Today I traveled to ECU where I had a blast watching a man that challenges me spiritually. I wanted to use this first blog to say who I am and what God has called me to do. I am 24 years old, and God has been working in my life for quite sometime. God has laid a deep desire to share my faith with everyone and to challenge students to draw closer to God or meet him for the first time. I am a student at SEBTS in Wake Forest, NC where I am studying Evangelism. God has called me to minister to youth and college age students through conferences, revivals, and D Nows. I want to use this web site as a way to share my faith and allow people to see who I am. I want the students to know how amazing Jesus Christ is and how our God is an awesome God. Recently God has confirmed to me that he is calling me to be an Evangelist and to be light in a dark world. I am excited to see God work and to see where he might lead me. I Love going to churches and conferences to share God’s word and to see God work in the lives of Students.
Worship
Worship
By Scott & Sara
Here I am to worship. Here I am to give my life to God. Here I am, God use me for your glory and I praise your name Father God. What is the attitude we need to have in worship? Recently, I had the students enter the student ministry room in silence. The projector screen had instructions for them to be praying and showing reverence for God. Why? Because in the day and age we live in, students and adults do not know what worship is and how to worship. This could be from many different issues. It could be because we, as a church and body of believers, have made them think that our worship service at 11am is the only time you can worship. Or could it be that people have never been told what worship is? Whatever the case may be, this needs to be discussed and this is why we are co-writing a blog, because we need to address this attitude and reverence for God in daily worship. This is something that has been thought over and is not being thrown together, but instead this topic is being taken seriously.
Worship, how awesome it is that we are able to worship the creator of the heavens and the earth? It is important that we realize that we are to be worshipping and in a heart of worship daily. How are we to worship? Is it listening to Chris Tomlin, singing hymns, or is it a serious prayer life? It is all of these and more because worship is something that causes us to surrender all parts of our lives over to God and say “Here I am to worship, take every part of my being and use it for your glory God.” The act of raising your hands in worship is a sign of total surrender to God, releasing everything that has come between you and Him. Worship is a lifestyle and needs to be happening daily in our lives.
The Greek word for “worship” is “proskynein”, which is a compound of “pros”, meaning “towards” and “kynein”, meaning “to kiss.” This expressed the earlier custom of casting oneself on the ground as a total bodily gesture before a great one, kissing his feet, the hem of his garment, or the ground in reverence. I wonder how many people in America, including ourselves, who are not showing reverence to God in worship. We’ve turned worship into something about ourselves. We go, hungering for more self-expression and personal fulfillment. We’re concerned with how well we sing and what others will think about the way we worship. Worship is not about you. It’s not about leaving on a “worship high” or about our entertainment. Worship is you communicating with God. It can be through song, prayer or service and can take place anytime, anywhere. Worship isn’t just about singing, it’s a lifestyle. What’s your life saying about your relationship with God?
Please understand that our purpose is not to anger or upset you, but to help you to come to a time of genuine worship. Mark 12 talks about loving God with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength. This form of love happens through complete and genuine daily worship to the Creator. Worship is a matter of the heart. When you worship, minimize distractions and focus solely on the fact that you are in the presence of the most Holy God. That’s all that matters. Bow your heart and mind in reverence to your Creator and express to Him your whole heart. Worship is not about a feeling, but about an experience with God.
Recently at church, a deacon came to me and said that he was having a hard time worshipping God. As I continued to support and love him, I told him that it is hard to come into worship to praise God when your heart is not right. Whether you’ve wronged someone in the church, family, community, or God, it is hard to come and have genuine worship with everything weighing on your heart. Worship is something we need to take more seriously and realize that it is hard to worship when you’re living a life that is not putting God first and when you cannot forgive those who have wronged you. Take stock of your relationship with God. Are you able to go before Him, holding nothing back, or do you need to confess a sin you’ve been hiding? Let us come back to the Heart of Worship.
