Singing and Dancing… And Other Stuff

So I’m sitting here thinking about all the great moments I’ve had recently, this summer, and even back a few years. So many funny things, so many awkward situations, so many great times spent with some great people, and then I think a little deeper, a little below the surface, somewhere that I too often keep hidden inside from those around me. Those deep moments, those defining moments where God truly just speaks straight to you, no beating around the bush… the Big Man calls it like it is. All of those moments came during a time of worship for me. You may be sitting there thinking, “oh ok, so singing and dancing… and other stuff”, but it is sooo much bigger than that.

What is Worship? Many people say that it singing; some people think it is about some crazy dancing. I ask you with this, what is worship to you? Some people have been to church, they have heard the teachings… “Worship is a lifestyle”. Oh were getting closer to the answer for sure. Worship, when I looked it up in my bible, is an encounter with the living God. What kind of encounter? Try something like Exodus 3:1-6, that is the type of encounter I’m talking about here. Or let’s think of John 4 with the women at the well, meeting Jesus face to face and having him tell you exactly how it is. But there are so many different aspects of worship: singing, dancing, praying … oh wait, everything we do, the lifestyle we live.

Through singing, worship is one of my PASSIONS! Some people can pray and meditate for hours on hours and that is awesome for them, but for me worship in singing is something that “stirs my soul”; no really I can’t help but become joyful, passionate, and just straight up emotional. Why is that? Because this is a moment to look on the face of God, one on one, speak those words that you’re singing to the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE. So since this is one of my passions, let me present a challenge to you and myself. The next time you are in church, in FCA, or simply in your car listen to some Jesus Music, let those words sink in, focus your eyes on your Savior and not the distractions around you (I have to close mine), sing TO him, and prepare yourself and listen for him to rock you right back. Simply ENCOUNTER GOD! So maybe you like to dance in your worship of your Lord… ain’t nothing wrong with that at all! If you are encountering God and you feel led by He who is most definitely worthy of everything we have, including some dignity… Dance! King David strips down and dances to praise God at one point (this is not permission to get naked). So whatever positions you must be in to be respectful and honor God, do it.

So, what are the other parts of worship? Life in general? Yep. So what is that suppose to look like? This is your relationship with God, this is what Jesus came to earth and died for, this is living a life to give him glory. Yep, glorify him. As Christians we are called to live Christ-like. We are called to be Servants to those around us. We are called to be Joyful in all circumstances. We are called to witness to those around us. We are called to so much amazing, just straight up God glorifying actions, feeling, thoughts… AWESOME STUFF! So these are some huge concepts. Glorifying God basically encompasses our purpose for existing, Christ-like living is a study in itself alone, and living joyfully is a situation to situation battle. But these are all acts of worship, right? So what’s the equation for singing? Worship whether singing or living is still worship. Living a life of worship doesn’t stop as soon as the music stops. It doesn’t need to be a swift moment of remembering God. It can be an amazing life, continuously being blessed, lead, and loved by God. So that is the challenge, through every situation:

Let the words/situation- sink in, focus your eyes on the One who has the perfect and only plan, and not the distractions around you, sing/bring the situation- to him, and prepare yourself and listen for Him to rock you right back. Have that encounter with the living God.

Loving Him?

So I just came back from Bigstuf and a dear friend of mine happened to ask me a question that got me thinking… “What did you get out of this Bigstuf trip?” That got the wheels turning… There was so much, but what was it that I felt was so important that I not only wanted others to hear about but that I needed people to hear? And boy is it a big one! The Big Question, how is our relationship with God looking? This had been something in the works for a while but it really clicked this during this time.

In Genesis 1, God creates us, “In the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.” Two parts there, male and female. Now answer me this question, are guys and girls the same? No!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They have very distinct differences. Does that mean that God does? I have really enjoyed adopting the perspective of the answer to that being yes.

