camera at what people want to see and at what parents are letting be shown in their house. They're doing their job.

It's bad parenting. And I would blog and tell people how to be parents but I have NO IDEA! Why? Because I'm not a parent. Call my parents up and ask them. They take people to school on that stuff!

Amanda Update:
Another great day with Amanda on Sunday. After her graduation we hung out at different open houses all day messing around with little kids, jousting, and throwing water and smoothies all over each other. We made a campfire Sunday night and sat under the stars by the fire just talking about our dreams and aspirations for life and just giggling with each other.

Film-Making 101

2006-06-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

So I learned how to use Final Cut yesterday. Ok well not entirely but I've learned the basics and now I'm fooling around with the advanced stuff. For those of you who have no earthly idea what I'm talking about, Final Cut is a video editing program for Macs. IT IS OFF THE HEEZY!

I made my first two movies yesterday. Nothing special, just a couple interview-type videos that we're showing tonight for the 4th grade graduation (the 4th graders are moving up from the kids program - HIPTOWN - to the 5th &6th grade program - SWITCH56 (website not available yet because I haven't designed it yet).

My task was to shoot film from 3 different angles of the 4th grade small group leaders telling about their experience that year and any advice they want to pass on to the kids. I then was to cut them up, edit them, put touching music in the background, and make them flow in a coherent sequence that will move the parents to tears tonight. Umm. . .hardly. But I had fun doing it and learning Final Cut!

Last night we went and saw X3 (the new X-Men movie). It was awesome. I haven't seen the first two so I was a little lost at the beginning but I am definitely gonna rent the first two and have a movie marathon with Amanda, Gavin, and Amber. That'll be a blast (even though the girls aren't too into Sci-Fi flicks).

What's even cooler is that I met the producer of that and got to hear him speak about film-making and story-boarding here at the Creative Infusion Conference. He was amazing! The best part is he has a great heart for God and seeing lost people come to know Christ. It's very evident in his films that he is a film-maker who is a Christian (he doesn't like to be called a "Christian film-maker" only a "film-maker who is a Christian"); the Spiritual undertones of the movie are unmistakeable.

It was nice getting to hang out with the guys up here too, making some new friends and just having a good time.

I have to go shoot another video right now. I'll keep posting if ya'll keep reading!

Wow, what a weekend!

2006-05-30T06:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, so everything's right in the world - well, at least this little soap box called "my world." I met with the guys here at Daybreak and everything's going to be ok. It'll be a little tight financially this summer, but with a little budgeting (the "natural") and God's intervention (the "super) I think we're gonna see a glimpse of the supernatural this summer.

So I'm sittin in my little office here at Daybreak - there's nothing glamorous about it - overlooking the parking lot. I'm watching this wonderful Michigan rain soak the hot, black asphalt and I can't help but think about the cleansing qualities of rain. Even though it's pretty much all I see here in Michigan, I can't ignore how renewing and life-giving rain actually is. It's like exactly what I needed from God, just to hear the sound of the rain falling softly on the roof (I know you're thinking, "Davey, your sounding like a real fruit." But just bear with me . . .). I was listening to the rain and a huge rush of PEACE just flowed over me. If God can send rain from heaven, providing nourishment for thousands of plants on earth, then how much more will He provide for me (Luke 12:24-28)! So I say, "God, bring on the Rain!"

I can't wait to get things rolling here. I'm speaking on Sunday night, so be in prayer for me for that. I really think that God's going to use me to make an impact here.

I spent the weekend with the wonderful Amanda Grace running in a community 5K together, reading with her on my shoulder, playing, swimming, and "tanning" at St. Joe (Lake Michigan), and sifting through old home videos of each other. It was a blast! It's amazing how well you get to know someone when you actually spend time with that person (as opposed to long distance phone calls for 5 months). I'll be able to see her about once a week, so we will definitely get some time together this summer (YEAH!).

I was thinking, this morning as I was driving up to Hudsonville from an amazing Memorial Day weekend in Elkhart, about our relationships, particularly with our Heavenly Father. I wonder if God get's tired of long distance calls sometimes. I lay awake at night thinking about how much I would like to be with Amanda, just spending time with her on a daily basis, and sometimes I can't take the phone any longer. I just have to SEE her!

I wonder if us being on Earth is like a long distance phone call to God. I know the Holy Spirit is always surrounding us and God's presence is always with us. That's the beauty of Jesus' sacrifice; it made interaction with God available to everyone. But I can't help think that God looks forward to the day that we're in His presence in Heaven, "kickin' it" with Him all the time, personally. Maybe that's when He calls us home, when He can't take the long distance phone calls anymore and He just wants to see us and embrace us. Maybe death, the state that induces such mourning here on earth, creates an environment in heaven that blows away that of a New Year's Bash in New York City! The day that God takes us up in His arms and wipes all of our tears away will be even sweeter than when I embraced Amanda for the first time in 5 months.

MapQuest To I-90/94

2006-05-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

JESUS

Directions to I-90/94?

2006-05-25T20:25:00.000-07:00

Life hit me fast today. A knock out blow. You’ve all seen Rocky. Of course, who hasn’t. Isn’t it amazing how Rocky can stand there and take a left hook, a right jab, an uppercut, and another hook and it never phases him. Here I am wallowing in my own pity after one sharp hook. Granted this one was below the belt.

Let me back up. It all started yesterday as my mom dropped me off at the airport in Birmingham. After an amazing three days with my family I was ready to take life head-on again and be out on my own. There was something spiritual about walking through those revolving doors at the Birmingham International Airport, it may have been the tacos from the night before, but whatever it was, it hit me like the Titanic to an iceberg, I was on my own again! For all you high schoolers out there who are so eager to get away from the auspice of your parents overbearing regime, don’t ever forget the day that you will run back with your tail tucked between your legs. The REAL WORLD is scary! It’s full of vicious monsters waiting to devour you at every slip of your footing (Hmmm . . . funny that my blogsite is entitled THE REAL WORLD).

So back to my spritual experience—this recognition that I was once again on my own. Once again I have to think for myself, I have to reason for myself, I have to find my way around by myself, shoot, I have to feed myself (have you ever forgotten to eat a meal because it wasn’t provided for you? haha). Everything goes well until my plane lands in Chicago, where my dimwittedness kicks in. I hop the Airport shuttle to Economy lot Yellow, Stop 12, and hop in my car heading east on Garfield Blvd. I decide that it might be faster for me to follow the signs to “Alternate 90/94” instead of just getting on I-90/94 the way I know how. Guess where the signs led me to . . . NOT 90/94!

So I’m lost in Chicago feeling a little like Kevin on Home Alone. It takes me literally 2 hours to get 30 minutes down the road, and ultimately 4 hours to get to Elkhart, Indiana (2 hours away from Chicago). UNBELIEVABLE! What’s even worse is I can’t hear out of my left ear because of the altitude pressure built up from the plane ride.

Hmmm . . . I could vent about that one for hours and tie some superspiritual conclusion in but I want to get on to today.

People have been asking me how my internship at Daybreak has been going. One word:

NOT LIKE I EXPECTED

Ok maybe that’s 4 words. Seriously, it’s fast paced, it’s intense, it’s high-tech, it’s cutting edge, it’s multidimensional, and it’s dynamic! Wonderful right? Sure, if your making more than $50 dollars a week.

That’s right $50 a WEEK! Today, when I was informed that my money raised had equaled out to be a $50 a week salary, my world came crashing down. I have never felt so dejected, unqualified, devalued, or misused in my life. I put in about 60 hours a week to get paid $50. “Here Davey, let me fill up your gas tank once a week and we’ll call it even. Oh by the way thanks for the work!” Shoot I moved up here knowing no one, leaving everything, with only the crappy weather and the 8 point buck that hangs on the wall of my room at my host home to keep me company. Can I just say that northern people in general are not near as hospitable as Southerners. I probably just made some enemies with that one.

Reality Check. It has been a real a reality check (sorry for being redundant). I was driving to Hudsonville this morning excited, ready to finally get to work on this internship stuff, ready to pour my time, my energies, and my resources into this job. I had dreams, I had hopes—high hopes—I had ambitions. I had a vision of what this internship was going to look like. And now it seems shattered.

For you young ministry students or pastors. How does it feel on the bottom of the totem pole? I saw this cool advertisement in one of the magazines on the airplane and it said: “Don’t you see the pecking order? Oh, look behind you.” Hmmm. What field is that guy in? Cuz I look behind me and see nothing but trash that I was supposed to pick up from all the people in front of me.

Welcome to the Real World, Davey. Maybe this is why so many people lose their dreams and ambitions when they grow older. It’s not the old age, the sensodyne, the tapioca pudding, or the nutragena that does it. It’s the world. It’s the ruthless, insensitive, vicious world that swallows our dreams.

I watched Office Space tonight for the first time. I connected! It was another “spiritual” experience. The Plot: a bunch of guys who hate their jobs because their talents aren’t utilized and they’re not challenged. They’re not fulfilled at all! That may be my biggest fear—to forget why I was put on this earth, to have dreams and never see them come to fruition, to shoot for the moon and blow up like the Challenger. I’M SCARED TO DEATH OF NOT MAKING A DIFFERENCE!

What’s even scarier is that I’m in a line of work that sees no worldly success. If I’m “successful” at my job, I won’t see it. God only knows (not to borrow the cliché).

I feel Lost. Kind of like the television show but more like total blackness. I sat in the dark today just to gain a better perspective on things. It was lonely. No light to comfort my senses, no awareness of what’s going on around me. I’m lost on 106th street in Chicago and I can’t find the entrance ramp to 90/94.

I'm Back!

2006-05-22T19:17:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well. My long-winded sabatical from bloggin is OVER!! I'm back and I'm PUMPED! It's tough going so long without having any outlet for my thoughts. A few things I want to share with you guys:

I arrived at Daybreak Community Church in Hudsonville, Michigan last Monday. I was hoping my life would slow down a little once I got settled in and I could start blogging again. WRONG! Daybreak put on a conference this past week called the Creative Infusion Conference and we were at it for about 12 hours every day. It's similar to one of those Ed Young or Andy Stanley conferences where pastors and creative ministers come to learn about how to be innovative and emerging with the way they teach the message of Jesus Christ. IT BLEW MY SOCKS OFF! I was amazed! I was able to sit in on PhotoShop and Final Cut Pro seminars, listen to some of the most creative people in the country, and meet Ralph Winter (the producer of the X-Men and Left Behind movies). If you want to see more about this conference check out the reviews here.

I'll be keeping you guys updated on the church and exactly what I'll be doing this summer as the summer goes on. KEEP READING EVERYDAY! NO MORE SABATICALS FOR ME!

I'm reading Rob Bell's book (The Velvet Elvis). Very insightful. What's even cooler is that Mars Hill Bible Church (Rob's church) is about ten minutes down the road from me in Grandville, MI. I checked it out and I'm hoping to get over there for a service sometime and hear Rob speak. You can check out Rob's book here and Mars Hill Bible Church here.

I flew back down to T-Town (Tuscaloosa, for my non-Southern readers) from Chicago today for my bro's graduation. It was a very memorable time, looking back on my High School graduation and how much the people here in T-Town mean to me. Coping with moving right before my Senior year was not easy but the people here in T-Town welcomed me with arms wide open and I will never be able to fully express my appreciation. I'm so proud of my bro, too. My prayer is that no matter what life brings his way, he will be passionate about making a difference in people's lives for Jesus Christ.

Anyways, can't wait to get into all the things I have to share with you guys. I can't promise that it will all be interesting but I can promise to be somewhat insightful and thought-provoking. I've been wrestling with some serious life issues lately and I can't wait to express myself through this blog. Until then . . .

Blogging Haitus

2006-05-12T09:36:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in FOREVER! I'm soooo sorry for those of you who actually read my blog. I've been CRAZY BUSY for the past month and a half. I'm leaving for Michigan today for an internship. I'll start blogging everyday again once I get settled in there on Monday. Be in prayer for me this summer! Thanks for your support! If you want to see the church that I'm interning at this summer you can check it out here.

