New Opportunities

So the last time that I have posted was about 4 months ago and needless to say, a lot has happened since then. First let me say that as always the summer was amazing at Caswell and God is definitely raising up a generation of students that are sold out for Him and for His mission. This summer ended a little different than others for me though. As many know by now, my parents were in pretty bad head on accident in July which was a huge wake up call for me and many of my friends. I am thankful and grateful to say that both are healthy and back to their lives and that I know it was due to all the prayers that were being sent up by the community of believers around me. How awesome is it to know that when something happens there are literally thousands of people, around the states and the world going before God on your behalf. That fact alone is the only reason that I was able to find peace and rest throughout the whole experience, because I knew and trusted that God was in control one way or the other as hard as it could have been.

On to the new opportunities...I am officially a high school teacher and in the last 2 months of teaching, God has shown me so much. He has affirmed that working with students and being in this school is definitely where I needed to be. I have had the opportunity to talk to the majority of my students about my beliefs and listen to theirs as well. Being in a small school, every student knows who I am and what I stand for and many of the students that I have not even spoken to have asked me about what something (i.e. purity ring, or tattoos) means and I have been able to discuss with them the Gospel. It is my prayer and hope that one day soon I will be able to see God do a mighty work in this school and in the lives of these students.

Furthermore, God has been using me in another way to impact the lives of students with His Gospel. During this summer, I decided that speaking to students was a talent that God was going use within my life. That being said, I have had several speaking opportunities this fall already and I can't wait to see what God provides for me in the future. I have already met hundreds of students during these gigs and God has astounded me over and over again. One of the most testing and greatest opportunities I will have is on November 14 of this year I will be speaking at a Stokes County Youth Revival which last year had about 800 students (nervous, yes I am!). God is providing these opportunities for me and I know that He is going to show up and do a great work each time. Shameless plug (after all it is my own blog) check out my website. What opportunities has God provided you recently?

When I rise...

Have you ever wondered, what's the point? Have you ever thought, why am I here or why am I doing this right now? Have you ever shared the Gospel and just thought your words were falling on deaf ears? Let's be honest, many times this is case because we who are preaching aren't reminding ourselves of the Love that's freely given through God's grace. We're preaching redemption and salvation to others and forgetting about our own. The Bible tells us that each day God's mercies are made new and each day we are given grace, should we choose to accept it. Paul tells us that being reminded of the Gospel is for our own benefit. This isn't just an every Sunday/Wednesday reminder, this is an everyday reminder that Christ has redeemed me and taken my place, my beating, my death in order to bring me back to the Father. Each day we should wake up and first preach the Gospel to ourselves and remind ourselves of God's glory, then and only then can we preach it to other people. If Christians would preach the Gospel to themselves and daily be reminded of God's grace and forgiveness, then maybe, just maybe non-believers would be less confused as to what true Christianity and being a follower/disciple of Christ actually looks like. I charge each one of us to choose God's daily provisions and to preach the Gospel to ourselves each new day before we even think about preaching it to other people. As the song says, "when I rise, give me Jesus." Will you make that commitment?

Love

Today there are many ways in which we use the word 'love.' Some use it to describe their feelings, others use it to describe food. The love of another person and the love for food...can they or are they the same love? Many at this point and even myself once would have argued that of course those are not the same use of the word love and that the love described is being misused. Again, some would argue that we have ruined the meaning of such words as love because we use it so frequently and loosely. However, I now realize and argue that the love of another person, the love of food, the love of anything are all the same love. We have not ruined the meaning, we have merely misplaced the value. Originally we were all created to love God. That perfect love was displayed in the Garden of Eden without hesitation between Adam and God. Also, for a while it was displayed between Adam and Eve and between Eve and God. This love is the love that many think of when they say they love another person. Most will not think of this love when discussing food. But, love is love no matter what. Rather than the destruction of the word 'love' we have misplaced it. Instead of saying that we love God and love people, we are blinded by our desires and decide to love food. When somebody says that they love this or that they mean it. Unfortunately, that's just it; we have replaced God with idols. Idols come in many different forms and for some it, well, it is food. Hopefully, this will make us think about how we used the word 'love' and remember that God's greatest commandments are: Love God & Love Each Other. Don't misplace the love that was created to be between you and God. Where is your love?