Worship is also our earthly expression of the heavenly church. Can you imagine how amazing it will be to worship with all the heavenly hosts? Revelation 4:8-11 says, “The four living creatures, each having six wings were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’ Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: ‘You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and pour; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”
As I shared with Cross training Student Ministry this past Wednesday, when I stand up front or even from the back and see people singing songs in church, they look like they’re dead and their heart is not involved. It should not be this way because as Christians our Savior paid the price for sin, and that should make us excited. Our sins, which keep us from God, have been paid for. We have Heaven because our debt was paid for when we accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. There is no need to look gloomy, but instead we need to be standing up, hands raised, worshipping God in all areas of our lives. Worship is not just something we do on a Wednesday or Sunday, but instead worship is something we should do daily. Worship God through your witnessing, talking, quiet time, prayer time, and all areas of your life. This needs to be added to all forms and areas of our worship life.
Throughout this blog, we have included our thoughts about different forms of worship and what we believe true worship is. We hope it helps open up your eyes to see what worship truly should be. Let us now go out and worship God daily, day and night. It is time for us to come back to the Heart of Worship.
Thoughts on Christmas
As people are out spending hundrends and even thousands of dollars this Christmas season I wonder how many people are sharing the gospel while shopping. I just even catching myself forgetting to use moments God has given to me to share the gospel with people. With that being said let me just encourage you to use every moment to live for God because God has shown me recently that are life is only a short one and we have a larger purpose. So this Christmas remember Christ and that he came into this world to be the living and ultimate sacrafice. I am writing short, but I am posting lyrics to Casting Crowns song that I think deals with this topic and Christmas. Here are the Lyrics to While you were sleeping:
Oh little town of Bethlehem
Looks like another silent night
Above your deep and dreamless sleep
A giant star lights up the sky
And while you’re lying in the dark
There shines an everlasting light
For the King has left His throne
And is sleeping in a manger tonight
Oh Bethlehem, what you have missed while you were sleeping
For God became a man
And stepped into your world today
Oh Bethlehem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for it’s King
While you were sleeping
While you were sleeping
Oh little town of Jerusalem
Looks like another silent night
The Father gave His only Son
The Way, the Truth, the Life had came
But there was no room for Him in the world He came to save
Jerusalem, what you have missed while you were sleeping
The Savior of the world is dying on your cross today
Jerusalem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for it’s King
While you were sleeping
While you were sleeping
United States of America
Looks like another silent night
As we’re sung to sleep by philosophies
That save the trees and kill the children
And while we’re lying in the dark
There’s a shout heard ‘cross the eastern sky
For the Bridegroom has returned
And has carried His bride away in the night
America, what will we miss while we are sleeping
Will Jesus come again
And leave us slumbering where we lay
America, will we go down in history
As a nation with no room for it’s King
Will we be sleeping
Will we be sleeping
Follow God with your days
As I was sitting in the office today, a song came on the radio that truly transformed me. I am not one, who is always listening to KLove, but today I had it on and a song by Matthew West came on. The lyrics and words are running through my mind and I cannot remember the title to the song, but God spoke to me through this song. As some people have bad days and weeks, well this has been a rough week for me and God had my weekend today with something that has me holding back an ocean of tears. Imagine seeking God with all your life and with all you have. This song discussed not going through the nations of the day, but instead knowing the God passionately. I have found that it is so easy to go through the motions and I can tell you of many ways that I catch myself going through the motions of life on this earth. Day in and day out I have things to do just like each one of you, but have you found yourself in the same shoes I am in tonight and your saying “I am tired of just going through these days of my life and I am ready to know God.” No matter if young or old take a stand with me today and make a decision for the rest of your life and say that today the first day of spring was your last day going through the motions of life and that you will follow and seek the Heavenly Father. Yes, God is a loving God, but we also forget he is a jealous God. What is your day focused on? Take a stand and follow the passionate, loving, jealous, amazing God of this Universe.
