About Me
I'm a Christ-following website developer, filmmaker and songwriter. I love Jesus and love spending time and ministering to my brothers and sisters. I am owner/partner at Resonate Creative a creative services firm based in Fort Worth, TX and Systems Analyst at Gateway Church.
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The lie of intellectualism
Posted by Evan on Apr 16, 2012 in Devotional | 0 comments
An interesting conversation.
Professor : You are a Christian, aren’t you, son ?
Student : Yes, sir.
Professor: So, you believe in GOD ?
Student : Absolutely, sir.
Professor : Is GOD good ?
Student : Sure.
Professor: Is GOD all powerful ?
Student : Yes.
Professor: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to GOD to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But GOD didn’t. How is this GOD good then? Hmm?
(Student was silent.)
Professor: You can’t answer, can you ? Let’s start again, young fella. Is GOD good?
Student : Yes.
Professor: Is satan good ?
Student : No.
Professor: Where does satan come from ?
Student : From … GOD …
Professor: That’s right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?
Student : Yes.
Professor: Evil is everywhere, isn’t it ? And GOD did make everything. Correct?
Student : Yes.
Professor: So who created evil ?
(Student did not answer.)
Professor: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don’t they?
Student : Yes, sir.
Professor: So, who created them ?
(Student had no answer.)
Professor: Science says you have 5 Senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son, have you ever seen GOD?
Student : No, sir.
Professor: Tell us if you have ever heard your GOD?
Student : No , sir.
Professor: Have you ever felt your GOD, tasted your GOD, smelt your GOD? Have you ever had any sensory perception of GOD for that matter?
Student : No, sir. I’m afraid I haven’t.
Professor: Yet you still believe in Him?
Student : Yes.
Professor : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says your GOD doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student : Nothing. I only have my faith.
Professor: Yes, faith. And that is the problem Science has.
Student : Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
Professor: Yes.
Student : And is there such a thing as cold?
Professor: Yes.
Student : No, sir. There isn’t.
(The lecture theater became very quiet with this turn of events.)
Student : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don’t have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.
(There was pin-drop silence in the lecture theater.)
Student : What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?
Professor: Yes. What is night if there isn’t darkness?
Student : You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light. But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness, isn’t it? In reality, darkness isn’t. If it is, well you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?
Professor: So what is the point you are making, young man ?
Student : Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
Professor: Flawed ? Can you explain how?
Student : Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good GOD and a bad GOD. You are viewing the concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, Science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing.
Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?
Professor: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.
Student : Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shook his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument was going.)
Student : Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor. Are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?
(The class was in uproar.)
Student : Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor’s brain?
(The class broke out into laughter. )
Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor’s brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
(The room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable.)
Professor: I guess you’ll have to take them on faith, son.
Student : That is it sir … Exactly ! The link between man & GOD is FAITH. That is all that keeps things alive and moving.
…
By the way, that student was EINSTEIN.
A quick update
Posted by Evan on Mar 21, 2012 in What's new with me?, Work | 0 comments
I’m Engaged!
I love being with her and just last weekend I asked her to be my wife, she said yes. God is good, and I’m humbled that he would entrust her into my care. We’re planning to be married on June 1st 2012.
Not too long after moving to Texas I met Crys. We quickly became friends, then good friends and eventually best friends. She’s an amazing woman who loves God and loves to serve others and she has these Rain Man-like skills when it comes to numbers that is quite impressive, not to mention her card shuffling and dealing abilities which aren’t to be ignored.
Full Time Job
I’ve been going back and forth about getting a full time job over the last year or two, mostly driven by a desire to get back into a team environment. Late last year after coming to Texas I started praying about wether or not God wanted me to take this step. My hearts desire was to get a job working at Gateway Church so I could be involved in moving the Kingdom forward through this amazing church. Through an amazing set of God-organized events I ended up with a full time contract at Gateway on the web team. Three weeks later I was brought on as a full time employee. I love working at Gateway and I love the people that I work with, but most of all I love serving in a way that directly impacts thousands of lives!
