Live for Jesus

So I must say from the beginning that my mind has been going on this idea for a while now. It most likely will come out a little more harshly than hoped as it may seem like it has come from nowhere but here we go...

(Disclaimer: Many who read this truly love Jesus and do their best to live for Him. This is not for you. Its for the rest of you.)

I wonder sometimes how in the world everyone I know calls themselves a Christian yet very few of them care about Jesus, His people (the church), or those who don't know Jesus yet. They show no concern for his laws, feel no remorse for their sins, and have no desire to study God's Word.

They make silly statements like "God forgives but I don't" (Matt. 6:14-15) or "God doesn't look at the bad I do but only the good" (Isaiah 64:6). They party and live like hell and then show up on Sunday at church and believe they have done their "Christian duty".

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

I fully believe that in my church that at least half would go to hell if they died today.  And that is the people who go to church! What about those who just claim to be a Christian? "Their parents were Christians or they walked an aisle when they were little. That works doesn't it?" NO.

1 John 3:9 "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been borne of God."

In Luke 6:44 Jesus says that we are judged by the fruit of our lives meaning that if we really loved Jesus we would live like Jesus. But if we really love to sin then we will keep on sinning. That's why Jesus said in Matthew 6:24 that "No one can serve two masters". 

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO LOVE JESUS AND LOVE SIN.

I am not talking about perfect... but people who live with a blatant disregard for Jesus and His standards for living CANNOT be saved.  There must be something in them (THE HOLY SPIRIT) that convicts when they sin.

You may ask, "Well how do you know that Scott?" Because when I sin I feel the Holy Spirit beating me up and putting my stomach in knots until I make it right with God and whoever I offended. The same Holy Spirit that lives in me lives in every believer of Jesus Christ.

We claim Christianity as a national religion of some sort. "I was born in America. Of course I am a Christian." Christianity is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that has nothing to do with America. Too many people have been fooled with arrogance and pride that Satan has spoonfed them for so long that they don't even recognize their need for a Savior and have no brokenness over their sin. We better wake up! If you call yourself a Christian (follower of Jesus Christ) then live like Him. Quit living like a baby not knowing what is right and wrong. Grow up in your faith and get it together. (Hebrews 5:11-6:3)

I love the Lord. I love His people. I want people to see the most accurate picture of Jesus Christ as they possibly can. That depends on us to be "Christ's ambassadors" (2 Cor. 5:20). I represent Jesus to this world. You represent Jesus to this world. It is our privilege to do that.

Simply put, if you and I are not interested in representing Jesus Christ to this world and to one another then we have no business calling ourselves followers of Jesus.

I am not speaking as one who has figured it out... I just know we (including me) have got to do better.

Philippians 3:12 "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus."

Season of Blessings

I want to first of all admit that I am a terrible blogger. I am inconsistent as can be.  But this is something I committed to so I am going to limp through this. (:

Right now in my life I feel like I am going through a season of incredible blessings.  Before I go too far though please let me define blessing.  It is NOT getting nice clothes, making more money, a better job, a new vehicle, or anything like that.  That is a very superficial way of seeing "blessings" in life. Blessings are not material or earthly possessions that will grow old and rust out.  A blessing is seeing the hand of God at work in the lives of people around you.  That is what a blessing is.  A blessing is eternal, always built around relationships that lift up others, always showing off Jesus.

So now that I have defined what a blessing is let me share some of the blessings I have in life right now (or ways that I am seeing God work in the lives of people all around).  First of all, I have seen the incredible woman that chose to marry me transformed in two major areas of her life... service and discipline.  Amber is an AMAZING woman and has always had great discipline and a desire to help others but she has always shared with me that these are areas of struggle for her.  God has changed that.  This woman is reading her Bible every day, working out 3 times a week, monitoring her diet, and praying for people.  She is showing discipline! She has also been serving others and especially me by taking care of things at home, with finances, and so much more.  It is a blessing to see God work in her life.

With others also it has been one blessing after another.  My sister Jo Lynn is going to be a missionary to NYC this year! 6 of our graduated seniors from CBC are going to Ghana in three weeks to share the love of Jesus! The students in the ministry at CBC are going crazy for Jesus.  In fact, God is using them to push my limits of serving Him.  We had 17 people who just went and served the ETBE staff without any push from me at all and they worked hard.  We have 30 people going to the Mission Centers of Houston Sunday with almost HALF of them being BOYS!  I saw one of our senior guys last week at junior high camp teaching 5 junior high boys late at night in his bunk with his Bible open what it means to be a follower of Jesus.  I saw an incoming 9th grade girl willingly step away from her closest friends for a week to be Jesus to some girls in our group she didn't know that well.  I saw my brother-in-law stand before 300 people praying over them before they entered a worship service.  I don't even know this guy anymore.  I saw a good friend last night at a worship service with hands raised high like he didn't care if anyone else was in the building worshipping God.  I don't think I have even scratched the surface of some of the blessings in my life but this at least gets the point across.  GOD IS ALIVE! GOD IS WORKING!

