Reflections on Freshman Year and the People Who Got Me Here.

Wow. 

My freshman year of college has come to a close and there are so many things that have happened in two short semesters away from home. There have been many ups and many downs and a lot successes and a lot of failures. I want to dedicate this post to some great memories and some great people that have made my freshman year of college good.

To start: Remember that time I got a tattoo? 

Yeah that was pretty cool, I remember that the guy who did it went to my high school, when I asked him if we might know any of the same people he said: “Probably not, I graduated in 95′,” So yeah I was one and everything…

Here’s a close up of two days after I got it.

I got “Not My Own” and it is a reference to 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

I got this because going into college this was one of the most profound realizations that I had come to in my walk with Christ at the time. My life was not mine, I was not here to live for myself, and Jesus paid with his blood to give me the freedom and redemption that I could never earn. 

I also met some gosh-darn amazing people within the Young Life community at UNCG, and the Lord gave me these great people and let me live life alongside of them throughout this year as we all tried to follow Him together. This pic is from our Young Life College Men’s Advancement Weekend in Boone, NC. :

 

And within this solid group of men I got to grow close with two guys who have been both amazing mentors and amazing friends throughout the year, they are always there to provide guidance and wisdom to me and I am so thankful for them.

Here is Justin Smith who is giving off some serious boy band eyes in this pic from small group:

And here is Kevin Matznick, lookin’ mad thoughtful:

This year I also decided to become a Young Life Leader for the rest of my time in college. I was pursued by some great Young Life Leaders who went to Elon University while I was at Western Alamance. Both these guys decided to answer God’s call to change the lives of guys at Western Alamance High School, and I wouldn’t be the same without them. 

Colin Campbell was my Young Life Leader my freshman and sophomore years of high school. He lives in Seattle now so I don’t get to see him much anymore, but I did get to about a month ago and it was such a blessing.

 

Steven Ebert was my Young Life leader for the rest of my time at Western Alamance. He taught me how to do Young Life skits, how to read the Bible right, and how to film and edit video which is now a big part of my major at UNCG. Steven is also graduating from Elon in less than a month and is wrapping up his time at Western Alamance as a Young Life Leader. Thank you Steven for loving and pursuing me when I was lost and for mentoring me when I finally found Christ, your work at Western Alamance was more important than you know and it had eternal implications. 

Here’s a pic of me and Steven my senior year doing my first (but not last) Young Life skit for our club. 

 

 

I got placed on Northwest Guilford’s Young Life team with some amazing people here in Greensboro, we are wrapping up our year at Northwest and we have our last club on Monday. It has been so amazing and life-changing to get to know guys at Northwest and try and show them what a life with Christ really looks like. I learned so much about what I do now from seeing how Colin and Steven pursued and loved me while I was in high school. Leading has been the most challenging but most importantly the most rewarding part of my college experience so far.

Here is a pic of my crazy Young Life team at Northwest, minus Ashley who got placed with us later in the year. So thankful for them all:

I also had the chance to go with Young Life Expeditions to Lima, Peru to work alongside of the Young Life area in Peru. We got to dance with kids at a school for the disabled and help pave the way for Young Life to plant a Capernaum ministry at that school, we got to renovate the San Paulo Young Life Club’s club room, and we got to build some awesome relationships that will hopefully stay intact until we return next year. If you are reading this and you helped prayerfully and/or financially for my trip, I want to thank you so much because Christ used us and changed us during our time there and I am so grateful for your hand in making that happen. Here are some pics from Peru:

 

So that’s my year in a blog post. So many great memories flew through my mind as I pieced this post together and I am so grateful for them. God has brought so many people into my life to get me where I am today and I am so so grateful. Jesus has been so present this year, His spirit has grown in me and matured me as a man and as a servant more than I ever thought possible. 

All in all, it has been a wonderful year.

Choose Humility.

It’s hard to be a Christian. The world we live in has adopted values and ideals that completely conflict with the way we are called to live our lives. Fortunately we are not meant to go through life alone. In the Bible we have the opportunity to see countless examples of a life lived to the fullest through the Gospels that show us the only perfect life that has been lived, that of Jesus Christ. His examples through the numerous accounts given by people who witnessed and walked with him show us the way to live.

