I have now realized that my timing is not always the best. Usually if I’m thinking it, I say it. Please don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean to portray that I am offensive. Sometimes I wish I just thought a little longer before I began talking.

The other night I came home late from a football game. Instead of waiting for my parents to regain consciousness from their deep sleep, I just started telling them about my night. They told me to “stop yelling,” and I told them to “talk louder.” Since they had been asleep, and I had been at a football game, we were on very different volume levels. So within a very short time, the conversation was no longer pleasant and the sweet family moment ruined. It was all because of my bad timing. If I had waited to tell them after they had woken up or even the next morning, everything would have been much more pleasant for everyone!

I did not take into account where my parents had been. They had been in a silent room asleep, and I still hadn’t calmed down from the exciting game. If I had tried to meet them where they were, then I would have been able to communicate with them much better. Instead, I tried to speak to them from where I was, which was way too strong for them. I should have spoken in a gentle, light voice, because they would have received my words better!

Timing is everything. The world often reacts to the gospel in the same way my parents reacted to my words that night. The world often shuts us down when we try to share the gospel, but it is usually because of how WE present it! If we can meet people where they are, and speak to them in a loving, personal way, our words will be received much better! I pray that from now on we can discern where people are and minister to them in the times they are most receptive.

When I was little my favorite game to play was hide and seek. It was my favorite because I was good at it! I could fit in those hiding spots that people wouldn’t even think to look at! In my early days of playing hide and seek, if I wasn’t found I would get tired of waiting and just come on out. Sometimes I would make funny sounds to try and be found after what seemed like an eternity of waiting! As I played more and more though, I developed a love for being unfound, and could stay in my spot all day!

In the game of hide and seek there are two perspectives, the hider and the seeker. I see that we as followers of Christ are supposed to be both. We are supposed to hide away from distractions, to seek God! In Psalm 32, David proclaims the greatness of finding God! David declares that the Lord is his “hiding place” and how God surrounded him with “joyful shouts of deliverance.” What I love most about this is that God has promised us that we can also find Him! In 1 Chronicles 28:9, David tells his son Solomon, “If you seek Him, He will be found by you.”

We have God’s promise for Him to be found! For many followers of Christ, this “hiding and seeking” concept might sound a lot like something they heard of called a “quiet time.” Well if I may refer again to Psalm 32, David proclaimed how God surrounded him with “joyful shouts of deliverance!” That doesn’t sound very quiet to me. Later in verse 11, David even says “shout for joy!” If you remember, I said that I used to only be able to stay in my hiding spot for a few minutes until I would come out, or make funny sounds to be found. Well, my love for hiding and seeking has not stopped growing. The more I hide and seek, the more intimate I get to the Lord, and the more intimate I get with Him the easier it gets to live in Him and not in my flesh!

I encourage you, Hide and Seek! Get away from the world, and seek Him. Then, come back here and share what God did!

Gas prices have now officially gotten too high for me. I am riding my bike around my hometown, and I have to tell you, it isn’t the best way to get around. It is hot outside, and I work up a sweat without the sun burning into the back of my neck giving me a very unusual tan. I have gotten in biker shape though! Now that I think about it, my rides aren’t as bad as they use to be; actually, I love to ride my bike! When I first started out, my thighs and calves felt like they were going to fall off; they were SORE! They don’t hurt though anymore. You know what? I could ride all day and not get sore!

It is funny to think about how I get better at things. I remember the first time I rode up Chickamauga Drive. Geographically, I don’t have to ride up it; but I knew if I rode up this hill, it would benefit me in the long run. The thing that makes this hill different from other hills is that this hill should be considered a small mountain. It is about a fourth of a mile and, not even kidding, just short of being completely vertical. I knew if I could ride up this hill, I could ride up any hill. This would be my benchmark to overcoming any sized hill I would ever encounter. I rode my bike to where the hill began and began to peddle towards certain pain and discomfort. As the front tires of my bike began to rise in elevation, my legs were working to their full potential. After what seemed to be an eternity of enduring pain, I reached the top!!! I looked down and saw the ground I had just ridden up. I had accomplished a hill bigger than any I had ever seen! I was ready to collapse; but I had done it!

I rode up a mountain so that a hill would be seen as just a bump.