I’m doing a bible study with some fellas on the book Wild at Heart. It hits on this subject which got me thinking it through. Let’s call it God’s two part personality. Masculine Heart- fierce, adventurous, powerful… the God we must live in a respectful fear of. This is the God of the Old Testament, who by the way is still around today; this is the God that breathed stars, that spoke and made freaking light come out of darkness. This is the God that made the great flood and could wipe us off the earth with no problem. Ok so this is a masculine heart no doubt, we dudes desire to be powerful and to be adventurous definitely. What feminine heart does our God have? Feminine Heart- kind, loving, sacrificial, for kicks and giggles… jealous, but most importantly here, a desire to be pursued. Just kidding ladies; now refocus and think of the pursuit. This is the God that actually loved enough to make John 3:16 happen. But think about your relationships so far, the guy is meant to pursue the girl, the girl desires that, it is something that has been placed deep into her heart when she was created. Where did it come from, I think that is pretty simple… “In the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.” So I started thinking of it this way, The God of the universe, the one that could crush me right now with his breath alone, desires to be pursued by me.

That’s it! The God that spoke us into being desires us to pursue Him; He desires to be the priority of our lives. He wants us to pursue a relationship the same way we would pursue a relationship with a girl. How are we doing with that? Not too good I’m thinking; are you spending time with him? So often my excuse not to hang out with God in his word, singing him praise, or talking with him is something as lame as “I’m watching TV right now.” If that’s the way I truly think I’m suppose to pursue a girl… no wonder I’m single. If that is how I’m pursuing God, what then? Would I be single, left by God to go through this life alone? And that is the amazing thing, He loves us that much! He pursues that relationship with us also. So during the last night of worship, as my jam “How He Loves” played, I thanked God for loving me and He told me over and over again exactly that, then he threw me a curveball… “But I want you to love me back that much”. Wow, broken? I think that is a good description of my heart then. It’s not enough to go to church and soak in that love that He gives. He desires our relationship to be that close that we yearn for him back. So we as loved ones by the Creator of the universe have been created to pursue God. So I challenge you to take this new perspective with you in life, knowing God has that feminine heart and desires to be loved… pursue him, spend time with him, love He who loves back.

Graduation Time

So my friend graduated and his father approached me about giving a speech/challenge/advice/charge to him involving his next few years in college…cause I’m Mr. Wiseman nowadays apparently (in front of parents, got the parental acceptable stamp always). So I started thinking, “this is important, I want other people to be able to hear this”… to be able to mock it or enjoy boundless wisdom. So this is what I gave him, I may be geared to a dude but you females can just think about it like you do for most things. Enjoy!

1) God- Grow in him, love him, praise him, include him

This is a huge time for you; you are going to experience new things and have your first chance at true responsibility. Your entire college experience will be wasted if you don’t put God at the center of it. Be open and submissive to what He has for you to learn and the ways He wants to change you. He wants to be involved in every aspect of your life, and he wants to bless you. Matthew 6:33- “Seek FIRST His Kingdom and His Righteousness, and all of these things will be added to you as well.”

2) Plug in- get involved, pour in and get poured into

Find a group, a church, or an organization to get involved in. You need to be spiritually fed by something bigger than yourself. Don’t settle for a nice church, but find the God-centered organization or church that you can go to learn about, praise, and grow in God. Once you have found it, that is the time for you to involve yourself in it. Pour in your time, effort and money into the worthy cause you have found.

3) Friends- Find Christ loving, fanatical, encouraging friends and find role models

Life isn’t meant to be done alone, “doing life together”-CCC. Find those friends that are enamored in Christ and it can be seen through the way they live their lives. Be encouraged by them and encourage them. Also find at least one older guy that not only is in love with Christ but is being the leader God has called him to be. Let that positive influence help mold you into the man God wants you to be. “Every decision you make for every situation today is shaping you into the man you are going to be the rest of your life.”- Tyler Yaken

4) Responsibility- Embrace it and grow

This the time in your life to truly become a man; you don’t have mom and dad looking over your shoulder all the time, telling what decisions to make. It is time to change the way you think, act, and are. 1^st Corinthians 13:11- “When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child does. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.”

5) Joy- You have been saved so live like it

There will be some amazingly stressful times the next few years, but I challenge you to approach every situation with something in mind- You have been saved; you have gone from dead to alive. 1^st Thessalonians 5:16- “Be Joyful Always!”

