How Great is Our God

"Sometimes I just want to start over, cause everything looks like a wreck. I need the courage to carry on cause I can't see what's ahead. There are places I've wanted to be. Battles I wished I could win. Dreams that have slipped through my hand, that I may never get back again.
But I'm still a dreamer, a believer. Though I've lost faith in so many things but I still believe in You. Because You can make everything new.
I don't have every answer in life but I'm trusting You one day at a time, Cause You can make a weak heart stay alive forever. This is where heaven and earth collide. I lift my hands and give my life. You can make my weak heart...stay alive."

As previously stated in earlier blogs/posts, I wanted my writings to be encouraging to others and possibly life changing. But what I didn't say is that I get just as much out of them as you do. Most, if not all of these writings come from personal experiences, things I've heard before that really stuck with me, and things that God reveals to me during the time me and Him have alone together.
Now, don't get the wrong idea that I'm just that shady college kid. I'm not. But one thing I look forward to everyday is the time that I get to have my own little worship session in my room. Its nobody but me and God. Most of the time, it consists of YouTube videos that are uplifting, songs from my iTunes playlists, prayer, and scripture reading. One of my favorite videos to watch is Carrie Underwood and Vince Gil singing "How Great Thou Art"...thats good stuff!! But the other day, I was just in a funny mood. It was one of those moods that everyone sometimes gets in where you really don't know what kind of mood you are in.
I have choir everyday except Friday, and I must say that one of the best things about being at a Christian college is that almost every professor has an opening prayer. In choir, Bro. Turner asks for prayer requests at the end of the class. It isn't anything new, but so many people were asking for prayer for their friends, family, and even themselves. For some reason (I guess the mood I was in), I felt strangely connected to all of them. At the end of the session, I came back to the room for a little "God-Time". I was drawn to songs such as the one I posted at the beginning of this blog, "The Redeemer" by Sanctus Real, and even songs such as "Until the Whole World Hears" by Casting Crowns. I listened to the words of this song and was reminded of a video I had watched previously. I had watched the video "How Great is Our God" by Chris Tomlin and Louie Giglio. It wasn't the song that Chris sings and that we sometimes sing in youth, but more a sermon made by Louie that goes with the song. I encourage EVERYONE to watch this video.

Louie and Chris did a tour the year before this video came out entitled, "the Indescribable Tour". Louie starts off this message with some of the same things he mentioned in the previous tour. He talks about the size we are. We often like to think that we are the center of the universe. But in fact, when compared to the size of the sun, we could put 960,000 earths INSIDE the sun!  And yes, that is the correct number of zeroes in that number! But the marvelous and mid blowing part is...the sun isn't even the biggest star known to man. There are stars much larger than the sun! Are you starting to feel small yet? Thats about how I felt when I thought about the size of the universe and how God created all of these huge, enormous, beautiful, powerful things but yet He took the time to make me special. In scriptures, we are told that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. That even in the womb, God knew us. He knows every hair on our head and has a perfect plan for each of us. I was still in this 'small' phase when it came to the second part of the video. This is the part where it gets good. This is the part where God shows up, blows our minds, and reminds us that when everything falls apart...He doesn't. Louie begins to explain how he had the opportunity to meet a molecular biologist. They had a talk about how Louie was planning a sermon on the human body and they were exchanging ideas. The biologists asked what the left hook in the sermon was. Louie didn't have one yet since he was still in the planning stage of the sermon. With excitement the biologist responds..."It's LAMININ!" Let me explain to you what exactly laminin is. The human body is made up of protiens. Scientists don't know how many proteins there are in the body...but trust me...theres alot! These protiens form together to make strands of DNA. In each DNA strand, there is a series of numbers that contain the very things that make each one of us different. Laminin is a molecule that bonds each of these strands of protein and DNA together and holds them there. It is the glue of the human body.

Look familiar? In the beginnign when God created man, He knew the very thing that would hold us together! Both physically and spiritually. You see no matter if our problems in life are as big as the largest star or as small as this little molecule, God has always been there and is there to hold us together. This made my day completely when I saw this. Go watch the video and then listen to Carrie sing and see if you and God don't become a little closer through that experience.

Note that to get the full effect of the video, you need about 40 minutes. You can go to YouTube to find it and to find a shorter version, but I reccomened the full thing.

