Make the Step

As you read, remember one of my favorite quotes by Dave Matthews, "To change the world, it starts with one step, however small the first step is hardest of all."

What's ten dollars mean to Bill Gates? He couldn't care less.
What's ten dollars mean to a homeless man? Survival for another week.

What's one step to someone who has walked a couple miles every day of their life? Nothing.
What's one step mean to someone who has been paralyzed all their life? It's life changing.
What about one step to a baby who hasn't taken his first step? It's just the beginning.

Now back to Dave's quote. Do you think the first step to the paralyzed man, or the baby, is the hardest of all? Of course, they haven't taken a step in a long time, if ever before.

Just like the first steps of walking, the first steps of faith are going to be the hardest also. What's that first step?

My good friend that just went off to college, Daniel Lipford, would always say "Take the first step, God will take the other 99."

The first step to faith is letting God in, God will do the rest. Make the choice, make the step.

Why can't we Love?

God's greatest commandment is to love Him and love others. We just can't seem to grasp that concept. Before we can grasp it, we must acknowledge why we won't grasp it.

There's two disadvantages to loving others that I can think of.

-If we love others we don't have as much love to give to ourselves.

God loves us enough, we don't need to love ourselves.

-To love like God's asks us is very strange to earthly standards.

Romans 12:2, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

We shouldn't worry about conforming to earthly standards, let's conform to God's standards.

Make the choice. Love.

Keep it Simple

I love playing soccer and I love watching football. I've done both nonstop since I was about 4 years old. Unfortunately, it wasn't until now I learned the best lesson you can learn from either.

Simple always works best.

The best quarterbacks know how to make the simple throw consistently, four yards every play will get a touchdown.

The best soccer players know how to make the simple pass consistently, a bunch of simple passes linked together will usually get you behind the defense and into goal.

Yet, for some reason, we think the best way to have an awesome relationship with God is doing something crazy to give your life over to Him. In reality, the best relationships with God come from doing the simple things consistently.

Look at it this way. You're standing on one side of the gym, what's the quickest way to get to the other side? In the time you'd figure out a way to fly across the gym, fifty simple steps would have gotten you to the other side a week ago.

What are those simple steps? They will look different for each one of us. Maybe it's a couple minutes diving into the bible. Maybe the bible doesn't do much for you, try a Christian book. Maybe you need to set aside a certain part of the day as God time, could be before you go to bed, like me. Or you could do it when you wake up, like many of my friends do because they say it sets them in God-mode for the rest of the day.

Make the choice, take the simple steps to a better relationship with God.

Put up your Sails

A life without faith is a like sitting on a boat in stagnant water. It is a content life of mediocrity, neither good nor bad. For most of the world, all they’re seeking is a life of contentment. As Christians, we're not called to seek a life of contentment.

Faith believes in the unseen, it believes in the wind. Faith puts up the sails and trusts everything it has with the wind. Therefore, faith has no idea where the wind will take it, but it trusts it’s much better then the life of mediocrity it had with the sails down.

True faith is completely radical. It's another case of go big or go home. It can’t put the sails up, yet still steer the boat with the rudders. If it does that, it lost the hope of where the wind was taking it and the safety of where it was.

God is the wind. Make the choice. Put your sails up.

Are we naturally sinful?

Be honest with yourself. Are you naturally sinful? Is it in your nature to sin, and against it to not?

Genesis says you are made in God's image.

So, answer it again. Are you naturally sinful?

No. We are not naturally sinful, unless you can tell me God was naturally sinful.

You alone aren't naturally sinful, the world is. So if the world is naturally sinful why do we work so hard to conform to the world? When we do that, we are basically working to conform to sin. Why do we do it? I wish I knew.

Romans 12:2, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."

Make the choice.

Scratching the Itch

I haven't met someone who doesn't love summer, but there is always a down side to everything. The down side to summer, mosquito bites. My record one time was somewhere in the 50s on my right leg and 40s on my left leg.

The thing is, it doesn't really matter how many you have. Even if you just have one, if it itches enough it will drive you insane. I learned that lesson the hard way today. I woke up and the first thing I did, was reach down and scratch the bite on my lower left leg.

The rest of my day...
car ride to Wake Forest - scratched the whole time
interview with Wake Forest - scratched whenever they looked away
car ride back - scratched
laying on the couch - scratched
soccer practice - scratched whenever possible
Olive Garden - scratched

Okay.. well you get the point. Looking back on my day it reminded me of something I read by a man named Amos Lee.

"It is easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that follow it."

In other words, resist the urge to scratch it the first time, because it'll be a hundred times easier than trying to stop scratching after you started.

That might be one of the simplest ideas ever, yet it's a very powerful realization. I want you to apply it to your every day life..

