This week is one of my favorite weeks of the summer. It is the 10th annual Preacher Training Camp that is hosted by the Lewisville Church of Christ in Lewisville, Texas. This week is so uplifting to me because it motivates me and gives me the confidence that I am picking the right thing to do with my life, but it is also uplifting because I get to hang out with 65 teenage guys who are here to learn more about God’s Word and how to present it to a world that is longing to hear! This week we have been learning so many things and gaining so much insight how how to become great preachers for God’s kingdom.

Yesterday I got a text from one of the girl’s that attends the Lewisville congregation and she was making sure that we were going to have our Bible study with her and her friends from a couple of weeks ago. When the group of kids got here there were 5 of them, and 3 of us. It was Reed who was leading the study, and then Drake and myself were sitting in as well to help out with anything we good. We hung out for a couple of minutes to get to know the visitors that were with us, and then Reed started out with a short overview of the Bible. Reed went through various things, but the first things that we went through was the question, “Is there a God?” We didn’t really have to go deep into this because everyone in the room was under the same confidence that there is a God, and so went on to the topic of “Right and Wrong” since there is a God. As we got to this we came to the topic of sin, and then we went through the Old Testament and how sin came about and what it does to us, and then we talked a little about all the sacrifices the would roll the sins over since Christ had not yet come. Then came the thing that made me more excited than anything that happened this whole week: We were sitting there talking about all the bad decisions that we can make that leave us separated from God, and then one of the girls looked over at Reed and said, “Well then what will get rid of all our sins now?” When she said this is brought just a huge smile to my face because she then realized what the most important question was that she needed answered in her life! She came to the realization, and wanted to hear about Jesus!

Stop and Think: Since I have been at Preacher Training Camp all week this question has really hit home with me because as people of God we must be willing to tell others about Jesus! Not all of us will become preachers, youth ministers, elders, but WE ARE ALL commanded to go out and teach everyone about Jesus. In Matthew 28:18-20 we receive the Great Commission which commands all of us to go out and teach others about Christ our Savior. People are wanting to hear! May we strive everyday to tell others about Jesus! God Bless! 

This weekend I have had the big pleasure of attending EU (Evangelism University) in Savannah, TN. On Friday my great friends from Lewisville, TX brought a group up to EU. We had a great worship on Friday night, and when we got back to our insanely nice lake house things got a bit interesting.

It took us quite a while to get the stuff unloaded from the bus since the hill down to the house was steep so I got to make a few trips with all the girls luggage since they had no idea how to pack for a weekend! When we got everything settled in some of the girls came up from the downstairs to let some of the adults know that one of our girls, Madison Vanderheiden was struggling with her breathing. When I walked down there to see how Madison was doing I actually walked in the room and then turned back around and closed the door because it scared me so bad. Madison was all wrapped up in blankets and struggling for every breath. Nobody was really sure what was going on so we got in touch with the Gean family who was able to help us get in touch with the Medical Center here in Savannah. We got Madison in the car, and she was off to the hospital. We came back in and all got together and said a prayer for Madison and her safety through the night. We all got back and got turned in for bed and just hoped that we would be receiving some good news when we got up.

This morning when we got up we were welcomed with the great news that Madison was okay. Last night when Madison went to the hospital they said that she had a bad panic attack, and they gave her some real heavy medicine to make her feel better and for her to get some rest.

This morning our group was leaving at 8:15, and we had just planned to have Madison stay in bed and come when she was feeling okay, but when everyone was upstairs getting ready Madison slowly and walking kind of crooked came up the stairs ready to go. I could tell that Madison was not feeling very well, and you could tell by the coughing she was not feeling well!

Here are the lessons that I took from this, after being in the ER till 2:30 in the morning, Madison was up wanting to learn and study the word, but Madison was not the only one who taught me a lesson. The other lesson I learned was how strong the bond of Christian brothers and sisters. Madison had about 10 people in her room at all times until she went to the hospital. These people were constantly comforting her, and trying to do whatever they could to make her pain go away.

