Encouragement from a Bold High School Sojourner

Tuesday morning, I led the orientation for the summer missionaries that are serving in West Virginia. As I got to know these students and their stories, it was remarkable the connections we had in common. One young lady attends Troy University and knows a former student from my student ministry in Oneonta. Another young lady attends The University of Alabama (I guess she had no where else to go) and also knows a couple of my former students from Oneonta. A third young lady attends the University of Mobile and knows a friend in the ministry from . . . you guessed it, Oneonta. I have no doubt that this was a reminder that planting your life in a community really does make a difference in your ministry.

As encouraging as these connections were, nothing could prepare me for the overwhelming encouragement and blessing I received from an upcoming senior in high school from Georgia. This young lady is only seventeen years old and is 500 miles away from home. She committed to serve the summer in West Virginia without the comforts of home. Why? Last year, she attended a PowerPlant Mission Trip in West Virginia and God gave her a passion for West Virginia. Shortly after that trip, she searched ways to come back and serve in West Virginia. So, here she is, giving her summer as a missionary to West Virginia. What courage!

However, the story does not end there. Though she attends a wonderful church in Alpharetta, Georgia and has a strong support system from her student ministry, her parents are not followers of Christ. In her words, her family "just doesn't want to talk about religious things." Her parents are not hostile to the Gospel, they support her involvement in church and her decision to serve as a summer missionary. They are just not interested or concerned about spiritual things. Her goal as a summer missionary is to reach as many people for Christ in West Virginia as possible, but she also hopes that her experience here will allow her the opportunity to tell her parents about Christ.

Wow! This young lady has absolutely no spiritual support from her parents and still has given her life fully to Christ! What an indictment on many young people (and adults for that matter) in our churches. Serving in several churches as a student minister, I was constantly blown away by the apathy of many teenagers who had strong godly parents. However, I was even more discouraged by teenagers who used the lack of spiritual example from their parents as an excuse to live a lukewarm life.

So, what can we learn from this young lady? Here is what she taught me: the extent of which you follow Christ comes from your personal passion for Christ! Being a true Christ-follower is not based on a godly pedigree. It is not based on a heritage of strong ministries. It is not based on golden opportunities to stretch your spiritual wings. It is not even based on the depth of preaching you submit yourself to. Being a true Christ-follower is based solely on your personal passion for Him. Everything else is circumstantial. It is about passion. As Luke 14:25-35 reminds us, without passion for Christ, we cannot be followers of Christ.

My heart is thankful from this young sojourner from Georgia. She has encouraged and challenged me to be more passionate for Christ.

Wow, I used to spend my life teaching teenagers how to follow Christ and now a teenager teaches me.

I have truly been blessed this week.

Grow Where You are Planted

"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, 'Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare. Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,' declares the LORD . . . 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.’” (Jeremiah 29:1-12)

Ministry is tough, especially on families. For many ministers and their families, the ministry is a series of uprooting, moves, and replanting. This is especially true with us. Stephanie and I have served in six different churches in fourteen years. The longest and most fruitful ministry was at First Baptist Church in Oneonta, Alabama; we served there for five years. Since his birth, Davis has lived in six different houses and he is only six years old. We have experienced our share of uprooting and replanting. Though we believe most of our moves were following the will of God (some moves are debatable), it is still a difficult life.

So, what is different with our newest move to West Virginia? First of all, I can say that we are completely convinced that God has called us to serve in West Virginia. Secondly, in a recent devotional, I received the assurance that only God can provide. In Jeremiah 29, God speaks to His people that are living in exile. He tells His people to build homes, plant gardens, marry, have children, and seek the welfare of the city in which they live. Why? Because God uses those who grow where they are planted. In other words, God would be able to use His people in Babylon, to change the society, only if His people lived with the intent of staying. Though the uprooting of the people from their homeland to be sent in exile was an act of judgment, God still had a plan for them to prosper, if they planted their lives where He sent them.

Why does this passage make a difference in my life and in my ministry, especially now? It reminds me of a nugget of wisdom from one of my mentors: "The best place for you to serve is where God has planted you." I have no doubt that God has planted us in West Virginia. He has given us this wonderful opportunity to serve the churches and people of West Virginia. It is an opportunity and responsibility I do not take lightly. Frankly, we are tired of uprooting our lives; we are tired of moving. We are wanting to plant our lives and God has called us to do so in West Virginia. And we plan to grow where He has planted us.

Need more evidence: check out my shirt in the picture! If I wasn't sure, would I, a diehard Georgia Bulldog fan, wear blue and gold?

Barren Altars

In preparation for my new ministry, I have been reading on the subjects of revival and evangelism. One of the books I am reading is Leonard Ravenhill's Why Revival Tarries. This is the third time I have read this book. The first time I read it was during my first semester at seminary. I read it again a few years ago while serving at First Baptist Church of Oneonta, Alabama. As I look back, I have read this book at critical pivot points in my ministry. The result was a renewed passion for Christ. I pray this be the case again.

In the past few years, I have passed this book on to several of my close friends. In giving them this book, I had only one requirement: they were to write notes, thoughts, underline key sentences, etc. After reading the book, they passed it on to someone else. When I received my copy back, it was filled with the thoughts and notes of five different people. The result is amazing. As I am reading it for the third time, I am finding the thoughts and notes of my friends to be just as refreshing as the book itself. What a heritage!

Why Revival Tarries is a classic on revival. But more than that, it is a challenge and call to repentance for our lack of desire for the glory of God. Ravenhill is convicting about the lack of the glory of God in our churches. His words are a judgment on the modern church, especially churches in the United States. Could it be that we have really strayed so far away from God? Could it be that we have exchanged the glory of God for the gluttony of materialism? Have we allowed politics to usurp the preaching of the Gospel in our pulpits? Have we allowed being a follower of Christ to be reduced to social status rather than a call to die to ourselves? Is it possible that God may cry, "Ichabod, the glory is gone!" over many churches?

If we are honest, especially in the United States, we are dangerous close to hearing God cry, "Ichabod!" Why? I believe our passion has grown cold. Our baptismal waters are stagnant. Our preaching has become powerless. Our prayers have become nothing more than wish-lists. Our pews are full, but our altars are empty.

What is the answer? Listen to Ravenhill: "Preacher, if your soul is barren, if tears are absent from your eyes, if converts are absent from your altar, then take no comfort in your popularity; refuse the consolation of your degrees or of the books you have read written! Sincerely, but passionately invite the Holy Spirit to plague your heart with grief because you are spiritually unable to bring to birth. Oh, the reproach of our barren altars!"

We need the Holy Spirit to plague our hearts with such grief that we cannot continue in our current spiritual state. We must be stricken deep within our hearts. We must be broken. We must repent!

God, grieve my heart! Break my spirit! Renew my passion!