I'm Not Alright

"If weakness is a wound that no one wants to speak of, then "cool" is just how far we have to fall. And I am not immune, I only want to be loved. But I feel safe behind the firewall.
Can I lose my need to impress? If you want the truth I need to confess.
I'm not alright, I'm broken inside, broken inside. And all I go through, it leads me to You, it leads me to You.
Burn away the pride. Bring me to my weakness 'til everything I hide behind is gone. And when I'm open wide with nothing left to cling to...only You are there to lead me on. 'Cause honestly, I'm not that strong."

First day of college was a success in the eyes of the teachers and all the students here...including myself. I found my way around nicely. Here is my dilema. What does God want from me? When I started this blog, my main motive was to let people grow with me. Now, I'm just letting you see into my life a little bit. I still pray that as you read, God speaks to you as well.
There has been a battle raging in my mind and heart since early this summer. God wants something from me. He wants all of me and nothing less. He has prepared a future for me that is greater than myself and greater than anything I ever could imagine to be. But how great is it to know that we serve a God that in our weakness...He is strong and in those times of weakness is when He shows up greatest. When we move aside and let God move freely...that is when we truely surrender. God started dealing with me heavily (and I mean heavily) during SOAR this past summer. I think when I talked to people about they didn't and really couldn't understand where I was coming from. This battle dealt with my future. I was supposed to start school at ECCC tomorrow and be a meterologist first and then a youth minister on the side. After being driven to a point that God, in that still small voice only He could speak in, revealed to me something so simple yet truely life changing, did I start (baby step) to see things a little differently. God showed me that life just simply isn't about me. It's about Him. I remember the prayer I prayed the night and morning before the last service at SOAR. "God plant me and use me where you want me. I want you to have all of me and I don't care the cost." At this point, God began to deal a little more openly with me in showing me His plan. I won the CBC scholarship. In my mind this is all fine and dandy. God wants me here. I'll go and get a degree in secondary education with a minor in youth ministry and that way I can get my school paid for and still serve God in the youth department. First week of CBC came. Guess what...I start as a music major with a minor in youth ministry with the intentions of adding education to my plate during my Junior year here and finishing with two degrees in 5 years. Here's where it all gets complicated. When people asked me where I saw myself in 4 years, without hesitation I told them I saw myself as a full time youth minister of a church somewhere doing summer time VSM trips and speaking at youth camps (especially SOAR). If you're reading the things I'm telling you, you should notice a distinct difference in what was planned and what is actually occurring. I haven't been at peace with my decision to anything other than ministry since day one. But I let myself get conned into believing this is what I should do because it's the cheapest and most logical. When Paul was in jail the logical thing for him to do was not write letters to churches and young men he trained up. Peter didn't do the logical thing when he sang in prison to worship God. It sure wasn't the logical thing for the disciples to praise God after getting beat for preaching His name and proclaiming that they were glad to be counted worthy to be persecuted for Christ's sake. If I do the logical thing when God calls me to the most un-logical then am I truly following God with my whole heart. Am I truly living as the the scriptures say when we are told "the just shall live by faith"? God wants so much more from me than for me to do the logical and worldly acceptable thing. This is my God given revelation: Bloom where I'm planted. I'm where I need to be as far as college is concerned. I couldn't be in a better enviroment or among better people. Surrender to God's will. I tend to let people sway my decisions to much and I can't live like this. If God wants me to truly live by faith (which won't be hard to do on preacher's salary) then that's what I got to do.
This is the start of a new journey. I am now considered as a Bible major with a minor in music. If God will's maybe I'll add a degree in general education my junior year. But for now, I'm full speed ahead for Christ. No looking back. That's my prayer for all of us. I don't know why it took me this long to see what God has been showing me for months, but I know this...I'll sleep good tonight knowing that I'm exactly where God wants me.
"So Father give me the strength to be everything I'm called to be. Father show me the way..to lead them. Won't You lead me? To lead them with strong hands. To stand up when they can't. Don't wanna leave them hungry for love chasing things that I could give up. I'll show them I willing to fight and give them the rest of my life. So we can call this our home. Father lead me cause I can't do this alone."

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." -Jim Elliot, missionary martyr to Ecuador

Expiration Date

So...as every college student has to do, I purchased my books yesterday. I can now say without a doubt that the savings I put away over the summer did come in handy. I can also say that I recommend buying all of your books for college off Amazon.com. I actually saved over $100 by not using the bookstore on campus. I tell you this so you can understand my "issue". Monday I went and found the bank I will use while enrolled here in Conway. I got my debit card fixed and that was the way I was and did purchase my books. Apparently, you need to read everything and proof read everything when you purchase on the Internet. After placing my order with Amazon I got an email saying the card was rejected because of some reason I didn't understand. Under the influence of anger, I marched to the bank first thing this morning and stated strongly that my card was broken! I noticed the guy behind the counter start smirking a little when he realized the problem. You see, when you don't put in the right numbers into the card info boxes....the card doesn't work. To say the least, I was a little embarrassed. Anyway, got the issue fixed and am now expecting my books to arrive sometime next week. Moral of this story....I don't really know. Just thought you would get a kick about hearing of my almost crisis.