Who's yo Daddy!

2006-04-10T20:25:00.000-07:00

Ahhh! I forgot my dad's birthday yesterday. I'm so absent-minded! I even wrote myself a sticky note a couple days before to help remind me, AND I STILL FORGOT. I’m one of those people that tie something to their finger to remind them of something and the next day they can’t remember why they tied the string to their finger. What’s even worse is I talked to him about three times yesterday and didn't wish a happy birthday until about midnight. I'm such a terrible person! So to try to make it up to him, this blog post is in honor of him.

Aren't dads awesome! My dad is the most Godly, humble, and sincere man of integrity I know. If you were to ask me one person that I could emulate, if I had the choice, it would be my dad. I thought of 3 main reasons why I want to be like my dad and here they are:

1. HE’S HUMBLE

My dad is the most honest and humble man I have ever met. His integrity astounds me more and more everyday. To have grown up and seen the example that he set for our family and to see the life that he has lived is a blessing! He's talented, athletic, a fluent communicator, and gifted writer. Every trait that he bears I want to be able to emulate, feed off of, and absorb! But when I say that he's talented, you really wouldn't know it because he would never tell you that. He's confident but never arrogant. He never puts himself before anyone else. His focus is always on how he can serve other people, especially his family. His goal in life, his aim, is that GOD would show off in his life. From what I've seen from my dad he's never lived to try to impress other people, although he's had plenty of opportunities. He's lived a life that is consistent with humility and Godliness, glorifying Jesus in everything that he does.

2. HE’S LOVING

Wow, I know my brother and I have been pains in the you-know-what to put up with before. I look back at a few years in high school that I put my parents through utter Hades. But my dad has always loved me unconditionally; despite the grief I may have caused him at one time or the other. Did that mean I was never disciplined? SHOOT! Of course not! My dad laid into me a few times more than I would like to remember. But it was never out of rage, contempt, or anger. He has always had our best interest at heart. The numerous Sunday afternoons he would take us to the batting cages, or the soccer field, the countless nights spent watching my brother and I play the sports we love, the selfless sacrifices he made so that my brother and I could have all the opportunities we did, all these things amaze me when I look back and reflect on my dad.

He raised two very competent boys, who love Jesus with their heart and he has the most amazing relationship with my mom that I have ever seen from any married couple. When I have a wife and kids, I won't be looking to Oprah, or Dobson, or Dr. Phil for advice. My dad will be first person I turn to when I need some advice on how to handle a situation. My dad is my best friend - someone I know will always pick up the phone and listen to me if I need to vent and pray with me when I need it (and boy do I need a lot of prayer!)

3. HE’S WILLING

My dad has always strove to be in the center of God's will. I remember when we moved to Tuscaloosa right before my Senior of high school. You better believe that he was concerned about uprooting his family and moving somewhere else, but he constantly reminded us that the center of God's will is the only place we will find true fulfillment. I recall one night in particular where our whole family sat in the living room, holding each other, crying, hugging, and praying, not knowing where God was going to lead us, only having each other as stability in this chaotic world.

I trust my life with my dad. I know that he will never purposefully put me in harms way, and I know that he will never compromise his relationship with HIS heavenly Father. My dad has always been willing to serve Jesus with his whole heart, even if that means he will never be recognized for it; even if that means he will live in utter obscurity; even if that means he will never make a lot of money, or have a lot of worldly success; even if that means he will never impress a lot of people, or pastor his own megachurch. My dad is only concerned with one thing: glorifying God with his life!

Reflecting on my dad has reminded me of our Heavenly Father. It's amazing how often we question Him. God sees things from a perspective that we will never be able to see. He always has our best interest at heart, and yet we pull away when he takes us into uncomfortable territory. Remember the 12 spies checking out the Promise Land (Numbers 13). After all God had brought them through, all but Caleb and Joshua refused to go into Canaan because it would have meant placing their ENTIRE trust in God and stepping out of their comfort zones.

When I was little and my dad would punish me or he would place "ridiculous" restrictions me, I didn't understand why. I thought he just wanted to steal my fun. But the reality is that he saw the world from an entirely different and broader perspective than I did. He had plenty more experience than me and he was merely trying to protect me from hurting myself. Our heavenly Father sees everything from a much broader perspective than we ever could. Why are we afraid to TRUST Him with our whole lives?
lives?

The "Gospel" of Judas

2006-04-10T01:52:00.000-07:00

Skeptics are everywhere. Just as rampant as skeptics, though, are liars and frauds. If I were to tell you that the Senator Giuliani has contacted me and told me that he wants me to run beside him as his Vice President candidate for the next presidential election, you probably would be a little skeptical about that, right? Because let’s face it. That is extremely far-fetched. Who would ever believe that I was to be the next Vice Presidential candidate? I would be lying. But what if I told you that Dr. Spittal has contacted me and wants me to be the next Student in charge of Campus Activities. That a little less far-fetched, but it’s no more truthful than me running for Vice President of the United States. The truth is, though, you would probably believe the campus life story because it’s something that is prevalent and conceivable in my life. Right?

Skeptics of the Bible have been using this technique for years. Let’s take a look at Dan Brown and his best seller, The DaVinci Code. Now, he can’t PROVE that Jesus never existed. He knows that there is more evidence that the person of Jesus walked the earth than Alexander the Great. But what he can try to make his reader believe is that Jesus had and Mary Magdalene and had a child together. That is not so far-fetched to the mind of an average person. Is it true, though? There’s a similar theory that has been around for a while but has just recently surfaced among the media and that is The Gospel of Judas has been uncovered. That’s right, Judas, the one that betrayed Jesus, his “Gospel” has been uncovered and has highly controversial claims in it—claims that challenge the very foundation of Christianity.

This document was apparently discovered about 30 years ago by a farmer who was searching through some caves in Egypt. He then gave the manuscript to someone who then turned around and sold it to an Egyptian black-market antiquities dealer. It was then stolen from this dealer and somehow recovered again by that dealer. The dealer, not knowing what to do with the manuscript and not being able to decipher it, stored it for over 20 years in a safety deposit box in a bank, where it sat, dried, and deteriorated. It was then recovered and handed over to National Geographic for restoration and authentication purposes. These conservators have restored about 85% of the manuscript. Liberal scholars claim that this is an authentic manuscript from the 3rd Century A.D.

The manuscript apparently claims 3 things that fly in the face of traditional Christian beliefs. First (1) is that Jesus put Judas up to betraying him, that he was chosen to carry out a most important mission that would make him a hero and lead the way for the salvation of the world. Second, (2) the disciples were envious of Judas and decided to portray him as a traitor. And third, (3) that God did not create the world.

This manuscript is speculated to have been written by a religious sect called the “Cainite” Gnostics. Now if you are not familiar with the beliefs of this group called the Gnostics, I want to share with you 4 major things they believed. First (1) is that Jesus was never raised from the dead. They believed that it was essential for Jesus to die and his spirit lived on but there was no physical resurrection. The second (2) is that they believe that the Almighty God did not create the world, that in fact, the “creator God” is not worthy of worship. Which leads us to their next belief. Who is worthy of worship? Their third (3) major belief is that each and every one of us can become divine (worthy of worship) if we truly “find” ourselves. In other words, the Kingdom of God is within us.

The fourth (4) thing they believe is that the serpent in the Garden of Eden was not actually a bad character. In fact they believe that the serpent was a good character that was merely trying to offer Adam and Eve knowledge. And to these Gnostics, knowledge was something that was desired. They wanted knowledge. So the serpent was really an enlightening character. These Gnostics also praise Cain for killing his brother Abel. They praise the Sodomites, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah for their immoral behavior. And they also praise Judas for turning Jesus over. They make Judas the HERO of the crucifixion story.

Now in order to thwart these ridiculous claims, we need to understand a few things. The first (1) is that the New Testament is VALID. Skeptics will argue that the New Testament cannot be trusted because it was put together by on man. They claim that it was canonized by a man named Iranaes who lived around 175 A.D. What we know as the New Testament (and 4 gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), today, was ACTUALLY canonized, or made official, in 382 A.D by a group of church fathers in the Synod, or Council, of Rome. These church fathers based their decision of what would stay in what we know as the Bible because these books all lined up with History and with each other. They hold to the belief that God inspired them to RECOGNIZE these books as canon, not to CHOOSE them. We believe these books to be the ACTUAL inspired word of God.

We also need to understand what the Bible says about Judas. Judas was obviously a friend of Jesus. He was one of the Twelve appointed disciples, Jesus closest friends and followers. In fact, Judas was arguably the most trusted of the disciples because he was given the responsibility of treasurer. He was entrusted with all the money of Jesus’ ministry. But Judas was not from Galilee like Jesus and all the other disciples. He was from a region known as Judea where a group known as the Zealots lived. Now a Zealot was pretty much a terrorist. They believed strongly that the Messiah would come, overthrow the Roman government, and set up an earthly kingdom. These Zealots resorted to violent terrorist acts to "jump start" the overthrow of the Roman government. He was convinced that Jesus was the man to do that.

Now, the more time Judas spent time with Jesus and realized that overthrowing the Roman government was not Jesus’ intent, the more enraged Judas became. In fact we see in the book of Matthew that Judas is the only disciple that does not acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God. He calls Him Rabbi, teacher (Matthew 26:22-25). So out of Judas’ greed, and lack of belief in Jesus, it is very easy to see what actually drove him to betray the Son of God. There is no way that Jesus would have put Judas up to the betrayal. In fact, the actual canonized Gospels say that Jesus told the disciples it would have been better if Judas had NEVER been born (Matthew 26:24).

So, you see, these theorists and skeptics have been using the same techniques for years. They have attempted to skew our beliefs by mixing FACT with THEORY (or FICTION). Look at the conspiracy theories that have surrounded events like the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Oklahoma City Bombing, the bombing of the World Trade Towers. These theorists can’t possibly make you believe that 911 never happened. We all saw it. We were around to experience it! But what they can do is try to make you question some some of the details under the surface of the event. Maybe the Bush administration was behind the bombing of the World Trade Towers; maybe they actually planted detonation devices within the building to implode the buildings at the same time the planes were crashing into them. Maybe this Judas character wasn’t such a bad guy. Maybe Jesus actually put him up to the betrayal. But the TRUTH is that we can only trust one source; that is THE source of Truth. And this TRUTH will set us free!

It's Not About Me

2006-04-08T22:22:00.000-07:00

So what do Godly relationships look like? We talked a little about relationships in discipleship group the other night and I've mentioned again on this blog two nights ago. But everything has been kind of theory, or concepts. We haven't really gotten into the nitty-gritty. What does the Bible say about romantic relationships? There a several things that God spells out in black and white ink, guidelines for Christians in romantic relationships, and they can all be summed up as this: IT'S NOT ABOUT ME! A romantic relationship, whether it be boyfriend and girlfriend, fiancées, or husband wife, will not succeed if you make it about YOU and what you can GET out of it! Let's take a closer look:

(I need to preface this discussion with the fact that the Bible doesn't say a whole lot about DATING relationships. Dating wasn't a real common practice in those days. The Bible does specify several guidelines for married people, though. But if you really take the time to think about it, the whole point of dating is finding out whom we can or can't marry. So we can definitely apply these guidelines to dating relationships too.)

1. DUCKS CANNOT MATE WITH SEAHORSES:
Davey, what are you smoking now? What is that supposed to mean? Simple, Christians are not supposed to date non-Christians, period. This is not a gray area in the Bible. The Bible says that we are not to be "unequally yoked" with non-believers. Wait, Davey, that verse means we're not supposed to hang out with non-Christians who could make us stumble. Oh really? So Jesus was disobeying His own laws when He ate with the tax collectors and sinners. Hmmm. So we can only glean from this that God does not want us DATING, or marrying, non-Christians if we have committed our lives over to Jesus.