So here I stand in the midst of ALL of these blessings.  I am completely underserving of God showing himself to me.  I am unworthy of being around so many incredible people (especially my Amber).  Yet because God is a good God he sees fit to show himself to me.  God has lavished his grace and love on me (Ephesians 1:7-8).

Why don't more people see what this life is all about?  Why is it that so many people can only see themselves in the midst of all of these needs and opportunities to show people Jesus?  Why is it that so many "Christians" do not live for Jesus? Maybe they don't know the Word or even worse, maybe they don't care?  Maybe they are afraid to trust Him?  Maybe they have never seen a clear picture of who Jesus really is?  I am fully convinced that this life is not about me.  I am willing to lay down my life, pick up the life Jesus has for me and follow Him. (Luke 9:23)

"In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not say good-bye to all his possessions cannot be My disciple." Luke 14:33

Don't serve American Jesus.  Serve the Jesus of the Bible!

What God has taught me thus far

Today marks more or less the halfway point of my summer. Because I absolutely cram my summer full of awesome stuff God seems to use this season each year to teach me some great truths about Him. This year has been really neat because I feel like their have been two things that really stick out so far. The first is this (I shared this in detail a while back on a Wednesday night if you want to hear my podcast... Centralbaptistbuna.org). As I was saying, the first is this: When I chose to submit my life to Jesus I chose to always say yes. For 16 years of my life as a follower of Jesus I have been so arrogant as to believe that I actually have the choice of whether or not I am going to follow what He wants me to do or not. Now ultimately I do have the choice but really??? Let's review Genesis 1. God spoke and the world was created. God spoke and water was formed. God spoke and land shot up from the ground to form mountains. God spoke and trees were formed. God spoke and each animal was made. God spoke and Adam was given life. In case you are a little slow (like I was for 16 years) God spoke and what was nothing obeyed and became something! Let's continue our review with some Old Testament heroes. God told Abraham to take his family and start walking without knowing where he would end up... And Abraham obeyed. God told Abraham to kill his son and he obeyed. Again God told Abraham to stop before he killed his son and he obeyed. Noah: Noah built the biggest boat the world may have ever seen in the middle of a desert! Why? Because God told him to. Let's continue with Jesus, God in human form. Jesus spoke and Lazerus, who was dead, came back to life. Jesus spoke and the wind and waves (hurricane style) stopped immediately. Jesus spoke and a demon possessed girl was given her life. Jesus spoke and nature, sickness, and even death obeys! (teaching point coming next) And I, the great and mighty Scott Hawk, really think that I have the choice to obey if I want to. I do have a choice but in comparison with who I am answering to do I really have a choice? After all, I said yes to following Jesus. God didn't make me. Let me clarify... I am not talking about this "God will strike me dead if I don't do what he says" fear induced followship of Jesus Christ. I am talking about a right understanding of the holiness and shear awesomeness of God in comparison to me. It's not a "have to" followship but a "want to". So that's kind of a big deal for me because that means I am always (admittedly imperfect) going to say yes to Jesus. I have always said yes when it fit my plan and my comfort zone. But now it's ALWAYS. ALWAYS. Always forgive. Always love. Always be patient. Always speak the truth in love. Say yes when Jesus tells me to give. Yes when He tells me to witness. Yes when He tells me to shut up. Yes when he tells me to pray. Yes when he tells me to stop. Yes when I feel like it and when I don't. I say yes to following Jesus. After all, isn't that what Luke 9:23 is all about? "If anyone wants to follow me he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." The second truth that God is teaching me will have to come tomorrow due to the length of this post.

Day 6 of SL Staff

Day 3 of camp has been another amazing day. It has been a day of personal challenge filled with opportunities to serve others in Jesus' name. The day began with our staffers having the opportunity to be Jesus' hands and feet by waking up extra early and setting up the rec field so the Rec staff of Student Life would not have to. We were out on the rec field at 6:15 am and had the entire two fields set up in 30 minutes! Basically, our kids did work! Our verse of encouragement this morning was found in Colossians 1:29, "I work hard, striving with God's power working powerfully in me." It was definitely the power of God that gave us such great attitudes of service and love this morning. Every one of our students were working hard and clearly wanted to be there. That was amazing. We then had breakfast and staff devo pretending like nothing happened only to surprise them later. They were so excited. Showing God's love is always rewarding. The staff devo this morning personally challenged me. We have been walking through the story of Joseph. He has taught the heck out of Genesis 37! It is amazing how much I overlook when I read scripture. I have been reading to complete and not reading for change. That must change. My heart must change. God spoke to me through this and taught me that I have become content with certain sins in my life so much so that it doesn't even bother me. That bothers me (: But God is growing me and teaching me what it means to submit ALL of me to Him each day. We had a great day and then we went into our church's own Bible study that we decided to do with our free time and studied 3 verses in Colossians 2 that lasted an hour and a half. Now that was some great Bible study! I cannot say how impressed I am with our students. I would love to share their stories of faith, service, and fellowship right now but I am worn out. That will have to wait until Friday. What I can say is that I have never seen Jesus more visibly displayed in a collective group than our group of 14. There is no pride in that statement... Only gratitude.  I said that I would share my lack of faith story tonight. I will share that tomorrow or in a post later tonight. Just know that God has shown me a lack of faith this summer in what I believed was possible in two specific situations. God is huge and cannot be boxed in by me. Obey God. It's worth it!