I know you can think of something. So make the choice, don't even scratch it once, because you won't stop after that.

Wipe off the Glass

To make a long story short, I had a miserable freshman year of high school. To this day, about to be a senior in high school, I still haven't been able to look at it with a clear mind. It's always really biased to the depressing side.

I was at church this morning singing worship when something just clicked in me. There were truly only two things that changed from freshman year to the awesome life I'm living now.

First, perception. I have the same exact friends as I did freshman year, yet I'm so much happier now. I was really inflicting all the depression on myself. I didn't have a reason to be depressed, except for things out of my control.

I read something by this guy named Amos Lee, "Pleasure is the view of our actions." To me, that is so relieving. To me, it says we control our own happiness. We should look for pleasure only from what we control, anything out of our control that goes wrong shouldn't bother us. It's out of our control, there's nothing we can do about it.

The second thing that changed, God wasn't in my life freshman year. Scratch that, He was obviously in my life because my depression is what showed me God. He was just with me through what I thought was a one way glass wall, he could see me but I couldn't see him.

So I want you to take two things from this.

1. Never be upset over things you can't control.
2. True happiness comes through God.

Today, take the time to wipe off the glass and realize, God's been right there the whole time, you've just been ignoring him.

Pride - Good or Bad?

Tonight, hopefully girls will be able to take something away from this, but I'm writing for the guys.

A girl asked me today, "Do all guys take value in pride?" The answer is yes. Guys, whether or not we admit it, pride is a huge part of our lives.

Then she asked, "Do you think it's a bad thing?" It doesn't really matter if it's a good or bad thing, it will always be there. Unfortunately, for many guys, it is a bad thing, but it can also be an empowering thing. It all depends what we find our pride in.

What exactly is pride? It can be defined as "A sense of one's own proper dignity or value." So it's what we place our values in.

Pride is a bad thing when you find it in earthly values. Getting the girls, being the strongest, doing the hurting but never getting hurt(physically and emotionally), being well-known, and basically always putting yourself first.

Pride can always be the most empowering weapon you have if you find it in Godly values, like loving when others couldn't, forgiving when others couldn't, being assertive for the right thing when others couldn't, being honest when others couldn't. Bill Perkins put it best though, "We must find our pride in refusing to sin when sinning is most justified."

So guys, Christianity isn't about ditching our pride to serve others, it's about finding our pride in serving others. It's all perspective.

What do you find your pride in?

WWJD

We've all heard the saying, what would Jesus do? We also all know that in reality, there's no way to do any of the awesome things Jesus did. Except one thing.

Love.

So I want you to brainstorm. In today's world, what's something you could see Jesus doing?

I want it to be something possible. I'll give you an example of what I mean...

Jesus would run to the passenger door of his friend's car, not to get shotgun, but to hold the door open for another one of his friend's to get shotgun.

What would Jesus do today? But I don't want you to think about it without putting it into action. I challenge you to live out your idea the first chance you get.

So, What would Jesus do? Do it.

The Greatest Gift

Imagine you were given the greatest gift in the world, with not only the power to change lives, but save lives. There's an infinite amount of it, easily enough to save the whole world. You want to share it so bad, you do your best, but there's only so much you can do.

That's what I feel like every day. God is the greatest gift in the world, with the power to change and save lives, and there's obviously enough of God to go around. Who wouldn't want to share that?

"What is impossible with men is possible with God." -Luke 18:27

Who wouldn't want that?

How would you want to be treated?

I know you have heard the saying "treat others as you want to be treated." We always hear it. A lot of times we even try to live by it.

No, I won't lie to them, I wouldn't want to be lied to.
No, I won't steal from them, I wouldn't want to be stolen from.
No, I won't kill them, I wouldn't want my life to be taken.

Okay, that last one might be a bit extreme. But seriously, think about this for a second. If you were asked, how do you want to be treated? Would you answer, I wouldn't want to be lied to, stolen from, or killed. No. You wouldn't.

You would probably answer, I want someone to treat me like they actually care about me. What does it like to actually care about someone...

Sure, I won't lie to them, but I will be 100 percent honest with them, because I would want someone to be 100 percent honest with me.
Sure, I won't steal from them, but I will give to them, even more than they ask for, because I would want someone to give to me.
Sure, I won't kill them, but I'm gonna give them life. I'm gonna introduce them to God and His amazing love because I would want someone to do the same for me.

Like I said yesterday, with love we go big or go home. Let's take the meaning of treating others the way we would want to be treated to a whole new level. Go big.

Go Big or Go Home

I love my church, not only for the great sermons, but the rock concert that leads up to those sermons every Sunday.

Today I had one of those couples in front of me that were obviously just not feeling the music. The man just stood there awkwardly with his bible in hand, just soaking it all in.