So many people try to missionary date (that is dating with the intention of winning your boyfriend or girlfriend over to the Lord). "Oh, I can change them." The problem is, God wants to change them, but He can't because you're in the way! Ducks and seahorses are both water animals. But Ducks are above and beyond the water. They are not confined to the water. In fact they can fly! Seahorses, on the other hand, spend all their time on the ocean floor. They sit in the dark, murky, dangerous territories of the sea. If a duck tried to live down there it would DROWN! Ducks are not meant to live under water. If we try to missionary date, or just date anyone who is not a Christian, we just end up getting sucked into that lifestyle and we will drown, spiritually.

2. EPHESIANS 5:25
Ephesians 5:25 says, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her . . . Wives, submit to your husbands." Check this out. "It's not about me!" Christ loved the church (us - His children) so much that He gave His life for us. He gave all that He had while He was alive too! He also instructs the wives to be totally submissive to that loving husband. Too many people make relationships all about what "I can get out of it." Can I get this girl to "put-out" for ME; can I get this guy to buy ME all this stuff or do everything for ME? This is a simple fact of life. We are self-centered. It hit me the other day how many times I use first person personal pronouns in my conversations ("I" or "Me").
We want everyone to know about us and to be concerned for our needs. Jesus gives us a standard to live up to - be totally consumed with what you can do for others, particularly in a romantic relationship.

3. EVE TASTED THE APPLE; ADAM DIDN'T TELL HER IT WAS A PEAR:
I think it's so funny how Eve is always blamed for the Great Fall of Man because she tasted the fruit (by the way we don't know what kind of fruit it was) and then gave it to her husband. Get this, though, Adam was given the responsibility to watch over Eve, to disciple her, to make sure that she didn't get into trouble. It was Adam who was instructed not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and THEN God created Eve. So, it was Adam's responsibility to instruct Eve in God's ways, but HE FAILED! But we blame women for sin entering the world. That's just the problem with this world. "SHE doesn't satisfy me any more. I'm going to find my satisfaction in someone else." "SHE didn't raise our kids right." "SHE isn't cleaning the house the way I would like." "SHE, SHE, SHE. It's all HER fault that our marriage is falling apart." Guys, how about we step up, be MEN, take responsibility for our own shortcomings, and be the spiritual leaders in the relationship! Get involved with your families. Romance your wife. Disciple her. In middle school, people used to say that phrase, "When you point at me there are three fingers pointing back at you!" It's so true. Pointing the blame may take the spotlight off of you for a minute, but unless you realize that it is really YOUR fault, nothing will every change. How many guys pray with their girlfriends or with their wives? Some of the most meaningful times I have with my girlfriend are praying with her. We should do it more often. There's something incredible about coming before God and surrendering your relationship to Him.

Remember, it is NOT ABOUT ME. That is the basic guideline for all relationships with all people, but especially romantic relationships. Jesus came into this world not to BE served but to SERVE others. We are called to do the same!

"The Newlyweds"

2006-04-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

Nick and Jessica! Wow what a match made in heaven. Did any of you guys ever watch that show? Man, they made marriage look so easy. Nick, sitting at home watching T.V., eating everything in sight (that guy always had something in his mouth) and never gaining an ounce, no responsibility. Poor guy didn't even know how to mow his own yard! Jessica, between touring for her latest release and her role in the Dukes of Hazard, getting her nails done, and shopping, I don't see how she kept it all together! She had it rough! Somebody waiting on her hand and foot all the time! Man isn't this such an accurate picture of marriage and relationships—two good-looking people, hardly fussing (and when they did it took a mere kiss to make-up). REALITY TV IN ITS MOST AUTHENTIC STATE!

But something must have been boiling beneath the surface. Something obviously went awry, because, like most Hollywood relationships, it came to a pitiful end. But this one was supposed to be different! They were SOOO in love! They were a match made in heaven—looks matching looks, talent matching talent. Your modern day Sleeping Beauty and Prince Charming! So why didn't they live happily ever after?

If I were to guess, most of us have had a relationship go off track at one time or another in our lives. Why? Love is so ideal isn't it? Hollywood sure has made it ideal, but if we were to base our relationships on the "scripted" relationships of Hollywood we would be in world of hurt! But we'd never do that, right? Oh . . . wait . . . uh . . .checking the pulse . . . we're in a world of hurt!

Sex In The City. Now that's a great portrayal of relationships. Non-committal sex! An all you can eat buffet. And when you get full you just ditch it all together until the next craving comes on. Sounds like such a great thing! Why is prostitution so frowned on in our society, yet these stars have been praised and elevated for their lifestyles? That is messed up! There's no difference!

We talked about relationships the other night in discipleship. I started by asking everyone what love is and the answer of the night was "the feeling that you've never felt about anyone else." Hmmm . . . I had a dog a few years ago. I never felt that way for anyone else. BECAUSE IT WAS A DOG NOT A HUMAN! The way I felt about that dog was unlike any feelings I had for anybody. Are you telling me that was love? Wow, I must be smoking the crack pipe if I LOVE my dog.

But some would say they LOVE their little puppy doggy. What love is this? Love is such a confused word and can be used I so many contexts in the English language, we don’t even know what love is. "I love lamp, I love chair, I love curtains, I love carpet." "Brick are you just looking at things around the room and saying you love them or do you really LOVE the lamp?" Haha, that part just cracks me up. Most of us fell out of our chairs with hysteria when we witnessed Ron Burgandy's encounter with "love" and his futile attempt at explaining it to the rest of the Channel Four news team (Anchorman). And the reason we laugh about it is because we know that we do the same thing too! We throw around the word "love" like it's a football in Peyton Manning's hands. I love chocolate, I love movies, I love coffee, I love shopping, I love reading, I love American Idol, I LOVE LAMP!" It's really not that funny when you think about it. We use the same term of endearment (or affection) for a $3.28 coffee as we do for a human being that we think we want to spend the rest of our lives with.

I don’t mean to give you a disillusioned and jaded view of love, because true love (as God intended it to be) can be an amazing thing! We can only understand love, though, if we begin to understand God. The Bible doesn't say that God HAS love, or God ACTS as love, or God FEELS love, it says that God IS love! Love is the very essence of God: unbiased, unconditional, unadulterated, unabridged, unfiltered (need I use any more -un's) love. I talked to someone the other day that told me he had a problem with Christianity, and one of his qualms was that you're supposed to love God MORE than you love your girlfriend or spouse. The point is, we CANNOT understand love without God! God's gift of His only son was the truest display of love that has EVER been! "Greater love has no man than to give his life for a friend." Without God, the deepest we can "feel" for our mate is the corruption of love (lust, infatuation—infatuation is not necessarily the CORRUPTION of love but it IS watered-down love. It doesn't last).

How does the Bible say we should love? Hehe. What a great discussion! It's gonna have to wait till tomorrow, though. I'm exhausted and I would just LOVE to go to sleep (case in point)!

Discipleship Tonight

2006-04-04T22:08:00.000-07:00

Wow! We had a great discipleship meeting with the guys tonight. We discussed relationships and what a Godly dating relationship looks like. The guys really opened up and shared with us what they struggle with in their relationships. It is so awesome to see a bunch of guys get together and open up like that! The best part is, after the night was over, we all held hands in a circle and prayed. To see what God has done on this team is incredible!

Phil and I had a great discussion afterwards. Phil told me tonight that he wanted faith like a mustard seed because the Bible tells us that if we had faith like a mustard seed we could move MOUNTAINS! How incredible would that be! I mean I could think of plenty of other things I would do with that faith rather than move mountains, but to be able to tell a mountain to pick itself up and move, that takes some serious power!

The other day, I heard someone say that we have the most boring name for the country we live in . . . The United States of America. It's just not a cool name like Iraq, Ajribijan, China, Japan, or Russia (I wonder what those names mean). But the name of The United States of America is not only practical, it strikes fear in the hearts of the rest of the world. Why? Because we are UNITED. It's amazing what can be accomplished when people come together on common ground and work as one unit.

If you don't have a discipleship or accountability group that you're a part of, I would suggest starting one or jumping into an already existing one. Feeling that encouragement, that UNITY, that instruction, that concern, and that support is essential in our lives. Christianity was not made to be done on our own. I could go out on the baseball field and try to play every position by myself, but no matter how much I TRIED I would never win! I could get up on stage and try to play every instrument by myself, but even if I was good at every instrument I wouldn't be able to make the music a full band can make. Our friends make us stronger! As warriors, lining up for battle side by side, under Jesus' banner, we can defeat any opposition that comes our way! Let's go to war on our knees . . . TOGETHER!

"Music Make You Lose Control!"

2006-04-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

I thought I would compile a list of all my favorite POSITIVE and CHRISTIAN music for you guys who are looking for some good music to get your hands (and your iPod) on. Check these out if you can! It's a pretty extensive list. Here it is:

PUNK:
-MxPx
-Hawk Nelson
-FM Static
-Relient K
-Stellar Kart
-Slick Shoes
-Pugface
-Sanctus Real
-Shorthanded

EMO:
-Dashboard Confessionals
-Anberlin
-As Cities Die
-Thrice
-Underoath
-Emery
-Further Seems Forever
-Saosin

HARD ROCK/ HEAVY METAL:
-12 Stones
-Falling Up
-Pillar
-Kutless
-Skillet
-Justifide
-P.O.D.
-Thousand Foot Krutch
-Stavesacre
-Zao
-Living Sacrifice
-Day of Fire

CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN:
-Building 429
-Casting Crowns
-Across the Sky
-Justin Barnard
-Shane & Shane
-Matt Wertz
-Mercy Me
-Overflow
-Switchfoot
-Todd Agnew
-Jeremy Camp
-Shaun Groves
-Shawn McDonald

COUNTRY:
-Rascal Flatts
-Keith Urban
-Lonestar

RAP:
-Gospel Gangstaz
-T-Bone
-GRITS
-John Reuben
-KJ-52

SKA:
-Buck
-Insyderz
-Five Iron Frenzy
-The W's
-The O.C. Supertones

WORSHIP:
-Chris Tomlin
-David Crowder Band
-Charlie Hall
-Hillsong
-Matt Redman
-Delirious?
-Sonic Flood

Left in the Dark

2006-04-02T13:41:00.000-07:00

Wow. . . . That was like the longest break from blogging I've done in a while. It was a great vacation from blogging, but I'M BACK! Sorry to leave you guys in the dark about a lot of stuff that happened this week. It was an physically and emotionally draining week and I really didn't have the strength in me to blog this week. I would regale you on all the events but I'm afraid that would take days of writing, so I'm just going to pick right back up like I never took the hiatus. Sorry once again.

Don't you hate being left in the dark about things? I do. Now you may not give one rat's patooey that I've left you in the dark (albeit didn't tell you anything that happened this week), because, frankly, my life really isn't THAT interesting. But we HATE being left in the dark, don't we? Think about your favorite television show. You HATE to miss an episode, right? I used to watch Seventh Heaven RELIGIOUSLY! I didn't want to miss an episode. I wouldn't schedule anything because I just had to watch Seventh Heaven. I know, the episodes would get kind of lame every once in a while, but I LOVED Seventh Heaven.

There's really no spiritual application to all this except that people hate to be left in the dark, especially when it comes to relationships. You've heard it millions of times. Be open, be honest, be genuine and your relationships will be fruitful. There are a handful of friends that I entrust everything to - a couple buddies of mine and my girlfriend. I trust them with information and with my feelings because there is a mutual level of intimacy among us where we can thoroughly confide in and trust each other. BUT, if I decided not to trust them with those things, if I decide to withhold things from them that were important to me, they would never truly KNOW me. I wouldn't really be sharing my life with them and that level of intimacy wouldn't be there.

There are two words in the original Greek text of the Bible that mean "to know." The first is "ginosko" which means "to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of." This "ginosko" is the knowledge that we have about thinks such as historical facts, math formulas, or subject/verb agreement. It is a displaced knowledge of things, knowing ABOUT something or someone without having EXPERIENCED those things or people.