Stop and Think: From this story I want to take 2 lessons. The first lesson is the zeal that Madison had to get up after being sick and in the ER all night. How much better would everyone be if they had the zeal to get up and live for God everyday! The second lesson would be the love and care that the kids from Lewisville showed to Madison. There is no greater bond than that of Christian brothers and sisters in Christ. If you are ever struggling or need anything I feel like there is nothing better to do than to go to your brothers and sisters in Christ! May God Bless you as you continue throughout this year, and help us to always look at the examples of the youth and not only the ones that are older than us!

This past week I have been taking a class at Freed-Hardeman. This is only a two week class which is a big help to me and many other who are wanting to lighten the load of the semester. This past week has definitely been one that has had its ups and downs. When I was sitting watching television this evening all that was going through my mind was the things that I had going wrong in my life, and all the things that I had to get done. After I thought for a couple of minutes and realized how crazy this was I remembered everything that I had in my life that I was to be thankful for. I thought of the things in my life that trump all the problems and stresses of this life. These are the things that I am thankful that I have with a life with Jesus:

1. Victory: 1 Cor. 15:57-But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. Freedom: Gal. 5:1-For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
3. Comfort: 2 Cor. 1:3-4-Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
4. Someone to ALWAYS help me: Matthew 11:28-30-Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
5. Wealth: Matthew 6:19-21-“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, wheremoth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
6. Eternal Life: John 3:16- ¹⁶“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.    

 Stop and Think: Many times in life we feel like we don’t have anything going for us! I hope that as we go throughout our lives we can take a step back and look and all the riches and blessing that we have through our Loving God and Savior! May God Bless You!

This past summer I was blessed to work with the Lewisville Church of Christ in Lewisville, Texas, and am again going back this summer to work with the youth there as an intern. After Christmas this year I was able to take a week of my break to go down to Texas and see everyone at the congregation, and to help with a lock-in with the youth group and to just see how everyone was.

The week was not to busy, but was one that was very packed in because I got to hang out with Reed, the youth minister and his family a lot. I had to catch back up on getting to know Roman again, I think he finally remembered who I was after a little bit since I haven’t seen him since last summer. After a well rested day of football with Mr. Jeff and watching the Crimson Tide play a great last game of the season I headed off to the mall with Reed and his family, and then another one of the great couples from Lewisville. When we got to the mall we quickly found out that all the stores had closed at 6 because it was New Year’s. I didn’t really understand this because isn’t the holiday New Year’s Eve? Just a thought, but back to the story. Since everything was closed we headed over to a Barnes and Nobles I believe, and were playing around with the Nooks.

When we had walked around for a minute I noticed a cop that was standing in the store watching everyone and so I went up to him and ask him if he was one of the cops that was escorting two guys out of the mall in handcuffs because my curiosity had gotten the best of me. It is his reply that got me and Reed talking because when I asked him this question he simply replied leaning up against the counter, “It wasn’t me who escorted them out, but they probably just stole something, no big deal.”

I think this statement from the cop is one that many Christians do today. We classify things that are wrong, things that will separate us from God. Why is it that we don’t worry about the “small things” that still are sin! Sin is sin to God! In 2 Cor. 5:10 it says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” Right here we see that everything we do whether good or bad, we will be accountable for. 

Stop and Think: As we go throughout the rest of our lives let us live in a way where we don’t classify sins of our own and of others. Let us look at sin as something that separates us from Eternal Life with God. Let us not look at others and see what their sins are and compare our spiritual lives to theirs and think we might be better, but let us all realize we are all sinners striving for a higher calling! May God Bless You!