In Romans chapter 8, verse 18 Paul writes, “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be reveled to us.” Oh man! Just how I rode up Chickamauga Drive, though it was painful, the result of my “suffering” brought me strength and made all other obstacles look puny! What I have learned is that the times I have difficulties, Christ uses them to bring Him glory! Not only to show His strength in my weakness, but to draw me closer to Him and prepare me for even harder times!!

Just like my mountain, I don’t have to do things that are hard. I don’t have to follow Christ, but I have chosen to. Since I have chosen to, I AM going to do things that will bring glory to God, and I AM going to grow stronger in Christ. I have made that decision; will you make it with me? Will you join me to stop being lazy and begin to do things that require us to grow?

I had an experience yesterday. It was one of the experiences that really gets you thinking straight again. This experience happens occasionally, but this time it happened at the wrong time. The garbage men forgot to pick up my trash! It would’ve been ok if they forgot last week, but not yesterday. See, yesterday I had A LOT of garbage; it was overflowing! I noticed my neighbors’ trash had been picked up, but not mine! I had to get rid of my trash; because if I added any more, my driveway was sure to be the neighborhood’s animals feeding ground! So I loaded the entire trashcan into the back of the car and headed out in search of the garbage men.

In just about two seconds of being in the car I realized what I had done. I had just put the worst smelling mixture of garbage anyone has every inhaled inside a small contained area and then gotten in with it! I found out very quickly that my gag reflex still worked, and I wished for the first time that we owned a convertible. After about a ten-minute drive that consisted of watery eyes and a churning stomach, I came in view of the prettiest sight I thought I could ever see…the garbage truck!!

I helped the garbage men load up my collection of waste and gave a rejoicing thanks to God for allowing me to survive such an awful ten minutes! I threw my trashcan in the back and set off for home! But once again I realized something was very wrong! I still smelled the garbage! Because that trash had set inside of that container, the trashcan still smelled like the garbage!

In Hebrew 3:13, we are warned that sin’s deception can harden us against God. We as believers, who have asked for forgiveness and have been washed in the blood of Christ, have been forgiven of our sin! But there are times when I sin and I let it hang over me and even let it make my attitude sour! When I let those lies that sin puts in my life control and influence me, I am giving my sin more control than God! By doing so, I have let sin harden me against God. You see that trashcan was a lot like how sin has been in my life. The trash represents sin and just as I got rid of the trash, Christ got rid of the trash in my life! The smell that lingered after the trash was gone represents the lies that sin puts in my life! Even when the trash was gone (my sin) Satan still uses its lies to deceive me, but no more!

When I got home I sprayed that car full with Febreze just as God has removed sin’s lies from over me!

Lord, thank you so much for removing the trash from my life! I thank you that the stench of my sin has been covered by your blood, and I have been set free!

Math has not been my best subject in school. In fact, it is my worst subject. When I got my report card in the middle of this past semester, I realized I might not pass the class. To bring up my grade to a “C” I was going to have to get at least a “B” on the rest of my tests. The problem was I hadn’t even made a “C” on any of my tests! In higher math everything you learn builds on what you learn next, so passing was looking impossible. I knew that there was no way I could pass on my own. I came to the realization that I needed help.

In Mark 10:24 Jesus teaches about the impossible. “Children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God…With men it is impossible, but not with God, because all things are possible with God.”

To me, passing math looked just about as much impossible as a camel walking through the eye of a needle. When I realized that I was incapable of passing on my own, I put it into God’s hands. I prayed about what to do, and this verse offered my answer. See when it comes to salvation from sin, Christ knows all about it. I had failed on my own in math, so I needed someone who knew all about it! God sent a tutor that taught me in a way that I could better understand. Before I had been forgetting the material I was supposed to know by the time I took the test. When I put it into God’s hands, I started recalling everything I needed to know.

I have always been very proud of my grades, and hiring a tutor was something I thought I’d never have to do. My pride was something I had to get rid of though in order to obey God. When I put what I was worried about into God’s hands, I had to submit all the way. When the Word says, “With men it is impossible, but not with God, because all things are possible with God,” that means I CAN”T DO IT!!! So why do I hold on at times when I can’t do the impossible? That is something I have to work on.

When I finally submitted to what God asked me to do, He blessed my obedience! My final test grade was a 97, and I passed the class one point under a B! God is so incredible! I was failing and just like times before, Christ saved me.

“Father, Your power is everlasting and unmatched. I pray that I will learn to submit to You with out hesitation, please fill my life. I want to see You every day.”