time….hmm
I have been going through a time of completely listening to God and listening to what He is calling me to do with my life. It may seem somewhat crazy, but a twenty-four-year-old who has a calling from God has a lot going on as I listen to what the next step is in my journey with God. This blog explains what God has been showing me in life and in my devotion time. I’ve realized something that seems so easy is something that we have become completely numb and ignorant to. What I am hinting at and leading up to is that the life we are living or have lived is a life that we will not get back again. Today is a unique day because the seconds and minutes that you get today you will never have an opportunity to live again. Can you believe this? I know this may seem like immature thinking, and I can see some of the youth I minister to and are friends with saying, “Thank you Captain Obvious.” That is something I have become used to. But honestly, today is a unique moment, and we will never get the moments and minutes we had today back. For some people, this is a sad thought because today was the best day they have ever had. For others, however, they are rejoicing that they will never have to live this day out again. Well, as a Christian let me say that we need to worship God as mush as we can. Is the life you’re living today a living worship to God? It hit me that each one of us has one life to live. What are we doing with our lives? I know that I want to use every day of the rest of my life to worship God and be Christ-centered. At this moment, a lot of you may be saying to yourself, “I want to do that too,” because as Christians that is what we need to be doing. I would agree, but I will take a stab in the dark and say that I guarantee over half of Christians are not doing this. I am ashamed to say that I have not been preaching this to people or been clearly doing this, but God has just told me and basically confronted me about spending time with him. I now try to think about every minute of my day to see if I am using that exact moment for God, and if I were to live that moment again, would I change what I was doing right then? Now with this comes some obvious cautions for each one of us. First, do not live every moment in fear and waste time wondering if what you’re doing is the right thing. Instead, listen to God when you plan a day or a period of your time. Think about playing a Playstation 3 for six hours straight, and it will make you see there might be a better way to use your time. I am not saying do not play, but I am saying do not make that your little god. If you’re not a Christian, can you imagine anything better then spending time with God, the creator? Today might be the moment God is saying to you, “Come home, come to my arms, and stop running away.” I can not imagine a way to live a life that is not useless or unproductive besides a life that is in Christ. Think about the movies, music, and friends you have. Are they helping and guiding you to live a life sold out for God?
Random thoughts
As I went to bed last night, something just hit me that should have always been on my mind. I deserve hell, and you deserve hell. Jesus cares for each one of us, and we need to be more passionate about Jesus. We should think with the mindset that we are not better than someone else and that all people are equal in God’s eyes. Each person deserves hell and because of Jesus dying on the cross, each one of us get the opportunity to choose heaven or hell. Then it hit me that as a teenager and even as a child, we are raised to think that we are better than someone else. Why is this? It is because people are putting us down, and we are trying to make up for it by thinking we’re better than someone else. We need to realize that we are not better than someone else. Instead, our lives are equal to one another. We should be sharing the Gospel with everyone because no one is less or greater than us. This is a small point, but we need to be challenged and realize that we need to be sharing the Gospel. It is very important that we share the Gospel with everyone and invest in peoples’ lives so that our lives are a living testimony.
The Commission
This morning I woke up early to speak at a local high school. Last night, however, I felt like I had a lot on my mind and was not sure what to share with these teenagers. I have spoken there many times prior when they have asked me to speak, but this time felt different because I realized what God had laid on my heart for these teenagers. I shared the “Great Commission,” and the response to these verses was shocking. These students wanted to hear the Word of God, and I was able to share with them that God is in control and is sitting on his throne just like He was in Genesis. As I was letting God use me this morning, I realized this was something that the students needed to hear, just like I had been reminded of on November 5th (yesterday). It does not matter who won the election or what problems we have in America right now because no matter what, our worth is not found on this Earth. It is found in Jesus Christ and in Heaven. There is nothing that could happen in this world that could take away what we have in Heaven.
In being reminded today by God of what our purpose is on this Earth, to know what true love is and to share the Gospel, I was challenged to strive further towards this goal. I am going to challenge you to do the same as the high school students this morning. The Challenge:
1.Write down three people you know in your school, workplace, or circle of friends. (I told them to choose someone in their school).
