How?

Let me just preface this whole thing by saying that I love the Summit church and am glad to call that my church family. For the past couple of years I have been attending this church and to be honest it has changed my life. There are many college students that attend our church and when people ask where you go to church and you tell them "The Summit," some get this weird look on their face and remark, "Oh, 'The Summit.'" For some reason people do not like the Summit church at first glance because it is what some would call a 'megachurch.' The fact that we have two campuses, many partner and planted churches, and a large congregation people are turned away automatically. But, I challenge everyone to think about how churches like the Summit have gotten to be the way they are. These churches are not putting on a show and performing so that there is a large audience. There is one reason alone that the churches have gotten to be this way. That reason is that they preach the gospel and bless the city. Some people think that they've gotten so big because it's just entertainment, on the contrary, it's because of Jesus. Every day, every week, everywhere they go Jesus is presented and that is how these churches have become successful! The reason we have thousands of members and are able to send missionaries around the world (including the youth which is awesome) is because of Jesus alone! You can ask anybody at these churches and the one thing that will be common among the answers as to how, is Jesus. The gospel is preached, a burden for those around in the city is placed on the members, and salvation by grace alone is offered. This and this alone accounts for the success of the church. With that in mind, how are to be successful in our individual lives?

Live it

It has been a month and praise God that exams are over! Since then I have been taking it easy and went on vacation to Florida (to Disney World) which was amazing as it always is! It scares me to think that I am now a senior in college and will soon graduate. What exactly does that mean though? It means my time in Chapel Hill as a student that can impact the lives of other students is coming to an end very quickly. Now that the end is coming, so often one will look back to the time before and for me the question is have I truly lived my life or have I simply been complacent and apathetic? I fear that it may be the latter but I hope that throughout my years I have allowed God to work in my life and impact the lives of those around me. This can only happen if I give up everything I have to God and allow him to use me in every single way. Yes, this also means sacrifice, which can come in many ways but when it comes down to it you only have one life to live and you only have that one life to give; therefore, you better starting living in Christ and giving your life as an act of spiritual worship. Going over these things makes me think about my dreams. More often than not our dreams are about what we want our life to be. For me, my dream is that I can be a godly man that has sacrificed his life so that Christ may be glorified. Is that possible? You better believe it is! Other dreams that I have for my life is that I will have a godly family as a result of following the will of God, and to witness the majestic works of Christ all around me. These dreams will become a reality. The reason I can boldly make that statement is because I know of the plans that God has for me and as I continue to seek Him with all my heart He will keep his promises. Furthermore, as I continue to sacrifice my life for Christ those around me will benefit from His love and when that happens their lives will be impacted by Him, not by me. My dream is that I will not be remembered, but that when people think about me they immediately think about Christ. Our dreams become a reality only when we remove our selfishness and seek after and live out the will of God. Are you ready to let your dreams come true?