Stained Glass Masquerade-Casting Crowns

Is there anyone that fails
Is there anyone that falls
Am I the only one in church today feelin’ so small

Cause when I take a look around
Everybody seems so strong
I know they’ll soon discover
That I don’t belong

So I tuck it all away, like everything’s okay
If I make them all believe it, maybe I’ll believe it too
So with a painted grin, I play the part again
So everyone will see me the way that I see them

*Chorus*
Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation’s open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade

Is there anyone who’s been there
Are there any hands to raise
Am I the only one who’s traded
In the altar for a stage

The performance is CONVINCING
And we know every line by heart
Only when no one is watching
Can we really fall apart

But would it set me free
If I dared to let you see
The truth behind the person
That you imagine me to be

Would your arms be open
Or would you walk away
Would the love of Jesus
Be enough to make you stay

Chorus x2

Well if the invitation’s open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade

Is there anyone that fails
Is there anyone that falls
Am I the only one in church today feelin’ so small

Why is it that we try and hide things? Why do we not want people to know who we really are? Why is it that we put on a mask so others will think we are better than what we really are? This song is one of my personal favorites because it relays a message that we all need to hear, especially those of us who are Christians. So many times in my life I have walked around picking out which mask that I wanted to wear so that people wouldn’t bother me with questions because then I didn’t want to tell them that something was wrong or that I was struggling with something. I cannot give you an answer on why we all put on our masks when we go to worship or just in our everyday lives. I know that we don’t want to disappoint our families, friends, Church families, but I want you to sit and think about this, “no matter how much you fool the people around you, you will never fool your Father in Heaven!” I think this is a main reason of putting on our masks because we don’t want to bother other people with our sins and disappointments in life.

Stop and Think: As we go throughout our daily walks it is my challenge for all of us to take the words of this song and actually take off our masks and show who we really are. I have heard it said, “The Church is not a Hotel for Saints, but a Hospital for Sinners.” Let us all help each other as we go throughout our lives. Let us take off our masks and fulfill Galatians 6:2 were we are told, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. May God Bless you! 

As I sat in chapel today with my mom and dad I got to hear a great program on Veteran’s Day. As we sat in chapel a few men got up and talked about how these men and women have put their lives on the line for us and our Freedoms, and how we should be thankful for them and respect them and the work they have done and continue to do for us.

When the guy who had been introducing the program got back up at the end to close out the program he said something I’ll never forget, he said, “You need to respect these men and women for what they have done because most of you will never even know the real heroes of America because they are the ones who are not saying anything about what they have done and are just being a hero to everyone!”

After the man said this statement he then asked everyone who had served or was serving now to walk down front so that after we were dismissed everyone could go down front and so their thankfulness and respect to these men and women, but there was one special man that did not go down front to receive his 10 minutes of fame from the students and faculty here. As I was standing their clapping for the people who did walk forward my mom kept hitting my dad on the shoulder telling him to go down their for his service, and he just stood their ignoring my mom and just kept clapping for the people who did walk down forward.

After we were dismissed my mom made a comment to me about how dad will never get any recognition for his service and with a gentle voice dad looked over to us, and just simply said, “did you not hear what he said, I don’t need to be recognized!” As I stood their and thought about this I could not help but think of the humility that my dad has showed. Dad would never want anyone to praise him about his service in the Air Force, but simply just loves the fact that he was able to help his country and fight for the Freedoms that we have now.

In no way am I saying that it was wrong for the people to go forward to be recognized because I am thankful for them and for their work for this country and my freedoms, but I am simply thankful for a lesson that my dad taught me today!

Stop and Think: As Christians one thing that God calls us to have is Humility. In Proverbs 22:4 it says, “Humility is the fear of the LORD; its wages are riches and honor and life.” As you go throughout today and your lives I hope that you will put others above you and will always be looking to serve others. Let us all take a lesson from these men and women who we don’t know who have put us and our lives before their own, and continue to show the humility that they have shown us. 

Thanks to the Men and Women of the Armed Forces, and Thanks Dad for all the Freedoms we continue to have today!

God Bless!