Day 5 of SL Staff

We have just completed Day 2 of Student Life Camp and day 5 of our Staffing trip and I am absolutely exhausted! (: But I must admit that I have unexplainable energy and desire to keep growing, serving, and loving. I miss my wife dearly but her constant words of encouragement and affirmation along with her prayers remind me of my purpose and calling. I miss my church home and the regular schedule I have but also have been reminded that I am called to go and serve others and therefore am truly exactly where God wants me. Overall, I am a worn-out and tired, 100% committed, running on Jesus energy guy right now and I love it. This week we have been reminding one another to step out of our comfort zones and see what else God has for us. I am included in that challenge and it has been tough but rewarding. I believe that God did not allow Amber to come on this trip so he could grow me up. In the past I have deferred responsibility to others (especially Amber) in making major decisions. I am learning to make choices this week. I am praying that they are the right ones. I also feel like the camp pastor has been watching my personal life and then wrote a sermon for me on what God wants differently. The first that is obvious to me is PRIDE. Yes I have an unhealthy amount of pride. Pride is the enemy of God being able to work in my life. He wants total submission. That's a tough word for us tough Texans. The second thing I am learning is the art of REST. I honestly never stop. Everyone that I trust tells me constantly that I need to slow down. My problem is thank justify my pace by the importance of what I am doing... Making disciples is pretty important right? Mark 4 and 6 both speak of Jesus dragging his disciples away to rest. If Jesus, in his short time on earth, found time to rest then I do not have a choice. Our students: WOW. I can honestly say that I have never been more impressed with a total group than this week. They have truly shown that Jesus is real in their lives. Colossians 1:7 speaks about the life of a follower of Jesus bearing good fruit. They are living this verse out. Continue to pray for strength (Colossians 1:29) and determination along with patience and love. I am looking forward to sharing more about a personal battle of a lack of faith battle that I have experienced soon on my blog. It's pretty awesome how God works. Thanks for reading and sharing life with me.

SL Staff Travel/Team building days

What a wonderful two days we have had traveling to Tennessee and enjoying the fellowship of other Followers of Jesus! Thursday a group of 14 people from Central Baptist Church headed out at 3 am to Cleveland, Tennessee for 9 days of a leadership mission trip. We traveled through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and even a small part of Georgia to arrive at our destination. It took us 15 hours plus the loss of an hour due to a change in time zones before we arrived at our destination at 7:00 p.m. After getting some dinner we sat down and talked about expectations for the trip. One thing I told the kids that I expected from them was to grow in their faith and skills by stepping out of their comfort zone. I would boldly say that God has done his greatest work in my life when I get away from comfort and step into a world of discomfort. It requires me to depend on God and others which in turn shapes me to be more like Jesus. Please pray this for me. Today we woke up and the guys had the privilege of cooking breakfast for the girls to start our day (another thing we talked about in our expectations talk was outdoing one another in showing honor (Romans 12:10 on you)). After a great meal we enjoyed a morning devotion and then started our day. We went whitewater rafting first. This was AMAZING! It began our team building day on the right foot which was all about building relationships that fostered love and kindness with one another. I believe that is best done through accomplishing difficult things together. Whitewater rafting fit the bill perfectly. After dividing up into two teams we were able to enjoy rafting. I was in the boat with Jaeci and Casey, who both sat up front, Chris, Sara, Katelyn, and Aaren. We had a blast and will laugh for a long time about what we got to do. We then got cleaned up and headed to our next activity which was the "Zipline Aerial Adventure". This was great! We got to go to new heights together as a group (cheesy, I know). We really did enjoy it though. We then drove to the top of Lookout Mountain and enjoyed a Starbucks drink and a beautiful view of God's creation before heading back for the night to our cabins. I am enjoying building relationships with many leaders in our student ministry. My hope and prayer is that God uses these moments to positively effect the lives of our church and community. I pray they learn how to live for Jesus more and to lead others to do the same. God is good.

Terrific Tuesday!