I know how he feels, I used to be that guy. That guy that's just too cool to get into the music. The only problem with that is, is when the musics really getting to that guy. He can't deny it, but he tries. It's one of those songs everyone's clapping and screaming their lungs out, and then there's him. So he claps. It's weak. It's pitiful. But it's a clap.

Now he's just making a fool out of himself, better off jamming out or standing quietly. It's one of those things where it's obviously better to go big or go home. By the end, he realized that. He was definitely going big. He was rocking back and forth swaying with the music, I saw his girlfriend give him a strange look but that didn't hold him back one bit.

The church music is just like God's love. At first, everyone thinks their too cool for it. But once they see others enjoying it so much, jamming out with his love, they can't resist.

That's when they realize, they can't just clap, they can't just go through the motions. No, they have to go big or go home.

So they let the love live inside of them. They might get strange looks, but they don't care. They know their living out the best purpose of all. God's love is that purpose.

Tomorrow, jam out, let God's love live in you.

Make the choice, go big.

The Re-volution

I want you to think back. Think back to the beginning. Think back to Adam and Eve. Think back to the Garden. I want you to re-member our original purpose.

Humans were made like God. God is love. Love is our purpose.

Adam already broke that with the apple though, we weren't off to a good start. Since then, it's only gone down hill. Now its unnatural to find love. Now its rare to find someone who truly puts others first.

I was visiting my grandparents today, we walked over to their neighbor's to talk. That's when I saw a grave-looking cement sign. It read: Our heart is closest to God in a garden.

That's when I re-membered what my Pastor Steve told me in a conversation I had with him. He brought to mind all the re-words in the bible. Re-deem, re-concile, etc. Then he pointed out when Mary found Jesus she confused him with a gardener. He's tomb was in a garden. In Revelations, I still need to look into it, but he said it spoke of the new earth or heaven as a garden. God's clueing us in, he's giving us hints with the garden. He wants us to re-member something.

So what's re- mean? It means back. Everything God is doing, or trying to do through us, is bringing us back. To re-turn to our original purpose, love.

"Our heart is closest to God in a garden." To God, gardens symbolize our original purpose, love. Which through Jesus, and in the future of Revelations, he's attempting to bring us back to. Garden=love

Plug it in. "Our heart is closest to God in love."

God wants us to love, He made us solely for that purpose, and since He truly loves us He gives us free will. Let's not take advantage of that.

Let us re-member our original purpose, let us start a re-volution. Let us love.

Can't Escape It

When I ride in the car I always have to listen to music. Doesn't matter how long or how short the ride is, I'm all about music in the car. Usually I'll hook up my iTouch into the auxiliary jack and listen to whatever I'm feeling at the time, which lately has only been Christian music.

I'm gonna be honest, I'm really struggling with God lately. Ironically enough, my friend just texted me with a cool bible verse. I went to pick up my bible and check it out, I can't find my bible. Wow. I think the only thing keeping me close to Him at all is listening to my Christian music.

I hopped in the car for about a three minute ride to my friend's house. I wasn't feeling the iTouch, so I went to first mode FM. I went through every single preset, all commercials. No problem, those were just some of my favorite channels to listen to when I don't have someone controlling my music, like classic rock and some country.

I turn to second mode FM, the one with all rap for my friends when they hop into my car. First preset, commercial. Second preset, commercial. Third and fourth, both commercials.

I press the fifth preset, it's music. Christian music.

Remember, God's always right next to you, even when you think you're at your farthest.

Taking the Credit

Today is was my first official high school soccer practice of the season. Coach gave us a drill, he hid five dollars somewhere and he gave us hints to where the money was hidden.

I was just walking around with my teammate Michael when he picked up a sandbag and looked under. Only, he didn't look far enough under. I was a little behind him so I had a better view of under the bag to see the five dollar bill folded up right there. I picked it up, laughed at him, thanked him, then went over to coach and took all the credit.

We do that to God all the time. God moves mountains for us so we can find the pot of gold at the end. Yet, when we find that pot of gold, we take all the credit for it. When in reality, God gave us that gold.

Tonight, I challenge you to think about everything you have in your life, every single thing, it was all because God gave it to you. Give the credit to who deserves it.

I read somewhere God gives us all our unique gifts, but our gift to God is what we do with them.

The American Dream

What's your idea of the American Dream?

I bet it's something like working a good job, having a happy marriage with a couple of kids, a big house with a fenced in yard and big screens tvs with surround sound systems.

In learning some about international poverty and reading the book Acts of Faith by Philip Caputos, I noticed one common theme. Everyone over seas may despise America because we are so selfish and self-centered, but they respect us. They respect us for the American can-do attitude. We believe anything is possible.

