USC vs. Clemson

So after a glorious game on Saturday my Gamecocks finally managed to get a win over Clemson after losing the last 4 straight games to them. I was and am so happy and now have bragging rights until next year. Over the years I have developed a strong burning dislike towards Clemson in general, not just their football team but the entire school, and anyone who goes there. It's a rivalry so obviously we don't like each other, but after the game I thought about why I don't like Clemson so much.

The reason I learned is their FANS. For the past four years all I've been hearing about is how bad we are and how many times we have lost to them. There are countless people who think Clemson was actually built by God himself. Some of the things I've heard and the way that some of the fans have acted towards me have led me to strongly dislike Clemson.

So I got to thinking more about it and I thought about many Clemson fans and families who are truly awesome people who I love a lot. I don't dislike them at all, and they've never done anything to put out a bad Clemson vibe to me. Then I thought some more and realized that there are probably fewer Clemson fans that I don't like then ones that I actually do, and it really isn't all that bad of a place.

About a handful of people ruined Clemson for me. It didn't take much, and everytime someone said something dumb I thought, "Oh, boy another stupid Clemson fan". In reality though it's the people who aren't really Die Hard about Clemson that ruin it. If they really cared about their school they wouldn't be dissing everyone else and being jerks about it, they would just be pleased with their school and try and put off a good vibe to others so that they would be attracted to it.

It got me to realize that there are tons of times where I have said some dumb things and possibly ruined Jesus for some people. There are countless times where I have been very hypocritical, and I finally realize how much it can affect someone who doesn't know Jesus. Their entire perception of who God is, and who I say God is can be changed by a simple mistake. It's really challenging. Now I don't think I'll ever be perfect but I certainly want to make the best effort possible to reflect who God really is and love people and live what I profess.

I know I've done a poor job, but my heart and my prayer is that not only me but we as a church can strive to not be hypocrites but to follow Christ with all that we have and with all that he has equipped us with.

Jumping Off

So the other night an amazing man that has been truly blessed by God, Adrian DesPres, spoke at Ignite and I think at least 10 of the high school students accepted Christ, and a number more rededicated themselves to serving Christ. IT WAS AWESOME!!! I'm still blown away any time people do that. It's truly what I live for, it brings heaven on earth, it makes me want to dance really stupidly around the room. I can't even begin to tell people how freakin cool it is that they made that decision.

Adrian does an offering of Christ in a very scary, bold way. It's probably my favorite way. He says with ALL eyes open and EVERYONE looking around I want you to STAND and then come up in front of everyone. If you realize that you need Jesus then nothing should be able to hold you back, but sitting in that chair the thought of knowing that you've fooled people for so long and not wanting people to know, or that maybe you're really cool group of friends will think you are a freak, or maybe you are trying to tell yourself that you can do it later at a more convenient time.

I can remember when I was a punk freshman and I was going to do a rededication at a big rally. All of those thoughts raced through my mind, but I just knew that I had to go up there and get right with Jesus right there right now. Honestly it's the scariest thing I've ever done, to decide to follow this Jesus guy with everything even though I know he was crucified for being God's son and the Savior of man. I could be an outcast forever, be hated, called a hypocrite for misrepresenting him, but it's worth it and I knew that and after getting sweaty hands, butterflies in my stomach, and trying not to make eye contact with my friends or anyone I knew, I stood up...

It reminds me of doing something else crazy like when I visited my dad in Missouri many years ago. We went to a nearby creek where there was this really cool spot that you could climb up to the road and then run off and jump down about 30 feet into the creek. I was probably about 12 at the time and I watched my dad do it and I thought wow that is the coolest thing ever, I want to do that. So I climbed and climbed and then realized that I was going to be up pretty high. I get to the top and look down and saw that a rock was sticking out pretty far under me so I would have to get a very good running start and just jump. I backed up on the road and remember that I was TERRIFIED. I didn't want to show my dad I was scared though because I thought he was so brave, and cool, but he knew I was scared so he talked me through it and then he jumped so he could wait for me at the bottom. He knew I could do it though, there is no way my dad would just let me jump to my death. So there I am, just me and the road and a huge jump ahead. I kept going to the edge and thinking WOW!, I could break a leg or my neck or just flat out die, what if I don't jump far enough?. Finally my dad talked me into it, and backed up to the road again and counted. ONE: oh crap I'm gonna die, TWO: my heart is racing and my legs are shaking and I've got butterflies in my stomach and I hope no one is watching, THREE: I ran and I jumped. There was a huge splash and when I was under water, instantly I changed from being totally scared and almost wetting myself to being extremely happy. It was totatlly worth it, and I wished everyone could see it and I wished that everyone could jump with me and see how cool it is.