The second word is "epiginosko," which means "to become thoroughly acquainted with, to know thoroughly." This "to know" is an INTIMATE relationship, to fully experience something or someone, to know someone inside and out. This is the level of intimacy that requires work. This is a level of intimacy that allows you to confide in someone. This is a level of intimacy in which you can finish each other's sentences and you have all kinds of inside jokes. But this level of intimacy requires total honesty even if you don't feel like talking about something. This is the only way human relationships can really experience true fulfillment.

This "epiginosko" is the type of relationship Jesus Christ wants us to enter into with Him. He's beckoning, He's calling, and He's romancing us. It's up to us to respond. How intimate do you want to be with your maker?

Lisence to Sin - Maybe for James Bond

2006-03-26T18:46:00.000-08:00

Wow! This weekend has been one thing after another! Once again I didn't get the work done that I needed to because crazy stuff came up! To make a long story short, we won one out of three against Faulkner this weekend. Right after the game on Saturday night, we had some serious internal team problems dealing with dishonesty and cheating. Having to sit by and watch some of my teammates suffer in their decisions was a scary thing, especially since a couple of these guys are brand new Christians and are just now realizing that their actions have consequences. It was NOT a good situation and it just reminded me about the consequences that accompany each and every one of our actions. My parents always told me it takes a lifetime to build up a reputation but one stupid decision to make it all come crashing down. AND THAT'S SO TRUE!

Tonight at Newspring, Perry talked about David and how severe his consequences were with his sins (You can check it out for yourself in 2 Samuel 11). Just think, David slept with his best friend's wife and then had his best friend killed when she got pregnant. He tried to cover one mistake up with another. Two wrongs DON'T make a right. Have you ever tried to lie your way out of a lie and it just keeps piling up until you are so far in you don't know how to move, let alone get out of it. That's what happened this weekend with the team. Emotions flared, tempers scourged, and some of the guys were forced to grow up and take responsibility for their actions.

I'm reminded of that Relient K song, "I So Hate Consequences":

"And I so hate consequences
And running from you is what my best defense is
Consequences
Oh God, don�t make me face up to this
And I so hate consequences
And running from you is what my best defense is
Cause I know that I let you down
And I don�t want to deal with that

It just now hit me this is more than just a set back
And when you spelled it out, well, I guess I didn�t get that
And every trace of momentum is gone
And this isn�t turning out the way I want "

I remember my Junior year of High School, I got caught in a serious lie that affected my reputation with my teachers, the faculty at my school, and my baseball coach. I had spent several years building up a reputation and in one fail swoop, everything I had worked for crumbled in my hands. I had never felt so alone and empty. Even my friends didn't look at me the same after that. They all knew the life that I professed, but all that mattered to them was that my actions had not lined up with my talk. It took me a long time to build my credibility back up with my teachers, friends, and my parents.

But, to be honest with you. I wouldn't change that situation if I could, because that situation taught me that I can't get away with lies, I can't get away with sin, and it has partially made me into who I am today. Here are three things the Bible points out that we have to do when confronted with sin in our life and the consequences of that sin.

1. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR ACTIONS:

It took David being confronted by someone else before he finally took responsibility for his actions. Nathan, a prophet, was sent by God to tell David that he screwed up. Now do you really think that David was clueless to the fact that he screw up? No! But David never would have owned up to his actions and taken responsibility for what he had done if Nathan had never confronted him. Nathan told David that the child that he and Bathsheba would bear would die. Unfortunately for David, it took God doing that to finally get David's attention. Now I know some of you are thinking, "How could a loving God kill an innocent baby because of David's actions." YOU'RE MISSING THE POINT! The point is that David would have never been in that situation if he had listened to God in the first place. When all Hell breaks loose because of the decisions YOU'VE made in your life, YOU CAN'T BLAME GOD! It's time we take responsibility for our actions. It's time we stop living in the "Baby-blamer" generation and the generation "Excusers" and start owning up to our sins.

2. HAVE A REPENTIVE HEART (LIVE A REPENTIVE LIFE):

This is the only way God can work in our lives to heal and fix what we have screwed up. David repented before God. Check out Psalms. A lot of this book is David's confessions to God about his sins. David not only admitted that he was wrong but he CHANGED his actions from that moment on. Repentance is a complete, 180 degree turn AWAY from what you want and TO what God wants. The Bible describes it as a TURN away from sin and a RETURN to God, and God DEMANDS IT!! It is amazing what God can do in our lives once we own up to our actions, REPENT of them, and let God begin the healing process in our lives.

3. LET GOD HAVE COMPLETE LEADERSHIP IN OUR LIVES:

It is only by God's grace that we don't fall again. We must turn our lives COMPLETELY over God's leadership. He only wants to make our lives fulfilling and abundant! Jesus didn't say He came so he could beat us over the head with a club every time we sinned, but He also didn't say that He came so that we could sin anytime we wanted. Jesus said that He came so that we could have life and have it more abundantly! And what does that life look like? Abundant life is LIFE WITHOUT SIN AND ITS CONSEQUENCES!! It's by God's grace that we can conquer temptation and live an abudant life.

We have to remember the role of God's grace. God's grace is NOT a lisence to sin; instead, it is a tool that He has graciously given us to defeat sin! James Bond may have had a lisence to kill, but our sin has consequences that are very REAL!

One good thing that came out of this weekend, though, is that I got the incredible opportunity to have a very heartfelt talk with Ben about Christianity and a REAL relationship with Jesus. The conversation spawned off of this situation with the team. He's beginning to understand what life's all about. Keep praying for him and for his salvation. I KNOW God will come through, and I TRUST that He's at work in Ben's heart!

Are You Glad When You Suffer?

2006-03-23T20:30:00.000-08:00

Hmmm . . . That's a pretty interesting question. Are we glad when we suffer? Am I happy to be going through rough times. The past few months have not been particularly easy for me. By no means am I suffering compared to the children dying everyday of AIDs in Africa, or the countless men losing their lives for our country in Iraq. But, so far in my life, I haven't had more frustrating times. I think it's just part of college and this transitional period between living under total dependence on our parents and gradually finding our way to total independence. But also think that most of it is a test of true character from God. I think a lot of it has to do with God seeing how willing I am to serve Him even when I don't have anything to offer.

My dad sent me this email a couple days ago and I kind of just put it my "To Read" folder for a later date. It caught my eye tonight so I read it. It really couldn't have been a more relevant email for the occasion because tonight feels like I've just reached my max in my frustration level. I wanted to share this email with you guys and I'm praying that God speaks to you as intimately as He did to me through this interview. (The email is a short interview with Rick Warren, the author of Purpose Driven Life. Enjoy!)

"People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.

"I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

"Life is a series of problems: you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life.
The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

"This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.

"Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

"No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

"You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, "which is my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

"We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

"You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before.

"I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease. So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

"First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases. Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church. Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was
liberating to be able to serve God for free.

"We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

"When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, "God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better." God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

"Happy moments, PRAISE GOD. Difficult moments, SEEK GOD. Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD. Painful moments, TRUST GOD. Every moment, THANK GOD."

"Go-Go Gadget . . . Human Being!"

2006-03-22T22:10:00.000-08:00

I've discovered something awesome on my APPLE computer! I can activate a setting that will allow me to talk to my computer and it dialogues (to an extent) back to me. But . . . not only does it talk back to me, it will do as I command it to do. For example, I can say to itl, "Apple, open up iTunes," and it will open up my iTunes folder. HOW SWEET IS THAT!? It reminds me of one of those sci-fi movies like Star Wars where the androids dialogue with the humans, but this is cooler because it is REAL LIFE!

I was messing around with setting this cool thing up, and I started thinking. Why did God create Humans? Davey, how in the world did you think of that while setting up something on your computer? Try to follow me on this one. God could have created anything He wanted and He created human beings. But not only did He create human beings, He created us with a free will, knowing full well that we could (and would) be disobient to Him. So why did he create us in the first place if he knew we were going to suck at life?

God wanted companionship. He didn't NEED it, He's got community within himself (remember the whole trinity thing - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all in one?) But God WANTED companionship. He wanted to create something that He could call His own creation and love it unconditionally! But in order to have that love he had to give us the free choice to love Him back. He could have created us like this Apple computer, where everything I tell it to do it does. But then we would be a bunch of machines running around doing "God's will" without any consent. We would be FORCED to love God back.

If you force your girlfriend/boyfriend to love you back, what kind of love is that? NONE! (That's called rape, b.t.w., and it's against the law!) Love is an uncoerced, unforced commitment to someone! In order for us to fully carry out God's intention for us and give Him glory in life, we HAD to have the CHOICE to love Him back. Could God have created us without free will to accept or reject Him? HE'S GOD, HE CAN DO ANYTHING! (B.T.W. I hate those questions like "Can God create a rock so big that He can't lift it?" I just want to smack whoever said that and tell him to shut up! But then I remember that I'm a Christian . . . hehe.) But He didn't create us that way because He knew that the reward is far greater than the risk! Sure, God risks that some people are going to reject His free offer of Salvation (personally I wouldn't turn down a free offer at $100, let alone the free offer to ETERNAL LIFE!), but He is also going to find many people who accept His free gift and that is 1,000 times more rewarding to Him (even more that 1,000)!

As much as I love this new thing I figured out on my computer, it reminds me that I'm soooooo glad that I'm not a computer. I'm sooooo glad that I have the free will. You may take this the wrong way, but I couldn't serve a God that didn't give me the free will to love and serve Him (well I guess I would be b/c I wouldn't have a choice, but you get the picture).

Fat Tuesday

2006-03-21T22:02:00.000-08:00

To be honest with you I have no idea why I entitled this post Fat Tuesday, other than the fact that this day was packed full. I barely felt like I've had a chance to breath. I spent the entire day doing work, going to lectures and class, doing more work, going to practice, doing more work, eating, doing more work, and then having discipleship with the guys. I'M WORN SLAP OUT! (Did you know there is a real place called Slapout, Alabama. I think it's because it's SLAP OUT in the middle of nowhere - just a random piece of info) As you can tell I can't even think straight to be able to write anything worth reading. Have you ever felt like your brain is so full that you if you stuffed one more piece of information into it you would wind up like a whitehead on a teenage girl's chin . . . POPPED!

But I will tell you guys that we had a great discipleship meeting with the guys. You wouldn't believe the wide range of topics that were discussed. I wrote several of them down, and I'm looking forward to blogging about them later this week. We practically had to kick everyone out of our apartment tonight, though, because it was getting too late and they were still wanting to talk about Jesus!! HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!?! Praise God for what he continues to do on this team.

My parents came up tonight. They're staying until Friday morning. It's sooooo nice to see them. If I can't go home, I'll go for the next best thing - let home come to me! I'm out, though, guys. Look for more tomorrow. I won't let you down!

Death . . . The Final Exam

2006-03-20T20:08:00.000-08:00

I asked you guys to pray for Amanda yesterday. I wish I could tell you how she and her family are doing after their loss. To be honest with you guys, I have no idea how to handle this situation. I feel so hopeless! I want so badly to call her, comfort her, let her cry and scream to me on the phone. I want most of all to walk through her door, embrace her, let her cry on my shoulder, and then wipe away her tears. BUT I CAN'T!!

It was a new side of Amanda that I was exposed to last night, her grieving side. I'd never "seen" her cry before (I guess I still haven't since she was crying on the phone). Do you guys know how helpless of a feeling it is to hear the girl you care the world about hurting and not be able to do a thing about it? AAAAAHHHHHH! Even though it doesn't seem like enough, I will continue to lay my requests before God. I think God is teaching me that I can't humanly handle everything that I go through. I have to rely on His sovereignty and providence, especially when there is absolutely nothing I can do. So I know that somehow, through my prayers for her, God will comfort her heart and convey to her that I am carring for her and that I'm here for her.

