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.

I’m Engaged!
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. 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.

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!

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:

7 And so it was, after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.

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.

12 Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. 15 In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.

16 After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations.17 So Job died, old and full of days.

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 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.

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

(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:

• The Ark of the Covenant is the best known item in the Tabernacle, renowned for its mysterious powers against the enemies of Israel (I Samuel chapters 5 & 6).
• The Ark of the Covenant resided in the Holy of Holies, the innermost room of the Tabernacle. Access was only permitted once per year, on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). Access was restricted to one person only, the high priest. He had to come into the Holy of Holies with the blood of a goat, on behalf of his own and the people of Israel’s sins.
• The Ark itself was a small box made of acacia wood, overlaid with gold. It measured 1.15 meters long, 0.7 meters wide and 0.7 meters high. It was carried by two long bars, also made of acacia wood overlaid with gold.
• 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. Here God dwelt “in unapproachable light” (I Timothy 6:16 Psalm 104:2). The high priest had to shield his eyes, because “no man shall see Me and live” (Exodus 33:20). This was where God met with Moses (Exodus 25:21-22 Leviticus 16:14-15). The glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle on the day it was reared up and anointed (Exodus 40:9,18,34-35), exactly fourteen days short of one year since the Exodus from Egypt (Exodus 40:2; 12:6,31). The two Cherubim on the Mercy Seat represented God’s glory (Hebrews 9:5).

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.

¹⁰Then the disciples went back to their homes,
¹¹but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she
wept, she bent over to look into the tomb ¹²and saw
two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one
at the head and the other at the foot. John 20:10-12

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.

¹¹Day after day every priest stands and performs
his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices,
which can never take away sins. ¹²But when this priest
had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down
at the right hand of God. ¹³Since that time he waits
for his enemies to be made his footstool, ¹⁴because
by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being
made holy. Hebrews 10:11-14

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.

⁶Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6

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!

Click for larger version.

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.

20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. – II Corinthians 1:20

I’m the type of person that has to re-learn things quite frequently. I’m sure journaling would help, but for whatever reason I tend to learn/realize something which helps me through circumstances I’m in only to forget it and rediscover it later. Lately it has been happening a lot. One day I’ll remember that God has a plan and I’m right in the middle of it and I delight in that truth, then the next day I’ll spend half the day at a heightened state of anxiety only to remember that same truth again late that day, or maybe the next.

I trust I’m not alone on this, but I’ve been pondering why I do this to myself. Why, when I remember or discover these amazing, truly life-saving truths don’t I find a way to retain them, forever? I’ve even considered getting a tattoo recently just to place an indelible mark that will (hopefully) constantly remind me of the Amazing God who loves me and wants me to love Him. All because it’s far too important that I not forget His promises and provision. Not right now.

So what are some of these truths that have been so valuable to me personally? I’d love to share a few of them.

1. My Father loves me too much to allow me to stay in circumstances that draw me further away from Him. Most of us have heard God referred to as the Potter who shapes and molds us throughout our lives in preparation of Heaven. Recently I heard a pastor talking about the tools of a potter and how they’re sharp, rough, even unsightly. However, what they produce is undoubtedly beautiful. I can testify that it’s through the most painful experiences in life that God is able to make the most drastic – and beautiful – changes in us.
2. When God has a plan for you, He’ll equip you to fulfill it. It’s unbelievable how easy it is to doubt the calling God has placed on your life. I’ve had confirmation upon unmistakable confirmation and still sometimes doubt that God is truly going to do all of the things He’s allowed me to glimpse. If you can look back over the history of your life and see an area where God has gifted you, or even a new direction God is taking you, and you’ve confirmed it through prayer and reading, follow Him!
3. God works all things for the good for those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose. I hope you don’t see this verse (Romans 8:28) and roll your eyes. This is an amazing promise, but also a call to fix our eyes on Jesus. It’s important to remember that “all things to the good” isn’t a guarantee of no bad days or even terrible ones. It’s a promise that no matter what you experience, no matter what you have to go through, God already has a plan to use those experiences to mold you and move you towards becoming the ultimate instrument of His praise.

So, fellow forgetters of God’s promises, let’s press on! Let’s commit to finding ways, minute by minute, to remember His love and provision for us! When you’re hurting, when you need Him most, search for and cling to those promises in His Word. He’ll be glorified and you will be filled with joy, even in the midst of suffering. I promise.