Hustle and Bustle

So it’s SUMMERTIME! (Unless you’re in high school, but soon enough) This is kinda the time of the year for me that I look back and think about how it started, what I learned, how I changed, what I’m learning. And that’s the one that hit me, what am I still learning, what do I need to change.

You see, my freshman year went something like this…moving going going going running playing eating talking lifting (studying…some), and then all over again. I got to experience some amazing things and meet some great people, so as I sat there thinking what were some of the high points of this year, what will I truly remember and cherish? I realized what it was, it was those moments that I was just ready, soaking up everything God had to give me, just enjoying the time I had with him. So what do we have here: I had a ton of hustle and bustle my freshman year but the key times were when I was enjoying God. So I’m on fire for God 24/7 now that I have come to this realization, right? Oh there is more to the story.

Since being back for the summer I have tried to continue the lifestyle of always having something to do. During part of my hustle and bustle me and this ninja (youth pastor) were talking the other day, and I was telling him how my absolute best moments in Clemson this year were the times I was forced by a bet to do my quiet times. Sure it got me in the word, but the main thing it did was forced me to slow down. I was running around throughout my day, doing anything I could, seeing whoever was there, just to fill my day and life with doing stuff. When the day came to an end, I would sit down and spend some time with God, granted it partially was because the fear of hairless legs, but it got me there and it got me to the point of Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Yeah, yeah we’ve all heard it but do we understand it, do we take time to do it. To finish the story between me and the ninja, I realized that even though I had this awesome time spent with God, I had decided I didn’t need it. I have continued to live life “with my hair on fire”, not stopping until my head hits the pillow. It wasn’t until recently my quiet time brought me to this point of realization, that I needed to slow down and focus.

So here is what I got with of being still and knowing that He is God:

It’s not too incredibly strange to stop, freeze and listen for God in complete silence. I mean I’ve been there and done that, and experienced great things, but what I’ve realized is being still and knowing that He is God can be applied incredibly by just focusing on Him. Those times that I was: wandering around Clemson alone listening to some Jesus music, worshiping at the top of my lungs in a car, or just gazing upon God’s majesty for a sunrise at Pretty Place were the times I believed I was truly still and focused on knowing He is, was, will continue to be God.

So standing still listening for God can be great sometimes, but daily we must stop what were doing and focus on our Savior, knowing that He is the one that has created us, saved us, and the one that lives with us. So the next time you are in your car alone listening to a Christian song, singing along… don’t let it be words, let it be focused worship. When you are going throughout your day bumping into random people, focus on why it is God has placed that person in your life specifically (just ask God, have a conversation with Him). And of course when you are alone, just be still and look at the majesty around you, involving you and surrounding you… and just praise Him.

Pretending

So last week I went with some friends to a freakin awesome concert. Now you see this was a MuteMath concert, yeah I don’t expect everyone reading this to freak out at this time. You can if you want, but like most of you I had never heard of this band until I decided to go to this concert. Only one small problem with the concert…I didn’t know any of the songs. So this is how things went down: People are acting ridiculous, dancing and singing. Well I’m feeling left out big time; I want to do what the people around me are doing. So what did I start doing, singing along…just without the words. That’s right I was moving my mouth, letting random noises and the occasional right word slip out. So what was I doing here… just fitting in, pretending to be like anybody else there.

What a shame, because were called to be different. Granted when we are commanded to “be in the world but not of it”, I don’t think God is condemning concerts. I do think this commandment is calling us out on not separating ourselves from the rest of the world, pretending to be just another regular person. This kind of living is pretty serious business throughout the New Testament; you know when this guy name Jesus was running around doing crazy things and getting in fights with these guys referred to as the Pharisees. You see this kind of hypocritical living is similar to the type that the Pharisees were living, the type that made Jesus, the Son of God, angry. So what types of life are we called to, what kinds of life are we blessed with?

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.” Romans 12:2. Well surprise, God is saying here… “Don’t follow the world’s ways, I got something much better for you and that’s my will.” Pretty ballin’ if you ask me, the God of the universe has given you instructions on how to better your life. Just a little hint… that’s the best way to go.

