Coram Deo

This past weekend I had the opportunity of going on the 2010 Fall Retreat with the Loft, the college ministry of Taylor’s First Baptist Church. The main focus of this retreat was Coram Deo. These words are Latin for “in the presence of God.” Through three sessions our speaker spoke on what it really means to live in the awareness of living in the presence of God.
As he spoke I was picturing my life as a room. In this room I have different areas for different parts of my life. Here’s the corner for studying, another for work, another marked entertainment. Across the room is my social life with my family and friends. Somewhere in the midst of all of this God is there. I’m not always aware of this. In fact most of the time, I just live my life going from one thing to the next without acknowledging God’s presence at all. I might cry out to Him in times of needing help remembering information during a test or as habit before I eat a meal. Other than that my life is mine.
Living my life Coram Deo is more than just realizing God is there it is allowing this knowledge to change the way I live daily life. I need to live my life with God praying continually, taking time throughout the day to acknowledge Him, having friends around to encourage such living and living on purpose with the mission to bring glory to God in everything I do.
This weekend was a much needed reminder for me. May we live our lives Coram Deo.

Servant of Chirst

Throughout the epistles the apostle Paul refers to himself as the servant of Christ. He also encourages fellow believers to consider themselves the same. As I go through life I try to remember to view my life in that way. Sadly though I am selfish and desirous of recognition for things I do.
My spiritual gift is exhortation. I love listening to people share about things that they are struggling with and be able to help them with either examples of how I handled a similar situation and things God has shown or taught me. I receive so much joy in using this gift that God has given me.
Tonight I had an opportunity to use my gift to help a fellow believer in her walk with Christ. I was able to share things God has taught me from walking a similar path as the one she is in now. When I realized that what I was saying was having an impact I wanted to pat myself on the back for doing such a good job. The Spirit quickly convicted me of my self-glorification and I thanked God for allowing me to be a part of His work and I saw myself as an unprofitable servant merely doing what my Master (God) required of me. May I daily life in the realization.

I don't have to sin anymore!!

Romans 6, 7, and 8 are some of the most amazing chapters in all of Scripture. They speak of our horrid sin and then our freedom which is found in Christ. I heard a pastor give an example of these passages. He gave an illustration that has stuck with me years later.
Imagine someone you knew died. We’ll call him Dave. Dave died. Now Dave had been a pastor of a local church and impacted many hearts and lives. At Dave’s funeral there are many people who will miss him and his minister’s heart. But there are also others that come. One walks up to the coffin and spits in Dave’s lifeless face. Another says, “I never liked your preaching. The sermons were always way too long and boring. What do they teach in those schools anyway?” Are either of these things going to bother Dave? Absolutely not! Why? Because he’s DEAD! Dead people aren’t affected by what people say or do.
Now look at this as it relates to our spiritual lives. Romans 6 reckons believers dead to sin. We don’t have to be affected by sin or its powers because we are dead to them. We now have the power, through the Spirit, to say no to sin and yes to Christ.
It is such a beautiful and freeing thought; I DON’T HAVE TO SIN ANYMORE!!

Growing Up

“When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.” 1 Corinthians 13:11

Growing old is such an inevitable part of life. You’re born, you live, you die. It’s the cycle we all must face. But while growing old comes naturally growing up is a different matter completely. Contrary to popular opinion maturity does not naturally come with age. I know plenty of teenagers who act like adults and adults that act like they were teenagers again.
As I near my 23rd birthday and I think about all that the Lord has blessed me with these past years I wonder how much maturity I have acquired. As I know I am growing older I also need to be aware that I should be growing up as well. As the apostle Paul said, in the before mentioned verse, I shouldn’t be living like a child anymore, but making good choices and live according to responsibility and conviction. Let’s all GROW UP in the name of the Lord.

Wartime Lifestyle

I am in the process of rereading Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper. Chapter 7 is entitled Living to Prove that He is more Precious than Life. He (obviously referring to Christ) is to be treasured above all else. There are numerous verses recorded in scripture, and eluded to in this book, talking about treasuring nothing above Jesus and if there is anything you do to get rid of it.
This wartime lifestyle or mindset is a reminder of the reality we live in. We are in a constant war between Christ and Satan, truth and falsehood, belief and unbelief. Our weapons are not of this world but strong though Christ, namely the Gospel, prayer and love. It is much easier for us to slip into the less satisfying life of peace and simplicity instead of being on guard for the evil one.
May God help us to stay on the alert and to live to make Christ more precious than life.

Why God?

