Hot Lemonade

Today marks day 3 of my sore throat epidemic. It's weird.

I don't feel bad, I don't have a fever, and I'm not puking.

I am, however, talking about 4 octaves lower than normal, creating my own version of "sign language" to communicate with those around me so I don't have to speak, I am addicted to unhealthy amounts of honey-lemon throat lozenges, and I'm drinking Thera Flu which is basically a name the company came up with to disguise hot lemonade and sell it to ignorant consumers. Yum!

You know what else I'm doing??

Listening.

It's crazy. Because of this sore throat/no voice stage that I'm in, I can't really engage in conversations, I can't laugh, I can't sing at the top of my lungs in my car where nobody else can hear me, I can't teach, I can't share my opinions. I have to just sit...and listen.

I have come to realize how hard it is to actually do that. To just sit and listen. I get so caught up in my life and what I'm doing, where I'm going, who I'm meeting, what I'm studying, and listening to the sound of my own voice, that I forget the importance of listening to God, and to those around me.

I think that's why God has blessed me with this ridiculously low voice and sore throat. I feel like He's trying to get my attention. I've been thinking about this quite a bit this weekend. Driving with the music off and just thinking, meditating, LISTENING. Listening to people at church and pulling the ol' "smile and nod routine" since I can't really comment on anything. Making my prayer time more focused on LISTENING to God, rather than bombarding Him with my selfish self.

It's crazy what a sore throat can make you aware of. The Bible uses the term "listen" 371 times.

Deuteronomy 13:4
You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.

1 Samuel 3:10
Then the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for Your servant is listening."

Psalm 81:13
Oh that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways!

Jeremiah 11:4
Listen to My voice, and do according to all which I command you; so you shall be My people, and I will be your God,'

Psalm 46:10
“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Shhhhhh!! Just listen. You may be surprised by what is right in front of you.

Debunked discouragement

After my quiet time this morning, I discovered a strong desire to blog. It's like the desire to win, without a trophy for successfully doing so...

There is really just one thing that I want to discuss and I'll keep it short and simple.

This week I was facing a little bit of discouragement, nothing major, but it always shows up towards the end of the semester. It's hard for me to pin-point it exactly, but that's beside the point. I don't know about you, but one of the most encouraging things a Christian can hear is that someone has surrendered their life to Christ. That's exactly what happened with me on Wednesday night. After Epicenter, a student who I will get the privilege of mentoring in January, came up to me to tell me about his friend. His friend had never been to church before because his parents wouldn't let him go. This student had been inviting his friend for months, but to no avail. Finally, his friend's parents allowed him to visit Epicenter last week (the first week of our Christmas series, "It's A Wonderful Life") and in his very first experience with "church", he gave his life to Christ.

When I heard this, everything that I was stressed about and discouraged about just faded away. The only way to explain it is that God never ceases to surprise me with His grace. I was so excited. That conversation had been on my mind for the last few days. This morning during my quiet time, I came across this verse:

1 Thessalonians 3:7-8

"Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution, we were encouraged about you through your faith. For now we live, if you stand firm in the Lord.

Paul was writing this letter to the church in Thessalonica and he mentions earlier in his letter that he was fearful that the church would be led away by false teaching, and he was relieved or encouraged to hear a good report from Timothy about their faith.

Hearing about someone else surrendering their life to Christ? That's hard to beat.

I pray that this is an encouragement for whoever stumbles across this blog today...

It's a Wonderful Life (part 1)

So I got a chance to speak last night at Epicenter, which is our Wednesday night High School service and if you have 30 minutes:

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/11198675

Word Pictures

This past week something hit me. It isn't anything deep theologically, or a new insight on how the church should handle something. In fact, it's pretty simple and I'm just surprised that I never noticed it before...

I'm a BIG David Crowder Band fan. I have all of their albums. I love the creativity they use in their music. I love the fact that they can come up with over 15 amazing songs on a album that just glorify God for who he is. I love the messages found in their songs.

I was listening to the Church Music album for about the 290,778th time this week when this epiphany hit me. In the song "How He Loves", the band attempts to describe how awe-inspiring, how vast, how incomparable, how great God's love is for us. Crazy right? The band paints a picture that our mind and our words can identify with to describe the love of God. Now, as much credit as the band and the original author of the song deserve for this, they don't even begin to scratch the surface of comprehending the love of God.

So I had an idea. I don't know how this will play out, but that's why I love a blog. I can just give it a try. I decided I wanted to go line by line of this song and just dive into what the words are saying. Last time I listened to this song, I had to stop singing because I realized what I was saying. When I really thought about how His grace is an ocean that I'm sinking in...it blew me away.

You've probably heard the song a million times by now, but I challenge you to focus on the words of this song and I hope you grasp how amazing His love is for us, a sinful people.