Double O

James Bond makes me very happy. Last weekend my brother asked me if this Friday (tonight) I wanted to go see a movie with him. I said of course because I wanted to get some time to spend with my bro since it's been a good long while since we have done so. I said "hey why don't we go catch the new James Bond movie Casino Royale?" and he was a little skeptical at first because it's a new Bond.

I don't know how they do it, but it's almost as if Pierce Brosnan, Sean Connery, etc; were never the real Bond. The new actor was just as ravishing, intelligent, and dangerous as those other guys and well he is what you expect from James Bond. It was just a great, manly, brother-bonding movie to go see. There was action, poker, cool cars, plot twists, and ladies which are all some of my favorite things.

I love my brother a lot. I really do, but sometimes it's hard to find similarities between us, or actually I think I just try and make it too hard. Tonight was a very refreshing night to be able to see we both are manly guys who like things like James Bond movies and that we have a lot in common. After the movie we opened up and shared a little bit about what God is doing in our lives, talked a little about women, and then we came back to the house and grabbed some Ale 81 and Cheerwine and went and played good ole College football (I absolutely slaughtered Clemson :) ) and then now I am calling it night.

I am just really thankful that God has blessed me with a cool brother, and I'm glad that we can both hang out and just have a dude's night. James Bond, you have saved the day again my friend.

What?

So as I have written before I'm taking this class called Terrorism and Counter Terrorism or PoliSci 391. During the first few weeks of this class, it was strictly a lecture class and no one really spoke up. But lately people have had the urge to speak their mind which is totally cool. I like hearing what people think, especially non-christians because I think it can help understand what they need, and how Christ can be presented to them.

We were discussing religion, particularly Islam, and how it has become sort of the "poster" religion for terrorism. One guy then said that not all Muslims are terrorists but that all terrorists are Muslims... That probably wasn't the best thing to say on this particular day or maybe any day, and of course a huge debate then started. It got to the point that one guy actually said this.

"Well I think that we should do away with Religion all together. It's not just Islams or Jews. If you look at the Christians they are killing Jews in Palestine and have done some of the most horrible things in the name of Christianity. If we just did away with religion then people wouldn't be as hateful and have such radical beliefs. The world would be better off without having to deal with religion."

Instantly in my mind two things happened.

1. I got that really defensive feeling, my adrenaline started rushing, and I thought to myself "What the crap?".

2. I was also heart-broken at that the exact same moment. I couldn't believe that some how along the way when it came to Jesus, all he could think about is "wow those people who say they love Jesus are just as bad, if not worse, than any other group".

Too often we steer off of the path of love. A lot of the time we as christians have good intentions, and do some great things but we leave that key ingredient out. Love should be the driving force behind everything we do. We shouldn't be out there just doing good things for the sake of doing good things.

Paul puts it this way to the Corinthians "if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Cor 13:2-3).

You see people aren't impressed with what we do if it is for self gain, becuase as Paul says in the long run by doing those great things you gain NOTHING. Eveyone has good morals these days. The difference is and should be that we Love people in everything. When you develop relationships and take time with people, rather than just helping them out in the moment you can see a change and an impact.

3:50 AM

Sunday morning, after about 3 and half hours of sleep I woke up after Trevor said my name. Somehow I shot up from bed and said "uh-oh what time is it?"

"3:50", said Trevor.

"DANG!!! we're late," I said that but we really weren't late, I have no idea actually why that was my response. We waited for Nick, loaded up, and headed back to Lexington. The weekend in Indiana was incredible! I got to hang out with Nick and Trevor for like the first time in forever and a guy named Zach from Kentucky who was cool as mess. Four guys hangin' out talkin about random stories from our past was exactly what I needed. We laughed non-stop from Thursday to Sunday, and just got to fellowship drinking Ale 81's the whole time.

Trevor's family was so cool, it seemed like a second home to me. My prayers were answered about the people of Indiana, I wanted them to be able to engage in the worship and get something out of it, and I also wanted God to show me what was going on outside of my Lexington, South Carolina bubble. I really felt like worship went well both nights, and I could feel the holy spirit. For the first time in my life I got to play music for people that I had never seen before, and I even spoke about what God had done through my life by being involved with Small Groups.

It's crazy, because I really do feel like God wants me in ministry but there hasn't been that one moment where I had total assurance that this is what God wanted and not just what I wanted. This weekend though put it all together, and God sort of put everything in front of me to see that I am heading in the right direction. I had been busy with school, and all sorts of stuff that seemed to just keep coming at me, but just being able to be away and relax let me pray and reflect on it all.