Evil

Throughout my time in college I have heard many reasons and arguments for why people do not and refuse to believe in God. Possibly one of the most common arguments is "How can God exist with all this evil in the world?" OK, that sounds like a valid question. However, I think a better question is, how come God hasn't let you feel the wrath from sin? Yes, there are evil things/people in this world, but aren't we all evil in some way? Haven't we all said or done something that others and even ourselves would deem to be evil? How can we complain about evil in this world, when we ourselves have contributed to that evil? The argument is that if a good God exists then then he should stop all this evil in the world, after all isn't he all-powerful? Again, I bring up another question, what is evil? Evil is anything that is against God, anything morally bad or wrong. It's murder, rape, stealing, lying, cheating, gossiping, lust, anger, and much more! However, if we want God to stop evil, do we want Him to stop it all or just a little bit of it? If He stops us from doing evil things, what about lying, or what about evil thoughts? Where do you stop, the murder level, the lying level, or the thinking level? If we really want God to stop evil we have to be consistent, we cannot just pick and choose like so many want to do when it comes to Christ and the Gospel. This means that you and I would be eliminated! If we think evil stuff then we should be eliminated! But thanks be to God that Jesus stepped in to save us from our sin! Christ died for all evilness! Have you accepted this love that has wiped away your evilness?

Truth

What is truth? As I came into the college atmosphere this seemed to be the question that was on everybody's list to answer. Many people even thought that they had figured out what truth really is. Over the past few years I have heard many takes on what truth is and how it applies to everyone's life. Many people believe that truth is just relative, it all depends on what you believe. Moreover, I have heard many say that there is no way to know for sure who God is or what's really true. However, they believe in the statement that they are making, "that there's no way to know what's really true." They're saying that their statement is true. They make a circular argument that comes back on itself and removes any credibility. Furthermore, think about this, if what's true for you is true for you and what's true for is true for me, what if my truth says yours is a lie? What then, is it still true? Truth is what it is (truth) whether you believe it or not. Your belief does not determine what truth is or is not! Truth simply is truth. So how do we know what truth is? To know this we must know what truth is not, and it is not relative. Again, if truth is relative then that statement itself can't be true. There is truth, and it comes from the one that created purpose and meaning. In order to know what is true, we must study and desire to know the one that created us and as we do that, truth will be made known to us. However, this does not mean that all things will be revealed. As scriptures tell us, there are mysteries and knowledge that belong to God and humans will never know them. Truth is what it is, no matter what you believe about it. Do you know the truth?

Passion without purpose...

...is pointless. Are you passionate about something? Have you done anything about it? Think about the things that you are most passionate about, now think about what you have done to see that passion come to life. Many Christians say that they have a passion to see other people find Christ and come to know Him and love and worship Him. I would say that that is a great passion to have and that it is one that I too share. However, what have we done about it? Honestly, most of have done nothing with that passion. We have sat back and watched and wondered why the world has not changed. We say we have all that passion and yet (myself included) have done nothing with it. I pray that the deep rooted passion that we have will begin to take form and have purpose in our lives. Simply put; passion without purpose is pointless. Does your passion have purpose?

