Radical Student Ministry

I want to be a radical Student Pastor. I do not want to be a program director or a sanctified babysitter. I want to be a shepherd to the students that God has entrusted to my care. I pray big prayers for my ministry because I want to see lives changed for the glory of God. Imagine what could happen if the 25 or 30 students that are here for the majority of our times together decided to stand up and live lives that glorify God no matter the cost.

I have a request. I have begun praying that God would bless the Student Ministry here at First Baptist and that in one year...October 1, 2012, there would be 100 students who are involved in the activities here on campus. Would you join me in praying this prayer? I honestly believe that this can happen. Joshua prayed for the sun to stand still (Joshua 10:12-14) and it did. The same God that answered that prayer can answer this one as well.

I am not interested in numbers just to have people here. I want to see 100 students here praising God for snatching them out of the pit of Hell. I cannot do this alone. It will take the church stepping up and becoming involved in the ministry to students. It will take volunteers giving up their time to help out with our events.

Dr. Alvin Reid says in his book Raising The Bar, "Imagine what wold happen if thousands of young people in America served Jesus with the passion of a Bin Laden? Imagine if high school youth spent as much time planning to reach their peers with the gospel as McVeigh spent planning his bomb attack?"

I ask you the same question. Imagine what could happen if 100 students (or more) in Cheraw decided to serve God with the passion of Bin Laden or McVeigh. This is a radical passion and I would argue looks more like the passion the Apostles served God with than anything we see in America today.

Please join me in prayer that God would do a radical work in the Fuel Student Ministry here at Cheraw First Baptist for his glory and his alone.

Pray for the Nations

I am teaching through the book of Ephesians right now. Paul is constantly reminding his readers that there is neither Jew nor Gentile in Christ. He is urging them to be unified with one another. As I have been studying this text and teaching on it, God has been reminding me that this is still true today. When we come to faith in Christ, we are all brothers and sisters no matter what our background is.

I have started giving out a new nation for our students to be praying for on a weekly basis. This week we are praying for Afghanistan. 93% of the people groups of Afghanistan are unreached. God has a heart for the nations and the unreached and we as Christians should too. Only .05% of the population of Afghanistan are believers and the ones who are believers face unbelievable persecution.

We may not be able to go to that country but we can all join in prayer that God would move in a mighty way there and draw countless people to himself. Will you join me in praying for this Afghanistan this week?

A "Dangerous" Christian

Jim Elliot is one of the most well known martyrs of our time. One of my professors from SEBTS recently had a blog post of many of Elliot's most famous quotes. A couple really stuck out to me.

“We are so utterly ordinary, so commonplace, while we profess to know a Power the Twentieth Century does not reckon with. But we are “harmless,” and therefore unharmed. We are spiritual pacifists, non-militants, conscientious objectors in this battle-to-the-death with principalities and powers in high places. We are “sideliners” — coaching and criticizing the real wrestlers while content to sit by and leave the enemies of God unchallenged. The world cannot hate us, we are too much like its own. Oh that God would make us dangerous!”


Did you catch that? Far too many of us are content to stand on the sidelines of this war. We are mostly unharmed because we are harmless. We don't do anything that would make our enemy harm us because we are pacifists, not wanting to engage.

This makes me think about a few years ago when I was the leader of our group of kids at children's camp. We were playing paintball and had made a plan that on go, we were all going to go to different bunkers. When the horn sounded I ran for my bunker only to realize none of the children had run for theirs! They were afraid to engage and therefore harmless to the other team. Far too many Christians are this same way. We want to sit back in our Christianity and let others be in the line of fire.

I pray that we would become "dangerous" Christians. That we would be in the line of fire. This means that our lives will not be easy. This means that we may have some casualties. But we have been on the sidelines long enough when we have been given clear orders to engage the enemy and win souls to Christ. I close with one more quote from Jim Elliot that I offer as a prayer for myself and all who read this:

“Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another after facing Christ in me.”  Amen.

This Changes Everything

I have a new favorite song! I love this song for a lot of reasons, most of which being that it really makes me take a look at my life and how I am living. I downloaded this song about a week ago and have listened to it several times a day since then. Matt Papa is a Christian artist who I got to know a little in Seminary. He is a great guy and really seeks to exalt God in his music. This is just a small part of the song "This Changes Everything".


Oh lord have I become a man
Too scared to be a child again?
Too comfortable with amazing grace;
Familiar with the empty grave?
Did I miss something, or have I begun to lie;
Do I really live, like "Jesus is alive"?

If this is true, this changes everything
If this is real, I've got to tell the world
If He is God, then I've got choice to make
If I believe, then I must follow Him!

How great are those lyrics? I am not a big crier but those lyrics almost bring me to tears. Have we heard the "story" of Jesus so much that it no longer has any bearing on the way we live our lives? If it is true that there was a man who lived, died, and then came back to life, that has to change everything!

We cannot read the Scripture like it is a children's story. We have to realize that it is a true story that really happened. It has to change everything in our lives! What are you going to do? Are you going to keep living your life for yourself or are you going to really live like Jesus is alive and begin to tell people this amazing news?

I encourage you to go to the Itunes store and buy this song. It is only $.99. If you can afford the entire album there are a lot of other good songs on it.

Pray for our President

I recently received an email that got me thinking. I have reposted the email in its entirety below:

"We were in slow-moving traffic the other day and we were stopped behind a car that had an unusual Obama bumper sticker on it. It read: "Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8".