What happens when you neglect one thing and focus on another? You get really good at what you focused on and worse at what you neglected. If you knew me, you’d know that I always say “repetition is a great thing.” I don’t always “get” a lesson the first time, but I’ve got this one finally!

Lately I’ve been rock climbing more. So I’d get better, I’ve been doing a lot of strength training. Since my strength has improved, I’m climbing advanced routes! But here is the problem I’ve run into; I have neglected my footwork. When I started climbing I saw I needed to work on it, but instead I thought I’d just get stronger and not worry about it. So now that I’ve gotten stronger, my footwork is still awful! It’s not that it’s just bad, but it affects my climbing and makes me fall off the boulder! My neglect has turned back on me and now hurts my skill.

The Bible tells us that though there are many parts to it, there is just one body (1 Corinthians 12:12-19). What I didn’t understand is that if my footwork was weak, my entire body is weak, no matter how strong I get the rest of my body.

In that same way, I have neglected parts of my journey with Christ. I get really caught up in political issues. Many times I focus more on current events in the world than what Christ is doing. If I balanced the two, then I could approach each issue and worldly happening with a stronger Christ view! That same idea of balance with Christ can be applied to everything in my life! School, music, reading, movies, EVERYTHING! If I read a worldly book, I should be sure to read even more of God’s Word. By including Christ in everything I do, I will never be apart from Him. The worst place to be is apart from God; so by always being with Him, I’m in the best place to be. That sounds perfect to me!

“Father, thank you for balancing my life! You have made me whole, and I thank you for revealing to me the full meaning of that. Please help me to include you into every aspect of my life so that I may never be apart from you.”

Recently I went on a trip with some friends I like to hang out with. We were all sitting around one night and I asked my buddies, “What do you think it takes to grow in your relationship with Christ?”

Now I asked the question to stir up some conversation, but I have to admit I was very surprised at their answers. When I say “surprised,” I’m not referring to the good kind of “surprised.” I was saddened how they responded. My heart was hurt and I felt so discouraged. Their answers focused on church attendance on Sundays and “being a good person” the rest of the week. No one mentioned pursuing the love that God gives or becoming more aware of the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The best word I can find in the Bible to describe the type of growing I was talking about is “seeking.”

I discovered that the word “seek” appears in the Bible more than 150 times. In order to grow in our relationship with Christ we must pursue that growth, and want it.

I am 17-years-old, as are the majority of my friends who I was with when I asked that question. I knew they knew what it meant to pursue because I see them pursue all the time. Girls are always on a seventeen-year-old guy’s mind. I have seen my friends pursue girls since we were in the seventh grade, so I knew they knew what it meant to pursue. I asked one of my closest friends what happens when he gets a crush on a beautiful lady. Would he just walk by when he saw her, or would he stop and try to have a conversation with her? He admitted he would attempt to talk to her. I asked him if he would get her phone number and then call her. Once again he said yes. I asked if he would go out of his way to see her at her locker, or if he would stand by his own locker and hope she would happen to pass by. He said he would go out of his way to see her.

I have learned that seeking God is “more than a Sunday drive.” It’s part of our journey and we are all in pursuit together. Matthew 6:33 reads: “Seek first the Kingdom of God.” I love how in verse 34, Christ says, “Don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself.” I am learning if I wait to seek God I might miss him or not seek Him at all. The worst place to be is away from Christ!

My prayer has been “Daddy, you are so mind-blowing! You’ve blessed me with so much and I thank you for it all. Thank you for loving me so much more than I can even imagine! I love you, and I pray that my thirst to see your glory and be filled with your righteousness will never end!

Rock climbing is my favorite thing to do. It’s technical; every problem is different and requires thought to solve. I also have to be strong enough. I have to rely on my strength to keep me from falling. The type of climbing I do doesn’t use a harness. If I lose my grip I fall. When I climb indoors the floor is covered with padding but outside the only padding I have is a small pad.

I climb once a week. It’s great! I get to climb with other climbers and see the progress we make as we climb from week to week. When I first started, everyone helped me…A LOT. Over time my grip got stronger, and I got better at solving each climb. Now that I’ve been climbing for a while I have to concentrate on maintaining my grip instead of getting it stronger. If I miss a week or more, my grip gets very weak; and as a consequence, it takes me a week or longer to get as strong as I was before I missed. Because I only climb once a week, I can only get so strong. In order to grow as a climber I need to climb more than once a week.

