True Joy

This is a devotion I wrote for the student ministry I intern for here in Clarksville. I figure I will also post it here since I've gotten a little lazy at late with the new semester starting and all.


“But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield.” Psalm 5:11-12

A picture is painted in these verses, as well as the full Psalm of David that they are contained in, and that picture is a life of joy. “But let all who take refuge in you rejoice,” that statement, in and of itself, is an amazing description of what we have in Christ. In Him we rejoice and have joy in life.

Throughout time, we have always had the instinct to search for something more in life. Specifically in today’s culture, we have continually searched for joy and happiness in money, fame, recognition, power, and so much else. We search high and low for something to fulfill our lives, but time and time again we have been let down or pushed aside and eventually are back at square one. The problem we have run into is that we are always eventually unfulfilled in our own efforts.

I remember during my junior year of high school I had a substitute teacher in chemistry one day. As the class went on that day I became increasingly frustrated by his, for lack of a better word, “preaching” of “success and money equal happiness” to our class. It was a bit ironic in my mind though. I couldn’t figure out where he was in his own plan, being a substitute teacher as a relatively older man. The problem I had with what he was saying was that so many times I’ve seen that way of life fail people, yet others keep on trying.

One of my favorite quotes, one that I’ve had posted on my facebook for about a year now, is by C. S. Lewis. In it Lewis says this, “God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.” The truth of the matter is that, apart from God, we are miserable. In all of our failed attempts at happiness we are miserable. Without God there is no reason in life, but with God, through Christ, we find meaning. “But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy,” I can’t not say that with anything but joy in my voice because of Christ in me. There is nothing apart from God that will fulfill our lives.

So take refuge, and rejoice, even when times seem rough we have the true bringer of joy.

Check This Out

The new album from House of Heroes came out in September, but I have just come upon it. The refreshing music and lyrics are fantastic, and from the intro to the end I completely love it. The first single, "In The Valley of the Dying Sun", is not only a great song, but is also from the biblical story where Jacob wrestles with God. Other songs on the CD that are my personal favorites are the acoustic ballad, "By Your Side", and the fast moving song of hope in Christ, "Journey Into Space (part one)". There is not a bad song on the album and would be a great pick up if your looking for something new to listen to.

This is the video for their single, "In The Valley of the Dying Sun"

House of Heroes from Endeavor Media Group on Vimeo.

Fact or Fiction

I have seen, growing up in the Baptist church, quite a bit of book, or movie, “bashing”. For example, when the Harry Potter series hit America’s shores I began reading them. From our church, my mom was immediately given a pamphlet on the reasons these books were evil (the witchcraft, the author being an atheist, etc.). I personally have always been able to distinguish the fantasy of the novels. And then more recently, in the passing weeks that the new movie Avatar has been in theaters, I have begun to see some “bashing” of the story of this movie. I’ve heard it called “pure paganism”, and I personally was thrown by this statement. My first thought after hearing this was, “So is Batman and Transformers…,” and the point of that is the fact that anything we create that is not of scripture is pagan, or worldly. I could write a book, or make a movie, and no matter how clean or wholesome that story is, if it has no truth of scripture in it the story is as pagan as anything else you could think of. I often feel that we as Christians look too deeply into fiction. If you’re going into either a good read or a movie looking for any more than a good story, you should reevaluate why you’re picking up that book, or going the theater. We don’t go to the movies to learn thoughts on philosophy, we go to be entertained. To say that Avatar is pagan because it equates God to nature is completely looking too far into the plot of a science fiction movie. This movie is no more pagan than The Land Before Time movie series. We have been able to distinguish fact from fiction for a good couple hundred of years, so what’s changed? What about some of the classics like The Iliad, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Alice in Wonderland, or so many others. We must be able to discern what is truth in scripture, and what is made for enjoyment and entertainment.

A New Year, A New Decade

It’s that time again! Time to rollover the calendars and start off another year. The one different thing about this year is that it is the dawning of a new decade. A time to start some new trends that we as a society will later regret and look back on the ones that we already do… but also look back on the good times we have shared this decade.