I admit that blogging is something I thoroughly enjoy doing because I gain do much encouragement from the messages sent, conversations had, etc that seem to always be exactly what I need. But I am still a guy and we don't always enjoy reflecting on our feelings and the ups an downs of our day. This is why there is some inconsistency in my blogging. Nevertheless I shall continue forward. Yesterday may be one of my favorite days of the entire summer (although that's totally impossible to really judge but it does make the point that yesterday was awesome). I had the privilege of going to Newton to ETBE with another guy named Scott and Austin, our youth intern. We planned to help with a special needs camp coming in and to love on our 7 students working there. We did get to spend some time with our students but it wa absolutely nothing like we had planned. I hoped to work side by side all day with them and encourage them. God had other plans. I don't know if you have ever felt like God specifically put you in a place to meet a specific need in someone's life but that is exactly what happened. The camp for special needs kids officially starts Wednesday and they were in great need of having a handicapped ramp built. I fully believe that God sent us to the camp to build a ramp. I know God uses us each day but it just was so clear to me yesterday. Awesome! We built a 16 foot ramp four feet wide so now our handicapped students can access the gift shop! I will say that I have very few building skills but God provided Scott and Austin and between the three of us (mainly with Scott's skills) we were able to lay out a plan, set posts, build a frame, cut deck boards, nail deck boards, and build the handrails. I really felt proud of the way things went. We were also able to encourage our students there. We gave them all big hugs upon arrival and enjoyed time with them an then were privileged to have lunch with each of them. When we were ready to leave we visited and laughed with several also. As always, they bring me so much joy, encouragement, laughter, and remind me that ministry makes a difference. Each of them have been shaped by spiritual influences in their lives (family, close friends, Sunday school teachers, etc.) which have brought them to a point where they love Jesus so much that they would choose to sacrifice a whole summer growing in faith and service to share Jesus with people on another continent. If you didn't know, this is one proud (good pride) youth minister! That evening we had a small group play ultimate frisbee. All of the students except Katie were junior high age. This was a great blessing because I don't know them as well and it gave me opportunity to build relationships that will last for years to come. To end our time Tabi shared the story of how she came to know Jesus with the entire group. She shared that God uses the Micah Tyler Band leading worship to lead her to Jesus. Wow! I had no idea that was her story. I believe that God uses our stories to impact the lives of others. To top off the entire day I got to sit down with my beautiful wife and her little brother, Kolby, only to hear one of the coolest stories of faith and trust in God I have ever heard. God is really working in Kolby's life. I won't ruin his story... It's not mine to tell. Catch him one day and ask him what God has done in his life this summer. Just be ready for God to change you when you listen. Terrific Tuesday!

Wednesday Update

This morning Amber, Austin, and I had the privilege of going to Mom and Dad's church, FBC Silsbee, to help with their Vacation Bible School. Momma asked me to share the plan of salvation again this year on their ABC day. I absolutely love this opportunity! Today I shared three different times a very simple illustration of the gospel. I don't know how many committed their lives to Jesus today but I do know that God spoke to the hearts of many kids today. I am thankful to be used as a tool of God. We then traveled to Casa Ole for lunch and enjoyed a meal with my family. Following that, I got to relax some with a newfound friend, Jeff Martin, playing some basketball on Xbox. Yes, I know it seems a bit childish but it is nice from time to time to just relax and hang out. From there Austin and I went to the church to get ready for VBS where I truly believe God tested me after I had a wonderful day and I failed miserably. Scripture teaches me that God allows trials into my life to grow me. It's great to read in scripture but difficult to live out. My attitude must change. I must work to be more like Jesus. I am not "good enough". I must continue to battle 1 Corinthians 9:27 style. After a late but great night I hope to go and love on some of our students at ETBE tomorrow. Finding time to do it all is tough but it is worth it. I miss those kids yet I couldn't be more proud of them. Getting to meet Joey Romero tonight, their Ghana trip leader, really got me excited about what God is sound in their lives all summer long. I hope each year we send that many students from our student ministry to do God's work. God is good.