My cousin died last semester and I began pondering some things about life and death. This incident with Amanda's cousin has re-awoken some of these thoughts and questions in my own mind. The biggest question that I've struggled with is how do we as Christians handle death? Death is such a final thing. That's the reason death is such a scary thing to think or talk about in our society - a taboo. There have only been a few cases of people crossing over into death and then coming back to this life; all of these had been brought back by the supernatural (Jesus). Check out the story of Lazarus in John 11. Even Jesus wept when he saw how Mary and Martha were pained over the death of their brother. Death is a scary and sad thing to think about, and Jesus is the only one who can conquer death.

I had a scary thought the other day. My dad was supposed to meet us over in Waleska, GA for the double-header on Sat. He called me well before the game while he was on his way, but by the end of the first game he still had not shown up. I was freaked out! A billion thoughts raced in my mind. Did he get in a wreck? Is he in the hospital? Is he dead? What do I do? Thankfully my dad showed up in time for the second game (he had just been caught in serious traffic in Atlanta), but for those few moments I was at a loss. I didn't know what to do. I just couldn't imagine my life without my dad! Even the thought of death is a scary thing!

As Christians we have the assurance that neither this life nor the grave is our final resting place (THANK GOD!). In fact Jesus is preparing a mansion for us in heaven and is looking forward to the day that we finally get to be with Him forever. My buddies and I often sit around and talk about what heaven is going to be like. Imagine the best house you have ever seen on MTV Cribs and it doesn't even compare to what Jesus has waiting for each of us! We have this one guy on our team that asked me if Jesus would make him a grill (mouth bling) when he gets to heaven. I thought that was hilarious, but it's awesome that he was looking forward to heaven! The point is that as Christians, we cannot even fathom how good heaven is going to be! No tears, no pain, no stress, no death, no fatigue - nothing but basking in God's perfect presence forever! How awesome!

However, the last thing somebody wants to hear when they've lost a loved one is the ill-coined cliché: "He's in a better place." "That's awesome, but how does that help this pain that I'm feeling? The point is that he's not here right now and I'll never see him in this lifetime again! I just miss him!" These are NATURAL reactions to the cliché funeral comment. So what can we do to console someone who is in pain over a death of a loved one? Be there for them. Love on them. Hold them if they want to be held, and back off if they don't feel like being around anyone. Be there to just listen to them. I'm glad that I was at a loss of words when Amanda was telling me about her cousin. She was extremely upset and she didn't NEED my words because frankly NOTHING I could say would help. After anything I could have said the pain would still be there. The only one who can heal that pain is Jesus, and all I can do is point her to Him! What did I do? I was a sound-board for her to bounce her pain and confusion off of and then I PRAYED WITH HER. That did more, I'm sure, than anything else I could have done! And I'm continuing to pray for her.

So what about death for non-Christians? Not a pretty sight! The Bible talks about a place of ETERNAL DAMNATION called Hell. We'll talk about Hell some more another time, but the point of it is ETERNAL SEPARATION FROM GOD! You think this world is bad. Imagine the world with all of God's grace, restraints, and presence taken from it; imagine a place where Satan has free reign to do whatever he wants. UTTER CHAOS! This is why it is so important for us as Christians to tell people about the hope offered in Jesus Christ. What if on judgment day the friends you hung out with on earth passed by you one-by-one on their way to Hell? What if they looked into your eyes and asked you why you never shared with them the secret to eternal life? The Bible says Ezekiel that we are the Watchmen for all mankind and if we don't tell other people about the forgiveness offered through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then their blood is on our hands; we are responsible for their eternal destination! That's heavy! That among other things is what has motivated me to tell all my friends about how much Jesus wants a relationship with all of us.

If you guys have any suggestions of what I should do in helping Amanda cope with this death, feel free to comment. I've sent her a couple cards and letters, letting her know how much I care and that I'm here for her. I guess nothing I do will feel like enough. Stay in prayer for the baseball team, too. Let's go to war on our knees together!

A Little Preview . . .

2006-03-19T21:57:00.000-08:00

Wow . . . It has been quite a weekend. We took two of three games from Reinhardt in good old Waleska, GA this weekend. It might have been the most fun I have ever had with these guys. We even had coach rolling in the dugout with laughter before the games on Saturday. It's so much fun to be able to share times with these guys, establish relationships, and show them Jesus on a daily basis.

I went to Newspring's early service this morning and still got back in time to hop over to the ALIVE service. I know, I was super-spiritual today. Not really, but it was revitalizing to worship God all morning and learn more truths about His word. I can't believe people think they can survive spiritually without going to church. Some say that church is boring or that they can worship God anywhere so they don't need church. (Umm . . . actually God COMMANDS us to worship publicly in Church. In fact the Church is referred to as the BRIDE of Christ. I don't know about you guys but if Jesus invited me to His wedding, I think I would go!) My suggestion is find a church that is alive and rockin' and where the Bible is held in absolute authority. Newspring's service ROCKED this morning. Ed Young (yeah the guy one TV who pastors that small church in Texas--about 20,000 attendees) was the guest speaker. I've always thought that Perry Noble was the best communicator I have heard, but I had to question who held the top seed in my rankings after hearing Ed Young. If you want to check out some more stuff about Ed Young just click HERE. Ed spoke on submission to authority. Great message! You can download it HERE.

On a more serious note. Keep my girlfriend, Amanda, and her family in your prayers. She just found out that her cousin (I think he was about 21) took his own life a couple days ago. She's been in Chicago the past few days on a class trip and she just received the news today when she got back. I feel so helpless because not only am I 12 hours away from her but this whole Lent thing is keeping me from being able to be there for her on the phone. But like I told her, this is not about me and how I feel, so if you could keep her and her family in her prayers I would appreciate that very much.

Switching gears a little bit, I'm super excited about blogging this week. Make sure you stay tuned every day because I have some great ideas and some awesome topics I want to address this week. God has hit me with some serious issues and questions that I have been reading up on and researching so I can relay them to you. I trust that God will meet you where you're at when we discuss these topics, and that you'll be able to gleen as much insight from Him on these issues as I have!

I'm out! It's bedtime. I spent almost the entire day writing a paper on Sanctification and my brain is fried. When it's totally finished I see about posting a PDF of it on the sidebar for you guys. It should be able to tie any loose ends that were left hanging during our discussion about our battles with SIN. Thanks for the comments you guys posted during the series I did on dealing with SIN and Sanctification. You guys are the best!

Off My Caffeine High

2006-03-16T16:07:00.000-08:00

Here's a post that I wrote a while ago that I wanted to share with you guys. It's on my old blog. Just click HERE to view the blog post. I thought it was perfect today considering my being buzzed on Caffeine earlier today.

BASEBALL UPDATE: We have a weekend series away in Waleska, Ga (it's right next to Ten-Buck-Two) against Reinhardt. Be praying for us. We're going out to eat as a team tonight and I'm praying that some good conversation will come up. God is faithful and even though His work is not totally visible right now, I know He is still working on these guys' hearts. I'll let you know how things go when I get back on Saturday!

I'm buzzed right now!

2006-03-16T08:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was awesome! I've had some much work that I've needed to get done the past couple days, so yesterday after practice I went to the library and pitched a tent; I camped out there for hours! I had a huge cup of coffee and I was in the zone! Don't you love it when you're actually motivated to do work (I know those times are few and far between for some of you). Yesterday was one of those one-in-a-million days for me, though!

I guess if you drink a huge cup of coffee around 7:00 pm and then at midnight you have a Full Throttle energy drink, you can get a ton of stuff done, because YOU WILL BE AWAKE FOR HOURS! After finally retiring for the night - er - uh - ok it was the morning - at 4:00 am, I woke up this morning, still buzzing on the residual affects of so much caffeine! It's going to be TERRIBLE around 4:00 pm today, though. I will definitely be hurting to keep my eyes open! Well, you live and you learn. Look for more posting tonight. I have class right now. Time for some of this work to pay off. Pray that I won't fall asleep. This professor has been known to chunk tennis balls at people who fall asleep (I believe it too - he's psycho!). Peace Out!

E-6

2006-03-14T20:57:00.000-08:00

Sorry, once again, for not posting anything yesterday. I've been totally swamped with work. I know, I know . . . I should have done all this work last week when we were on Spring Break but what can I say, I'm a procrastinator. Oh, BTW, it was brought to my atttention a couple days ago that I misspelled disgusting (I spelled it "discusting") and I just want you to know that the problem has been remedied. I would also like you to know that I'm a TERRIBLE speller. I was disqualified from the 5th grade spelling bee for misspelling the word "extinct" (that is how you spell it right?). I know it makes me look less educated but try to bear with me and I apologize in advance if I misspell a word. I'M NOT PERFECT!

So, that being said, let's try to make some sense out of this whole SIN and "Sanctification" thing. Here's some verses I've run across lately that might help us clear some things up:

1 John 2:1-6
Romans 6:13-14
Colossians 3:10
1 John 4:7-8
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
I Corinthians 6:11
II Thessalonians 2:13-15
Romans 12:1-2

(Check these verses out for yourselves - they're awesome!)

In order to understand this "Sanctification" thing (being free from the guilt of sin) we must understand that it is not about what we can physically DO to attain salvation and eternal life. It is ALL about what Jesus has DONE for us on the Cross. By dying for us He offers us the FREE gift of forgiveness and grace (to see more about this click HERE). But as believers Jesus has expectations for us. It is spelled out clearly in the Bible that God cannot co-exist with SIN. Our relationship with Jesus Christ is negatively affected by our SIN. Why do you think we feel convicted when we SIN? Because it is a part of our lives that Jesus wants to get rid of so He can have full leadership in our lives.

"Sanctification" is a required thing! It is the growth as Christians that we experience in Christ. Jesus loves us too much to let us stay the same! So after we become a follower of Him, He begins immediately to work at getting rid of SIN in our lives because He knows that SIN leads to pain and suffering. So why do seasoned Christians still SIN? I'll answer that question with another question. Why do seasoned Major League Baseball veterans make errors? Because baseball CANNOT BE PERFECTED! (Believe me, I know. I've been playing baseball for 17 years and I still make errors all the time! "E-6" is scribbled ALL over our score cards!) Likewise, the Christian life here on earth CANNOT BE PERFECTED. We will never get to where we are perfect human beings (never sinning). That's the cool thing about Grace. Jesus offers us eternal life even though we don't deserve it and we will NEVER deserve it!

So why does the Bible say that we have to be "Sanctified" if Jesus knows we will never be perfect. BECAUSE SANCTIFICATION IS NOT A PERFECTION OF PERFORMANCE! IT IS A PERFECTION OF INTENTION!! It is a CONTINUALLY "perfect" relationship with Jesus! Let me give you an example. I would consider my parents to have a perfect relationship with each other because no matter what, they will never leave, abandon, deny, or betray each other. No matter how they may FEEL about each other on a given day, they have COMMITTED to sacrificing their own personal interests for the other's needs and interests. And while my dad may not DO everything right for my mom (and vice-versa) and while he makes mistakes every once in a while (after all he is human), his heart is in the right place and his intentions are PERFECT. That's what makes the relationship perfect; it is not anything he DOES or fails to DO but it is his commentment to love to my mom no matter what!

If Jesus has truly won our hearts, we are being Sanctified every day. Jesus will continue to work in our lives, pointing out things that He may want us to get rid of (SINs in particular but really anything that is taking priority over Him in our lives). I promise, the more you fall in love with Jesus, and the closer you come in your relationship with Him, the less you will WANT to SIN. Here are some practical ways we can avoid or flee from the SIN that keeps us frustrated:

LAY LOW- Stay away from situations that may lead you commit those SINS. If it's sexual SIN, stay away from those situations where you know you will be tempted. This principle applies to ALL SIN!

PRAY- Ask God to help you conquer that particular SIN. He doesn't want us to be defeated by SIN and He offers us power and strength to defeat SIN. Prayer is our battlefied against SIN. GO TO WAR ON YOUR KNEES!