As we stare the coming year of 2010 in the face I take a personal look back at my life this past decade. (In no particular order)

-I have made so many new bonds with people, along with strengthening some old ones. Some friends have come to be more like family.

-I graduated High School in 09 and made the decision to go to school in Tennessee, where I also now work as a Student Ministry intern.

-All of the time spent in middle school and high school, learning ad becoming who I am today.

-I went to China and stood on the Great Wall and saw the Forbidden City… AMAZING!

-I really got to see this country, and all its beauty, through the eyes of someone growing up, trying to find their place in it.

-I earned the rank of Eagle Scout with a lot hard work put forth to do it.

-I gave my life to God’s calling of me to full time ministry! I can see God molding me and I praise him for that.

-I found one of my life loves in learning to play guitar and slowly developing my skills. I found no more of a rewarding use for it than worshiping our God, and leading others to do so as well.

-I voted in my first Presidential Election

-Some of my most fond memories are all of times spent with my youth group and church family over the years.

There are so many memories I could pull out, we would be here forever. I praise God for my family, my parents and the strong bond they have formed with me. As well as my close friends, who are as close to me as family. Josh (Emily too), Floyd, Brittany, Sam, Gregory, Ross, Raquel, Logan, and Colton. I love all of you guys! Also this decade I came to know Jeff, his wife Stephanie, and daughter Karis. I consider Jeff not only as a mentor, but him and his family as dear friends as well.

Everything and everyone I have mentioned have been a major part in my life throughout this decade. Looking back I see where God has blessed me in so many ways, and I look forward to whatever he may have in store for me.

Happy New Year to you all!

Home for the Holidays!

It's been just over a week since I made the trek back from Clarksville, Tennessee to my home in Midlothian, Texas. I have had some great times catching up with family and friends and seemed to very seamlessly pick up right where I left off in when I left for school at the end of August. It's a great feeling getting to see everyone when it feels like it has been so long, and it's only been three and a half months. I'm first off excited to see my family, as well as a few friends it's been almost unbearable to only have talked to via facebook or phone.

In the midst of all of the enjoyment I do wish to remain thoughtful of why this time is important to me in my faith. I am so grateful that I was able to travel safely through the long stretch of road between Texas and Tennessee, that I drove through without stopping except to refuel, but I am even more grateful in this time because of the reason we celebrate. I know it seems almost cliché this time of year, certainly in our day and age, to say "Jesus is the reason for the season" or "Keep Christ in Christmas", but these seemingly over-used phrases are an attempt to remind our society why, and for whom, we celebrate. See, Christmas isn't about the presents, decorations, and over-crowded shopping malls, but it is a time to celebrate the coming of Christ, Jesus, whom is our only way to salvation. Without Christ our fate is that of men (and women) who alone cannot overcome their fallen state. Celebrating and spending time with friends and family is great, enjoy it, but remember the coming of hope that we celebrate this day, that through Christ we may glorify the Father.

Merry Christmas everyone!

An Ever-Changing World Meets an Ever-Constant God

"While God has not changed, the world has, and his people need wisdom, not legalism, to live in it."- Pastor Mark Driscoll, from Religion Saves: + Nine Other Misconceptions


In my reading of the book mentioned above, authored by, Seattle WA based, Mars Hill Church pastor Mark Driscoll, I came across this statement (also stated above). In the book he is on the subject of the church's view of birth control, but this statement applies to more issues than that alone, some of which are also addressed in the book, which is why this statement caught my attention. In our world's ever changing culture new issues are addressed, some old issues are re-evaluated, and things that were once not an issue become one (i.e., alcohol). My purpose in this post is not to debate those issues (I'll save that for another time, perhaps a more personal method. Not to say I won't discuss those issue on this blog, but let's just leave that alone for now.), but to look at the term "legalism" and how it fits into our society.