That might be the best trait to have. The only flaw with that trait, isn't in the trait itself, but what it's used for.

God's greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. For some reason, we shrug that off as being impossible, while we believe a homeless man can become a millionaire in the span of a couple years.

I'd like us to start a revolution. I'd like us to change the idea of an American Dream. I'd like us to make the American Dream to truly understand and live out the meaning of loving our neighbors as ourselves.

And I'd like us to use our American can-do attitude to make all of that make the new American Dream become American reality.

The Martian

I was watching a movie today but I can't remember the name. It was about a man that adopted a very odd little boy from an orphanage, the boy believed he was from Mars.

His new dad went through so much work and counseling to try and convince him otherwise. Finally his dad was very upset with him and the boy asked, "Is it good to be like everybody else?" Then it went to the next scene.

We live in a society where many times we are convinced it's good to be like everybody else. Many times when we discuss our faith with non-believers we get looks like were telling them we think we're from another planet.

We can't let it stop us though, Matthew 5:10 says "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

I believe that genuiness can set the world free. Free from the restraints of conforming. Free from the restraints of tunnel vision perspectives.

But most of all, free from the restraints on the uniqueness that God has given each and everyone of us to live out His greatest purpose, love.

Procrastination

I am a terrible procrastinator. In fact, the reason why I don't have time to tell you my procrastination story of the day is because I put off so much until tonight, the last night before freshmen orientation.

Procrastination is always a bad things, but when it affects our relationship with God, it must be stopped.

In my Latin class everyone put Latin homework last on the priority list, so many times they would come in and tell Mr.M, sorry I was up til 2 o'clock last night doing my other homework so I didn't have time. He'd reply, "Well if you were up til 2 o'clock last night doing your homework, why couldn't you stay up just another five minutes to do your latin?"

It's the same way with God.

"Sorry God, creator of the universe, it's 3 o'clock in the morning and I've had so much homework tonight, so I will just wait and talk to you tomorrow."

If you were up til 3 o'clock anyway, why not stay up another five minutes to spend time with God. Would another five minutes be the reason why you have huge bags under your eyes tomorrow or are you gonna have them anyway?

Living God-centered

I want to share an idea with you that my lead singer at church gave us today.

He prayed that we change our perspectives, to change them in the way that we take ourselves out of the center, with everything revolving around us, and put God in the center.

There's a couple problems with having ourselves in the middle.

Imagine yourself in the middle with everything and everyone else as an asteroid belt around you. In this perspective, everyone around you is inferior to you and they all depend on your movements. If that's true, it's impossible to love our neighbor as ourself, which is the greatest commandment of the bible.

Secondly, if everything revolves around you, God does too. That means God is just another asteroid following your every movement. The God that created the universe, and He depends on your every move, I don't think that's a good way to live.

If we put God in the middle, we realize that we are just another asteroid. We depend on God's every movement. We are equal to every other asteroid in the fact that we are all there solely for His purposes. And if we are equal to every other asteroid, it's possible to love one another as we would love ourselves.

So does the world and the God who created it revolve around you, or do you revolve around God?

What It's Like

One of my favorite songs is called What It's Like by Everlast. The whole song just gives you situations where people typically come to quick assumptions of someone. Then they give you the other side of the story, finally it says, "And then you really might know what it's like."

I came to that bittersweet realization today. I'll give you the situation.

Doorbell rings, I'm not expecting anyone. I run upstairs to my parent's bedroom in the top corner of the house, from here I have a great view of the doorstep. Very stealthily, I pull open one of the blinds and look out. It's a stranger. No need to answer, they're just one of those annoying door to door people trying to steal some of my money.

I can almost guarantee you that you've also done that at some point.

Well today, my friend and I went door to door offering to disinfect and deodorize trash cans and recycling carts. We were raising money for our school's FCA and Miracle League, a baseball league for kids affected by special needs. I'd consider that a worthy cause, but unforunately no one would know that because they looked out the window and saw two bothersome teenagers they didn't recognize.

Lucky enough, we got a lot of the money we needed from our neighbors that answered the door because they recognized us. Then they hear the cause, let us do the work for them and offer the donations.

It was so frustrating how obviously we were being avoided. If only people would take the time to listen to us.

That's why from now on, I'll at least answer the door and see if it's a worthy cause. It reminded me of one of the simplest sayings, treat others the way you want to be treated.

If people lived by that one saying, there would be no trouble in loving. We all love ourselves first and foremost, no matter if we'd admit to it or not.

And just in case you forgot, the greatest commandment in the bible is to love your neighbor as you would love yourself.

So whenever you're confused how to love the person across from you, imagine yourself in his shoes, how would you want to be treated?