"WORD" TO YOUR MIND- Stay in the Word (keep reading the Bible). I know that sounds very Sunday School-ish, but getting to know God more really makes us fall more in love with Him and be less inclined to SIN.

S.O.S.- Form a group of accountability partners (same-gender accountability partners please!). An accountability group is a close-knit group of Christians where everyone can feel safe sharing their struggles with sin and everyone can help each other out in their walks with Christ. Challenge each other; Pray with each other; Struggle with each other. Christianity was NOT meant to be done on alone. Keep each other accountable!

BASEBALL UPDATE: We had a great discipleship meeting tonight. Not as many numbers, but a great discussion! It's so much fun and so fulfilling to be ministering to these guys. I have the best job in the world. Too bad I have to waste time playing baseball and I can't just talk to these guys about Jesus 24/7 (HaHa, just a little joke. I love playing ball, and it has given me opportunities I wouldn't normally have).

"Stupid Thing Keeps Popping Up!"

2006-03-12T22:31:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted anything in the past couple days. It's been a hectic weekend full of baseball and trying to get work done for Monday's return to the norm of classes. I'm still riddled with this question about SIN! Sometimes it seems like such a simple thing. Davey, just don't SIN anymore! Ha! I've figured it out! Not hardly . . .

A guy from the team confronted me about the topic of SIN today. (You may wonder why I'm capitalizing SIN everytime I write it. I don't know to be honest with you. It's a heavy word and a heavy topic, and while it certainly doesn't deserve capitalization on paper, it seems like I need to as a signpost, a warning. Kind of like a flashing light. Beware! Don't come any farther! SIN is beyond this line!) This guy is a brand new Christian of about two weeks, and he made a commitment to God when he got saved not to dabble in a particular SIN that he knew he had been having trouble with. He called me up telling me he had something to confess and he just needed to talk. He came over and told me about how he was confronted with the temptation and fell again! Right after he gave it away to God! I FEEL YA BRO!! Isn't that all our plights? The Bible talks about how we are like dogs returning to our vomit. Have you ever seen a dog eat its own vomit? Disgusting!!

We're no smarter than dogs when it comes to SIN, though. We dabble in it because it feels GOOD for the moment. But when it's all over, we're left feeling empty and then guilt-ridden. Satan lures us in, makes SIN appealing, ensnares us, and then beats us over the head about it afterwards. What a rotten guy!! When I return to the same SIN I feel like a dog that has just vomitted, gone back and eaten the vomit, vomitted again, and then repeated the process with no relief!

I remember when I was little, the cool thing to do was to have your birthday party at Chucky-Cheese! That was such a cool place. Blow all your money on pizza and coins, play games, and hope you win enough tickets to trade in for a worthless prize that would break within the next few days. That was the life! One game I HATED, I mean absolutely DESPISED with a passion, was that game where the alligators pop out and you beat them over the head with that padded mallet. I hated it!! I never felt like I was winning or accomplishing anything. Whenever I pounded an alligator, it would cower away for a little while and then poke its little annoying head out again! To make matters worse, three of four of those stupid things would pop up at the same time and I only had one mallet! Aaaah! I get frustrated just thinking about it. Most of the time I wanted to go unplug the machine and then jump up and down declaring that I had just won; I had killed all the alligators! But I never did unplug it, because if I had, the tickets would have stopped spitting out of the machine.

Isn't that how SIN is though? You beat it back and beat it back until you're blue in the face, but no matter how much you try to ward it off it still comes back, rearing its ugly head! The problem is, we're too scared to pull the plug, cause if we do that no more tickets will come out and then we wouldn't be able to get our cheap prize (keep in mind those prizes only last a little while and are worth next to nothing)! Man those Chucky-Cheese prizes are sooo fulfilling too. I know I still have all of them to this day and they are all sooo useful to me (sarcasm in case you didn't pick up on it). It's so true though. We're too wussey to go pull the plug on Satan, and so he keeps us in this bondage of SIN that God wants us to be free of!

Okay, Davey, we understand this SIN thing now. So how do we pull the plug? How do we get rid of the SIN that continues to plague us? How do we let Jesus be the LORD of our lives and find fulfillment in Him ONLY!? I'll write more about that tomorrow.

B.T.W. Jesus' GRACE is enough!

SIN-Aaaahhh!!

2006-03-10T08:24:00.000-08:00

I’m sorry I didn’t post anything last night. My usual routine is posting something right before I go to bed so that you guys can read it the next day. Last night I fell asleep on the couch . . . go figure, me falling asleep on the couch—I always do that. Anyways, I’ll try to make it up to you guys. I did put a list of books that I’ve recently read, am currently reading, and would like to read on my sidebar so if you guys want to check those out. They are ALL amazing reads!

So what’s with this topic of SIN! Such a loaded topic! Everytime I hear the word that's my reaction (Aaaaahhh!). It's such a scary word. So what is SIN in the Real World? Let’s start from the beginning. When we accept Jesus Christ in to our hearts and turn our lives over to His leadership (because we know we suck at life on our own), Jesus POWER-WASHES our souls (I love that image!). So any sin we have done, any sin that we are doing, and any sin we are going to do he has already died for once and for all! It says in Hebrews that our “sins and lawless acts [He] will remember no more (Hebrews 10:17).” In other words, God says “You are forgiven totally.” If you ask Him “Well, what about THAT sin, God,” He responds with “What sin?” He totally forgives and forgets. Isn’t that awesome to think about?! No matter what rotten things I’ve done in my life, if I make Jesus the Lord of my life, He forgets it all!

So if he forgets it all, what’s the big deal? Can’t we theoretically just keep on sinning and rely on God’s grace and forgiveness to get us through life? The big deal is that sin separates us from God. God is so holy, just, and perfect that he cannot co-exist with sin. Paul says in Romans, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? BY NO MEANS! We died to sin; how then can we live in it any longer? (Romans 6:1-2)” So if we continue to let sin rule our lives, Jesus’ reign on our lives takes backseat because He cannot sit on a “joint throne” with sin.

My girlfriend, Amanda, lives 12 hours away from me. So the only thing that we can do to keep our relationship up is talk on the phone. Well, not even that is possible now that she has given me up for Lent. (See Lent Hurts). So, what separates us now? Miles and miles of highway AND a lack of communication. Believe me, I would do ANYTHING to bridge that gap that separates us just so I could hang out with her and experience her company first-hand.

The same thing’s true with God. We have the opportunity to hang out with Him on a daily basis, first-hand, like a best friend, yet the sin in our lives separates us from really and truly being able to EXPERIENCE Him. That is why this “Sanctification” thing—being without sin—is so important. (Sanctification - the million dollar word. Don't you wish people would put simpler terms to this kind of stuff?)

Davey, c’mon now, I’m human, you’re human, we’re all human. There is no way we can live without sin in our lives. Let’s face it, we screw up all the time! We are far from perfect people. That is the human race. How can we deceive ourselves into thinking that we can actually live sin-free lives? I think the Bible points out awesome truth’s that will clue us in on a little of what God expects out of us and how we can actually meet up to God’s expectations! More about this tomorrow . . .

BASEBALL UPDATE: Keep praying that God’s hand will be at work. I’m getting kind of discouraged with some of these guys on the team. Sometimes I wish we could have a steady stream of people coming to know the Lord instead of spurts of a big harvest and then longer dry times (to put it into a baseball application: I would rather go 1-3 every game of the season then go 4-4 one game and 0-4 the next two). But God works in mysterious ways and it’s during these dry times that we realize how dependent we are on God and the work of the Holy Spirit in these guys’ lives. KEEP PRAYING!

Did William Wallace Have it Figured Out?

2006-03-08T20:20:00.000-08:00

You know the scene at the very end of Braveheart where William Wallace is facing his public torture? He's up there in front of everyone, exposed, indecent, and naked in front of the very people that he has led in an insurrection against the tyranny of the English government. He's offered a chance to say his last words as they complete quite possibly the most gruesome and painful act of torture imaginable (if you don't know what was done to William Wallace ask your pastor, he'd love to talk about it with you . . . hehe). Right then, in his most vulnerable and dying state, Wallace lets out a battle cry that shakes the pillars of the British rule and gives the Scot's inspiration to forge on in their pursuit for liberation . . . FREEDOM!!!!

I will never forget the first time I saw that scene. I remember thinking to myself, what a noble way to die! Don't get me wrong, if I had my choice, I would die peacefully in my sleep, but you can't discredit William Wallace's fortitude and courage! We all long to have that FREEDOM that he so passionately fought and died for! I want it in my own life! Can you imagine nothing weighing you down, no burdens, no guilt, no shame, no pain, no sin! I would die for that kind of freedom.

If you're not a Christian I just want you to know, that kind of freedom is only found in Jesus Christ. He is the only liberator that can totally free you from the shackles that you carry, the burdens that you haul around, and the guilt that plagues your mind. I urge you to actively pursue a relationship with Jesus Christ; let Him forgive you of all your sins; and cast your burdens on Him. It's only in an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ that true peace and freedom is found.

If you are a Christian, you must share the same feelings as me, because we are human and we still struggle with sin on a daily basis. Why can't I shake this sin in my life? Why can't I experience that true freedom that the Bible talks about and that Jesus promises? Paul put it best in Romans 7:15, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." Seems Paul struggled with same thing we do, SINNING! But why do we sin. Isn't it logical to think that now we are new creations in Christ we should be able to be "perfect just as [our] Father in Heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48)?" Is this a reasonable request of us by Jesus? Can we really be perfect?

I've wrestled with this for a while. What is this "Sanctification" thing the Bible talks about and can it offer some relief from being plagued with sin in my life? Being sanctified literally means being "free from sin." If Jesus expects us to be perfect, are we not supposed to live up to His expectations? It says in Hebrews that no one will see the Lord if he is not pursuing this Sanctification through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 12:14). I will be researching and blogging about this topic for the next couple days in hopes of finding some practical answers to these questions that plague SO many Christians.

Let me first just point people to Jesus' grace. Jesus died on the cross so we could find forgiveness for our sins. He knows that we sin, that is why He died! So no act of "holiness" or "righteousness" is going to IMPRESS God or make us higher on his list of favorites. In fact the Bible says that anything that we DO that we consider good or righteous is like filthy rags (modern translation is "dirty tampons") to God (Isaiah 64:6). GROSS! By the way, girls, guys really get grossed out when you talk about that kind of stuff! Anyways, Jesus just wants us to accept his forgiveness for those sins and turn our lives over to His leadership. But what then? Why do I keep on sinning even though my life is turned over to Jesus? We'll discuss this a little further tomorrow!

BASEBALL UPDATE: We lost one to North Georgia tonight. It was a close one until the bottom of the 7th, then it got a little out of hand. Final score: 10-4. Brings our record to 15-16. Not TOO bad (especially compared to last year). Sure would be nice to be above .500 though. Keep praying for these guys. God is really working on their hearts. I will never lose hope for these guys. I really feel God's presence on this team, and I trust that His work is not over. Let's keep going to war on our knees for these guys. Pray for Kenneth and me, too, that we will have the words to say to them when the doors open and that our lives will be seasoned with salt so much that these guys desire our Savior in their lives!

Life Comes At You Fast!

2006-03-07T20:22:00.000-08:00

Some days are just terrible. You know those days where nothing seems to go right? Those days where you have to fight to find a reason not to just crawl back into bed and hope you wake up the next day and everything will be better. That was me today. We won our game in 12 innings despite it being the ugliest game I have ever witnessed. And nothing went right for me. Terrible day at the plate; the choke artist came right out! Nothing felt right about today. I didn't feel confident on the field; I didn't feel like being around people (Great testimony, Davey! :( ). It was just one of those days.