One thing about Jesus that is crucial for us to follow is His humility. Humility is defined as: a modest or low view of ones own importance. This isn’t saying to belittle yourself as much as possible but rather to consider other people’s comfort and happiness above your own. Since the Bible is our source of information and instruction on how we can live a Christ-like life we will look into it for some beautiful examples of Jesus living out humility.

The first of these examples I want to touch on is found in Matthew 9:9-13. “As Jesus went from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at a tax collectors booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners.” A look into the context of these times shows us that everyone hated tax collectors. They were considered as criminals, and sinners. This is a perfect example of the humility of Christ because he didn’t care what others thought of him. He wasn’t worried that people would judge him for sharing meals with tax collectors and sinners, he cared more about them because by sharing a meal with these people they got to see a glimpse of who God is, not what the Pharisees portrayed God as. This passage echoes with me a lot not because my name is Matthew, but because I was and am a sinner. Before I met Christ the life I lived completely went against that of Christ’s, but He still sought me out and called me to something greater. So this aspect of humility shows us that we are not to put ourselves above “sinners” because we know we are sinners too, we have fallen short time and time again and Jesus loved us the same. Be willing to hang out with people who are looked down upon, show someone Jesus by sharing life with them just like He did.

In John 13 we see one of the most beautiful things that has ever been done. It was before Passover Festival and Jesus knew that his time on earth was dwindling down. Jesus and his disciples were eating dinner together for the last time. Jesus got up from the meal, and took off his outer clothing and wrapped it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began washing his disciples feet. The Son of God who is about to die for everyone’s sins gets on his knees and washes his disciples feet, I think that should be the definition of humble. Jesus gets to Peter who knows better than most just how Holy Jesus is. At first he denies Jesus, saying Jesus shall never wash his feet. Jesus replies in verse 8 “Unless I wash your feet you, you have no part with me.” I believe that was convincing enough for Peter. In verse 12 Jesus explains what he has done.

“When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” It might just be me but I think feet are gross, like nasty. I’m sure that the disciples feet were a lot nastier than I can imagine, and Jesus humbly, brought himself down to teach his disciples to do the same, if Jesus can do it than do it than we can do it.

Next we are taken to Luke 23:39-43. Jesus has been crucified and is hanging on the cross along with two other criminals. “One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Among all of the beatings, pain, and suffering, Jesus still looks to others instead of himself. He sees this criminal hanging next to him who has showed his heart in his last hours, defending Jesus and condemning himself. In humility Jesus redeemed this man, and gave him peace and hope in knowing that when he breathes his last breath, he will not get what he deserves, he will be with Jesus in heaven.

Lastly we look to again to John. In John 21 Jesus is showing himself to his disciples just before he goes up into heaven. Jesus went to the Sea of Galilee to appear to Peter and some of his other disciples. Jesus stood by the shore and called out to the disciples who at this point do not know that it was Jesus. Jesus told them to cast their net on the right side of the boat to catch some fish because they had caught none. Upon doing this, the disciples could not even haul the net into the boat because of all of the fish they had caught.

We pick up in verse 7-14 “Then the disciple whom loved Jesus said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Peter heard this he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from the shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed they saw a fire burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have caught.” So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.”

This next part is the last example of the humility that we will look at. I think it is one of the most profound. First we must remember Peter denying Jesus three times before his crucifixion, something that Jesus told Peter would happen. Peter was one of Jesus’ three closest friends along with James and John. Verse 15-19 reads: “When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes Lord”, he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” He said “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

Three times Peter denied Jesus and with three questions Jesus reinstated Peter, and called him one final time to live for him completely, even reassuring Peter that he will die glorifying God. As we know it Peter was the rock on which Jesus built his church. This beautiful account of redemption is yet another way that Jesus, in humility, chased after the hearts of sinners and called them to a better life. The ultimate expression of humility is Jesus dying on the cross for all of us. To live for Jesus means to follow his example in humility, to make ourselves less and others more. We aren’t Jesus, we are not perfect. We cannot die for everyone’s sins or reinstate a Peter, but we can live humble lives. Choose Jesus today and tomorrow, choose humility.

An adventure for two.