Back in April my entire life changed. Most significantly my heart was supernaturally transformed from a person who was consumed with self, greed and stuff into a person who is totally consumed with Jesus Christ. I had nothing to do with this transformation, let me be clear. I had been praying over the last couple years the same prayer, over and over, “God, please change my heart”. There were many areas of my life that, despite my faith in Jesus, weren’t surrendered to him. Allow me to give painful detail:

1. I wanted what I wanted far more than I wanted what God wanted. I grew up poor and above all else wanted to become rich so I could have stuff and things. I wanted security, subconsciously, so I wouldn’t have to depend on God. I could get by on my own thank you very much.
2. Subconsciously I was always trying to “do enough” so that God would be pleased with me. Somehow along the way I totally forgot that my deeds are like filthy rags before the Lord, and my only hope of ever making God “happy” was by being atoned for by Jesus.
3. I had selfish reasons for wanting to be seen as a “man of the Word” and an authority and mentor on things of the Bible. I used to get angry because people didn’t come to me wanting Biblical advice. After all, I knew it all, so why WOULDN’T you want to get my input? I’m ashamed…
4. I couldn’t use the talents God has given me for service because I was too busy being proud of them. In my mind all of my gifts and talents were a result of my hard work, not a gift from God that was given so I could glorify Him.

All of these things changed within a 1 month period of time, so much so that it was overwhelmingly obvious that the Hand of God had truly reached down and took the time to clean up this wicked sinner. Praise His Name!

Not long after this I had a heart for worship that I had never known. I had also been praying over the last year for God to show me what true worship was. I didn’t believe in “emotion-filled” worship, and I also didn’t feel like I was experiencing anything I would have considered worship most of the time. For the first time in nearly a year I picked up my guitar and prayed that God would allow me to praise Him through music. Music began pouring out of me, I couldn’t contain it. I would stay up until 2 or 3:00 in the morning and I just couldn’t put it down, it was amazingly beautiful. I started to see that when my hearts desire was to truly glorify God He would do amazing things through me. For the first time ever I surrendered my talents totally to Him, I knew they weren’t meant for my glory.

Once I had found a love for worship music I started digging through iTunes to see what worship music was on there.  In the past I listened to a few Christian artists, but they had to pass a strict list of technical requirements and talent-level tests before I thought they were worthy. I was missing the point. I had always liked “Revelation Song” by Kari Jobe so the first thing I did was buy her album, which had just been released I believe. That night I laid in my bed listening to that album, eyes closed and weeping. I realized at that moment that God, despite my circumstances and the pain I was feeling, was worthy of praise. He was more than enough for me. His love was far more than I would ever need. My heart was filled and overflowing with Praise for my Amazing God.

Eventually, through Kari’s music, I discovered Gateway Worship and started listening to them. One night I was watching a Gateway Worship DVD and I heard God tell me “I will take you there”. At first I didn’t think too much about it, but a few moments later, as I realized those words didn’t come from my own thoughts, I got on the floor and began praying. “God, if this word is from you, I want it. Take me there. I will go anywhere you want me to go, use me.” I didn’t even know where Gateway Church was located at the time I don’t think. All I knew is that I now had a sense of purpose, a clear direction that I was going to follow.

My cousin Anton is my best friend and a brother in Christ that is wise beyond his years, the Spirit of God speaks loudly through him. I told him about what had happened and that’s when I received my first confirmation. As it turns out he had a friend who had been worship leader at a church in Florida he attended. This person had accepted a position at Gateway Church, so they were now one of the leaders of Gateway Worship. So, literally the day after I receive this calling I found out that my cousin here in Indiana knows someone who’s not only on staff at Gateway Church, they’re one of the leaders of Gateway Worship. And this wasn’t the only confirmation I got, I had another friend who also “happened” to have connections with people in Gateway’s audio/video departments. I began to give praise to God each time He would give me these sorts of confirmations. It made it very easy to take steps of faith.

I started connecting with people from Gateway, and specifically people in Gateway Worship on Facebook. Instantly I had a couple of people who took an active interest in my journey and were awesome encouragers. Eventually I decided that it was time to go and visit Texas and see what the church was all about. As I started thinking about it I was growing a little anxious. I could easily have driven to Texas, attended a church service and never spoken to a single person, the trip could prove to be fairly uneventful and that would have been extremely confusing. I prayed one night for God to show me what I should do in preparation for the trip. I had always been a big self-promoter, trying to do things the right way to get the desired outcome, etc. I didn’t want to do this that way. I wanted God to show me what to do and provide a way if this was what He was calling me to.

The next morning I received a message on Facebook from someone who sings with Gateway Worship. Heidi had been incredibly supportive from the beginning and her message was an unmistakable answer to my prayers the night before. She had suggested someone to get in contact with to make my visit to Gateway more fruitful and get my questions answered. She also invited me to sit in on pre-service run throughs with Gateway Worship. Yep, I cried. Never before had I seen God’s answers to my prayers so quickly and obviously.

These sorts of prayer answers came frequently and eventually I had enough faith in the calling that I put my house up for rent… and found a Christian family, who were wanting to move to the area to start a church, to rent it the same day. I was invited by my dad to come and stay with them until I had the money saved to move to Texas, so I took him up on it. After all, I still hadn’t been to Texas and I, at the very least, needed to go down there to look for a place to live before making the move. As it turns out, God had a plan for taking me to my dad’s house too. A couple of weeks after I moved in I went to see Kari Jobe lead worship in Ohio and my 17-year-old brother Austin came with me. He decided, on the 4 hour car ride home, that he wanted Jesus in his life too. Again I was humbled, and brought to tears, by this overwhelming display of God’s sovereignty.