What an amazing Sunday! / VBS

I would honestly say that I truly enjoyed this past Sunday.  The morning time brought an opportunity to encourage two of our seniors with the story of Jeremiah, a prophet who struggled with his calling in life.  Often times when I read of men and women in the Bible I feel like I just don't measure up. But I measure up with Jeremiah just fine.  Called by God to bring a hard truth to the Israelites Jeremiah struggled and questioned if he was really doing what he should be doing.  He even got to a point where he felt it would have been better if he would have never even been born.  I am no Paul, no Peter, no John the Baptist, no Moses, Esther, or Ruth.  I can definitely identify with Jeremiah though.  This life is tough!  There is so much pressure, so much temptation, and so many "right" things to always be doing.  There are so many books to read, so many trips to take, and so many people to minister to.  I feel like at times I am simply juggling all of life.  When I am taking care of my family well I feel like I am slipping at the church.  When I am on top of things at the church I feel like I am missing time with my family.  Even at church when I am doing a good job of ministering to our students I feel like I am missing out on our elderly or the other way around.  I know how Jeremiah feels.  But there is one verse in the book of Jeremiah that I am holding on to... "If I say, 'I won't mention God or speak any longer in His name,' His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones. I become tired of holding it in, and I cannot prevail."  No matter how much I struggle (James 1:2-3) I must persevere because the cause of Christ burns deep within me like a fire.  I cannot hold it in!  I will press on toward what Jesus has called me and my family to do!  Pray for Amber and I right now.
In the morning worship service I was able to lead a young man, now 4th grade, to Jesus who had been talking with his family for weeks about it.  His name is Nick.  This is an amazing story because both of his older brothers, Reid and John, have both come to know Jesus in 2012.  Reid got saved at Hot Hearts and John got saved at the Ken Freeman Revival.  Reid told me a couple months ago that John reads his Bible every day.  There is no doubt in my mind that Nick saw the difference Jesus has made in his older brother's lives and the Holy Spirit drew Nick to God through that.  Amazing!
Later that evening, after setting up for VBS, we had around 20 people playing Ultimate Frisbee at the high school practice field since there was no church that evening.  After two hours of playing my cousin, Austin Hill, shared his story of how he came to know Jesus.  A fun night turned in to an evangelism night just like that.  I promised myself that I would take more opportunities to share Jesus with people.  That was the first step.  God used that testimony in some students' lives and I can't wait to see how (if God allows me to).
Yesterday night at VBS we had an amazing time.  There were 180 kids and 111 workers on our opening night.  That means that 300 people came together to talk about how amazing Jesus is!  For some reason that is pretty exciting.  God gets the glory but I must say that Amber Stark, Amber Harris, and Ginger Gomez along with many others have done an incredible job in preparing for this week.  Last night went by effortlessly due to all of the preparation by those ladies.  I am thankful for their faithfulness.  Praise God!
Looking forward to tomorrow as I share the gospel of Jesus Christ to the students at First Baptist Silsbee. Then hopefully Austin and I will be heading to ETBE to help serve for a day on Thursday. Philippians 1:9-11.

Tough Saturday

Today started out just wonderful but ended up being a hard day. Amber and I got up around 9 am and dd a little garage sale shopping. Although we weren't looking for anything in particular we both enjoy doing it. It is something we get to do together and it makes us laugh a lot. We didn't find anything but didn't really care. We then had the chance to have lunch with my family and Austin at Casa Ole after helping then for a few minutes with their VBS backdrop (it looks great by the way). Afterwards we went to Amber's parents home and spent some time with her family and Josh. We hung out, laughed, and I had a great cup of coffee. That is when I got a phone call from my pastor informing me that a longtime faithful church member had suddenly and unexpectedly passed away this afternoon. He came from Beaumont immediately and we went to their home to be there for them. Wow. I am 26, have no experience in these situations, and have absolutely NO words to say to help this man who just lost his wife. I have never lost anyone even remotely close to me except my granny who died of Alzheimer's and by the time she died we were all at peace after seeing her suffer for so long. But I care about him and hate to see him suffer. So, I go and follow my pastor's lead. I hug his neck and shed tears. I hear him share how he found her and have her CPR trying to bring her back to life in the minutes that must have seemed like hours until the bulance arrived. After staying for a couple of hours and praying with the family I walk away with the same question everyone has... Why? She was a good person... Why her? She really loved God... Why her? I don't pretend to have answers or act like I know. I am probably supposed to but I don't. I can only hurt with the family and encourage them with scriptures of God's love and plans for our lives that are better than what the world has to offer. From there I traveled with Amber and Georgia to support Emily Jacobs in a weekend spiritual retreat called Chrysalis in Port Arthur. We sang songs of praise to God and prayed for her. We then had a chance to see her and those moments will stay with her for a long time. They did for me when I went on that retreat. Tomorrow is the first opportunity Amber and I have to see our ETBE seniors. I am really pumped! Someone gave a $3,000 gift to their Ghana Mission trip last week from our Church! WOW! We thank God for that gift. We still have to reach $10,500 which is a lofty goal but I believe anything is possible with God. Thanks for sharing this summer journey with me.