When we got home my wife got out the Bible and opened it up to the scripture. She started laughing & laughing. Then she read it to me. I couldn't believe what it said. I had a good laugh, too.

Psalm 109:8 ~ "Let his days be few and brief; and let others step forward to replace him."

At last -- I can honestly voice a Biblical prayer for our president! Look it up -- it is word for word! Let us all bow our heads and pray."

I am by no means a lover of President Obama but being a Christian I know that I am commanded by Scripture to pray for him. I can guarantee you that this prayer is not what God had in mind. If you continue and read the remainder of Psalm 109 it says, "May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven from their ruined homes. God would not be pleased with any Christian praying for the president to be killed. 

This email may have been sent around in fun or just for a laugh but we must think clearly through the emails that we send on a daily basis. If Christians are not willing to pray for the man that God has put in charge of this country then our country is in trouble. We do not have to agree with everything that President Obama does but we do have to submit to his authority as long is it does not contradict the Word of God. 

I ask that you would take a second and pray for our country and our president that God would give him wisdom and direction. 

Daily Devotional

I have been told that there are several students here at CFB who are looking for a deeper relationship with God. That is some of the best news that a Student Pastor can hear! I want to be here for you in any way that I can. I have a couple of things that I would like to encourage you with during this time of searching.

First, don't get discouraged if you miss a few days. God is interested in the heart more than the action. God knows if you truly desire a deeper relationship with him. If you find that you miss a day or two alone with him, he will understand. God is always waiting with open arms when we come back to him!

Second, devotional guides are good, but they should not be a substitute for reading the Bible. God gave us the Bible as a personal love letter. He desires that we spend time alone with just our Bible and prayer. Devotional guides are great tools to get our thoughts focused in the right place.

Here is a website with some great devotional readings. I hope that they help you on your journey to a deeper knowledge of who God is and what he desires from you!

That's My King!

I used to listen to this when I was in college. S.M. Lockridge was a great preacher. You can see the love he had for his King. I hope that I have this same passion and I hope that all of you do too. I have posted the transcript and then the video that goes along with it at the end. I hope you enjoy!

That’s my King! (S M Lockridge)
The Bible says my King is a seven-way King:
He’s the King of the Jews – that’s a racial King.
He’s the King of Israel – that’s a national King.
He’s the King of Righteousness.
He’s the King of the Ages.
He’s the King of Heaven.
He’s the King of Glory.
He’s the King of kings and He’s the Lord of lords.
That’s my King.

Well, I wonder do you know Him.

David said, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork.”
My King is a sovereign King – no means of measure can define His limitless love.
No farseeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supply.
No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out His blessings.
He’s enduringly strong.
He’s entirely sincere.
He’s eternally steadfast.
He’s immortally graceful.
He’s imperially powerful.
He’s impartially merciful.

Do you know Him?

He’s the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world.
He’s God’s Son.
He’s the sinner’s Savior.
He’s the centerpiece of civilization.
He stands in the solitude of himself.
He’s august and He’s unique.
He’s unparalleled, He’s unprecedented.
He is the loftiest idea in literature.
He’s the highest personality in philosophy.
He is the supreme problem in higher criticism.
He’s the fundamental doctrine of true theology.
He is the core and the necessity for spiritual religion.
He’s the miracle of the age, He’s… yes He is.
He’s the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him.
He’s the only one qualified to be an all-sufficient Savior.

I wonder if you know him today?

He supplies strength for the weak.
He’s available for the tempted and the tried.
He sympathizes and He saves.
He strengthens and sustains.
He guards and He guides.
He heals the sick.
He cleansed the lepers.
He forgives sinners.
He discharges debtors.
He delivers the captive.
He defends the feeble.
He blesses the young.
He serves the unfortunate.
He regards the aged.
He rewards the diligent.
And He beautifies the meek.

I wonder if you know Him? Well, my King—

He is the key, He’s the key to knowledge.
He’s the wellspring of wisdom.
He’s the doorway of deliverance.
He’s the pathway of peace.
He’s the roadway of righteousness.
He’s the highway of holiness.
He’s the gateway of glory.

Do you know Him?

Well, His office is manifold.
His promise is sure.
His life is matchless.
His goodness is limitless.
His mercy is everlasting.
His love never changes.
His Word is enough.
His grace is sufficient.
His reign is righteous and
His yoke is easy and
His burden is light.

I wish I could describe Him to you.
But He’s indes… Wooah, yeaaah! yeaahh,
He’s indescribable – yes He is ! He’s God.
He’s, He’s indescribable, yes, He’s indescribable.
He’s incomprehensible.
He’s invincible.
He’s irresistible.

Well, you can’t get Him out of your mind,
You get Him off of your hand,
You can’t outlive Him, and you can’t live without Him.

Well, the Pharisees couldn’t stand Him, but they found out they couldn’t stop Him.
Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him.
The witnesses couldn’t get their testimonies to agree.
Herod couldn’t kill Him.
Death couldn’t handle Him and
the grave couldn’t hold Him. Yeah !
THAT’S MY KING !
THAT’S MY KING ! YEAH !

And Thine is the Kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever
and ever and ever.
How long is that ?
And ever and ever.
And when you get through all the forevers, then
Amen!

That's My King!