2. Now narrow it down to one person, and circle their name. This needs to be the person you know the best.
3. Now write down on the bottom of the sheet ways to share the Gospel with that person. As you’re doing this, pray over this list and the person and ask that God will allow you to share the Gospel with them and help you share the Gospel with all people and nations.
This experiment is something that will help discipline you in sharing the Gospel. It will help you realize that once you share the Gospel with one person, people are going to be looking at you even more. However, God is the one that needs to be pursued, not us pursuing the acceptance of other people. Let us go out into a dark world and share the Gospel. God is the whom we need to be concerned about and spending time with.
I’ve been dated part 2
As the blog from yesterday is now reflected, upon it is clear what the purpose of dating is and what our relationship needs to be focused on. Lets start this blog today talking about creative dating ideas as you pursue God. The ideas I am sharing today are ones that I have shared multiple times from the pulpit. Some of these will seem cheesy, but as a man who has tried these it works and keeps the relationship pure and on a standard that has been set. Putt-putt is a great way to go out to a public location, and it allows humor and conversation to be the center of the evening. This leads to an explanation of what I am basing these ideas off of. I think that dates should be in a public place and should not be one on one time in an enclosed location. This way there is accountability in the public’s eye and will stop anything that could lead to intimate relations. If you’re in a relationship that likes going out to eat, then you’re my kind of couple. You can easily be creative with it and pick a different theme every time you go out to eat. For example, you could have Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, Burger night, and etc. This allows different environments and allows different discussions to evolve. I am deeply stricken with ADD so different environments and restaurants are where it is at. I just found and know that dates, whether you’ve been dating for a year or however long or short, it is very wise to not allow yourselves to be in an environment or location that leads to disobedience to God and to your future spouse. It is time that people look at dating as a time to draw closer to God and to use your relationship as a form of worship.
Dating someone does not mean everything is going to be easy and that also deals with a Godly dating relationship. Being in a Godly relationship is a discipline. In prior relationships, both sides will get hurt and it stings for sometime. Women, let me tell you that guys are looking to be respected. So in the relationship, realize that the man you’re dating wants to feel respected by you. So show him the respect, and realize showing him love does not equal respect. Men, now it is time for me to tell you that women are looking to be loved and for you to show them that you love them. As men, we are looking for respect, but women are seeking love. For women, love is respect, but for guys, respect shows love. So men, we need to show women that we love them. I am not saying get them flowers, but instead we need to show them love by things we do for them. Y’all, dating is a preparation for marriage, and it is not about fitting in and just dating to feel loved. As I was saying earlier, I have been hurt many times, but in the end I see where I either did not allow God to be in full control or the girl was not the one for me. The last thing is to realize that the person you’re dating or will date is not perfect. Girls, there is no man out there who is Jesus. Please realize that, and guys, realize no girl is perfect. In saying this, you need to know the relationship is not based on y’all pleasing one another, but it is on Jesus. If you have any more questions, please contact me at servant8403@gmail.com I wanted to be brief in these two, but share all I can.
I’ve been dated
For the past few weeks I have been working through this idea, which I see as something that has never been addressed to me. Parents and grandparents all have shared with us since we were very young that God has a spouse and a person for us to marry. I heard a preacher who has been influential in my life in college, Ben Mandrall, discuss singleness in chapel at Union University a year ago and what we are to do while we wait to see if God has a spouse for us. Ben said that we are to praise God and to allow God to use us while we are still single. Whether it is to pack up and go overseas, clean up after hurricanes and tornados, or be a missionary in America. Whatever the case, God has a plan to use us as single people, and if marriage is what God has in store for us, then he can use us there. The fear shall not be on singleness, because God might be calling you to live a life of singleness. I come today not to bash woman or prior relationships, but instead I am saying that singleness shall not be viewed as a bad thing because God could have you single for a period of your life so he can use you better.