Counting my blessings

Yesterday was an incredible day. I have so many things and so many people to be thankful for. My day started a little late (still recovering from camp exhaustion :). But around noon I met up with two young men for lunch at Faustos. After visiting with them for about an hour they went over to Ms. Waldene Scott's home, an elderly lady in our church family, to cut her grass and spend time visiting and praying with her. They did a magnificent job! It was really cool to me because at lunch they were telling me that they love to help others when no one knows because it makes them feel like they are doing it for God. THEY GOT IT! I could not be more proud of them. Later on Thursday I had the privilege of having Bible study with two young men and my wife. We watched the first part of four DVDs over the life of King David. Talking with Amber and two young men about Jesus and figuring out this life of faith God has called us to was just awesome. This morning I had the opportunity to help my bib sister make a video for a mission opportunity she had in New York City. If you woul like to help her by praying or giving I know she would be appreciative. It is so cool to see a member of my family choosing Christ over what this world has to offer. Then I got to visit with my mom about VBS next week at her church. I have the awesome privilege of sharing the plan of salvation on Wednesday for them. Mom wants those kids to love Jesus more than anything. I have a wonderful heritage of faith. After that I was heading to Houston to pick up my cousin from Seattle, Austin Hill (whom you will hear much about this summer), when my father-in-law called and said he was going to take care of Austin so I could get some other stuff done. What a blessing! Austin is going to be out summer intern at the church. His story of coming to Jesus is just incredible. Two years ago he had never read a verse in the Bible. Today he is saved, baptized, and interning for our student ministry. WOW! With that time I now had I was able to accomplish some things for upcoming camps and visit with a long time friend and member of the Micah Tyler Band, Daniel Begnaud. Catching up with him an what God is doing in their ministry is awesome. I came home to find that our next door neighbor, Craig, had mowed our grass just because he knew we had been busy. Blessing! Now I am heading to Beaumont for an award ceremony for Amber. A few of her editorial pieces were entered into a competition and she was invited to this dinner hopefully to accept an award. She is so incredibly talented. 9 months ago she had NO journalism experience and now she is going to be an award winning journalist. (What is she doing with a guy like me?) Today I count my blessings. The family and friends I am surrounded by encourage me in so many ways. Thank you God.

Final Youth Camp Update

Monday, Day 4 of camp, was just awesome. It was raining when we woke up but quickly cleared up to be an absolutely beautiful day. Adam Robinson, our camp speaker for the week, continued to teach God's Word effectively during morning celebration. We had indoor rec due to the rain and enjoyed a good lunch. Our free time was great because we got to play something called Bazooka Ball as a church family. It is basically nerf paintball. We had so much fun shooting and chasing one another! Shae Lynn and Madison shot me multiple times knocking me out of the games. I did get Madison back one time as I made her surrender after sneaking up on her only to shoot her in the end. (: It was so much fun! We also had a 4 person scooter race around a small race track in which Jacob, Coach Martin, Mr. David, and myself participated. After Mr. David wiped out twice, coach Martin once, and Jacob being disqualified I cruised through the finish line (see Facebook for photo). On a spiritual note, that night during our evening service many students and adults were convicted of "staying in the boat" as the disciples did unlike Peter. I always viewed Peter as a failure in that story when in all actuality he was the only disciple that really got it. Jesus wants us to do what Jesus does. Jesus was walking on water therefore Peter wanted to. Because Peter sank doesn't make him a failure. Often times I see myself as one of the other disciples. Yes I follow Jesus. Yes God uses me. But am I afraid to fail? And do I have the right view of success and failure? Success is following Jesus even if I don't win in the eyes of the world. It was a tough night for sure for me. Any time the Holy Spirit works it is tough. It is always good but tough. Another interesting spiritual moment was when three of our soon to be seniors came and asked for prayer. They are going to be great leaders this year but were afraid. They were afraid they would not measure up to some of our young ladies who graduated last year. It was a great teaching moment. God doesn't want them to be like last year's leaders. God wants them to be them. During church group time it was so great to hear how many of our students were able to share what God had taught them this week. Some spoke of developing leadership skills, another shared her calling to preach, still another to forgive her parents, others to be disciplined in the faith. God truly worked in the lives of our students! Tuesday we left camp at 10:30 am and drove for nearly 14 hours arriving in Buna at 1:00 am on Wednesday morning. Our students and adults travel so well together! They were truly a blessing to be with all week. Our students are definitely growing in faith in Jesus! Wednesday, I slept until 1:00 pm and then napped another hour. Bro. Gene Hardy preached Wednesday and Jordy Cagle led worship. Gene compared Judas and Peter in their response to sin in their lives and challenged us to follow Peter's example in showing immediate repentance in times when we recognize our sin. We remembered to pray for our upcoming VBS, our seniors at ETBE, our staffing trip to Tennessee, and our junior high youth campers, and Emily Jacobs as she attends Chrysalis tomorrow.