"HOW HE LOVES"

He is jealous for me: God is jealous for me. The Creator of the universe wants me. ME. A filthy, horrible sinner undeserving of love or mercy. I AM wants me. He wants to gather me into His arms. He wants to hold me, provide for me and protect me. He wants to make me His child. He wants to be my Abba Father. Right from the beginning of this song, we since the desire that God has for us to come to Him through faith. The rest of the song just spells out how strong that desire is...
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree:,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy. We are all familiar with hurricanes. Those huge tropical storms with winds exceeding 100 miles an hour and extreme force. We are all familiar with trees. We've all climbed them as kids, sat beneath their shade on a picnic, or carved our initials in them. Put the two pictures together. Every time a news station is covering a hurricane, the cameraman ALWAYS gets a shot of a tree bending over from the force of the wind so much that you think it's going to snap. THAT is an intense picture of God's love for us. God's love is a hurricane and His wind is mercy that has so much power behind it, that we can't help but to give way to it's strength. This is one of my favorite pictures of this song. It's so vivid. Another interesting thing about a hurricane: you can see the effects of the storm even after it stops. All we have to do is open our eyes and look around us to see the effects of God's love and mercy. It's everywhere. You can't miss it.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory: This was me a week ago. I had sung this song a thousand times and I never stopped to meditate on the words. Then it me. All of a sudden. I realized just how incalculable God's love is. All of the afflictions of life just vanished in the background of His glory. All the stress from school? Gone. Stress about daily responsibilities? Gone. Stress about what the future holds? Gone. Everything else that I thought mattered in that moment? Gone. All of my afflictions were eclipsed by His glory.
And I realise just how beautiful You are: When was the last time you stopped and thought about how beautiful God is? I understand that a lot of times we use that term to describe (at least in my life) how attractive a girl is. I looked up the term "beautiful" and this is what I found: having qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear, think about or feel; excellent of it's kind; wonderful, very pleasing; satisfying; wonderful; fantastic; extraordinary; incredible. When was the last time we thought about how beautiful God is? When was the last time that we took great pleasure in just thinking about Him??
And how great Your affections are for me: This is where it gets good...

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,

Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves. : Wow. There is nothing deep theologically about the chorus. It's just a simple phrase repeated over and over. Oh! How He loves us. In my personal translation (although it doesn't fit with the timing of the song): WOW! I CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO FATHOM HOW MUCH THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA LOVES ME!!! THIS IS CRAZY!! THE ALMIGHTY GOD LOVES ME!!! HELLO?!?!? DOES ANYONE ELSE SEE HOW RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME IT IS THAT THE ONE TRUE GOD WHO IS SITTING ON HIS THRONE IN HEAVEN LOVES A SMALL AND INSIGNIFICANT PIECE OF DUST IN THIS GIGANTIC UNIVERSE LIKE ME?!?!?! OH! HOW HE LOVES US!!!!!!!!!

We are His portion and He is our prize: Portion literally means "part of a whole." WE are HIS portion. All he wants is for us to be made complete through Him. To be made whole. That's His desire. That ALL men come to Him. And HE is our prize. Not escaping hell. Not a lavish mansion in heaven. Not streets of gold. Those aren't the prizes of salvation. A relationship with the God we have been describing throughout this entire song. THAT is our prize. HE is our prize. I'm fine with that.
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes: I love this line. So many times we feel like God is sitting on His throne keeping track of all our wrongs and that in turn determines how He views and feels about us. Is God disappointed in sin? Absolutely. But just like the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15, God just wants us to come home. His grace literally draws us into redemption. REDEMPTION. The strongest sense of freedom we can think of. I love how the song says that grace is in His eyes. We literally have to face God, repent of our sin, and acknowledge the fact that we need saving. Then by the grace in His eyes, He draws us into redemption. Freedom. Safety. Home.
If His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking: This is my favorite line in the song. It's so epic. The music builds at this point and it's just awesome. Grace is getting what we don't deserve. As sinful people, we don't deserve His love, His mercy, His blessings, His desire to have a relationship with us. Yet, God is gracious. Basically, if you relate God's grace to an ocean and you were forced to swim the entire length of the ocean, we all know that you would drown. It's impossible to explore and navigate the entirety of that ocean. So it is with God's grace. It's an ocean. Sinking may be a terrible and deadly thing to do in a literal ocean, but in the ocean of God's grace, it the best and most refreshing thing you can do.
And Heaven meets earth like an unforseen kiss: Seriously. When was the last time we just basked in the beauty of God's creation?? When was the last time we looked at pictures from the Hubble Telescope and just marveled at the vastness of God's universe? When we just stop thinking about ourselves and see the majesty of God's creation coming together like a passionate, loving kiss, it should leave us speechless.
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest: I love this picture. A heart turning, and wrestling violently with this realization. The realization of just how great God's love is. This picture makes me think of an epic battle raging inside of us to truly comprehend the beauty of God's love. It's a battle that will continue until we are standing face to face with Him.
I don't have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about, the way He loves us: Why worry? Why stress? Nothing in this life is that important. Not school. Not relationships. Not money. Not power. Not authority. I'll tell you what I'm going to do today. I'm going to bask in the love of my Father and just soak it up.