The question of why God is asked often in our society. Evil exists in the world today, and we are all affected by it. Death, disease, illness, loss of jobs, failed marriage, loss of child, the list goes on and on. These things lead us all to ask this question. Even non-believers can be heard in difficult situations asking God why. C.S. Lewis once said, “The problem of pain and suffering is the atheist’s greatest weapon.”
This is often the question Christians have the hardest time answering. Why do bad things happen to good people?
We may never understand the full reason but we can do three things. 1) trust in God believing that He is sovereign and in complete control of everything. 2)He has given us this “test” to help us to grow to be more like His Son (See Romans 8:29) 3) We are to comfort others through difficult times just as we have been comforted. (See 1 Corinthians 1: 3-4)
I don’t know what I would do in hard times without my complete trust in the sovereignty of God.

Fall Break

Why do we enjoy breaks so much? Why is “off time” something we often enjoy? Is it because we are lazy? For some this may be the reason but not for all. Rest is something our bodies need. God programmed them like that from the very beginning. In Genesis on the seventh day God rested. He told the children of Israel to keep the Sabbath day holy. Throughout other scriptures we are encouraged to stop or slowdown. But what is the purpose resting? The following verses should help to answer this question:

“Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in all the earth.”Psalm 46:10

“Listen to this, O Job, Stand and consider the wondrous works of God.” Job 37:14

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” John 15:4

May we all take time to stop, rest and remember what God has done for us and how wonderful He is. Why don’t you take a minute right now just to thank Him for life.

There's no place like home

Dorothy knew what she was saying in the Wizard of Oz. There truly is no place like home. Tomorrow is the first day of North Greenville’s Fall Break. After math I don’t have any other classes until Wednesday morning. YAY!! So I’ll be driving about 6 hours to my wonderful hometown of Huntsville, Alabama. I get to spend the whole weekend (plus a few days) with my family. I also get to go to my home church that I’ve attended all my life and see some good friends. I’m so excited!!!
I am constantly overwhelmed by God’s blessings in my life. This is one I greatly treasure. Some of my friends live too far away or are too busy to go home for the break.

Mamma Mia!!

A friend and I started a diet on Friday the first of October. We aren’t eating starches or breads or sweets or fried foods. We are trying to eat more veggies and fruits and healthy meats. We are also exercising most everyday in the gym. My personal goal for all of this is to lose weight and to be healthier for the ministry the Lord has called me to. Seeing this as the third day I’m doing pretty well.
One of my hardest first steps took place at Cici’s pizza last night. Now you have to understand that pizza is one of my most favorite foods in the world and the best part is the crust. Of course this counts as bread in our diet so that is a big “no no.” I ate a small salad and was satisfied. But my friend was determined for me to scrape the topping off the pizza and eat it. I didn’t want to but after much coercion I scrapped the toppings off and ate it. It seemed like such a waste of perfectly good pizza crust. But it was worth it. I wonder what the next difficult, worth wild step will be?

Why should I worry?

Worry. One of those things I do quite often. I worry over several different things. For instance today I worried over my two tests I had back to back in English and New Testament. Yes, I studied. Yes, I did my best in preparation, but I was still worried.
I once heard a convicting definition of worry. “Worry is assuming God’s responsibility on your life.” This statement can be backed with scripture in Philippians 4:6:
“Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
After the tests were complete I felt stupid for having spent all that time worrying over something that God had under control. I need to remember that God has everything under control and according to Philippians 4:6 worry is a sin. It is telling God that you don’t trust Him enough to take care of you in every situation. May we learn to trust Him more every day and conquer the sin of worry once and for all.

A hero with purpose

All through high school one of my favorite things to do was to read about Heros of the Faith. Some of my all time favorites are Jim Elliot, Amy Carmichael, and Hudson Taylor. But the one that sticks out the most in my mind when I think of purpose is Eric Liddell. If you’ve ever seen the movie chariots of fire you know his story.
Eric was a scot born in China as a missionary kid in the late 1800’s. He was called to be a missionary to china like his parents and sister before him but he also had another dream. Above anything else Eric loved to run. And he was good at it. His dream was to run for an Olympic medal. His sister Jenny thought he was getting is priorities mixed up and confronted him about it. She said he was drifting away from God. He said something to her in the movie in this amazing Scottish accent. Here’s the gist of it: “I know God made me for China, Jenny. But he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.” Eric went on to win the Olympic medal and lived the rest of his life as a missionary to the Chinese people with which his parents had ministered.
But that one statement has stuck with me. What is it that I do that when I do it I feel God’s pleasure? Is God proud of what I am doing with my life now? When He sees the work I’m doing does it make Him smile? Not to see how good I am but to see that what He has given me I am using to the best of my ability. What is it in our lives that God has given us to bring Him pleasure while doing it? Maybe for you it’s running, or cooking, or writing or playing sports, or a myriad of other things. When we discover what it is let’s purpose to live to feel God’s pleasure.