I love music, especially Jesus praising music, and getting to play it and listening to it makes me very happy. I can't speak in front of people well unless it's about God. It's weird like that but I'm boring, monotoned, and ridiculously nervous unless I'm talking about Jesus and what he can do. Thinking is one of my favorite things to do. I like to be able to brainstorm on how we christians can be more effective in preaching the Gospel and sharing the radical life changing experiences we have as Christ Followers. The best part of my life is being able to see other people come to Christ, and in this past year I have seen it a good bit and it still amazes me every time. Movie/video making is one of the coolest things I think I've done because it lets everyone know that Christians are fun and funny and can actually use technology. God allows me to wake up at 3:50AM and not say "uh all I want is to sleep I don't care about anything else" but rather I snap up and I'm like "Dang I'm late". I get fired up when it comes to doing things for God. It excites me and this weekend He took me up to Indiana to do his work. All of these seem to be a recipe for Ministry. I have no clue what it will look like but I know that I'm willing to be able to do whatever God wants.

Weekend get-a-ways are the coolest! If I had to sum all of what is up right now I would use the song "Ready Now" by Desperation Band.

"Take my hands, I lift them High, They're yours not mine to do, Do what you will"

IN

yeah it's 1 in the morning, and i'm tired as mess but tomorrow brings a new day and a new state for me. It was really cool in small group tonight we talked about prayer. And I felt really dumb, because I hadn't even thought to pray about the people there who I will be attempting to lead worship for. So tonight I have been doing so and I look forward to it even though my guitar skills and worship skills are quite inadequate in comparison to an amazing God. Indiana here I come.

Excitement

This has been quite the crazy week. I'm still very pumped because this past sunday 2 guys from me and Wade's small group accepted Christ which is awesome and I was there to pray with them, so it's just an amazing thing to be a part of. ESPN's Gameday will be in Columbia this Saturday and I hopefully will be there too, and we Play the #7 Tennessee Volunteers this weekend. That should be a good one. I'm also pretty stoked about the new series at Mount Horeb starting the Sunday after next called Deal or No Deal. It's going to be about worship and we are actually playing Deal or No Deal and I will be hosting so there is a possibility that I may go completely bald for this event. Next Thursday I'm going up to Indiana with Nick and Trevor to help lead worship which should be an awesome awesome experience. God's doing some big things, and it's been an exciting week.

Unfortunately though I have come down with some odd sickness. There is congestion and nausea and it's been hard to sleep. My mommy took me to the doctor yesterday, and I thought that I had an ear infection because I've gotten them a lot. He checked around in my ears and checked my glands and my throat and said that it didn't look infected. In fact he said that he thinks that it just may be some sort of weak virus or something that will just go away with a little time. I just had to wait it out is basically what I was told. Scary because last night I felt miserable and I was almost certain that he was wrong and I had some sort of fatal disease that was going to kill me in a short time. I seriously laid in bed from about 8:15 last night until 10:00 this morning. When I woke up I still felt bad, but after breakfast I started feeling better, and now it's 11:15 and I'm feeling pretty good. So it would appear that the doctor was right.

It takes me back to a few verses. One is James 1:2-3 "Consider it pure Joy,my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." Somehow in the midst of my sickness, when I was feeling down and when I felt useless, it wasn't hard for me to see God working. Just being able to sit back and think about what all God is doing even when I'm weak fills me with Joy and definitely makes me want to persevere. It has been a "good" sickness I guess you could say, and I'm a huge fan of the word of God spoken through James.

Sovereignty

One of the Beauties of college is that you get to pick every single class that you want to take. I happen to be a huge fan of 24 and do enjoy history and a little bit of political type things, so I thought it would be a good idea to take a class called Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism. Pretty cool I know.

So today we talked about counter-terrorist tacticts and there was a heated debate on whether or not we can win the war on terror, because there are tons of nations that simply will not cooperate with the "War on Terror". You see different countries and diffferent governments believe very very strongly in their "Sovereignty".

My Professor said that sovereignty is this: when a country like the US for example does what is best for the US and ignores what other nations say or do. He said that we don't use a very popular system in our government to prevent and help stop Global Warming because of the huge impact it would have on the Oil Industry and our Economy . And it's not just the US... it's any country. They are going to do what is in the best interests of their people and of their government.

God is the exact same way. He doesn't move or budge by anything we say or do. God is always doing things that are in his best interest, the Kingdom's best interest, and in our best interest.

A lot of the times we are quick to blame God for bad things that happen in our lives or we say "how could a loving God let something like 9/11 happen?" It's his sovereignty. First of all I think that Bin Laden and terrorist organizations are totally responsible, but it doesn't mean that God is not glorified through it. God wouldn't allow anything to rattle his best interest and so I think I'm starting to learn to trust more, because in all honesty I can't see the big picture and a lot of the time I have no idea what is best for me in the long haul. God will be sovereign forever and do what is best ALWAYS! No matter how we view it.