This blog is not about singleness, but is about dating relationships and what a relationship should look like. As I work in ministry and minister to students and adults, I think that for quite sometime a lot of people have been corrupted about dating relationships. In part one of this blog I want to write about views on relationships and why dating exists in the first place. People have been asked to share what relationships are and what they look for in a relationship. Lets begin this thought on dating and relationships thinking about what dating is. A dating relationship is preparation for marriage and is for people who are ready to be married. Students who are reading this will be offended by this, but Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church talks about this in a sermon and paraphrasing he said, “What if a girl came and asked to date my son and just to borrow him for a few years. Not because she wants to marry him, but just something to do and just wants someone to have dating relations with.” I agree this is right because why would someone just date to date. I have been there and honestly it was a waste to just to date because you just want to not feel lonely. Dating or courting, whatever you want to call it, is for people who are ready for marriage. Dating is important in the process of what one friend of mine calls the weeding process to find that spouse. Hear me say I am not saying date multiple people, but date one person who has the standards and qualities you’re looking for in the opposite sex.
As a Christian, you should be looking for a Godly person who is going to lead you closer to God. I am very stern on this fact because I think that dating to date is wrong, and I think that a person should look for someone who is going to challenge you in your spiritual growth. A woman that I asked said this,
“If one is simply just looking for a nice guy, then this will not hold the importance in your life that it should. One must realize the difference between a godly dating relationship and a dating relationship. The difference is are you challenged and not just challenged to be a nicer person. Are you challenged to live a life unlike any other? Are you encouraged to pray for the lost people you come in contact with? Are you challenged to dive deeper into the truths and desires God has clearly spoken in His word?”
I could not say it any better myself because we are to be challenged by the one we’re dating to be a Godly individual. A dating relationship needs to be seeking God and focused on God. I am not saying have a prayer meeting together or a Bible study together. I am actually against both because prayer as a couple will make you so much closer then you can imagine and will bring the relationship to a whole other level that it should not be in the first part of a relationship.
I am challenging people in this first part of the blog to draw closer to God, and if he has you single right now then there is a reason why. Maybe you might not realize it, but God can use you for His glory. If God has you dating someone right now, then look at your relationship, and while examining the relationship, make sure God is the center. If you two are not challenged spiritually and/or feel like you’re not ready for marriage, then pray and ask God to show you what you need to do. If there has never been a spiritual focus or a focus on God, then the relationship needs to be fixed and directed to the hands of God. Tomorrow will be part two of this blog to discuss things further and talk about dating ideas.
thoughts on facebook
Recently I was looking over my friends on facebook and just checking their status. Then it hit me as I was looking over the friends that I have, and I realized how many of them are lost. As I speak to teenagers, I tell them to name three people they know are lost and if died tonight would go to hell. I ask the students to pray for them and ask that God gives them an opportunity to share the Gospel with them. Now it has hit me that while I have been doing what I have asked them to do, I think it’s important not to stop with these three people. It is easy for us to go to an event and set the goals that we will pray and share the Gospel with those three friends. However, we need to not only reach those three, but every time we reach them, add a new name to the list. It is time we continue to reach our lost friends.
What would happen if we look at facebook and myspace as a witnessing tool? Both of these connection devices are vital for reaching friends with the Gospel. Some people have over a thousand friends. If the list was broken down into those who were Christians, how many friends would be put in that category? As I read over my friends list, I ponder over people who I have connected with over the past 24 years of my life. Memories have been made with these people, which leads to a great way to start a conversation with someone again. Facebook was founded on February 4, 2004, and last recorded has over 100 million active users. That is unbelievable and is daily growing. The average member on facebook has about 150-200 friends. How many of these friends is the Gospel shared with? The Gospel needs to be shared with our friends, and I am working on a project where I am sending the Gospel out to all 1,215 friends of mine. What would happen if instead of being used to look at things that bring no glory to God, the Internet was used to reach lost people? The Internet is causing Satan to get a foothold on many church members that are in our churches and is keeping many people from hearing the Word of God. Let us take the Internet and use it to glorify God.