Friday Night Lights

Flood Right, Pro Leftt 25 Cross Block, 23 Lead, QB Sneak. To a non-sports person this may sound like a bunch of gibberish but to a football fanatic (as myself) this is common everyday knowledge. Back in my "glory days" of two a day practices, sprint running, and attempting to crawl out of bed the Saturday after a game, you could have said anyone these plays and I could have told you exactly what my responsiblity was for either of these or any other play that exsisted in the Saints playbook. From the time Spring Training began, these plays were drilled in our minds to the point that when the first game roled around we were expected to know these plays like the back of our hand. Of coarse, we never made a mistake or missed a block and if you believe that last statement obviously you didn't watch us play University Christian or any of our other games. We made plenty of mistakes through our football reign! And yes, I did say reign because from my 8th grade year all the way to my senior year...that is exactly what we did. But we did make mistakes (like everyone does) but what made them stand out was in fact...the friday night lights.
Everyone could see our mistakes. If they were 'fortunate' enough to be sitting in the weight room come film day...they could even see them in HD (which didn't make things better). It seemed that no matter how many games we won or how many things we did right, the mistakes were something that were always pointed out. That is the same way that Christians are viewed. Once you pubically state that you are a Christian, the lights come on you and they aren't just on you come Friday night. Everyone immediatly begins to watch how you play the game. They watch to see if you succeed or fall just short of the goal line. And like the game of football, people will remember the defensive or offensive stand you make, or the crippling defeat that was caused by countless errors. Now understand, I am not encouraging you to live your Christian life in a box. That would completely go against scripture. But what I am saying, however sad and sobering the fact may be, that people hold Christians to a tight standard and are waiting for us to slip. Our testimony can be ruined by one mistake, as small as it may seem, and people will not forget it.
Remember those football plays I mentioned earlier? How about if that was scripture? Would it still be gibberish? If we dedicated the time and effort to intense training and conditioning that we put our bodies through in an effort to win every game to studing God's perfect game plan, would we not succeed and have a better chance at shining under the lights? The difference in the playbook we study as athelets and God's Word is that our playbook is flawed. God's Word is everlasting and has stood the test of time. It has never once been proven wrong and has caused our QB to get sacked in the back field. It's when we take the Word and try to fit it to what we want to hear that the blocks against temptation get missed and our plan is corrupted.
Now to take a different turn on the 'lights' subject. Be on the sidelines for a moment. What do you and other people see as your watching Christians play the game of life? If Christians don't care about their reputation and live life vicariously, what is happening to their testimony? Mental image time. The recievers and backs decide they don't want to carry the ball anymore and they walk off the field. One-third of the lights go out. The lineman decide they don't want to block anymore and they as well walk off the field. Now, two-thirds of the lights are off and the field is beginning to seem dark and the game is starting to look hopeless. The QB feels alone and down hearted and he too walks off the field refusing to stand alone. All the lights on the field go off. The field is now black and the crowd can't see any light. The crowd came to see the 'team' succeed, but instead are lost trying to find their way home. Image time is now over. Did you see what I saw? If the Christians of today decide the fight isn't worth fighting and their testimony isn't worth saving, what is the crowd suppose to watch for? Are we leaving them alone in the dark, lost, and trying to find their own way home? They came to see what this team was really about, but instead were turned away by that team simply refusing to fight for what they were sent to fight for. This is life! To many Christians are walking off the field and leaving the crowd hopeless and not seeing the Light that is Christ. When Christians refuse to take a stand for Christ, even if they are the only one left standing on the field, there is no one to blame but the Christians themselves. It may sound blunt, but it is the sobering truth. Yes, there are many factors that play to Christians growing in Christ and helping them to evangelize better and more proficiently, but the responsibilty of reaching out to others simply falls on the shoulders of each individual Christian. In Matthew 28, when Christ gave the Great Commision, I never once saw where only a certian number of people were supposed to live their life for Christ and share their faith while the others sat on the sidelines. When no one takes the stand, truely the game is lost.
Ok Christians, what are we gonna do? Are we gonna let the lights go out? Are we doing everything we can to win the game and continue to fight the fight? Are we pushing on the the prize of a higher calling? Dwelling in the Scriptures, God's playbook, will help us and guide us to live a life worthy of a victory. The lights are on. What are people seeing?