Jehovah Jirah (my provider)

When I left home in mid August to come to North Greenville I was determined to get a job and provide for myself to some extent. I have relied on others to support me all of my life and I was ready for some personal responsibility. Freshmen weekend I heard of an opportunity to work in the cafeteria on campus. This sounded perfect. The best part was saving gas by walking to work instead of having to drive all the way into town. So I applied.
A few days later I placed my application at two Chick-fil-a fast food places in the Greenville area. Classes started and days turned to weeks and weeks into a month. I hadn’t received word from anywhere and was getting busier with classes. I began to lose hope and worry about where my money was going to come from and how I was going to support myself without a job.
I decided to take the advice I would give someone else in the same situation. I gave it to God. “Be anxious for nothing but in everything though prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6. I know looked at my “job problem” as His lack of a job and that I would follow Him wherever he leaded.
This past Monday I received a phone call from the dining services department at NGU and now I am an employee working in the cafeteria. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!

First Essay experience

I love writing. There is nothing quite like taking words and putting them down on paper. It is a bit unnerving to realize that I am not the only one that will read my work. When I was given the assignment for my essay in my English 1310 class, I was nervous. I know there are things I struggle with in grammar and content in my formal writing, which hinders me in my confidence in writing. When I began writing my narrative essay on a Christmas memory I was taken back to that family Christmas in 2001 and simply wrote what happened as I remembered it. The critique and correction I received from my professor and fellow student was encouraging and motivating. I’m looking forward to what else I will learn in this class to build my confidence in writing well. To all of my future assignments and challenges to improve and become a better, more confident writer I say, BRING IT ON!

Always watching

My mom used to tell me all the time to mind my manners and to do right all the time because you never knew who was watching.
I experienced this today at Arby’s in Traveler’s Rest. My friend and I were preparing to enjoy our delicious selections from the dollar menu. Before we partook I prayed and thanked God for our friendship, driving adventure, delicious food and the money to purchase it. After the prayer we enjoyed our curly fries, roast beef and mozzarella sticks, uplifting conversation and background country music. An elderly couple was sitting in a booth near us. As the husband was standing to throw away the tray of trash (a very gentlemanly thing to do) he approached our table. He commented on how good it was to hear teenagers praying before a meal. We thanked him and praised God for allowing us to be a blessing to this couple.
This got me thinking again about what my mother had said all those years ago. It also reminded me of a children’s song I learned growing up:
“Oh, be careful little mouth what you say. Oh, be careful little mouth what you say. For the Father up above is looking down in love. So be careful little mouth what you say.”
Today proved to me that oftentimes the Father is not the only one who is looking. So what are you going to be today? Are you going to let your life be a blessing to God and others by the things you do and say? Is your life going to be one that follows the example of Christ so when people see you they see Christ? Be careful. Because you never know who may be watching.

Are you thirsty?

This morning in chapel the pastor was talking about following the invitation Jesus gave in John 7:37-38:
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink, ‘He who believes in Me’, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”
The speaker’s main focus was on salvation, but he was also talking to those of us who are Christ followers who are no longer thirsty. In fact some of us have become dehydrated spiritually for not drinking from the fount of Living Water. Any one athlete who is dehydrated is no good to the team or to himself. We are no good in the spiritual race we are in or in our lives as Christians if we are not constantly taking in the Word of God and letting it penetrate our souls and change the way we live. The above verse says we are to flow rivers of living water from our lives. We are to create thirst for Christ in other people. This is not possible if we are dry ourselves. So I ask you the questions I’ve been asking myself:
1) Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?
2) Is this walk with Christ evident in the way you live?
3) Does God’s Word affect the way you live today?
4) Do you know Him more intimately now than you did six months ago?
5) Are you thirsty?
I challenge you to follow Christ with reckless abandon and see what He can do to create a thirst in someone else through you.

We need each other

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:23-25

Lately God has been showing me the importance of community. Life was not meant to be lived alone. This truth has been known since the beginning of time. In Genesis 2: 18 the Lord says, “it is not good for man to be alone…” This He was saying referring to Adam’s need for a helpmeet. But it is true for us today as well. Not only is it good for people to be together as husband and wife, but also as brother and sister, mother and daughter, friend and friend. God created us for relationships.

