Last month, I had the opportunity to go to Brazil with the high school seniors from our church, LifePoint. I wouldn’t have gotten this chance if the high school pastor, David McCaman, hadn’t decided that March was the perfect time to have his first baby. Well, he didn’t have the baby-but you know what I mean. So, while David was playing peek-a-boo with this son, I headed off to Brazil with 20 high school seniors.

To be honest, I was planning on blogging a lot about Brazil. I had some great experiences down there and met some amazing people, but I never wrote anything. I don’t know why really, I just didn’t. There was one lesson from that trip that has stuck out to me more than any other though and it’s probably not what you would expect to get from a mission trip.

You see I only met those seniors that went on the trip this year. I only knew them as the good kids who loved God and worshipped like it was their last time to sing. I only knew them as the kids who I trusted with my middle school students on retreats. These were top of the line students who loved Christ. That’s all I have ever known them as.

Then I began to listen to their testimonies. I started hearing about mistakes and regrets from their past. I heard about huge moments in their life that brought on serious ramifications that they will deal with the rest of their lives. I heard and found out that they weren’t perfect. Obviously, I knew that they weren’t perfect but I didn’t know the person they were describing in their story. I remember saying to myself, “I had no clue he/she went through that.”

Then it hit me. The way that I saw them – the child of God who wanted nothing more than to worship and share Christ – was the way God saw them. God didn’t see them the way they used to be. In fact, he chose to remove our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west.

12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Psalm 103:12

I didn’t know the person those seniors used to be. I couldn’t imagine them making some of the mistakes they made – and what is so incredible and beautiful at the same time is that God knew them when they were making those mistakes and he knows them as the individual they are now.

He was there for comfort and correction during the mistakes and now that’s he’s dropkicked the transgressions from the westside to the eastside, he is there to receive their worship and sees them as the pure child of God that they are. Blameless. Washed. Forgiven. Doesn’t even know them as the person who messed up. Doesn’t see them that way and never will again.

You are more than the choices that you’ve made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You’ve been remade.

I know I have only been a student pastor for about 8 months now, but I have picked up on some things already. For example, I know how to successfully navigate a 5 minute conversation with someone and never let on that I have no clue what their name is. Don’t get me wrong, I WANT to learn everyone’s name but there’s a time and place for “What’s your name again?” and it’s not to be done in the middle of someone pouring out their heart about their two week relationship gone sour after he was square dancing partners with another girl! Have some respect!

One thing I have learned though is how to be a pastor on facebook. No, I don’t mean copy and paste your latest message into 54 different status messages each week. I mean, well, you will understand once you see for yourself. Oh, and also – I didn’t learn the hard way on all of these. Just a few.

1. Don’t poke back. Under no circumstances should you ever “poke back” someone. I don’t care if they poked you first. Don’t do it. I have NO clue what it actually means, but the mystery and non-explanation from facebook should tell you enough that it’s not the greatest of ideas.

2. Turn chat off. I would love nothing more than to spend my precious facebook time chatting it up with 26 different middle school kids, but I just can’t do that every time I am on facebook. I mean, I have to change my status and check to make sure my students haven’t committed any murders in the past 24 hours and then go click “like” on every status my wife posts (yes, that’s a part of a husband’s job these days.) Actually, I take it back. I really wouldn’t love chatting it up with 26 middle school students every night. Just on Wednesday’s.

3. Uh, check your pictures. People can tag you in any picture these days. So, take a look through every now and then and make sure that one picture of you from college where you are witnessing to the toilet bowl isn’t on there. Not saying you have to appear to be perfect, but come on…let’s not get too extreme.

4. Don’t be Big Brother. You aren’t the facebook police. One of the easiest ways to keep kids away from your ministry is by constantly pointing out how “bad” they are. They wanted to be your friend on facebook because they like you, not because they want you to comment “tsk tsk tsk” on every status message about talking to a boy. Also, don’t comment on everything going on in someone’s life just because you already have seen it on facebook. I did do this one and was called a “creeper” for knowing stuff that was made public. Yeah, I didn’t get it either, but certainly learned from it!

5. Be normal. Not every post has to be a verse or have some kind of spiritual significance. Be yourself. Students are interested in hearing how normal you are. Obviously a filter is needed, but don’t think I don’t post about using my wife’s deodorant! Cause I do. Post about it…not use my wife’s…wait, I did do that.

There’s 5 easy to follow rules for being a student pastor on facebook. Learn those and you are quickly on your way to building meaningful, deeper relationships with students. Plus you will learn all the new cool shorthand ways to say things. Who knew that SMH meant “shaking my head.” SMH.

I am pumped.  I am actually more excited than the kids are. AcroDunk from “America’s Got Talent” is coming to Rush Hour. What is Rush Hour?  It’s our outreach event that we do twice a year.  Once in February and once in September. My first day on the job in September was “Rush Hour” and it was crazy. So, this event was my first Rush Hour to plan from beginning to end and somehow we pulled off convincing AcroDunk to come visit.

The most important part of Rush Hour though is the opportunity to share the Gospel. That’s why we have the event. That reality hit me pretty hard last night. I have been thinking for a few weeks now on how I was going to share the Gospel and last night I got scared.