Winner

Free Stuff... we all love it. I know I do. The first week of USC was a crazy one because right in front of one of the main buildings, the Russel House, tons of organizations and business set up these tents right in the middle of where everyone walks and gives out free stuff. It was awesome, I got a free Dominoe's lunch, free energy drinks, flashlights, pens, I mean I was stocked up on kinds of junk. I mean I even love watching other people get free stuff. It's crazy, I spent 2 hours the other night watching Deal or No Deal, and I found myself screaming at the TV and wanting people to pick "the right cases". I wanted them to get the most possible money possible, and I've never ever seen these people before.

The same can be said for my love of other people coming to Christ. One of the most emotional and happiest moments of my life was at a camp called BigStuf in Panama City, Florida this past summer. There were about 50 of us, and the last night there was an open invite and challenge to accept Christ as Lord. There were 5 people from our group that stood up, and I remember before they stood up, I was screaming inside please God let some people get this awesome gift of Grace. I didn't want anyone to miss out on this opportunity, and I was soo happy to see these people stand up that I cried. And I'm not one to cry, before this summer the last time I cried was about 4 and half years before that. Like I can remember pretty much every time i've cried in my life. It was AWESOME, and it's those moments that remind why I wake up every morning and why I don't want to see anyone lose or miss out on this breath-taking gift of salvation.

Familia

So right now i'm on fall break. It is basically a 4 day weekend that we get from USC which is pretty sweet cuz I love having time to just kinda sit around and do nothing. I've gotten to just be able to hang around my family and see how they are doing since the oldest has gone off to college. It has been cool to see that my mom and my brother are actually getting along, cuz there used to be a lot of yelling in Spanish around here, and to see that my brother is maturing a bit. It's awesome to see God working in their lives.

A really cool thing about my brother is the other night as soon as i got home, he came up to me and asked if I wanted to study the bible with him... WOAH, my little brother actually approaching me about it. This is the same brother who I couldn't have a serious conversation with, and now he is initiating a bible study with me? It's good stuff, and i'm glad God's working right at home.

me

so I'm wrestling with how I should deal with other belief systems that don't match up with Christianity, true Christianity. It honestly makes me angry to hear some of the things that people say, and I get riled up and the first thing I want to do is disprove it and prove that I am right and act like I have all the answers. But tonight my good friend Wade Joye said some pretty good stuff: Facts rarely change people... and it's true.

I didn't come to Christ because one of my Christian friends debated evolution to me. Or because they gave me all of the prophecy in the Old Testament, and then put it together with Jesus's life. I came to him because I saw Jesus working in other people's lives and I thought... I want that, NO, I NEED that. I think at this point I'm realizing that maybe all I can do, maybe all that God really wants me to do is tell people what I believe about him and "be" what I believe about him.

So what do I believe? I believe that me as a person before coming to God, I was completely lost, and trying to figure out my own way of life on my own and DEAD in my sin. I could have tried as hard as I wanted and it never would have been good enough. I believe that even though I had chosen to deny God's way, and fell in a path of Sin... he still sought out to make a way for me to get back to him. I believe God HATES sin, and that he is a loving, but JUST God. He hated sin soooo much and loved us sooo much that he let His son Jesus come to connect us to God... he let his son suffer one of the most agonizing deaths in order that maybe one of us would see the sacrifice and simply accept what Jesus did and believe that it works. Once I accepted Christ as my savior, once I confessed my sins to him... he took them off of me and began to allow me to experience life the way it was intended... I'm not perfect, nor do I think that I will be, but I have freedom over sin through the redemption that Christ has given me. I also believe that not only is salvation one of the greatest gifts ever and that it comes from Christ ONLY, but there is this bonus that is often overlooked even though it's freakin crazy. THE HOLY SPIRIT that lives within me and keeps me in tune with God and lets me in on what he thinks, and what he wants for me.

God is working in me through his Spirit, daily, and my prayer is that people out there will see that and eventually get to a point where they say... I need that Jesus thing that Andrew has.

getting out of a rut

So basically I've been in a rut lately. I have been letting some stupid things get to me and have been very selfish. I am letting college get to me and pretending that it is bogging me down and that all I have time for is things that I have to do. On top of this I've been trying to do it on my own... DUMB IDEA!!!! Last night I had a pretty freakin sweet time with my roommate and we watched some Rob Bell videos, which was like a breath of fresh air. It kinda snapped me back to reality and let me see the beauty of God... I know people try and rag on USC's campus and say that it's in the middle of the city and it's too busy and things like that, but right now I am looking outside of my dorm window and I have an AMAZING view of just like trees and like some cool looking houses off in the distance. If people could see what I saw and feel how I feel about my view from my room, everyone would want to live here, and everyone would see that Columbia isn't so bad after all. I had been feeling useless, down, and almost like the only one who gets it when it comes to Jesus, but I know now that it's not gonna be the case and I can feel God with me. It's crazy and Rob Bell and Nature are 2 very cool things.

The Beginning October 12, 2006

Hmm... so blogging is cool... and i'm gonna try and do it as often as possible. this will most likely be thoughts on what God is doing in my life.