What about you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCunuL58odQ

Fruitless Discussion

1 Timothy 1:5-7

"But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. For some men, straying from THESE things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions."

I was sitting in a large and very slick leather chair at the local watering-hole, known as Dunkin Donuts, yesterday morning when I ran across this passage in my quiet time. It caught me a little off-guard, in a sense, because it dealt with something that I've been hearing a lot about in the past month. I'm not talking about how bad Tennessee's football program is this year...I'm talking about fruitless discussions. Ok....I guess Tennessee can be thrown into that one too.

My point is this: over the past two months or so I have talked to students, answered questions in my Sunday School class and mentoring group, had conversations with Sunday School teachers, and discussions with other believers about a certain topic of doctrine. I won't go into detail about what the doctrine is or what my views are on the topic, because that is not what I want this post to be about.

I have realized through all of these conversations that "The Topic" leads to frustration, hurt feelings (in some cases), more questions and doubts, and ultimately fruitless discussion. The Bible has verses that back up each side of the coin so to say, but honestly, we as Christians can get so caught up into this particular topic that it affects how we interact with the lost world and with each other. It leads into fruitless conversations. I'm not saying that this topic is bad by any means! I'm just saying that there is a time and place for Christians to discuss it and talk about it, but all too often someone will throw the topic out in the middle of a conversation to start a debate. THAT is when it becomes fruitless.

I've notice as well that when the mentioning of the topic turns into a debate on "the topic", everyone becomes an expert. Honestly, we can talk until we are blue in the face about it, but we will never have the definitive answer. Only God knows. During these conversations we tend to push God to the side and try to figure it all out through our limited human knowledge. I love the quote from a Paul Newman movie that says "You oughta stop playin' God, 'cause you're no good at it, and the position's taken!"

I think this is why Paul is so passionate in this chapter to his son Timothy. He warns Timothy about these men who have a passion for teaching, even though they don't understand what they want to teach. They get caught up in fruitless discussion. Paul basically points out that there is really only one thing that matters when you boil it down to the end. We are filthy sinners in need of salvation, and God graciously offers it freely to us. His abundant grace and salvation is offered to all and He exhibits perfect patience in order that more may come to accept His offer.

1 Timothy 1:12-16

"I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.

THAT is what matters. Not the fruitless discussions. Not the debates. Not the judgmental looks or remarks because someone stands on one side of the issue. It's ALL about Jesus. It's all about taking the gospel to the sick and sinful. To those who need it the most. I used to be that way. I just rejoice that I'm no longer in that group.

But my job is to share it. To share the simplicity of the gospel message.

Pure.

Simple.

Video message from Josh

I know it's been a while. That's my fault.

I wanted to do something special to make up for the time I've missed.

Remember my buddy Josh from the previous post? Of course you do.

I recorded his testimony to show at Epicenter and he said I could put it on my blog.

It's too big for Blogger to handle, so you'll have to jump to Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2irdFb_YFA

A Pittsburgh-like Passion

I know. It's crazy, but true. I'm actually posting twice this week. Yesterday was more of a comical tirade on something I had noticed and I actually got many positive reviews on the post...even from the female gender. Just goes to show that I will never fully understand the female mind :)

Today's post, on the other hand, will be much more serious. If you follow me on twitter (twitter.com/crawdaddy87), you may have noticed over the past few days that I have spent a lot of time talking with a good friend of mine who, sadly, I had been out of contact with for a while. His story is so encouraging to me. We talked for about an hour and a half last night just about everything that God was doing in our lives and where He was leading us. I can't help but catch my friend's passion. Today, I'm going to introduce you to my boy Josh. I'm going to leave his last name out just to respect his privacy (you'll see why later) but I had to share how much his friendship means to me.

Josh grew up in the hood. On the streets. He had a family, but not the traditional family that most of us enjoy. His family was the guys he rolled with day in and day out on the streets of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Josh's dad, brother and sister were and still are deeply involved in the drug scene. Josh grew up in a broken home and lived a life of survival and violence.

The one bright spot in Josh's life was baseball. Josh was an outstanding pitcher whose dream was to reach the big leagues. Then Josh's career took a turn for the worse. He basically threw out his shoulder and had to have surgery. Over the next few months, because of his injury, he lost his scholarship and couldn't play baseball at the school anymore. Unknown to him at the time, this was the beginning of the "turning point" in his life. Josh started looking for any school that would offer a kid recovering from arm surgery a baseball scholarship.