He makes all things new: lessons from Job
Posted by Evan on Mar 9, 2012 in Devotional | 0 comments
I’ve been thinking about Job a bit lately. Last year I read the book of Job on several occasions when I was walking through a particularly difficult time after my marriage came to an end. It has always been a particularly fascinating book to me for several reasons, not the least of which is the conversation between God and satan in chapter one where God essentially hands Job over into satan’s hands to be tested. If this doesn’t give you pause, you’re not paying attention…
Another aspect of the book of Job that intrigued me was the council of Job’s friends Eliphaz, Bildad, Temanite and Zophar. At face value they all seem to be giving him incredibly wise and helpful council. In fact the first time I read the book and got to chapter 42 and saw that God rebuked them for their unwise and UNTRUE council I instantly started re-reading the book. Verse 7 says:
However, what made the largest impression on me in the book of Job was God’s full restoration of Job and the blessings that God poured out on him as a result of his faithfulness and unwillingness to curse God, even when faced with otherwise unbearable circumstances.
Job still suffered many things through his ordeal. His children were all killed in an accident, he was covered from head to toe with painful sores, his friends offered unwise and contrary advice which I’m sure made Job feel even more isolated, and he was all but abandoned by his wife to endure the ordeal alone. But, and it’s a big one, God blessed the latter days of Job’s life more than the first.
When I originally read this statement I failed to realize that God didn’t bring Job’s children back to life, he didn’t remove all memory of the sores and the abandonment from Job’s mind. He created a new life for Job, and one that was even more blessed than the first part of his life. He simply blessed Job to an extent that the pains of the past would be eclipsed by the blessings of the future.
That scripture spoke something to me the day I read it for the first time. However, what it spoke that day wasn’t what came to pass. Instead God had even larger blessings in store for me. Blessings that didn’t resurrect the things that had been lost, but new blessings that would far surpass anything I could have imagined.
Friends, I trust that someone needs to hear this hope. God can, and will rise your circumstances out of the ashes. Does this mean that he’ll resurrect the old from the dead? That’s very possible, you’d better believe it. However, when days fade into weeks and weeks into months and you begin to lose hope that God will work in a situation, fix your eyes on Him and His plans for your future. Trust that what God did for Job he will do for you as well. All you need to do is focus your eyes on Him throughout the process and He will straighten your path and bless you greatly!
I think you should know…
Posted by Evan on Jan 12, 2012 in Devotional, Slide | 0 comments
I feel that someone needs to hear this, so here goes. I want to tell you about Jesus. I want to tell you how amazing his love is, how incredibly humbling his grace is. I want to tell about the Jesus who changed my entire life, who gave me purpose where there was none, who gave me hope when I had none. I want to tell you about the Jesus that took me into his arms when I had nothing to offer and had every reason to refuse my approach. I want to tell you about the Jesus who took away my fear of death and replaced it with great anticipation of that glorious face-to-face meeting I’ll have with him when this portion of eternity comes to a close. I don’t JUST want to tell you about a Jesus who saved me from Hell. He did that, but more importantly he gave me the right to be called a son of God, a brother of Christ. Now, part of the Father’s family I’m heir to strength, peace, grace and most importantly fellowship with the Creator of the Universe.
Nothing you’ve ever done is too bad for Him to accept you. You can’t disqualify yourself from his forgiveness because it’s impossible to qualify yourself for it. You don’t have to pray a certain prayer (prayer is simply talking to God) or say certain words, you just have to confess that you need Him to come into your life and ask Him to do so. He’ll take over from there.
He’s a perfect gentleman and will never force himself on you. After all, how much would it mean to you if you had to force those around you to love you? You must choose, and it’s my promise to you that you’ll spend the rest of your life thanking Him for the privilege.
“The Train” by Evan Agee
Posted by Evan on Jan 5, 2012 in Devotional, Guitar Videos | 0 comments
“Tribes” by Preston Reed
Posted by Evan on Jan 5, 2012 in Guitar Videos | 0 comments
And Seasons Greetings to you as well!