SLC Day 2/3

I would like to aplogize for missing a couple of days in my blog. I left off with an update after night one of camp. This is my attempt at explaining days 2 and 3 of camp. The second day of camp was tough for me personally. I felt like I missed two big opportunities to reach out and minister to two of our people. I hate it when I don't recognize or respond fast enough when God tells me to do something. I want to be right in step with what God is doing. We did get to play basketball during our free time with several of our students and leaders Jeff Martin and Kolby Baxter. My team (KBax, Trav, muself and two others) lost 16-14 in the first game to Coach Martin, Jaeci Dans, Justin Smith, and a couple others but then came back to win the next one 15-12. Due to time we were not able to play a third game so we had to go to aggregate scoring which put us ahead by one point. We also had a great night of worship. God is just so big and so good to us. Sunday, day 3 of camp, had been my favorite day by far. The others have been awesome but day 3 has been the best. That is because people were responding to Jesus the best! The day went great, played farkle and hung out during free time, did the aqua jump, and got dressed up for worship. God told me right before thr worship service that the night would be about healing and that is exactly what happened. God spoke to my heart and healed my heart of something Amber and I have struggled with this year and then I got to hear from the kids. One student was struggling with an improper dating relationship and God healed their heart from that. Another was struggling with holding grudges against their dad and God healed them of that. Another was dealing with the fact that she felt unworthy to be used by God because of sin in their life and God healed their heart. Still three others were dealin with the fact that they didn't feel they could measure up as seniors to those who have come before them. They felt they couldn't fill their shoes and God healed them of that. Those are only the ones I was privileged to see! God is amazing! Then I come in to our dorm around 1:00 am to find three guys I am rooming with talking about what God is doing in their lives and asking some really tough questions about real faith. Just amazing. Another thing that God showed me on day 3 is that everything in life that we do or say sends a message to those around us. I had an opportunity to encourage two of our most awesome students by reminding them that we are to be examples of Christ no matter where we are or who they are. 1 Corinthians 11:1 rang true in my ears at that moment. Day 4 is goin great and will report more on the happenings and heartaches and joys of a youth minister.

SLC Trip - Opening day of camp

Today we arrived at Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center in Talladega, Alabama after visiting the Talladega Super Speedway. I am not a NASCAR fan at all but absolutely loved the tour of the race track and the motor sports hall of fame! It was very cool. Wr arrived at camp today at 12:30 and then we went through the registration process and the always fun time of unloading luggage. We had orientation at 3:00 and got to meet our camp pastor, Adam Robinson, and worship leader, Chuck Hooten. They are awesome! Adam is high strung and Chuck is laid back and funny. He has a hippie feel to his music but we all decided we love it. I managed to squeeze in a few games of football, basketball, and a round of putt putt in with the guys before worship. Now we can get to the good stuff. I just felt like God was going to do something big tonight and I believe He did. We had an incredible time of worship that left me crying on my knees for teo reasons: 1. My heart is broken for our students. I feel like many of them are coasting. God is never ok with that. He is a pedal to the metal God. I want them to want Jesus. I want them to want to know God. I believe there is a certain level of spiritual apathy in our group that I am absolutely done with. These students will guide our student ministry for the upcoming year. I need them to get moving. 2. I just had 4 of the best kids I have known in student ministry graduate. 3 of them were AMAZING leaders. I will never know another group of students like them. They are one of a kind. It scares me to think of doing ministry without them. I leaned on them hard and will always have those friendships. They were at every mission project, youth trip, and spent so much time at our house and ate so much of our food. I care about them deeply. But God told me he has raised up others to lead. As plain as day God told me to tell one young lady that "It's ok. You can be who God wants you to be." She is going to be an amazing leader for Jesus when she decides. God told me to tell another young lady, "Its time. You have been preparing for this through studying, praying and serving. It's your turn to lead." God is going to use her to move mountains. Pray with me that God would raise up young men to take the challenge of leading out in their faith through service, love, and studying God's Word. God has them ready. They just have to get to that place. Philippians 3:7-14 God is good!

SLC Alabama - Day 1

Today has been truly amazing for the simple fact that I woke up in Buna and am laying down to sleep near Birmingham, Alabama. That is almost 9 hours away for the record. After waking up at 4 am (with only 3 hours of sleep) we met at the church at 5:00 am to head to Alabama. It was a pleasant surprise to see a church family member, Terry Yeates, at the church simply to pray with us for God's blessing on our trip. He was coming home from work and decided to stop in. It truly is the little things in life that make the biggest difference. After he prayed for our group we took off. We stopped on Lafayette for breakfast at Chick-Fil-A and then in Hattiesburg for lunch at McAlister's Deli. We made great time the whole trip which i give credit to God for giving us safety and some great kids who made it a joy to travel with. We arrived in Pelham, AL at our hotel for the evening. We are tired but will get a great night's rest and be ready for day 1 of camp tomorrow. We are praying for students to grow in faith, grow in relationships with others in our group, and to lead out as 1 Corinthians 11:1 states so beautifully, "Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ." We are also praying that God would use our leaders to impact the lives of students. I would also like to state that I believe that God has opened the door for two special young men to be on this trip. I don't know why but I believe it is going to be good. I will update on this more as we go. In other news, our ETBE seniors did train on the ropes course today. Please continue to pray for them an their upcoming Africa trip in August. They want it to be more than just a cool trip. It should be a life-changing trip.