A couple of weeks later I drove, with Austin, to Dallas Texas.

The weeks leading up to the trip were extremely challenging. I recognize them now as spiritual attacks that were attempting to lead me away from the path God had convinced me to walk on. In hindsight it’s scary how close I came to explaining away the calling to Texas. Through the distraction I knew that once I got to Texas and visited the church I would know, for sure, wether or not God was calling me there. It’s hard to explain how conflicted I felt about things at that time. (In writing this now I’m sorry that I questioned the calling in the first place)

I had the entire weekend filled with meetings that had been arranged with Heidi as well as Jason, one of the associate pastors of worship at the church. Saturday I was invited to sit in on a pre-service run through of all of the music for that evenings service. I drove up to the church (an impressive building) and parked in the otherwise empty parking lot. It was quite odd walking into this huge building that’s obviously design to accommodate thousands of people and yet seeing no one else. As I opened the doors I was instantly met with the beautiful sounds of a cappella vocal harmony. They were singing “Here in Your Presence” by New Life Worship. I got chills, I’m not gonna lie. I followed the voices around the hallway until I saw a door that lead into the auditorium. There I sat for an hour or so and experienced worship in-person with this group that only weeks ago I had been worshipping with through a DVD. I was overwhelmed, many times, by how far, and to where, God had brought me. And I knew this was home.

Afterwords I got to meet Heidi and had a few questions answered. It’s a bit of a blur now, but I do remember expressing to her what an answer to prayer she had been on that night when I prayed for God to show me what to do on my visit. She said God had told her to encourage and help me. Praise God.

The next day I had arranged to meet with Jason, one of the associate pastors of worship at the church. He answered even more questions and was an unbelievably loving brother in Christ. He took me back to meet everyone who was leading worship that weekend, which was great. I also Got to finally meet Kari Jobe, but I didn’t say much. Hopefully in the coming years I’ll be able to explain to her the amazing ways God used her to communicate His love and more-than-enough-ness to me.

After all of that I ran into someone else that I had been communicating with on Facebook. April and her husband Marco. We sat for a while and I was instantly amazed at the similarities between us. They’re both graphic designers and musicians with amazing love for the Lord. I instantly felt a connection with them that has grown by leaps and bounds since I got back to Indiana, I’m most excited to see what God has in store for that relationship.

So, my visit to Texas was the most amazing confirmation I could have ever wanted. I found an apartment and I got a peek at what God has in store for me at Gateway as well as the friends He has connected me with already. I’ll be moving the first week of October and I couldn’t be more excited. I already have plans for pursuing my calling to leading worship and writing music the moment I arrive there. God is good and faithful. The anticipation and excitement I have about the coming years pours out of me. I’ve seen mere glimpses of what He has in store for me and I’m humbled and overwhelmed.

I write all of this not to tell you how awesome my calling is, or how excited I am about going to a church where Kari Jobe is one of the worship leaders. I write all of this to give praise to our Amazing God for His faithfulness. For His ability to truly rise us out of the ashes of life. For His unfathomable sovereignty. For His Amazing Love. Even if you can’t write, play or sing music, your life-song can sing out God’s praises. Praise Him!

Quite a few years ago a friend and myself arrived early (far too early) for a concert in Cincinnati Ohio. As we stood outside nearly five hours before the concert an extremely tall man walked past and after a second or two I realized it was Steve Vai, the very man we were standing in line to see that night. I’m guessing you have no idea who Steve Vai is, and I can’t say I blame you, he’s a solo guitarist who is admired by pretty much every guitar player on the planet. I ran over, introduced myself and shook his massive hand, it was pretty cool.

Just a few weeks ago I got to meet someone else that I admire greatly, Kari Jobe. She’s a worship leader and vocalist who I hadn’t heard much of until about 6 months ago. I was visiting Gateway Church in Texas, which is the church I’ll be joining once I get moved to Texas, and she’s one of the associate pastors there. What I couldn’t tell her at the time, but hope to tell her one day is how God used her, in the darkest period of my life, to remind me that He was more than enough for me. It was an amazing blessing.

But there’s one encounter that tops them all.

Tonight when I was praying I was struck, again, for what seems the hundredth time in the last 6 months with an amazing thought: The Creator of the universe is willing to spend time thinking about, talking to and having a relationship with me. Whoah. Of all of the people in the universe from whom I could steal just a moment of their attention, none of them could ever top that. The same God that spoke the heavens into existence and assigned names to the countless stars pursues me, cares about me, wants me to care about Him.

Have you pondered that before? Despite the fact that he knows everything, the good – and the bad – about you, He loves you to a degree that you cannot even fathom. And nothing will make him happier than for you to love Him back! My prayer for you is that today, even right now wether you’re sitting in a cubicle or at home in front of your computer, that you’ll take a moment and allow yourself to be overcome by His Amazing Love.