The thing we must first look at is the world that we live in, and the issues presented to us as believers in Christ. See, the world, or culture I should say, that we live in is uncertain. Over thousands of years it has been in a constant state of transformation, and even at some points maturity, though this is not always the case. The simple fact we must realize is that in the midst of all this change, God and his word have been unwavering throughout, from the beginning. What has changed is our own maturity and understanding of his word. When new things come as issues in our world, many times they will stem from a direct issue addressed biblically. For example, pornography is not necessarily a new issue, for what it has evolved from and to is all compounded on the sin of lust, which is clearly stated, on many occasions, as sin in the bible (i.e., Matthew 5:28; Exodus 20:14; 1 Corinthians 6:18; just to name a few). In some issues that have come in recent history to the modern church (I will avoid specifically discussing these issues, so that I do not negate from my point.), there is a fine line where something is all well and good, and then can pass over into being sin. In issues like these, it is not right for someone to form a strict view (i.e., legalism), on either side of the issue, and then proceed to force that view onto others as biblical truth, for it is not biblical truth. What legalism does is, it takes the prayerful discernment of a Christian on something that, in essence, is pure, yet can be taken by the world and made sinful. I will use one example, yet not dwell on it, in dancing. Dancing is something that, biblically, is holy and worship towards the lord (i.e., 2 Samuel 6:14), but the nature of dancing has been taken by our culture and perverted. To take the stance that all dancing is sin, and should be prohibited, is completely contrary to scripture. To summarize my thoughts, in conclusion, legalism takes God out of the equation. We, as a believing body of Christ, should not count things that have been perverted by our culture as automatic sin, but each of us should prayerfully discern these things as to where it stops being pure, and becomes twisted by our changing world. For times and cultures change, but our God remains constant. Rely on him when things seem hazy. God Bless!

"For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another."- Galatians 5:13-15

An Act of Faith

This past Wednesday I had the opportunity to speak to the students at First Baptist Clarksville. It also was the official announcement of me as the Student Ministry Intern (This was not on purpose, just happened to work out on the same night). Even in the few months I've been here I've already gotten so much out of it. The students are a great group and Jeff and Josh are some of the greatest guys to serve the Lord with. I look forward to what God has in store for me here.

When it was decided that I was to speak to the students on the final night of the "Rebel" series, something had already been laid on my heart for a good while. When I think of a rebel, in the sense of a rebel for God, one of the first to come to mind is Daniel. Now, Daniel, throughout the book of the same name, shows many instances where he rebels and takes a different path to follow God and not his surroundings. The passage on my heart was Daniel chapter 6, the story of Daniel and the lion's den. Now this story is something that we learn early in the church, but I wanted to go farther than the story of it, and on to the sound biblical truth contained in it. Daniel's reputation was that of one who followed his God above all, and this fact was taken into account by those who were out to get him because he favored highly by the king. These men set a trap for Daniel that anyone who makes petition to any king or god besides Darius, the king, should be thrown to the lions. Verse 10 tells us that Daniel knew full and well the law had been passed and the consequences of it, yet prayed to God anyway. Most of us know the story, Daniel was brought before the king and, even though the king tried to save him, Daniel was thrown in the lion's den. The next morning, after a sleepless night of God weighing on the king's conscience, he goes to see what has come of Daniel.
"Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God." - Daniel 6:23

After this all of the accusers are killed, God is glorified through the king's proclamation, and Daniel prospers. The part I focused on, and caught my attention the most, was the way Daniel followed God unwaveringly, and acted completely on faith. We know that he knew the danger, yet he followed God anyway. This is something that we as Christians don't fully grasp today. We don't do things for God because they may seem dangerous, crazy, or stupid. Or maybe the world tells us that something has too big of a risk, when the reality is we should step out on faith. Our God is too great and has done so much for us, if we feel God's leading in a situation we should act out of faith and not worry about if the world thinks it is crazy or stupid. Our God is bigger than our own view of things and has a much greater plan than what we can foresee.

"Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: 'Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel,

for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.'" - Daniel 6:25-27