The other day I was in my room by myself. I was pretty lonely and didn’t know what to do. I gave into the temptation to watch too much television online (this may not be wrong for some people but I knew it was wrong or me). I realized the importance of having people in my life. I need others to hold me accountable for things I’m doing to become more like Christ. This life as a Christ follower was not supposed to be lived alone. This is the purpose for the church; a community of fellow believers meeting together to encourage each other to be more like their heavenly Father. Let’s step out get into each other live and follow Hebrews 10:23-25

Decisions

Decisions.I hate making them. I don’t like the process of determining one act, item or anything over another. I would much rather have someone tell me what to do, where to go and what to wear. Decision making is just one piece of this inevitable puzzle called, “growing up”.
When I was a child, my parents would tell me what I could and couldn’t do. They told me when to be home. They told me what I could and couldn’t watch, read, or listen to. They instructed me on how to act and helped me make the right decisions about friends, classes, etc. It was a wonderful life. But as I grew older they informed me that they could give me advice but the decision was ultimately mine to make.
My senior year of high school I made one such decision. I decided to join Life Action Ministries. I filled out the application and sent it all the way from Alabama to Buchanan, Michigan. I was accepted in March, 2006. I joined the ministry on July 22, of that same year. I traveled on one of the road teams as a children’s minister for four years. We traveled all over the country ministering in different churches, teaching the message of revival. I have determined I was in over seventy different churches in these four years. Each year I had a decision to make. Was I to stay for another year, or move on to something else? Every year the Lord seemed to lead in the same direction, stay. He seemed to say this until the past year (Aug. 2009- June 2010)
The next difficult decision to be made was this past year. I knew it was my last year traveling with Life Action, but I didn’t know what was supposed to come next. I asked my parents and they gave some suggestions but reminded me that this was a decision I needed to make on my own. I thought and prayed long and hard and searched my heart for the desires the Lord has given me. I found Children’s Ministry at the top. I also found a desire to know more about the Bible and further my education (stamp out my ignorance). My dad drove over 24 hours to pick me up in Sylvester, Georgia where I was ministering, and drive me up to Tigerville, South Carolina to visit North Greenville University (NGU). I decided to come to major in Christian Studies at NGU.
Thus far the Lord has blessed that decision by giving me some great professors (as stated in an earlier blog post), good friends, and beautiful creation to enjoy in upper South Carolina.
Though decisions can be tough to make it does make me feel more confident in what I’m doing. I ask God to give me wisdom (James 1:5) so that the decisions I make bring glory to Him and make me more like His Son.

Love Like Crazy

I love country music. I could listen to it everyday. When I workout I often listen to Josh Turner or Rascal Flatts. My present favorite country song is Love Like Crazy, sung by Lee Brice. Here is the chorus:

Be a best friend, tell the truth, and overuse I love you. Go to work, do your best, don’t outsmart your common sense. Never let you prayin’ knees get lazy and love like crazy.

This chorus is chop full of biblical truth. I don’t always agree with all country music lyrics, but with this I completely concur. It got me thinking. How can I emulate these truths in my life? And encourage others to do the same? Let’s check it out.

1) Be a best friend- “A friend loves at all times…” Proverbs 17:17 “As iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another.” Proverbs ? We need accountability in our life. We need someone who will listen when we need to talk, love us when we need a friend and correct us when we go astray. We also need to be this for someone else. I am grateful for the ability to name many individuals I can call friend. I hope I can be the same for them and others.

2) Tell the truth- “Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.” Psalm 34:13 Truth is defined by dictionary.com as “conformity with fact or reality;” We can ‘speak’ in many different ways. We ‘speak’ through our actions as well as our mouths. In our actions we can deceive people to make them believe we are something that we are not. We can also speak lies for the intention of making ourselves look better or worse or smarter or less intelligent than we really are. All of these are lies. We should strive to be truthful in everyway.

3) Overuse I love you- I love so many people in my life: My parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, teachers, and many others. But how often do I let them know? Every time I end a phone conversation with one of my parents one of us will say, I love you, and the other will respond, I love you too. Sometimes it seems a bit cliché but I appreciate it every time I hear it. Everyone wants to know that somebody loves them. I don’t think it is possible to overuse saying I love you. If you haven’t told someone in a while that you love them, I suggest that you pick up the phone, or shoot them an email or letter just to tell them how much they mean to you. You will be surprised what that might mean to someone.