Fire

So we've all heard the story about Moses and the burning bush, right? What's the deal with God appearing to Moses through this burning bush? Let's take a look into this story from Exodus 3. Moses is hanging out in the wilderness tending to the flock of his father-in law. You can imagine that Moses isn't exactly having the best time of his life hanging out in the wilderness with sheep that aren't even his. If we continue to read, it says that there was a bush that was burning. What got the attention of Moses was that the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. Because the fire caught the eye of Moses, he was able to have an encounter with God. God sent the fire upon that bush to get Mose's attention! When we go through struggles and trials in our lives, God is sending the fire to open our eyes and get our attention. At this point one could say that God wouldn't send fire to us because that is cruel; however, let us remember that God is always with us in the fire. Maybe you continually pray that the situation you are in would change and God answers with fire. He answers with fire so that he can send the rain! When God sends the fire it burns away everything that is not of Him and when he brings the rain he washes us clean and redeems us bringing us to his feet. Furthermore, when God sends fire it is to show those around you that He is able to see you through the fire (James 1:3-4). He sends it to prove his presence in your life! Sometimes we pray that God would deliver us, maybe we should pray that he would give us what we need to get through it. What we need is grace. Grace and only grace will get us through every situation in our lives. Know that God is with you in the fire and that he will send the rain. Where's the fire in your life?

Servant...Set Free

For those that know me or have seen me in the past year, know that I have a few tattoos. For those that did not know this, I have a tattoo in Greek on both forearms and a variation of a cross on my right shoulder. Teaching in a public high school I am constantly asked what they mean and why I have them. The ones that people most often ask about the ones on my forearms, as these are the most visible. Two words in Greek, δούλος and έλευθερόω. The first means “servant/bond-servant/slave” and the second means “set free/set from the dominion of sin.” Most that ask about the meaning of these even further, usually question I would tattoo slave/servant on my arm and what is the significance of being set free. I have the pleasure of working in a public high school and when students ask, I’m allowed to answer which is awesome because through these tattoos I am able to share the Gospel of Christ and what He has done in my life with these students. I am a servant of Christ, a bond-servant, bought with the price of Jesus’ blood on a cross. Since he died and paid for me, I owe him everything! Not only did he pay the price and the debt that I owed to God because of my sin, he also set me free. He set me free from the bondage of my sin. I no longer have the burden of sinful punishment on my shoulders; he set me free from that. Not only did he set me free from this, he also set me free unto serving him. He paid the price/my debt and set me free from sin so that I would be free to serve and worship the one and only Yaweh (LORD). That is why I am his servant. He has forgiven me, when bled and died and tore the veil in the temple, he set me free. Have you been set free to serve the one true God?

Anticipate

When most people think about the Old Testament, they merely think about Noah and the flood, David and Goliath and other great stories of God's work through humans. However, these stories for storytelling aren't the reason that we have the Old Testament (OT) in our Bibles today. Have you ever thought about the people in the OT and the things that occurred during their lives? These people lived, heard, and read about the things that happened to Adam and Eve and the rest of mankind prior to the flood and after the Exodus and knew that someday God was going to redeem them and bring them back to Him through a Savior, Messiah, a Son. Throughout the OT we witness people struggling with sin and having to make an offering to God for their forgiveness because in their time, Christ had not yet come. The people in the OT waited for many years and they never got to witness the birth, life, death, or resurrection of their Savior. Even in the years between the OT and New Testament (NT) writings (400 years!!!) people were still waiting. Now waiting wasn't merely just sitting around twiddling their thumbs, NO!, they were continually worshiping God for the things that He was doing in their lives and their waiting was an anticipation to what the Savior would bring to this world. Some people missed out because they got tired of waiting on God to do what He promised to do. Others were patient enough to repent, worship, and anticipate the day that would come when their sins would be washed away. In the NT these people actually got to spend time with Jesus and witness all the great things that He is until the day He ascended into heaven. Those after the NT, including us, are now waiting for His return. Like the people in the OT, we live in a sinful and perverse world and are waiting for our Savior to come to this world (again) and redeem it for good. Also, like some in the OT, some people have grown weary and tired of waiting on God, but I urge you to trust in His promises and anticipate the day of His return. Every promise, and prophecy for that matter, that was made in the OT was revealed and proven true in the NT and this is not a mere coincidence! God remains true to His word and Jesus will return. Don't miss out on the glory that He will bring, experience it now and allow Him to perfect you until the day He calls you home or until the day He returns to this earth to make it new. Anticipate that day, yet do not be anxious. His kingdom is amongst us, don't miss it. Anticipate or miss out, it's your choice.