I am only a regular, not an actual, member of the climbing gym I go to. Though I am better than some members, because I climb more, the members who are serious are AMAZING! The growth of a climber is all about how much they put into it. Those who climb throughout the week are incredible! I climb once a week and I am just average; but if I put more into it, I could get better very quickly!

God has been teaching me a lot through climbing. I have learned that just as with climbing, I grow according to what I put into my relationship with Christ. If I just put one day into my relationship with Christ, I will only be working on maintaining my relationship. Though if I have time with Christ all through out the week, I will be growing without choice; it’ll just happen!

“Lord, I thank you for having a relationship with me, and I pray that I will pursue to grow in my relationship with You daily.”

“Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that your labor is not in vain” 1 Corinthians 15:58

I have been taught a lesson that I won’t ever forget. It brought an attitude adjustment as well as a spanking, spiritually that is. My lesson came through learning about the slave trade in our country. This lesson has changed my life-style. So here it is; check it out.

Masters of plantations in the South began to feel convicted about owning slaves and mistreating them so badly. There were masters who would get so convicted that in the middle of the night, so no one would know, take their slaves to the edge of the property of the plantation and tell them they were free. One of three things would then happen to those free slave families. One, they would be captured by others and put back into the slave circuit. Two, they would be shot by other plantation owners who felt threatened and feared an anti-slave movement. Or three, they would make it to the North and live a life looked down upon as a sub-human race. By setting those slaves free the masters weren’t doing much for them, just easing their own conscience.

There were a few, not many but a few masters, who felt convicted and acted out of love instead of guilt. Those masters would approach the father of the slave family and tell him that they were being set free from slavery. But the master wouldn’t then separate himself from the set free slaves but do something very loving. The master would say, “I am not only setting you free, but I am also adopting you.” The master would give the slaves his last name and invite them into his house. “I want you and your family to move into the mansion with my family. You will be a part of my family and you will eat at my table.”

In Galatians 4:3-5 we are told about how we as Christians were in slavery under the forces of this world, but we have been freed by the blood that Christ shed on the cross. When God sent His Son, we were given an invitation to be adopted as sons, according to Galatians 4. When we received forgiveness of our sins, we were adopted! Just like those slaves, we were invited to “live” in the mansion, God’s Kingdom. Those slave quarters are the world; they are dirty and produce nothing good.

If the slave had rejected the master’s invitation, the master would have been hurt. If the slave had said, “No, I’d like to just keep living my life that is dirty, harsh, and unhealthy; I think I’ll just keep laboring for things that don’t really matter.” That would have offended the master!

I have been hurting the Master! I have not lived a life that has been “in” the mansion. Instead, I’ve been living my life in the slave quarters. IT IS TIME TO MOVE IN!!

“God I thank you for adopting me! I praise you for the love that you have shown, and I pray that I will live a life that is not a part of the world, but a part of you!

Have I trained enough? How long does training take? What will the results be? Those are three questions that haven’t stopped repeating in my head since my last post about training my core. While I was rock climbing a boulder, I couldn’t get past a certain point. Every time I would reach for the next hold, I would miss it and fall about nine feet. I became aggravated, and a fellow climber suggested I work out my core that week. The next week after training I finished the route with ease. Working my core had strengthened my whole body!

I don’t train for fun. Training is to work my body to perform better in whatever it is I’m training for. I found out that my core’s strength helps other parts of my body, and that without it I am weak. That is why I needed to train my core, because it wasn’t strong in the way it needed to be, and it was hindering me from growing as a climber. When I wrote the post about training my core last week, I had learned I needed to focus on training my spiritual core, which is my relationship with Christ. What I hadn’t learned yet is what results would come from training spiritually.

I began searching God’s Word for an answer to those questions. I knew training was beneficial, but I wanted hear about results. In Ephesians 4:12-13, the purpose and result of training is clear. “For the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.” This training is to reach unity with our brothers in Christ! I now know I am training to become a mature man who is united in the faith with the rest of the body!

The goal that has been set is to grow—for me to grow in unity of faith and knowledge, and in maturity measured by Christ fullness! Ephesians 4:16 says this, “From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.”

I am a part of the body of Christ. If I don’t train, I might hinder growth of the body. If every part is not working properly, growth is not promoted in the body! That is why Paul told us what training was for, so we could know what to expect to happen. With training comes unity, from that maturity, and as a lasting result comes growth!

“God I pray that my training will produce results of growth! That unity will become evident in the Faith!”