This past weekend I had the privilege to go watch the University of Alabama go play against LSU in Baton Rouge, LA. Friday afternoon me and a couple of friends packed things up and started the 7 hour drive down to Baton Rouge for the weekend. On Saturday we got up around noon and headed down to the stadium to where I was gracefully met by about 90,000 LSU fans while I walked around wearing my Crimson and White. Thanks to a good friend we had a incredible seats that were in the LSU end-zone. I walked in being yelled at, and never thought that I would have to deal with people yelling at me because of a color that I was wearing. This weekend I got to sit there and think quite a bit and took a few things away that I think we can all apply to our Spiritual Lives:

Lesson 1: Are you sticking out to the world? When we walked in the stadium I knew that there was going to be a lot of Alabama fans because I know the loyalty that Bama fans have to their team, but the one thing that was different this game was that I was sitting completely on the other side of the Alabama section, and was surrounded by people who had been coming to LSU for years! Every time that I stood up I was by myself, when I yelled I was yelling alone, when I upset at the call or team I was sitting alone. While I was watching us get beat I got to think about different things and the one question that kept popping up in my head was, “Can people tell you are different in this world?” Romans 12:1-2 tells us to “…not conform to this world, but to be transformed…” Can people tell that you are being different?

Lesson 2: What are you worrying about? This point was more noticeable after the game was over, and the more people that I talked too. During and after the game people were so worried that their team lost or that they made a bad play that they had to start cussing and yelling at the people. Just because they were worried that they weren’t going to win the game they started pulling out their alcohol and talking about how they had to take a couple sips after that play. Another thing that I noticed was that on Sunday and on Sundays in the past we often all, (I am one of the worst), walk into the building trying to figure out what happened in the game and we just put all our focus on the game instead of putting all of our heart into worship to our Father.

Lesson 3: Most of you will think that this lesson might be one that you learned when you were a lot younger. Lesson 3 is simply: PEOPLE ARE LOST! While we were on our trip there were a couple of us who have never been to downtown New Orleans so we went and just looked around and I will be honest…I have grown up a pretty shelter person, and have been blessed to have a great Christian family who have kept me away from worldly things. Growing up I have always kind of thought a lot of people have some type of direction from religion, and I have been guilty of saying well they believe in God, and at some point things will change and they will start doing everything right, but this weekend I realized that there are people who don’t care about God, and you can see this through their actions.

Stop and Think: As we go throughout our lives it is my prayer that we will Be Different, Worry about why people are living in Sin and worry about how we can save more souls for Heaven, and finally that we will just realize what our duty as Christians are and that we will take advantage of opportunities to be different around people who are lost! May God Bless us with strength to be who He wants us to be!

During this past week I was able to be apart of the 9th year of Preacher Training Camp at the Lewisville Church of Christ. It was a great week full of many great lessons from many men of God. 

Every night all 65 of us guys including staff and campers went to do something in the area. On Thursday night we went to one of the parks in the area, and the youth minister at the Lewisville brought two six foot tall balls to play with that weigh about 20 pounds each. After we played a game of soccer with these massively large balls we played a little one on one where we would sit the ball in the middle and two guys would get on either side of it, and just take off running at it to see who could knock the other person to the ground first. Well after everyone had taken their hard hits to the ground we decided to take a break from the action, and my roommate, Drake who his working at Lewisville with me as an intern got me and a couple of other guys from Freed to walk around and just talk to others about Jesus. The first lady we walked up to was kind of stand offish at first, but then her little boy started playing with us, and so Drake took the opportunity to ask her a quick question. Drake asked her, “When was the last time someone ask you about Jesus?” The woman just stood there shocked, and then replied, “Let me guess, Mormon?” I was blown away by this answer because she told us that she could not even remember the last time someone asked her about Jesus, and so she just guessed that we were Mormons because the Mormons are the ones who are getting out and knocking doors and talking to people! Talk about a shot to the face! After telling her that we were Christians we talked with her for a second, and then asked her if we could pray for her, and when we asked her this she gave us quite a list. When we walked away we could tell that she was hurting. Why is it that people are hurting and we as Christians are not there to tell them about the Great Physician? 

Stop and Think: As this hit home with me I hope that it will touch you and motivate you to get out around the people around you, and talk to them about Jesus. People are hurting and people are wanting to know who Jesus is, but how can they hear unless someone tells them about Him! So as you go out in the upcoming days, weeks, and months let us all be the people that Christ commanded us to be and spread His Word to a lost and dying world! God Bless You and Keep You!