Posted by Evan on Nov 29, 2011 in Devotional | 0 comments
I have many wonderful memories of Christmas from my childhood. It is by far my favorite time of year, with the fall coming in at a close second. One of my fondest memories of Christmas is a tradition we always had with my mom. We would ride around in the car, windows all foggy, freezing cold and drive around town looking at the Christmas lights. I’m going to miss the Indiana snow this Christmas, but even more I miss the feeling of being a child and how magical all of the lights were.
This Christmas, just like the Christmases over the past few decades, will likely reflect a little less “Christ” than what most professing Christians would prefer. We’ll hear “Happy Holidays” or “Seasons Greetings” instead of “Merry Christmas”. We’ll see images of Santa Clause and other spiritually sanitized decorations hanging everywhere. A few brave business owners and individuals will paint their windows or hang signs outside proclaiming the coming of Emmanuel, but even those acts of devotion will be viewed as jabs to those who don’t understand the need for Christ in Christmas at all.
I’m reminded this year of how important it is for us all to seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness. I feel very confident that Christ would not want us to be arguing and battling against those that seek to remove him from the holiday that was created to celebrate his birth. After all, Christ is far more interested in people who are truly willing to follow him than those who would give him lip service by shouting “Merry Christmas” while truly caring nothing about the Christ.
Brothers and sisters, if we seek to celebrate Christmas. If we seek to Glorify Him and show appreciation for his willingness to come to earth as a child in complete humbleness. If we truly seek to worship Him in a special way during this season, then decorations and phrases fall far short of the displays of love we send to Him through our hearts and lives.
I encourage you all to seek Him this Christmas. Ignore the fact that more of the world will this year ignore His glory. Let your love shine through and trust that it’ll will be more of a witness than your protests ever will.
Love in Christ!
Evan
The New Ark of the Covenant
Posted by Evan on Oct 19, 2011 in Devotional | 0 comments
(written around 2008)
The New Ark of the Covenant
Even before I was a Christian I was always fascinated with the Ark of the Covenant. What was it. What was it used for, and why was God living inside of a box? I was confused to say the least. I’ve since come to learn that, according to the Bible, it’s impossible for a person to understand the meaning of the Bible and it’s stories unless they have the Holy Spirit, which only exists in those who have a relationship with Christ. Like most people I had seen “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and most of my ideas came from that movie. Obviously the movie wasn’t very accurate.
The Ark of the Covenant, in the Old Testament, was a physical symbol and reminder of God’s agreement, or covenant with the Israelites. It contained “… the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.” (HEB 9:4) Each of the items was a reminder of what God had done for the Israelites., specifically rescuing them from slavery under the Egyptians and Pharaoh. The tablets were a reminder of how they must live.
There are very detailed writings in the Old Testament that explain what the Ark looked like. Here are a few key facts:
Pay close attention to the phrase above: “Attached to the Ark’s covering lid were two Cherubim. God’s presence did not dwell inside the box, but remained over the Ark, in between the two Cherubim.”
When the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies to present the blood offering, he would sprinkle the blood on the top of the Ark between the two Cherubim (called the Mercy Seat). Once the blood was sprinkled he would promptly leave. I’ve always wondered why God had the Ark designed the way he did. Why were there two Cherubim and why was the blood to be sprinkled between the two angels? Tonight I believe I found it.
The true “Mercy Seat” was the place where Christ’s body was laid in the tomb. Christ was the blood of the new covenant,
poured out upon the Mercy Seat for the forgiveness of sins. No longer would man earn his way to heaven with the outward signs required by the law; Man would only be saved by faith in Jesus Christ. No longer would men make temporary sacrifices, in effect purchasing a 365 day stay of execution until the next day of atonement. God would make the sacrifice this time, and it would be permanent.
Many are interested in finding out if the Ark of the Covenant still exists, and if it does, where is it. The
truth is, if it does, it’s worthless. The things it once symbolized have since become obsolete, and the law it contained no longer sufficient for reconciliation. Christ is the New Ark of the Covenant.