So how about the beginning of this verse, this whole deal about God transforming you into a new person. This goes along with something my main man, Jesus, said to the Pharisees, “First wash the inside of the cup, and then the outside will become clean, too.” What the heck Michael; you’re talking about God transforming me and now we’re talking about dirty dishes. In order for us to become “clean”, in this case living with passion for God and his will, we must clean out the junk of our lives. This junk may be sin that is dominating our lives, a relationship that is distracting us from God’s good, pleasing, perfect will, or it could be a life that is one day focused on God and the next focused on being accepted by those around you.

Growing up through high school this kind of life was always a struggle, but it doesn’t stop there. Throughout the rest of your and my life there are going to be those time that we are just hanging out, going through life just as we see fit. Well, Proverbs puts it pretty well “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” Good intentions or not, living a life pretending to be like those around us only causes trouble. The mindset of being in the world and also of it is not what God has called us to. The mindset that we should take up is “But I keep working towards the day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be.” Philippians 3:12. So I challenge us to not live like were just anybody else in this world, but like we are those that have been SAVED. From death to life…pretty awesome if you asks me.

His Plan!

So Easter just got over; everyone is done seeing family, eating amazing home cooked food and just hanging around not really doing anything. Well this was my Easter, just sitting around the house, downloading music, eating TONS of food, and thinking about the Easter bunny and a possible Easter egg hunt…you know cause I want to honor the holiday. So that was my Easter…up until I got back to my dorm and began watching “The Passion of the Christ”…that’s about the time the Easter bunny thoughts left my head.

Well as I’m sitting here watching this movie getting teared up and all, and all I can think about is OUR SAVIOR being scourged, mocked, spat upon, kicked….and crucified for my sins, for your sins. It was you and me that did all of those things to him! What a conviction! Then as OUR SAVIOR perseveres through this all, it hits me… every aspect of this was God’s PERFECT plan. Just a little thought process that I have much too often but don’t fully comprehend much too often also, God’s plan (***Like I said, my thought process, I don’t quite know God’s plan exactly***):

God creates the world, creates man his masterpiece (US), and the amazing relationship between us. Adam and Eve, two regular people, you and me, we take this relationship that God has given to us, a relationship that is meant to let us depend on Him for ALL of our needs, and we lose it. We get selfish and want more. Well that’s it, we lost it… But God, who is 1^st Corinthians 13:4-8, had a much better plan…oh so much better! “For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16. Yeah that’s right, God sent his perfect Son who could not sin, to live among us, sinners, and to show us how to live, and ultimately sacrifice Himself for us so that we could have eternal life! Well ya’ll, I have a good ol’ Easter surprise for you, it gets even better…you know how in the Garden in the beginning Adam and Eve were able to depend on God for everything… if you have experienced Romans 10:9, YOU HAVE THAT RELATIONSHIP NOW!

And here is where I usually stop my thought process, but let’s think some more. We have this God that knows all (I mean He planned this all to glorify His name, before we were even created) right here living with us, just wanting us to love Him back. How big of a deal is loving God back? When Jesus is asked what is the greatest commandment, his response in Matt 22:37 is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” So yeah the greatest commandment is LOVING GOD…only the thing we were designed for! So you may think to yourself, “How do I love the Creator of the universe? I talk to him and sing to him, so that’s enough right?” Surprise, you can do so much better, and be blessed so much more in your life.

God has given you His word, our instruction manual for this thing called life and believe it or not, it helps us with this question. So how do I show my love to God? John 14:15, puts it out there pretty well, “If you love Me, you will obey what I command.” So we are given the commandments in the bible, no doubt, period, the end, but what about the things you and I are called to do today? This is where that relationship with Christ comes into play. His plan (slightly shortened) – create us, lose us, save us, and live with us. That last part, if you have Christ living in you, you have the Wonderful Counselor living with you day by day. So what is it that God desires for us, to include Him in EVERY part of our lives, every single decision from: what should I say to someone about God to what should I eat for lunch. That’s right the God of the universe wants to be with you, leading you in every decision. So you may think to yourself, how and why would you include God in every aspect of your life “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33. So we have been commanded to do seek after God (how and why), and we are promised blessings from it all (extra why). I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m pretty blown away by OUR SAVIOR’S plan. To go through everything he did, all so he can lead us through life blessing us on the way. Come on…OUR GOD IS ONE AWESOME GOD!