It's funny how God can use these kinds of days to teach us lessons, though. I sat over at Sciullo's tonight and I promise the teacher had become the student! I found myself sitting there listening to the same guy whom I had been discipling over the past few weeks tell me that we don't need any better reason to be out on the field than just the fact that Jesus died for us so that we could have life (and play this wonderful game of baseball). He told me how when David in the Bible had troubles he was confident that His God would pull him through. "David ran for his life everyday, for Gosh sakes," Sciullo told me, "You think WE have troubles in our lives? You've gotta place your entire trust in Jesus, Davey." (It's amazing to see how God has transformed his life already!)

I was amazed, stunned, dumbfounded! Sciullo, a brand new Christian, telling me, a Christian for over 12 years, that I need to place my entire trust in Jesus. It's so simple! But he is exactly right. I have two and a half seasons left of this sport that I've played my entire life, and I've been going out there everyday with the attitude of a Sanitation department worker--foul! And to think of all the things God has done on this team, yet I still act like I don't want to be out there everyday! UNBELIEVABLE!

Have you ever seen those Nationwide commercials? You know the one where the dad is swinging his son on that tire swing and he gives one giant shove on a swing occupied by a 4 year old only to find a 220 pound 16 year old come flying back in his face. WEAR IT! (check out the commercial here). Life comes at you fast, they claim. And it does. I only have a half a season with some of these guys and only 1-2 years with the rest of them. Why do I take this time I have for granted, and why do I not appreciate everyday that I'm given to play the greatest game in the world? Life's gonna come at you fast enough, Davey. Cherish the moments you have here.

What, When, Where, Why, How?

2006-03-06T09:24:00.000-08:00

Before I start this post I just want you guys to know that Kenneth and I DO NOT collaborated before writing these things. But it seems like everyday we're writing about the same thing. God works in mysterious ways. Kenneth says we're brother's from a different mother. I say we're bros from the same heavenly Father!

Questions! That seems to be the theme for the day. I recently finished The DaVinci Code. For any of you who haven't read it let me summarize it for you. It's a great suspense novel, a page-turner where every chapter leads to a new twist in the plot; but it is entirely FALSE! It's amazing how many people are accepting Dan Brown's fiction as, for lack of a better term, the Word of God! The whole claim of the book is that the infamous Holy Grail that has been the object of many quests throughout history is not what history claims it to be. Throughout history, it has been widely accepted that the Holy Grail was the cup that Jesus and His disciples drank from during the last supper and that Joseph of Arimathea used to collect some of Jesus' blood. The theory is that if one finds this Holy Grail they will become immortal. That itself is a pretty outrageous claim, but wait till you catch what Dan Brown asserts in his FICTIONAL novel.

Brown says the Holy Grail is not a chalice, or cup, at all, but it is in fact the dead bones of Mary Magdalene, representing the royal bloodline of Jesus Christ. Davey, how can Jesus have a royal bloodline if he never had a child? Therein lies Brown's argument. According to him, Mary Magdalene was Jesus' "partner" and the two had a baby. He claims the church uses Mary's association with prostitution to cover up the fact that Mary was Jesus' sexual partner. He also claims that somewhere out in the world today are people who are DIRECT descendents of Jesus Christ. OUTRAGEOUS!

First of all we have to understand that this is not a new idea that has surfaced because of some new archeological evidence or documentation. This idea has been around for a while. In fact, Brown freely references some prominent historians in his novel, including Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry (Leigh Teabing, the novel's mastermind behind the uncovering of this conspiracy, is in fact an anagram for Baigent and Leigh—switch the letters around in Baigent and you have "Teabing"). Remember Martin Scorsese's 1988 "The Last Temptation of Christ?" Although insanely sacrilegious, it made similar claims about Jesus and Mary Magdalene. But even Scorses wasn’t among the first of these theorists. His movie was based on a Nikos Kazantzakis' 1955 novel which was based on historians’ claims from as far back as the Middle-ages.

The point is that these claims have been around since the message of Christ has been preached. The enemy (Satan) loves to use any avenue he can to try to discredit our Savior and make people doubt Him. Despite what you may believe, you have to admit that Dan Brown’s novel has raised serious questions in our society about the authenticity of the New Testament and the Christ it portrays.

I asked for your continuing prayers over the weekend that we would get into some awesome conversations about Jesus with the guys on the team, and God was once again faithful in answering those prayers. I got into a deep, DEEP discussion about Christianity and Jesus with this one guy on our team, Ben, who is a self-proclaimed agnostic. This guy had some SERIOUS questions—Questions that boggled my mind. I mean they were loaded, cocked and ready to explode! Our conversation was a couple tiers above my intellectual capabilities but amazingly I was able to give Him challenging and sufficient answers. PRAISE GOD! I could feel the Holy Spirit’s words flowing through me as I offered up answers to some of his questions. After Ben left my apartment (well after 1:00 in the morning) I remember saying out-loud, “Jesus, where did those answers come from!?” Jesus simply replied back, “You didn’t think I’d leave you alone with Him did you? You’re crazy if you think I’d trust you to answer those questions by yourself!” Haha!

I had ample time to sit and ponder this conversation and these questions (especially after I received an email from this guy with 4 more typed pages of questions that he wanted answers for). And as I was thinking I began to thank God for people like Ben, who are searching. I love it that he’s not taking this Christianity thing at face-value and mindlessly accepting Jesus as THE WAY. If he ever accepts Jesus as his Savior (which I believe whole-heartedly he will) he will know, without a shadow of a doubt, that Jesus is REAL, ALIVE, and ABLE to transform his life and his traditional way of thought—he will experience Him unlike many people have been able to!

Look at guys like C.S. Lewis and Lee Strobel who asked some of the toughest questions and essentially put Jesus under the spotlight for interrogation. Both of these guys were atheists to the core, went on quests to prove Christianity wrong, and ended up realizing that there was nothing more REAL than Jesus Christ. These guys didn’t leave their quest for Truth unchanged! And now their writings hold some of the most prominent influence among Christians and non-Christians alike!

The point is that God has been under the spotlight of interrogation since the beginning of time and he has NEVER been proven wrong. That’s quite a record! He is undefeated and undefeatable! Check out the Old Testament. It’s chalk full of stories about people and nations who questioned and defied God, and every time God showed up for the challenge and blew them away! Read about Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel in I Kings 18!

Another cool story about God stepping up the challenge is when the Assyrians invaded Judah while Hezekiah was the king. Assyria was a nation that proved a nemesis to God’s chosen people, the Israelites. It seemed like they were always trying to get in the way of God’s plans. One occasion, in 2 Chronicles 32, Sennacherib (what’s the deal with the names in the Bible? We’ll call him S-Dawg for the sake for pronunciation), the king of Assyria at the time, had the entire nation of Judah surrounded and was laying siege to the city of Jerusalem (not letting anyone go in or out—essentially trying to starve them into submission). S-Dawg sent a very intimidating message into the city basically claiming that the God of Israelites is worthless, useless, and cannot save them from S-Dawg’s fierce warriors. “Just as the gods of the peoples of the other lands did not rescue their people form my hand, so the god of Hezekiah will not rescue his people form my hand,” S-Dawg says in verse 17.

But, check this out! Hezekiah cried out to God and pleaded with Him and in verse 21 it says that God sent an angel who “ANNIHILATED all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king.” That couldn’t have been pretty! Blood and guts flying everywhere, straight out of a scene from “Braveheart” or “Saving Private Ryan,” and the Israelites just sat and watched their God exterminate the entire Assyrian army! WOW! God always steps up to the challenge!

So here it is. Here’s my claim. Ben WILL come to know the Lord before this semester is over! That’s my cry out to God! And I believe whole-heartedly that God WILL step up to the challenge!

"But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you look for him with all you heart and with all your soul." -Deuteronomy 4:29

zzzzzzz.......

2006-03-05T21:41:00.000-08:00

I'm exhausted from the weekend right now. I'm sorry I'm not going to be able to post anything tonight, but make sure you check it out tomorrow because I have some cool stuff to share with you guys. Newspring was great tonight, by the way. Perry talked about doing hands-on ministry and taking the initiative in our own lives when it comes to serving other people. It really challenged me to continue to be an able body that God can use, a vessel that he can employ for His work.

Kenneth and I got into some great conversations with some of the guys this weekend, one of which carried on well into the early Sunday morning hours after we got back from Tennessee last night. I can't wait to share with you guys all about it. But right now, I'm going to try to recover from the weekend. I'm exhausted, out of gas, and running on empty, and my bed is sooooo warm!! Night everyone!

Lent Hurts

2006-03-02T20:08:00.000-08:00

I don’t have a whole lot to say tonight cuz, frankly, I’m pretty tired and I’m still trying to get over this flu that’s been going around. B.T.W. (By The Way) if you haven’t read Kenneth’s blog for yesterday, check it out. It’s awesome! There is a link on my sidebar that you can follow (There & Back).

My thoughts were pretty crummy today until God smacked me in the face. Normally I wouldn’t tell you guys about this but to be honest, I want my life to be transparent for everyone to see. I want you to see my weaknesses and how God uses those to strengthen me. Last night, my girlfriend told me that she was giving me up for Lent. My first reaction was something like, “What!? That’s crazy! Why would you give up something that’s going so well? Doesn’t God want us to be relationships that challenge us to seek Him, and are fruitful? Doesn’t He want us to be happy, especially if we are impacting each other so well spiritually. He doesn’t want us burying out talents, right?”

My girlfriend lives 12 hours away from me. WOW! Just thinking about that seems like forever away. Neither one of us are very good “phone” people but we’ve done so well, and the phone has really been the major vehicle for our relationship. Good, long, fruitful, fulfilling, and challenging conversations on the phone are all that we have had to grow on these past five months. So when she told me that she had to give up talking to me for Lent because that is what she felt God wanted her to do, my mind was racing with a ton of PRACTICAL objections. (b.t.w. God doesn’t work practically) I mean we were talking about the extent of our relationship—PHONE CONVERSATIONS. Take our phone conversations away and you have no relationship, right?

Again I tell you guys this because I want you to see how wrong I have been in approaching this scenario. If she knew I was posting this on my blog for everyone to see she would probably not be very happy. Good thing she is computer illiterate. HeHe. My initial response to her, though, was shock and dismay. Why would she want to give me up for Lent? She proceeded to inform me that I was the only thing in her life that she would really notice and suffer over if I was gone because she cares about me so much. “That’s flattering, so why are you giving me up?” And as flattering as that is, selfishly (my human nature kicked in) I didn’t want to give her up for forty days. That’s a long time! Initially, my thought was that she was just over-spiritualizing things and that she just wanted to find something that she could suffer for to show Jesus that she is willing to suffer for Him.

THAT’S WHEN GOD SMACKED ME IN THE FACE!! I could not have been more wrong. And I want to apologize to her before everyone. Because while inside I was accusing her of having wrong motives, I was having the worst motives of all! I’m so blessed to have a girlfriend that would follow God’s direction before her own agenda. I’m so blessed to say that my girlfriend loves Jesus with her whole heart and she’s not going to let anything stop her from being obedient to Him. I’m so blessed that she is only reliant on God and not our relationship!

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." -Proverbs 31:30

And while I’m affected by this decision, it shouldn’t matter! The Matt Redman song keeps popping in my head. “You give and take away. You give and take away. My heart will CHOOSE to say. Lord, blessed be Your name!” God blessed me with this amazing girl in the first place. Who am I to say that He can’t have her back any time He wants her. Amanda, if you’re reading this, I commend you and fully support you in your decision. And while these next forty days are going to be difficult, I know that God is going to reveal Himself in extraordinary ways—ways that He would never have been able to had we been wrapped up in each other during this time. Thank you, Amanda, for being sensitive to the Holy Spirit and for being bold in approaching me about it. “Stay off the paved road!”

BASEBALL UPDATE: Be praying for us this weekend as we're going to Cleveland, TN for a conference series. We will be very purposeful in our conversations, and we will be praying that God will continue to reveal Himself to these guys, that they will recognize their need for a Savior. We have a handful who are teatering on the edge of accepting Christ and we don't have the words for them. But God meets us in our weaknesses. Keep us in your prayers and I'll let you guys know how things go when I get back on Sunday.