(by the way...salvation comes from Christ and Christ alone. In no way am I insinuating that salvation comes from works. If you have Christ in your life, your victory has already been won. But what about the people in the bleachers? These people are you kids, family, friends, coworkers....the lights are on.)

Light Echo

I feel as if I owe an explantion of the title of my blog. Its actually not an original title at all but comes from the name of the worship band I played with. We had battled with a name for a few months and couldn't ever seem to find the right one. We actually went and played at a church before we had a name. The church we played at had assembled a program that they sent out to other churches inviting them to the youth night. On the program read music by Meridian Praise Band and others. I guess you figured out who the "others" were. For a while after that we named ourselves The Other Guys, but to our sad realization....someone had already claimed that title. So we thought about it and thought about it. A few weeks later we found out we were asked to be entertainment at our local Relay for Life. The crunch was on. We had a little while to think about it but nobody wants to be listed in the news paper as the others! Ha! I was invited to a bon fire at Nathan's house. By the way...Nathan was our lead guitarist. It was late and we were sitting around the bon fire throwing around ideas for names. We all agreed that the name didn't need to be dorky or give the wrong impression and we wanted it to be able to be backed by scripture. After all our heart was to do Christ's will. In a quiet moment, someone asked the question if anyone knew what the name of the light around the stars was. Nobody seemed to know so out of curiosity, we pulled out the smart phone and googled it. Bet you can't figure out the name!! It was actually some long scientific term but it was simplified to "light echo". We all had the same idea as soon as we saw it. It was perfect. From that point on, we were officially "Light Echo". That was also perfect because that could be taken back to scripture. If Jesus is the Light, then aren't we supposed to try and be like Him? There you have it....Light Echo.

Important Realizations

As most of you know (if you've been in Bay Springs within the last 3 weeks) I moved to Conway, Arkansas to finish my education at Central Baptist College. Its been a great first few days. I've met alot of new people, seen some that I have met through VSM Bootcamp and mission trips, and I've begun to figure out this town little by little. It's hard to take a small town boy into a big city and not expect him to get lost at least twice. I've been privileged to be among people that actually know where I'm coming from and have pretty much taken my in! Ha!
The Wednesday night and Thursday night while I was packing and squeezing in those last few moments (at least for a few weeks) I had with my family and friends, it began to sink in...even though I was excited about this new adventure that God led me to...I was also about to leave my family, my friends, the high school people I had gotten close to, the beloved Sylva Bay Saints, my youth group, and my church. Some people wouldn't have an issue leaving some of those things behind, but when you grew up with people that bent over backwards for you, played District and South State Championship games along side a band of brothers under the intense friday night lights and a crowd that is just as much involved in the game as the players, watched a youth group grow to an average of 15-20 kids, got to lead worship with some amazing musicians....its actually hard to drive away.The last thing I did before I left Friday morning was drop a friend that was closer than a brother off at his house after a movie. That car ride home became on of the longest drives I've ever made.
I didn't write all of this to depress you (or myself), I simply wrote this for you to realize the important things around you. The things that you dont think mean as much to you until they're gone. Of coarse I'll be going home as much as possible and trying to stay as up to date and involved as possible, but it won't ever be the same. When you see a piano what do you see? What do you hear? Do you see just a musical instument or a work of a master? I see neither. When I see that piano, my mind travels to the songs in the youth room that I played for entertainment or sometimes for worship. I remember the offeratories that I played (even though they were few and far between). I remember the Sundays before Easter and Christmas and the Sunday of a patriotic holiday when my grandmother would play and the Holy Spirit moved. Do you see? Its not the major things you always remember...most of the time its the small things that stick with you. Sitting on the couch with your mother listening to her talk doesn't seem like a life changing experience, but that is the kind of things that you will miss when those moments become few and far between.
Hold on to the little things. Embrace every moment like you may not have another one again. Treasure the little things. Love like crazy (yes...I did steal that from a song). And when it comes time to begin a new chapter, no matter how many pages lie between you and the rest of the story, remember all these things. Let go and let God! I found a note in my dorm room after my family left last Saturday. It kind of sums up some of this post. It was from my mom. In closing:
"I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams. And that faith gives you the courage to dare to do great things. I'm here for you whatever this life brings. So let my love give you roots. And help you find your wings." (Mark Harris-Find Your Wings)