This same Jesus that came 2,009 years ago, he is still moving in lives today, leading, directing, and blessing us. Maybe you’re skeptical of such a guy from that long ago being relevant today, so I encourage you to come out April 22^nd to the amphitheater in Clemson and enjoy “Why Jesus?” The man that sacrificed his life for you and I, is still moving in our lives today! And he is ready for us to be moved by him, to continue to carry out that awesome and powerful plan he has included us in.

MW

Living Like You Were Dying?

“I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing, I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu. And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter, And I gave forgiveness I’d been denying. An’ he said: “Some day, I hope you get the chance, To live like you were dyin’.” Popular country song by the Tim McGraw, about living like you were dying. Hey well you know what… we all are dying, right here right now, were in the process of dying. Does that change our mindset at all…most of the time nope. But there are just those times that something so common, so plain, so normal, absolutely smacks you in between the eyes, and grabs hold of your heart for a while. Just a little something to go ahead and get the wheels turning… “Do not brag about tomorrow, since you do not know what the day will bring.” Proverbs 27:1, “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life?” James 4:14

Monday morning I do my normal Monday morning routine; get up at 12ish, get in the shower, head to lunch and then 1:25 class. Well Monday God wanted me to pause during that routine, no doubt. I got in the shower and as I was washing my hair just felt a knot in the back of my head. Well yall, I can get deep in my thoughts and conversations, next thing I know God is leading me down this thought process, daydream, whatever you wanna call it-

I was at the hospital where the doctor had just told me that I had been diagnosed with cancer that had spread throughout my body. I was given two weeks to live, just two. Honestly if you can just stop and think about it. Two weeks! There are 52 of those in one year, and I only get two more. At this point I’m upset just thinking of it all, and you got to think that I’m crazy for this whole thought process, but God was the one that wanted to smack me in between the eyes, he wanted to grab my heart, and he wanted me to grab hold of his back and hold on…and oh boy was he gonna get his point across whether I liked it or not. So from there the questions just pile in 1) Am I showing others 1 Thessalonians 5:16 and Philippians 4:4? Had my actions and words from my life been attractive to others? Would they want to let God grab hold of their lives, radically changing them? 2) What would I do now that I know? Would I “go skydiving…”, doing what I want, or would I spend those last two weeks living with and for God, getting through my fears and showing God’s “big picture” to others? Well yall, those are the questions, and by this time, I’m all tearing up (news flash- not an everyday thing at all) cause then came the time for me to answer God’s questions.

#1- How have I been doing?

Thes. 5:16- “Be joyful always!” Phill. 4:4 “Always be full of joy in the Lord!” As a Christian I was called to be joyful, and why wouldn’t I be? God has created me to be his masterpiece, Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for is long ago.” Ok so ill review, be absolutely filled with JOY, downright giddy always…because God has created us, loved us, saved us, and made it so WE can have a relationship with him and living through him! That’s when it hit me; I was living a life that was ok, when ok is horrible. I had been living just good enough that others thought that I was a “good Christian guy”. How are you living? Are you going day to day, letting others see a good Christian person that’s doing ok? God has planned a life so much better for us, full of joy! How can we, you and me, refuse what God has called us to and what he has planned for us?

#2- With two weeks left, what is your heart’s desire? What do you want more than anything?

Yall, that tough. With two weeks to live, do you live it up? I mean, do you go “skydiving”, do you do those incredible things you have always wanted to do, do you figure you have nothing to lose so why not? These things are great, I’ve been skydiving, it’s awesome, but skydiving is not what I’m called to do, that’s not what God has created me to do, that’s not what will give me satisfaction for my life when I draw my last breath. God has called us to so much more; he has much better plans for us! Matthew 28:16-20…God has called us to something so much better, sharing our lives that we have through him and for him with others. That’s sharing the Gospel, living so closely to Christ and his calling on your life that we can’t help but to share him with others. So if that’s what God has called me to, called us to, what is holding us back? What do I have in my life that is holding me back from becoming the next Billy Graham? Yall its two things that we all have, sin and fear. Sin is something that is deep rooted in our hearts, that’s why we crave what the world craves, but God has saved us from that life, 2 Corinthians 5:17, “For if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” So we are free from that bondage when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. Then there is fear; if God called me to speak in front of a huge crowd of people, I don’t know if I would do it. What is it that you fear, would you be able to let go of fear’s grip on you and do what God has called you to do? Fear is the big one for me, for most of the people I know. Why, do we not know our God? Christ being so powerful and loving us so much, Psalm 56:11 and Romans 8:31-32, He gave his life for us so that we can live and trust in Him, not fearing man but loving Him. God being bigger than all things gave up his place on high so that we are able to look to Him for our strength.