Not-So-Random Thought of the Day

2006-03-01T21:18:00.000-08:00

One thing that has really stuck out in my mind the past few days is Gamaliel’s quote in Acts 6. I know your probably like, “Davey who is Gamaliel? I thought this was supposed to be a practical and relevant blog.” Let me explain. In Act 5 some of the apostles were preaching the good news of Jesus Christ outside of the temple courts, to much of the disdain of the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin.

So the Sanhedrin had them arrested and put in jail warning them against preaching about Jesus. When the teachers of the law went to the jail cells the next morning, however, the apostles were gone! But to make matters worse, the Sanhedrin found them again preaching outside the temple courts. At this point the Sanhedrin was TICKED! They were ready to take drastic measures to keep these apostles from preaching about Jesus even to the point of killing them.

But one of the teachers of the law stood up and offered up a suggestion and this suggestion has been sticking out in my mind all day. Gamaliel says, “Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

This passage has been an incredible encouragement to me over the past few days. There are unsaved guys on this team that have rejected Christianity so much that they even have made a mockery of the way Jesus is changing some of these new Christian’s lives.

It is amazing how everyday I will get into a conversation with one of the unsaved guys and they will tell me how they don’t think cussing or drinking is a sin because it doesn’t spell it out specifically in the Bible. And I don’t argue with them. Because if God’s work is being done on this team through and through like we’ve been praying for, then nothing can stop it—not even these guys’ present desire to find satisfaction in the world. One of these days God is going to rock their world to the core and they will realize their need for a savior. I believe that whole-heartedly. My mission is just to point them to a relationship with Jesus!

I’ve also learned that no matter what anyone says or does or does to me, it will not last if it is mere human effort. And if God is behind it, then there is no need to worry about it because there is nothing I can do about it. Even the Pharisees recognized that God’s plans cannot be thwarted. So who am I to get in the way of God’s work?

Jesus uses Mr. Clean and Scrubbing Bubbles?

2006-02-28T21:11:00.000-08:00

God is awesome and He is working! We had 11 guys show up to our discipleship group tonight—2 of whom are not saved but God is tugging at their hearts. We didn’t have enough places for everyone to sit! We had guys sitting on the countertop, on the floor, hanging from the ceiling fan, you name it! It was incredible to see that many guys getting together, opening up, and being vulnerable. We talked about what we were struggling with and how we see Jesus working in our lives. I still can’t comprehend the things that Jesus is doing on this team. And it’s all because of prayer. WE have done nothing but be attentive and aware of the doors that God is opening and then point lost people in the direction of Jesus. God is doing it ALL!! HOW BIG IS YOUR GOD cause mine's moving mountains right now!!

Kenneth, Brett, Phil, and I have been on our knees either together or individually every night praying for the salvation of this team and for God to do some amazing changes in these guys’ lives. AND IT WORKS!! Who would ever think that prayer really works?! But seriously, don’t we approach it like that? Jesus says that if we only have the faith of a mustard seed then we can move mountains! The bible also says that God is ready and willing to grant what we ask for IF our motives are right. Now obviously if we ask for a million dollars, or a new Ferrari, or an Xbox360, Jesus knows our motives are pretty much not in the right place. But if we ask for the salvation of souls, especially, Jesus WILL intervene! Jesus wants to save people. He doesn’t want anyone to spend eternity in Hell. And He WILL knock on that person’s heart until they choose to slam the door in His face or invite Him in for a little spring-cleaning!

That’s what this spring is! Jesus is getting out the Mr. Clean and the Scrubbing Bubbles and going to town on this team! It’s awesome to see! KEEP PRAYING FOR US but especially be praying for the guys on the team!

Goldeneye, Halo, and Body Armor

2006-02-27T21:22:00.000-08:00

This is kind of a long post, but bear with me! Let me start off by telling you about how amazing God is! As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, 2 more guys accepted the Lord last night. That makes 6 guys on the baseball team who have accepted Jesus as their personal savior in the past month. Praise God!

I received a random phone call yesterday from Dustin. He asked me if I could come over and teach him a few things. I was a little confused so I asked him what he wanted me to teach him. His response was, “I just want to know more about the bible.” First of all, how awesome is God? We’ve been praying for these guys for the past year and even more fervently in the past 4 months. God has been working on these guys hearts and it isn’t even taking us initiating conversation. They just see that there is something that we have that they don’t and they want that something. What they don’t know is that something is the forgiveness of sins and the Grace offered only by Jesus Christ.

So Kenneth and I went over to Dustin’s apartment where we had an amazing conversation with him and his roommate Scotty. Both talked about how miserable and empty they felt living the life they were living (by the way I have been praying specifically for these guys to feel miserable until they recognize that they need a savior). Finally the conversation led us to our knees where Scotty accepted Jesus Christ as his savior for the first time and Dustin recommitted his life to Jesus. It is unbelievable how Jesus changes lives!

This all occurred last night. Today I got a chance to talk to Giles and Scotty about spiritual warfare. This discussion got my wheels turning.

I think we often neglect the fact that there is an invisible battle going on constantly around us. For nonbelievers, the battle is between God and Satan (angels and demons) over souls. For believers, the battle is over our Joy. The problem is that we don’t recognize this battle so we don’t know how to take up our sword and fight alongside Jesus.

Ephesians 6:12 points out that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” That’s some scary stuff if you really sit down and think about it! Especially if you’ve seen horror movies like The Exorcism of Emily Rose. But the cool thing is that we don’t have to fear this other realm! Because Jesus lives inside of us as Christians, Satan has no power over us if we don’t let him. Now he may try every ploy he can to rob our joy and get a foothold in sin areas of our lives.

Because Satan has no power over believers, we don’t have to be scared, fearful, or obsessed with Satan’s work on this earth. We need to know enough about the enemy to know how and where it is going to strike, but we can’t give Satan too much credit! That ‘s what he wants! If we give Satan more credit than he deserves, we essentially give him power over our lives

It’s kind of like in sports, having a scouting report, or watching films on the opposing team. You want to know about that team—its strengths and its weakness, and individuals in the lineup that can really hurt you if you let them—that way you will know how to defend against those teams, but you don’t want to get away from the fundamentals of YOUR game. If we concentrate too much on what the devil’s work is in this world, we lose sight of the ultimate joy—Jesus’ life changing work in and through our lives!

If we focus on the devil’s work here on earth, we are fighting an uphill battle, a battle where we are trapped in the corner trying desperately to “hold off” Satan’s attacks. Through Jesus Christ’s power we can be fighting on the front lines, leading the way to victory, and engaging the devil in hand-to-hand, OFFENSIVE combat. The worst phrase I have ever heard is “the best offense is a good defense.” Take, for example, The University of Alabama’s football team this past year. Once their key offensive player was out for the year, even the best defense in the country could only take the team so far. Eventually the defense wore down because there was not an explosive, offensive force to counter-attack other teams’ offenses.

EVERYONE here at school plays Halo, and I enjoy playing it once in a while, but my all-time favorite video game is Goldeneye. I love getting the body armor because it takes the other players forever to kill you once you have it. The Bible tells us to put on spiritual body armor—THE ARMOR OF GOD. That way we will be able to not only defend ourselves but we will be able to counter-attack and eventually see victory and freedom in our lives! Check it out for yourself: Ephesians 6:10-18.

Salvation is Here!

2006-02-26T22:16:00.000-08:00

God is amazing! Two more guys on the baseball team came to know the Lord tonight! (That makes 6 guys on the baseball team who have accepted Jesus as their personal savior in the past month!) One accepted Christ for the first time and one recommitted his life! It's amazing to see God continuing to answer prayers. I'll explain everything tomorrow, but right now I'm going to try to get some sleep! Jesus Rocks!

What's the big deal?

2006-02-25T22:01:00.000-08:00

I had a couple guys ask me today what the big deal is about cussing? My first thought was, “C’mon, why don’t you ask me an easy one like ‘Who’s this Jesus guy.’” I initially wanted to let them know that they shouldn’t worry about that kind of outward stuff, which brings about legalism, and that they should worry about letting Jesus into their hearts and changing them from the inside-out. While that is true, I began thinking about their questions. They wanted to know what makes a cuss word a cuss word, and to be totally honest, I HAVE NO CLUE. I guess they are words that society has deemed as cuss words, or language that is not appropriate in formal settings, but it doesn’t take us looking very deep to see that our society accepts a lot of crude things coming out of people’s mouths nowadays. The things people are aloud to say on TV or the radio now days are appalling! But I guess I shouldn’t expect less from a fallen world that desperately needs Jesus.

Anyways, I’m chasing rabbits. So I began thinking about these guys’ questions and I began to wonder why these guys on my team ask me questions like, “Is drinking a sin,” or “What does the Bible say about cussing,” or “Is dipping bad?” My initial response to these questions is frustration. In my mind I’m thinking, “Yes it’s a sin but I don’t want to seem like a legalist that throws all these rule and regulations out to you that the Bible says you must follow!” But maybe, just maybe, this is only a STEP in their realization that they need a savior. Let me explain. The Bible says in Jeremiah 31:33 and again in Hebrews 8:10 that God will write His laws on our heart and those laws will be how we are convicted of our sins. If we don’t follow what we know is RIGHT we feel bad. Let Jiminy Cricket, or your conscience, be your guide, right? So maybe these rules and regulations are kind of good, to an extent. The more rules that are laid out for a Christian to follow, the more we recognize that we cannot meet up those rules, and the more we become aware of our need for a Savior.

Don’t get me wrong, Christianity is not about rules and regulations, or standards that you have to try to achieve or live up to. It’s about an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. The Bible is not a book with a bunch of “thee’s” and “thou’s” and “thou shalt not’s.” It is a book that has the secret to an abundant life and offers the ONLY advice out there on how to live life to the fullest.

If it weren’t for Jesus Christ dying on the cross, we would have no shot at getting into heaven because our salvation would be totally based on what we DO. I don’t know about anyone else but if my getting into heaven was based on my measuring up to a strict set of rules, I would be doomed to suffer the tortures of hell for ETERNITY, because I’m the worst of all sinners. And we all DO deserve hell. But Jesus offers us a FREE gift (admittance to His kingdom for eternity, and the key to our very own mansion once we get there) and all we have to do is accept that free gift and enter into a personal relationship with him. Jesus wants us to be the on the VIP list to the phattest party that was ever thrown.

The truth is the Bible points out clearly that we are to stay away from unwholesome and filthy language. Check it out:

“ Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths. . .”
-Ephesians 4:29

“But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality. . .Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or
coarse joking.”
-Ephesians 5:3-4

"For, whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech."
-1 Peter 3:10

"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out
of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow
from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring
produce fresh water."
-James 3:9-12

The point is that when Jesus takes over your life (which is by far the most fulfilling way to live your life) he changes you from the inside and your outside actions are just a reflection of that inward change. Sciullo just recently received Jesus as his savior and I can tell a remarkable change in him already. Jesus has power-washed his soul and has begun his work at radically changing his life and ROCKING his world with some “head bangin Jesus action.” As you may know, Sciullo used to have the filthiest mouth on the team, but because of the life-changing power of Jesus Christ, his mouth has cleaned up tremendously in just over a week.

Jesus called the religious people of his day “white-washed tombs.” (you know these people—the ones that claim to be “religious” but they do it for show; on the inside they are just as dirty and evil as everyone else; they are typically called HYPOCRITES now days.) Back in Jesus’ times people were buried in actual tombs when they died, as opposed to six feet under the ground like people are nowadays. These tombs were magnificent to look at; they had great architectural design and fabulous detail. But on the inside was just a bunch of ratty, smelly, rotten, dead bones. That’s what Jesus says about “religious people.” Jesus wants to take those skeletons out of your close and give you new life and a hope to live for something greater than yourself. That way you don’t have to walk around with that decaying flesh smell all the time. If you let Him do that I promise you He will rock your world!