“Eternity is at stake here Wes. Don’t screw this up.”
“You aren’t qualified to speak on that. Think about where you were 3 years ago!”

A nice little wave of panic came over me.

I did begin to think about where I was 3 years ago and something I know and have known for a long time came to me- I’m not in control. When you follow Christ, you relinquish control. There is no way I could have scripted out the last 3 years of my life.  If you have ever read the Bible, you know that God has made it a habit of using unqualified people. I may be unqualified, but I am willing.

A peace then came over me. As I begin to write what I will share with the students tomorrow night, I know that God has already been working in the hearts of the kids that will be there. He is busy drawing their hearts to Him. I am nothing but an instrument and that is comforting to me.

Thank you Lord for using the unqualified.

Will you join me in praying for Rush Hour?

I love underdogs.  Who doesn’t? Cheering for the underdog is a national pastime. One of my favorite movies is Rudy, which could possibly be the greatest underdog story ever.

Recently I read a story about Maurice Clarett attempting a comeback into professional football.  If you aren’t familiar with Maurice, here is a refresher:

Clarett, a former Mr. Football in Ohio, started for the Buckeyes as a freshman and quickly asserted himself as one of the premier running backs in the country. He rushed for 1,237 yards in 2002, helping Ohio State to its first national championship in 34 years.

But he was ruled ineligible the following year for taking special benefits worth thousands of dollars. He sued to enter the NFL draft early, before he was out of high school for three years, but lost in court.

After he was eventually drafted by the Broncos, he was cut before the season started. Then, in September 2006, he pleaded guilty to having a hidden gun in his sport utility vehicle and holding up two people outside a bar.

Maurice did his time in prison and then did 4 1/2 months in a transition house.  Now he wants a shot at his passion again.  He wants to play football.  He’s stayed in shape and if he can prove he has his head on straight, there is a team in the United Football League that wants to give him a tryout.

I hope he makes it.  I even hope he makes it back to the NFL and is successful.  Call me crazy, but I love the underdog.  He paid the price for his mistakes and deserves another shot.

Why is it so easy for us to cheer for sports underdogs, but not ministry underdogs?

A close friend and mentor of mine, Justin Davis, was exactly that. He was a successful pastor in a church he started and then had an affair.

Let me guess.  Your heart didn’t flutter with excitement at the thought of him pastoring again did it?  Justin’s comeback journey was painful and his marriage went through the most intense refinement possible… and it worked.

The underdog, who most weren’t cheering for, is now a campus pastor and on the teaching team at Cross Point Community Church.  The journey isn’t over though.  He wants others to learn from his experience and has started Refine Our Marriage.

I know most of my readers aren’t in that season of life, but one day you will be.  We can still take away a lot from their story.  I know that I have.  The main thing that keeps sticking out to me is this:  I have 54 days before I will be married and I am 100% sure that Justin loved Trisha just as much as I love Amy 54 days before their wedding.

I am not above anything.  This isn’t a “this can’t happen to me” scenario.  I am so thankful for the wisdom that their story has spoken into my life and you will be too.

I was recently forced to make a decision.  A very important one.  One that will change my life.  While I am not ready just yet to discuss what that decision was, I definitely learned something through the process.

I hear a lot of people talking about “God’s will.”  It’s a church buzzword that sold millions of books.  It’s also a terrifying thought to Christians for them to not be inside God’s will.  I remember pleading with God to reveal his will to me last year.  It was a scary thing and that’s when it becomes a problem.

“Show me your will for my life! Please. I’m ready. Show me.”

That’s not a bad prayer, but what happens after you say amen?  Is there action?  Or are you paralyzed with fear to make a decisions because of not knowing 100% if it’s God’s will?

The decision I was faced with was scary.  It could have become terrifying, but guess what?  I knew that the choices were both God’s will.  There wasn’t a wrong choice for me to make.  I just needed to make one.

The reason?  I gave up authorship of my life a while back.  God’s will for my life is to enter into a relationship with him through his Son’s sacrifice and then spend my life connecting to God through the passions that were placed in me by loving others. (DISCLAIMER – For the theologically advanced – I am not saying this is the only thing needed in spiritual maturity.)

• Have a passion for food?  Savor every bite with the company of friends or even strangers.  Allow that passion to convey love to others.
• Passionate about tech support?  Well then you are a nerd, but offer that support in a way that leaves people as excited about life as you are about a new pocket protector.

Once this happens, then the decision making isn’t paralyzing because you already know God’s will for your life.  You can ask yourself which choice lines up better with your talents, passions and abilities?

Decisions aren’t always easy, but they always require action.  Being paralyzed with fear leads to non-action.  Having confidence in and living out God’s will for my life has set me free of the fear of a decision “not being in God’s will.”  It has lead to a more joyful life for myself and those around me.

One last little disclaimer – This does not mean that every decision leads to success, more money and fame.  This just means that I can face each situation knowing that the outcome will never result in God loving me any less.  (Which will never happen, but you would be surprised at what fear can do to a person.)