So I guess what you have to ask yourself… am I Loving God, am I Trusting God, am I Living with God? Is Mark 12:30 the only kind of life I crave? So you and I might not have only two weeks; we may have 100 years, but God has an incredible life laid out for us; all He is asking us to do is love Him back.

MW

His Glory!

So last night I went to sleep around 4 o’clock…and I was getting up at 4:45! So you know what I did, I prayed for the best sleep ever. You know what I got; I got the best sleep ever. I don’t know how scientific yall like to get but there is the deepest sleep, which is stage 4 sleep. Within 45 mins of sleep, God provided that stage four sleep, which was exactly what I needed to get through the rest of the day (which was starting in 45 min). So I wake up at 5, after sleeping through 2 alarms with the loudest alarm ever, told ya I was sleeping hard. Me and a couple of fellas had decided to go out to Pretty Place a few days before so that’s what we did… at 5 in the morning. After a simply amazing drive there, rocking out to a new playlist, we get there and find out that Furman has reserved Pretty Place and we might not be able to partake in what we had planned to do. Well we decide to go anyways and see if they kick us out. We got there and there was no one there, so answer to pray number 2, we get to enjoy our plan. So I do my little wandering thing and find this funny little rock off into the woods secluded from everyone else with the perfect view. I sit down and that’s when I get rocked!

Sitting down just, flipping through the bible and I come across Psalm 33. Verses 6- 9… exactly what I was getting to experience. “The LORD merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born. He gave the seas its boundaries…For when He spoke, the world began! It appeared at His command.” Just a small fact you should know before proceeding… these aren’t weekend jobs, no normal person just goes out and does these things. OUR GOD IS HUGE, POWERFUL, AMAZING! I get done with that passage and a little later it’s brought to my attention, Psalm 8:1, “O LORD, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens.” Once again, my God is glorious, has the name above all names; He is freakin awesome! Ohh ohhh ohh, that’s when the sun starts rising up, and boy oh boy do I get it then. There is this God that I believe in and have a relationship with, but do I know his past. Do I know that Genesis 1 he created…ummm… the universe-the galaxy- the solar system- the earth- me and you- our body parts- our cells- the molecules that have those crazy chemical reactions-the atoms that make those up…and he knows everything that makes up thing, all the way down to the atom exactly. He created those crazy reactions, he created us, and he created the beauty around us that we wonder at. Our God, wow! I looked at the amazing view I had, and thought to myself, “Wow God you couldn’t do any better, this is amazing.” It is incredible how often I can’t be any more wrong.

Genesis 26- 31, God creates man. Oh no big deal, yeah I know God created me and the rest of the world…oh but there is so much more to it. Up until man, everything God creates is described as being good then God goes and takes his 45 min nap and does it the next day some more. God gets to man, thinks of each and every one of us, and creates man. That’s right, while God is thinking of who he is going to create, he is thinking…” yeah let’s make a Noah here in time, a Michael Waldkirch (you know gotta make someone awesome, haha), a few people here, and yeah I suppose we can make a steve spurrier I suppose, he can be kinda messed up.” God is quite the planner, cause he is freaking awesome his plan is still going on today. But back to how he created each and every one of us, when he gets done with us, he looks at all he has done, he thinks of every single one of us and “saw that it was excellent in every way.” God thoughts (somewhat paraphrased) – “I’m gonna makes some mountains with an amazing view, how about an ocean with all kinds of crazy creations… yeah I’ll design a little aerobic respiration today for those crazy creations, that would be ‘good’, and awww yeah, the best for last, I’m going to create these things in MY image, I want them to be rulers over this earth…BAM! Wow that is absolutely incredible, excellent in every way.” Do you see the master piece walking around you? You are one, I’m one, we interactive with other masterpieces everyday!