Enter Liberty University.

I remember meeting Josh the first night of my sophmore year (Fall '06). Josh had no idea what he was getting into at LU. He had no idea that it was a Christian school with rules. He showed up to play ball. Needless to say, I can remember Josh standing against the back wall of our first Hall Meeting at Liberty. My good friend Preston was going over the Liberty Way and some things to expect throughout the year, and Josh, with a baseball cap pulled down over his face, was cussing and cutting up in the back. He didn't care. That night after our meeting, I met with Preston and we decided that Josh was going to be our mission field for the year. We knew that God brought him to LU for a reason and that God put him on our dorm for a reason. We knew it was going to be a battle, but our hearts broke for Josh.

We took Josh out to eat. We made sure we talked to him everyday. We invited him to church. We found out that he loved playing NCAA football on the PS2. So the three of us started a dynasty together. We would spend hours on the PS2 just hanging out, talking and ministering to Josh. Josh, once he realized that we were genuinely caring for him, started going to church with us. Josh started asking questions. Then halfway through the first semester, it happened. I clearly remember coming back to the dorm after a day of classes and Josh just walked out of Preston's room. He had a big smile on his face and he said "I did it bro. I just got saved." I went nuts. God blew my mind.

From that point on, Josh was always the first one ready for church. He was now vocal in small groups. He had a desire to study his Bible and learn. HE HAD PASSION. Josh was only at Liberty for that one year. He moved back to Pittsburgh. This week as I've been talking with Josh, I couldn't help but praise God for that one year. All it took was a few months of some guys loving on him and sharing Jesus with him, and his life changed completely.

Josh and I had kept in touch through facebook throughout the years. I would pray for him anytime that I thought about him. I honestly haven't seen Josh since he left Liberty after that year. Since that time Josh has gotten a full-time job in Pittsburgh. He started dating a girl. They got engaged. From the outside looking in, his life was going great.

Josh and I have talked the past 3 days in a row. I've asked Josh what his life has been like since he got saved, and left Liberty. Here's the general rundown (while still maintaining his privacy): his family hated him for getting saved, he got kicked out of his house, he was threatened because of his faith, he's basically been persecuted for his faith. His dad is dying from cancer. He broke things off with his fiance. He's ridiculed at work for his beliefs.

I told him, "Josh, it sounds like you have had your fair share of storms." His response? "Dude. God's got a plan. Yeah things look dark but it's nothing that God won't bring me through. He's in control."

PASSION. FAITH. SURRENDER. These words describe my good friend.

You know what Josh wants more than anything in the world? His family and friends to come to Christ. Ever since he got saved, Josh has been the most outspoken guy I know concerning Jesus. He's constantly sharing Christ with his family. He wants to see his dad get saved. He wants to see his brother and sister turn their lives around and find new life in Christ. He wants his fiance to go on a mission trip. He wants to reach his atheistic friend. He's know as "The Preacher" at his job. AND HE LOVES IT. AND HE LOVES JESUS. Those were his exact words to me last night: "Bro...I just love jesus!"

Wow. That's the passion we all need. I told Josh that he truly embodies Jesus' command in Matthew 5:14-16. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; not does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, ut on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is heaven."

Josh has challenged me. I told him this last night. Josh has been saved for less than 5 years yet he has more passion for Christ by himself than some churches have altogether. Josh is in a DARK city. There are no churches near where he lives. He doesn't have a fellowhsip of believers to gather with. All he has is his Bible and his relationship with his Savior. But he's a light. And he's not ashamed. I told him that when I get a full time job as a Youth Pastor next year, I'm bringing him in to speak to my students. I'm not kidding.

I want to be more like my boy Josh. I want to embody that level of passion. I want that Pittsburgh-like Passion. Sometimes, I just simply take it for granted. I think I have passion because I work at a church, I speak at FCA, or because I mentor students. Sadly, and honestly, my passion doesn't compare to Josh's.

But that's gonna change.

We all need people in our lives to challenge us. To motivate us. To encourage us. Josh has been a God-send to me. His friendship is invaluable. I'm blessed to know him and call him friend.

For some reason, I've been putting the lyrics to songs at the end of my posts recently. Today is no different. This song, sums it up:

Give Me Your Eyes
By: Brandon Heath

Look down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight

Touch down on the cold black top
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breathe in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos

All those people going nowhere
Why have I never cared

Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the brokenhearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see

Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide whats underneath

There's a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
Too ashamed to tell his wife
He's out of work, he's buying time

Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the brokenhearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see

I've been here a million times
A couple of million eyes
Just move and pass me by
I swear that I never thought that I was wrong
I need a second glance
Give me a second chance
To see the way you've seen the people all along

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5AkNqLuVgY&ob=av2n)