4) Go to work- Work consists of many different avenues. You can work at a business, or on your studies. If you are physically able, it is important for you to support yourself by getting a job and not to rely on your parents or others your whole life. If you are a man raising a family it is more important that you have a job in order to support them. Work doesn’t have to be boring. Find ministry in your workplace. Seek to glorify God as you work. This leads us to the next line…

5) Do your best- “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.” Colossians 3:23. No matter what your job entails do your best for this pleasing to the Lord. He is the one who gave you the ability to do what you are doing so be thankful and fulfill your task to the best of your ability. Whatever you do means everything. Studying for a test, exercising to stay healthy, doing some physical work to earn money, or whatever you do, do it as for the Lord and not to man.

6) Don’t outsmart your common sense- We have a saying around the Handley house that I heard fairly often growing up. It seemed no matter how much I heard it it just didn’t stick. “Don’t do dumb stuff.” As I think back on the “dumb” decisions I made in high school I regret overlooking common sense. Never think that you are smarter than the situation and be sure to think things through before making decisions. It will help you in the long run. Believe me.

7) Never let you prayin’ knees get lazy- “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;” Philippians 4:6 This line I believe is the most important in the whole song. “Prayin’ knees” keep us humble. They keep us from raising ourselves above others or thinking we’re good enough and don’t need anyone. God promises to give grace in any circumstance, if we come to him in faith and humility. (Hebrews 4:16) Even in the good times we should be praying and thanking God for his goodness.

8) Love like crazy- I often hear love defined as a touchy feely feeling, something that people fall into. My personal favorite definition for love is; “a quite steady decision of the will to care for someone.” Love is giving of yourself sacrificially. To love like crazy one would do things for people and care for people without expecting anything in return. We should love like Jesus would. Jesus said in John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this,that one lay down his life for his friends.” I am not suggesting that anyone go and die for anyone else. I am simply suggesting that you think of others as more important than yourself and love like crazy.

Maybe this can be a challenge or encouragement to some of you. I know it is for me. For fun I’m going to add the last line of the song. It’s just cute and fun.

Always treat your woman like a lady. Never get too old to call her baby. Never let your prayin’ knees get lazy and love like crazy.

Lesson from a power cord

For my high school graduation I received a HP Pavilion laptop computer. That was four years ago. This past week I noticed a rip in my power cord near the adapter. I didn’t think much about it until the power stopped working and my computer was running on battery power alone. I knew this wouldn’t last long. Once it died my dear laptop would be completely useless.

This prompted me to think of the “power” in our lives as Christians. What is it that keeps us going? What is it that keeps us “charged” or “connected” to the power source? I determined that Christ is the power source and the thing that keeps us connected to Him is prayer and intentional meditation in His Word. If we neglect either of these our lives will not be as powered as it should be. If we don’t read the Bible or pray for a few days it may not show or we may not notice the ‘rip’ in our relationship. Then one day we notice a distance in our relationship with Christ and we can’t control problems that seem to come up. We then realize that we are no longer running on Christ’s eternal power but our own temporary battery power.

I was able to find a computer parts store that had the cord I needed for a good price. But I pray that I don’t let my relationship with Christ run low on power because I cannot live this Christian life on my own.

Class Professors

Several of my friends and acquaintances have told stories about some of their college professors. They explained how the professors were easily distracted and they rarely covered the material. They spoke of professors who were non-relational always talked over them and treated them as inferior. After hearing these stories I was a little nervous going into my first classes as a freshman at North Greenville University. 8 o’clock Wednesday morning I walk into my Western Civilization class with butterflies in my stomach unsure about how this how college thing was going to go. I was pleasantly surprised when, after attending my first five classes, my butterflies are gone and I cannot tell you of one professor I am intimidated by or I think I will dislike in any way. I am honestly looking forward to each class and to the once a week classes that will begin early next week. I thank God for these amazing teachers and I pray I can maintain this attitude throughout the semester as assignments become more difficult.

Florida

So I haven't updated this thing for quite some time. Nobody ever accused me fo being consistant. Anyway...
Our team is now back together after a month break in December. Since the fourth of January we have been in the sunny state of Florida. We started in Miami, where the weather got down to 40 degrees!!!! Not normal. Wayside Baptist Church was a great experience. Melissa and I stayed with an older lady who traveled with Life Action as a school tutor in 1995. It was great to share stories with her.
New Port Richie, Florida presented blessings of its own. The youth group there was one of most 'on fire for Chirst' youth groups I've seen in all my four years of traveling.
We are presently serving in Interlachen, Florida, a small town about an hour south(?) of Jacksonville. First Baptist Church is very small. I believe the membership is about 150 people. We have had adults and children come from neighboring towns. It has been a good overall experience. Kristin and I are staying with the sweetest older lady in the whole world. She's in her eighties and has almost fifteen great-grandchildren.