God created his masterpiece to have an incredible relationship, and after Adam and Eve’s screw up, he went to the incredible lengths to save that relationship from being lost. So how can I, as a saved masterpiece of Christ, go through life not sharing that Glory that is God’s plan; how can I go through life not living in God’s master plan? Would a famous artist create the most incredible piece of work, only to have it hidden and blend in with any other work of art? No! That masterpiece would be shown off, so go ahead and flaunt what your Daddy gave ya!

MW

Distractions

So this world is one crazy world, no doubt about that. There is of course the extreme stuff, but what else is there in our lives. What else do we have in our lives distracting us from God’s glory and power? We (including me definitely) so often look to God asking for him to show us his will, and you know what he does so often… he gives it to us, waves it in front of our faces, but were distracted. How big are these distractions and do we realize the damage they’re putting on the relationship God has died for us to delight in?

Thursday night after FCA I was tired so I decided to not do the whole palms slushy deal, ditch the ridge, and just chill in my dorm room. Yeah I know lame, but I have yet to go to sleep before 3 since before spring break so here I am worn out still. But I’m in the room just doing the normal thing… sitting on the computer, facebooking anyone and everyone. Well you know what, I’m telling you, God made everyone get off facebook and made all the f-book stalking boring, so I’m left with nothing to do but sit in front of a facebook home page bored out of my mind. That’s when the idea hit me, I’m gonna pull a Kit. For anyone that doesn’t know my bud Kit, he wanders…like anytime and anywhere. Well I head out to wander, of course I call up the master to join me and we talk about all deep topics of conversation (the regular quantum- physics type stuff haha jk). Things are good just great, were both fired up about FCA, talking about just stuff God is doing in our lives, the relationships that God has placed in our lives, and anything else deep you can think of. Well the time (4ish) had come for us to solo wander, and for me just spend some time with The Man Himself. Well my wandering leads me to “the place”, God has chosen this spot for me to see His glory no doubt, you should have seen it. A little waterfall action, bridge over the water, background creek…WOW! Well I’m doing the praying thing, listening to some Jesus music, pulling out my handy dandy bible… just relishing in an overflow from getting fired up from FCA and a great time of fellowship with a Christian bud. When all the sudden what happens, the devil’s bullfrog wakes up! I mean it sounded like a freaking turkey. Well I eventually blot this creature thing out, when all the sudden… something is in the bushes. Yeah, I forgot to mention, this awesome place is secluded with no light… pretty sketchy place. So what’s going through my head, “No its fine, I’m spending time with God, these distractions are just distractions I’ve put on myself.” So I move on, until…. A SKUNK! Yes that is right a skunk, and you know what I did, peaced out.

The more I reflected on this on the way back to the dorm at borderline 5, the more it became a big picture lesson that God just needed to call me out on. FCA and Kit’s and my walk were stuff that just got me FIRED UP, kinda like a mission trip I just did over spring break. You do the whole serve God, serve others, love everyone thing (which by the way was amazing, so much more than I could ever of thought to imagine)… but what after? B-coop kept hitting on the point of Clemson being our mission field after we returned. So we get back, and what happens to that burning fire of passion… where does it go? Is it a simple noise like the media and garbage we get from that, (bullfrog from Satan himself) that distracts us? Is it something that we fear, like actually doing that mission work here around your friends and people you actually know (whatever the heck was in the bushes)? Or is it something that is a messy situation, such as sin in our lives (the skunk)? For me it was a combination of all three that ultimately ended my time with God and more importantly shook my passion for God’s power in my life from the mission trip. What is it for you? Maybe you didn’t go on the mission trip but at some time or another, you have been distracted by your life, and you have forgotten what amazing plans God has for you. The life God has for us is amazing, beyond belief, all we have to do is live with him and through him. We have to give our lives over to him, and have a renewing of our minds that we may be able to see and understand God’s will, Romans 12:2. In order for us to do that and make it last for good, we have to protect against those distractions that we know hurt our relationship with Him. Living fully with him and through him, WOW, how amazing!

MW