People think that the Gospel needs to be transformed to reach people, but that is not the case. Instead, the Gospel has not changed, and the Word of God will transform them. Let us go out into the world and share the Word and not allow our friends to go to hell. Yes, that is drastic I agree. But just imagine people you see and talk to daily going to hell because you did not share the Word of God like He has called you to do. Each one of us will be held accountable to God. I just picture God saying you were faithful or not faithful. Let me end by saying that I recently shared the Gospel with a friend of mine who was on facebook, and it has allowed me to invest in her and has allowed God to do a mighty thing in my own life by listening and praying for Him to use me. Will the young lady accept Jesus Christ? That is up to her, and I am praying that the Holy Spirit will work on her heart. Please join me and help use facebook as a witnessing tool.
the calling
Today and every day, we need to be focused on God’s will for our lives and continue seeking God’s call for our lives. In the past few months, every aspect of my life has been turned upside down. This is such a great thing, by the way, to see your life turned upside down because God wants to use you. I was trying to settle for something that I wanted and not what our Heavenly Father has in store for me. I am realizing that whatever position I am in a church or at a job, God has put me there. Whether it seems small or big in my eyes doesn’t matter because in God’s eyes, it is big and perfect for me.
Every child aspires to be something while they are maturing and growing. In many cases, they will change it close to fifty times. Well, I’m exaggerating slightly to make a point that no matter what position or job we get as humans, we will not be satisfied because we will want something better or that pays more money. I know personally growing up, I wanted to be a hot dog vender. Why? Because that meant free hot dogs for me! Honestly, that is how my mind worked as a six year old. Well let me progress on to when I was thirteen years old at which point I wanted to be an FBI agent. I know what some people are thinking right now: “Scott, you are not built,” or “Well that is a funny image.” To you, I would respond that God has done bigger things, such as turning Moses’ staff into a snake or Jonah living in a whale for three days. Then when I was in high school, God laid a calling on my life to work with teenagers through youth ministry, but I also felt as though God was leading me to one day start a ministry. The ministry I felt God calling me to was to reach teenagers on the beaches of Delaware. As I now sit here, God has changed this all once again, and this time it is far bigger and better. God is calling me to be a Youth Evangelist, and he has laid the burden on my heart for the cities of America. I love traveling and preaching the Word of God to teenagers, and why not be based out of a city to reach the people there? God has plans far bigger then what we can think.
God has a calling for each one of us, and He has called each of us to be ministers. Now this calling to be a minister could be serving as a lawyer, server, hostess, teacher, doctor, salesperson, and the list goes on and on. A conference held recently at SEBTS called Kaleo, the Greek word for “called,” was challenging students to accept the call no matter what it is. I think this is important because each person is called by God to do something, but we need to accept this call and seek the calling God has for us. I share my prior job wants because it is important to keep your focus on God, as He has a purpose for each one of us. Most will miss it or deny their call because it is not big or good enough for them. I will admit I struggle with all this from time to time because what if God is calling me to just be a youth minister at a small Southern Baptist Church in a countryside. But then I remind myself that might be where God can use me in a mighty way and in the best way. Honestly, once you see it from a perspective of wanting to be used by God in the best way, then you will realize what you want does not matter.
Though I share all this, I want to emphasize that you need to accept the calling whatever it is, and you also need to seek God’s will. It is wise to approach it with an open mind and always seek God because He will reveal His will if you are seeking after it. I am trying to word this all properly because I do not want to be misunderstood, but I am informing you that seeking the call from God is not easy and has its ups and downs. Also, it has many advantages of advancing the kingdom of God. In ending, I want to say that seeking God is amazing. It has been transforming for me personally and has changed my perspective. Seek the call God has given you, and if you have gotten off track or are perhaps in the fog right now, let today be the day of transformation.