Wednesday

To piggyback off of yesterday's blog I would like to update all on the ETBE seniors. I texted them late last night and they are doing well. They said they had orientation which master forever and them got to clean every pot and pan in the kitchen. I told them that the word "cleaning" would be spoken of a lot with Mrs. Frankie in the picture. Today they were hoping to be trained on the high ropes course elements. I sure hope none of them are afraid of heights. Today was an enjoyable day. It is the day before we leave for camp so I am always worried about what I have forgotten to do but still found time to take Amber out for some shopping and fun in te afternoon before church started. That is very rare to do on a Wednesday but we have both been working tirelessly all week and it just felt right to do before heading off to camp. We bought some stuff at Ulta and then checked out Express and Old Navy. Those are some of Amber's favorite places to go although she never buys much. Tonight at church Bro. Jason and Jordy led us in some worship songs which were awesome! We then did something that I have never done before: cardboard testimonies. It was very powerful to say the least! I got to learn a lot about people that I never knew before. It reminded me that we should be constantly sharing stories of God's goodness to us every day. We then loaded luggage for camp tomorrow morning. We head out bright and early at 5:30 am. I cannot wait to see all that God does and the great relationships that are formed. Be praying for lives to be changed by God and relationships to be built by God.

Summer Start - First Blog

What it is:

I decided that I would start a blog this summer and update it as often as possible (shooting for every day) to let our church family and others in on all that is going in Amber's and my life, and the lives of our students.  My hope is that this blog would be informational, spiritually focused, and give an honest look into the life of a student minister.  I pray that God would bring good things out of this that would bless the lives of those who read.

What it isn't:

In this blog I will not negatively discuss "the church" nor will I gripe about what is or isn't happening in my ministry.  I will not point out students' or adults' names when prayers are needed if it would paint them in a negative light but will at times share the names of students or adults when I feel it is appropriate to do so (praise report, prayer request, life change, etc.).  I will not preach or get on a soap box about issues.  I will not "pat myself on the back" nor try to put the spotlight on me in any way. (If there is anything that could be pointed towards me please know that my desire is to pass all glory or praise on to God who is the only one deserving of it.)

First entry:

I don't know how to feel about today just yet.  Amber and I are entering into new territory as ministry leaders.  Today we sent off 7 students who have graduated from our ministry to go serve at East Texas Baptist Encampment in Newton, Texas for the entire summer.  They will be serving for 10 weeks by cooking, cleaning, lifeguarding, repairing, and maintaining the entire camp.  They will end their summer serving by going on a mission trip to Ghana which is located in Western Africa for ten days to build playgrounds, share the gospel, and simply love people in Jesus' name.  On one hand I am incredibly excited about this!  They are living our ministry motto, "Love God and Love People".  They are proof that the message we have been teaching has been effective.  On the other hand I am having to say good-bye to some of the greatest teenagers I have ever known.  Simply put (selfishly put) I am going to miss them!  I would much rather have them leaving on Thursday with us to attend youth camp and then attend our leadership mission trip to Tennessee at the end of the summer.  That way Amber and I can have more time with them; time to teach them, encourage them, share with them, and love on them.  But I know that I have to let them go.  They are not mine.  I have seen Jesus in each of them and God has used them to touch my life for the past two years.  Now its time for them to move on.  Its time for them to be that same blessing to other people along the path that God has set out for them.  God DOES have a plan for them.  I was a small part of it and I am ok with that.  Now my roll changes from teacher to prayer warrior and encourager.  I will accept that role.  I just hope God allows us to continue to be a part of each of their lives.  Amber and I met with them today. Here are their names and some things that they asked us to pray for this summer:

Caleb Hardy - To love the unloveable, to learn how to teach others, to be fair and not pick favorites
Kayla Burns - To have a positive (Christ-like) attitude consistently, that selflessness would become second nature to her
Brettnay Bouse - The group would be open to the Holy Spirit's lead and they would be closer to the person God wants them to be at summer's end, and personally for a consistent prayer life
Nick Goeddertz - patience and for the group to be unified in spirit and purpose
Brandon Gilbert - to be more open with his faith
Brian Askew - not present at time of prayer but will be serving this summer
Dustin Smith - not present at time of prayer but will be serving this summer

We encouraged them to do three things: 1. To memorize scripture. 2. To say yes to new opportunities. 3. Set the bar high for others to follow (be a thermostat instead of a thermometer)

Thanks for reading this first blog entry.  This one was long but others may be shorter.  This journey has began for these students today and has began for Amber and I also as we embark this summer to Love God and Love People more and more.