\\ Let me tell you about Jesus.
I am not perfect. In fact, I feel like the furthest thing from perfect a lot of the time.
Jesus Christ is perfect. It's a fact. A cosmic, transcending, historical reality. He lived a perfect life while He walked on the earth. Spotless and blameless, a perfect record. He was able to do this because He was God. He said so Himself. He needed to be perfect because we, all of us, every human being on earth who has ever lived, are sinners. Sin is filth, cancer for the soul. Because of our sinful condition, according to God's supernatural, cosmic laws for the universe, we all are deserving of eternal death in hell. Not undeserving. Deserving. We deserve it. It's not unfair, it's not mean or cruel. It is well deserved. Jesus needed to be perfect because we are not perfect. God became Jesus Christ and mastered the human life. He came up against every temptation we face as human beings, stared them in the face and did not give in. While we seen hundreds if not thousands or millions of times a day, Jesus walked through life for thirty-three years without committing a single sin. Not a single lie, theft, complaint, lustful glance, dirty thought, or prideful attitude. He did it. He was spotless.
Then He died. On purpose. No one murdered Jesus Christ. No one forced Him onto that infamous roman cross that day. This was God, he could have called down angel armies to destroy all those who would dare lay a hand on Him. But no. He needed to do what He was born to do, what He came to do in the first place. Make a trade. His perfect record for our imperfect record. The eternal wrath of God needed to be poured out on us because of our sin, our rebellion against our Maker and our King. We needed to be punished. So God in His eternal crazy, senseless love for us, gave His son. Himself. That agonizing death that Jesus died should have been ours. The ridicule and heartbreak, loneliness and shame that He endured should have been ours. The eternal wrath of God that was dumped on Jesus Christ invisibly up on that cross 2000 years ago should have been ours to suffer. But Jesus swapped out His perfect record for our filthy one. He took on all our red marks, our rebellion, and our sin, and became them. And He was crushed for us, so that we would not have to be. God died in my place. And in yours.
Three days later however, all the sadness was turned into joyful confusion, because Jesus did what He said He would do. He got back up. From Death. The grave could not possibly hold Him. Death had lost it's power, and so had sin, because of what God had done, because of what Jesus had done. He left all our sins dead in His grave and He got up and walked out. Because of what He did, the penalty for sin has been taken. Human beings, and the rest of creation for that matter have been delivered from sin and death. Because of Jesus and only Jesus. No other religion on the planet actually offers a solution to the problem. Only the truth does. He's still alive today. He is in heaven right now, alive and well and helping me live for Him. How could I not? How could I not give up everything for Him after what He has done for me? It's not about me. It's so not about me. It's about Him. He's coming back some day soon, and will take away all the physical problems, and the lingering sin. But for now, He has given me the Holy Spirit to live inside me and give m the power, and the help to desire and to do what He wants me to. Nothing else matters, unless it's first and foremost about Jesus.
\\ Okay, now I can tell you about me.
I was born and raised in Virginia, my parents followed Jesus too. I've known about Him all my life, I went to church every time the doors were open, and even when they weren't! I went to sunday school, AWANA, youth group, all that stuff. But I never got serious about following Jesus until I was 19 years old. You see, I'd claimed to be a Christ follower all my life, but I never actually read His word. I never actually did what He said to do. I didn't even really KNOW what He said to do! I didn't know you could actually LIVE it out! For instance, the Bible says: "Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God's people." (Ephesians 5:3 NLT) I always heard that and understood what it said, but I just knew that it wasn't relevant to my life because it wasn't possible. I thought, you can't watch TV, or go to a movie, or even walk through the mall, without having some hint of sexual immorality enter your eyes or ears.
But in 2009, God saved my literally life by sending me to join Life Action Ministries. Suddenly I was surrounded by people 24/7 who actually DID what the Bible said to do! People my age! Real people! Living for Jesus Christ, and following His example and His commands. I soon learned that it WAS possible to not even have a hint of sexual immorality in my life. It just required sacrifice. It required turning my back on the world and following Jesus. It require a conscious choice and effort. And of course the Grace of God through His Holy Spirit, because without Him, all the effort in the world will land you nowhere. I gave my life fully to Jesus as my Savior and my LORD and He in turn transformed me into a new person. You could ask anyone who knew me before and I'm confident that most people would tell you in private that I was jerk. Jesus changed that. I was addicted to pornography for eight years. Jesus changed that. I was a media addict, I'd watch anything that entertained me. Jesus changed that. I though being in love and having a woman was the meaning of life. Jesus changed that. I only cared about myself! Jesus changed that. I was afraid my faith would make others feel awkward if I shared it, so I didn't. Jesus is changing that. It's a lifelong process, and Jesus continues to change me every day. I'm not perfect. But someday, Jesus is going to change that.
\\ Life Action Ministries
From 2009-2013 I traveled with Life Action Ministries, a revival ministry dedicated to seeking God for personal and nation-wide revival. I realize that some of you might not know what revival means. Revival is calling the followers of Christ back into a loving, intimate, obedient, and "radical" relationship with Jesus Christ. Contrary to common misconception, revival isn't about setting up big tents and preaching to the lost, revival is actually for the church, for the saved! Revival is getting honest before God and others about what's really going on inside, and turning and repenting from sin so that we can have a thriving fellowship with Jesus. Over the past few years I have literally seen marriages restored, addictions destroyed, affairs confessed and cancelled, suicides halted, and disobedient children seeking obedience to God. All this due to nothing but the power of Jesus poured on obedient lives. Even though I've seen all this, the most amazing thing I've seen is what Jesus Christ has done in my own life. I am a completely three-hundred percent different person than I was when I started. Each year God continues to transform me, taking me into deeper levels of obedience, and understanding of His word and His heart. Life Action has three road teams that travel the country, I am on the "Conference Team" and we travel to a new location almost every single week, usually in a new state! By invitation we move into a church and take over every aspect of ministry, from music, to kids, to youth, to preaching, all so the usual ministers can take a break and sit back and hear from the Lord. My first three years traveling, I worked with the 2nd - 6th graders, preaching, and acting, and storytelling. In 2013 I was blessed to be able to work with the Youth in the churches. All this is only possible through the grace of God, and his provision.
\\ South Bend / Mishawaka Area
Since the Summer of 2013, I have been living in Mishawaka Indiana. God has graciously provided me with several jobs while residing in the Hoosier State, like continuing to do some freelance work for Life Action in the areas of drama and video production, or even working at Toys R Us! However the two biggest financial blessings that God has provided would be my jobs at St Mark Missionary Church, and at Bethel College. I began attending Bethel as a student in that fall of 2013, but come December, I could clearly see that God was leading me down the path to marriage faster than He was leading down the path to a degree. I dropped out of classes and became an employee to the college instead, allowing me to save up the money I needed to wed my beautiful bride, Shawntay. We were married on July 19th 2014, Praise the Lord! About my work, I basically have the same job at both institutions, but at Bethel, it comes with a title, so I can tell you that I am currently the Media Coordinator for the Department of Student Development. Which is basically a fancy way of saying I'm the video guy. I create media weekly for the school and church whether it's an in-house promotional video, or a media presentation for the pastor's sermon. I am so blessed to be in the position I'm in, and I thank God for all He has blessed me with. I hope I can continue to worship Him with how I work, live my life, and conduct my relationships. Thanks for your time and your prayers!