Well today was my first full day at UNC-Greensboro. I began the day at about 6:30 am when I realized I had lost my wallet. Two hours of frantic searching later I found it in my dorm room in a random drawer. After this happened, I went to my car after I received a phone call from a woman saying that I needed to move it. When I got there I had been issued two parking tickets both for $50, one from 8:34 last night and the other at 7:20 this morning. So it’s my first day at college I lose my wallet, and get two parking tickets.

My day was not going so great to say the least. Coming to college is a pretty big transition in life. I’m going from years of familiarity and routine to a new town, with new people, and new responsibilities. Today, if I’m being honest I have felt pretty lonely. If you’re reading this and you know me than that probably sounds super weird to you because I’m really social and love people and am not alone often. Through the stressful events of the day and the fact that I don’t know anyone here I kind of just sat in my room and wished I was home, where I could hang out with my friends and where I knew that I could park my car in my driveway and not have to worry about impending tickets. I have been blessed in the fact that it is easy for me to be dependent on something or someone. In regards to my walk with Christ this attribute about me is very helpful. When something goes wrong that is out of my control I turn to Christ almost immediately. So, when I was feeling lonely I decided that I was in need of Jesus and I opened up my Bible.

Two verses from the gospel of John stuck out to me in my reading. The first is John 14:6 :  Jesus answered, “ I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” The reason this verse stuck out to me was because for the entire day I had been going through turmoil and I was trying to make my own way, but Jesus very clearly said “I am THE way”. Notice He doesn’t say ” a way” or “one of the ways” Jesus says that He is the only way. When things go wrong I’m not meant to submit to the world, I am meant to be at Jesus’ feet and trusting in His solution, His way, not mine.

Next Jesus tells us that He is THE truth. All day I have felt so confused and in the dark about my life because I am in this new environment and haven’t made many friends yet and in extension no one that has the same ideals as me. But as a Christian I am not being called to dwell on the uncertainty of the future, I’m being called to have a faith that can move mountains, to trust in the Lord so blindly that it makes me look insane. Jesus said I am THE truth. I am the one you need to dwell on, learn from, trust in and rely on. As Christians we need to have faith in Jesus and know without a doubt that He is the truth and the only truth because if we don’t we miss crucial opportunities that Christ gives us daily to grow with Him. If we don’t have unshakable faith in Jesus than when our lives spiral out of control we have nothing solid to turn to.

Lastly Jesus says I am THE life. With the world I know being back in Elon my way of life has been drastically changed. My day-to-day activities that I am so adapted to are over and I am here at college about to start a new routine. I asked myself when I was reading this verse “what defines my life?” And when being completely honest with myself I decided that my routines, the people I knew, the house I lived in, and where I was defined my life. So once all of those things that were so familiar to me were gone I started feeling lonely. It wasn’t until opening my Bible and turning to Jesus that I felt relief from my worry and comfort, from my loneliness. Jesus said “I am THE life”. He said, I am what gives you strength, I am what keeps you going, I am what gives you identity, joy, and worth. I am what defines you. Not your roommate, not your dorm, not your sin, not your environment, just me. 

Ask yourself: What truly gives you joy and contentment? I think back to my two sessions of work crew and the times I have spent loving others, serving others and putting myself last and others first. When I am so surrounded by selfless servants of Christ that I am saturated in the Spirit of Christ. That is when I feel alive, and I intend to spend my life feeling alive.

The second verse that stuck out to me was John 16:33 : “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Since Christ died for us we are free from this world. We don’t have to follow the worlds standards because Jesus set our standards for us. Because Jesus died I don’t have to fear my future because I know that if I follow Christ wherever He brings me to will bring Him glory and the rest is irrelevant. This freedom is so…. well, freeing! Trust in Jesus and follow where He leads. This may bring you to a place where you feel uncomfortable, in my situation a new campus with new people, that’s good. Jesus dying for us means that we have peace in Him, because we know that if He was big enough conquer the grave and put sin to death than we know that he is big enough to get us where we need to go.

Challenge yourself to put the Kingdom before your comfort.  When you feel lonely and lost, Jesus just wants to show you that He can do it better. When you live your life like Jesus really is the way, the truth, and the life, your uncertain future can turn into an adventure that you and your Constant Companion, Jesus are meant to unravel together.