All praise be to the One who was not only sufficient but willing to be offerered as a spotless sacrifice to the Holy Father. And not only a sacrifice, but a permanent sacrifice for the salvation of our souls! Praise Him!
God is merciful, I am thankful. Transaction Complete.
Posted by Evan on Oct 18, 2011 in Design | 0 comments
Click for larger version.
Trusting God in the middle of His promises
Posted by Evan on Oct 16, 2011 in Devotional, Slide | 0 comments
What a week this has been. After months of preparation (mostly spiritual), much prayer and trusting in the promises of God I’m living in Texas. To be completely transparent with you I’ll let you know that I feel nothing like I expected. I’ve been EXTREMELY discouraged since I arrived here. From the moment we set out on our drive across the country I’ve been covered by what has felt like a cloud of discouragement and doubt. This week has been hard. The story has a good ending… er middle rather, but I’ll get to that.
Most of the discouragement has come in the form of financial concerns. My needs are met, make no mistake, but things are tight and I’m being stretched in a way that I didn’t realize I needed stretched. It also doesn’t make things easier that I live in an apartment that costs $200 more per month than my house payment in Indiana. Cost of living is higher, to say the least. I’m also in the process of eliminating debt, etc. In just the last couple of weeks I’ve had an unexplainable decrease in work which has made things even more challenging. It’s been very easy for doubts to creep in. “God, why did you lead me here only to pull the rug out from under me financially” has been the sentiment of my prayers. In moments of clarity I see His perfect provision, even though it seems to wait until the last possible moment to intercede in my circumstances. I don’t need to go on and on about the circumstances, I’m sure at some point in your life you’ve faced a similar situation. But this is where the story changes.
Tonight I attended the first worship service at Gateway since moving here. The worship was of course amazing and was a wonderful reminder of His Amazing Love and how unimportant my struggles seem in comparison. Pastor Dino Rizzo from Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge, LA was speaking and so many of his words were an incredible encouragement in this time. He spoke about how Satan loves to cause a storm after an act of obedience, and how when we take a step to be where God wants us he’ll come in and try to destroy our trust and our faith. Amen to that.
He also talked about being in “the middle” of God’s promise. God gives you a promise and in the process of getting to that promise you have to experience the middle, which is the process of turning you into the person He needs you to be in order to fulfill that purpose He has for you. Amen to that.
The scripture was Luke 8:22-25 where Jesus is napping in the boat and the disciples begin to worry about the storm that comes about. He asks them where their faith is. I feel ashamed that I was so quick to doubt God’s promise just because things haven’t been just the way I wanted them to be. Instead I should be trusting in His perfect plan and provision, even if it doesn’t make me as comfortable as I’d like.
After the service was over, a man sitting in the row in front of me asked me if he could have my contact information. I was excited that someone at church had taken the time to introduce themselves and was interested to get in touch with me, but of course I was curious, why had he asked? Turns out he heard me tell someone else sitting next to him about being a web designer and he himself is a search engine optimization specialist. God is amazing.
Several times this week Abraham has come to mind. When you think about God asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac it’s easy to focus on the sacrifice, reflecting on how difficult it would be if God asked you to do something so unbelievable. But I’ve been thinking about another aspect of God’s command. Remember the promise that God had given Abraham? The promise to make his descendants as numerous as the stars through Isaac? Well, that promise was obviously tied to Isaac’s fate and I believe the reason that Abraham was willing to take the steps of faith up that mountain in Moriah to sacrifice his son was because he believed that God wouldn’t break his promise. He trusted his son would live because God had already promised to bring Abraham many descendants through him.
So, I’ll continue to trust. Trust that if there are valuable trust lessons for me to learn through hard financial times that it’s for the best.Trust that if God wants me to live a life of limited financial means that I’ll be okay with whatever he provides. Trust that He has made me a promise and that he never breaks his promises.