December 26th- The Great Letdown

    An odd thing happened in the universe this morning.

    The Christian radio stations stopped playing Mariah Carey and the secular stations stopped playing Amy Grant. Stomachs around the country began growling at their owners on account of the perpetual stuffing of sweets that had been going on for the past few weeks. People began turning on the TV in a desperate attempt to watch a "normal" movie that doesn't have elves and lots of snow and someone in every family is inevitably asleep and snoring in their recliner. The biggest day of the year is over and this is the day after.

    I think it is weird how over the years we have started Christmas earlier and earlier but we end it as soon as possible. Most of the time, we are sick of Christmas by the end of Christmas day. We all hate that person who is still singing Christmas songs until New Years or the guy who keeps his lights up until St. Patrick's Day (unless you are like most people who live in Florida and are too old to ever take them down). We find ourselves in an odd paradox because the world is back to the way it was but your Christmas tree is still up and you keep finding bits of wrapping paper stuck to your feet reminding you that something big must have happened. It is a little anticlimactic to be honest.

    We have all seen the movies. Christmas is about spending time with family and being a good person. Everything is happy at Christmas if you just "believe." All the children of the world sing in the harmony of peace and friendship and everybody loves everybody. Miracles can happen now, because it is Christmas and all. Nothing could be better.

    Then it is all over the next day.

The world expects so much out of Christmas that it seems like the first chance we get we kick back and lower our expectations. You don't have to be the family loving, charitable, God-fearing and miracle believing person you have been for the last month and a half, Christmas is over. It is time to put Jesus and Santa back on the make believe shelf and get back to normal.

    I might be wrong here, but isn't the whole point of Christmas the fact that a baby came and changed everything so that we couldn't go back to "normal" after meeting Him. Everybody in your nativity scene was changed the night they visited that stable. Their lives were altered completely. If December 26^th looks the same as every other day of the year, doesn't it mean December 25^th wasn't real enough?

    Again, correct me if I'm wrong but don't homeless people need to eat on December 26^th too? Everybody does charity this time of year, but I understand. January is far too busy to keep spending time with your family and being nice to people, especially homeless people. After all, you have a whole list of resolutions you have to forget about by February and that is very time consuming.

    Imagine what the world would be like if we were the same people we are on Christmas every other day of the year. I hate that it takes a flood of media and tradition to get us to be who we were created to be every day of the year. I think we rob Christmas of what it was intended to be when we only celebrate it once a year. Now I am not saying we should do like that cheesy movie and have Christmas every day but we need to remember who we are capable of being on Christmas and apply that to every day. Sometimes we can surprise our self with how good a person we are on Christmas.

    The son of God came into this world of hate and rejection to change everything forever. Emmanuel means "God with us," not "God was with us." He is still here, changing everything no matter what day of the year it is. Let's do the same.

    

What I learned in 2010

It is that time of year when everyone reflects back on everything that has happened to them in the past twelve months. This has been one crazy year for me; the craziest I've had thus far. In one year I have graduated high school, left home, started doing ministry full time, lost a brother, and gained a brother. I have experienced the highest spiritual mountain and the lowest spiritual valley in the same week. The best things that have ever happened in my life as well as the worst things have happened in just twelve short months.

I have been reading through old blog posts and journal entries and am in awe of what God continues to teach me.

Needless to say, I have learned a lot. Here is some of it…

• Being a senior isn't as exciting as everyone says it is and graduation isn't really a big deal when you are more concerned with where you are going instead of what you are leaving
  
• The Department of Driver's Services really is out to get you
  
• People are in your life for a season but God is there for the long run
  
• Grief never comes how or when you expect it too
  
• I am not as smart as I think I am
  
• Insecurity is the first ingredient in the recipe for failure
  
• Pity parties aren't as fun as victorious celebrations
  
• Febreeze is absolutely necessary when 5 guys share one apartment
  
• God cares enough about me to mess up my plans and give me His own, which are far better anyway
  
• The ability to worship is an incredible privilege that none of us deserve
  
• Life may catch you by surprise but death shakes you even more
  
• Red Box is a gift from God to poor missionaries who love watching movies
  
• God will call you to the one area you tell Him you won't go
  
• Your pain today brings someone else's healing tomorrow
  
• Following Jesus is a balance between failing with insecurity and succeeding with pride
  
• "Our daily bread" only tastes good on the day it was given. I can't chew on yesterday's feelings when God has something new for me today.
  
• I can't have both hands to the plow when one hand is holding on to what I think God has for me
  
• They call it "peace like a river" because sometimes it flows continuously through you and sometimes you have to move where it is flowing. It is unpredictable and overwhelming at times but it is real. God really does bring unexplainable comfort when we think we need it and when we don't.
  
• Appreciate people, they may not always be there
  
• Sometimes a death can bring far more life than just living
  
• I will only be this age, in this place, with this much ahead of me once in my life- and it is right now
  
• No matter if I feel too young or too old, I am right where I was created to be
  
• Ukuleles are really fun to play
  
• A smile can change a life
  
• Every year gets quicker the older you get
  
• My whole life thus far has been preparing me for the rest of my life
  
• God can bring healing in ways you could never imagine
  
• The worst part about being away from home is not that they can't help you, but that you can't help them
  
• Life won't go the way I expect it to but it won't catch God off guard
  
• I have absolutely nothing to complain about
  

The Other Side of Luke 2

            Your job is to follow the man with the stick. Wherever he goes, you go- you and the hundreds of others around you. That is pretty much all you have to do so you have a pretty easy life. Once the man with the stick lets you and everybody else rest in a certain spot you are completely free to frolic around and eat as much grass as your heart desires.

            Oh I forgot to mention that you are a sheep. Anyway, you are a sheep, and consequently you are very stupid. It’s not your fault, all sheep are stupid and that’s not just being stereotypical, its fact.

            It is a rather chilly night tonight but thankfully you have a built in sweater. Usually, you and the guys spend your evenings telling sheep jokes and making fun of the shepherds that fall asleep every time they try and count you. Tonight, however, will be a little bit different.

            It started out with the blinding lights and the choir music that just completely disrupted your peaceful evening. Then, the men with the sticks decide to break camp and start moving. You are pretty ticked right now because you have been doing hard, strenuous, sheep labor all day and you have to rest your little sheep legs for the night before they collapsed from under you. Plus, you had some new jokes to try out on the guys and now you won’t get a chance.

            The men with the sticks led you out of the nice, comfortable pasture and into the busy city below. You hate the way people smell and you don’t want to be around any of them. Now you find yourself in an already crowded stable staring at some kid sleeping in a feeding trough.

            But wait! Something is different and you know there is something special about this baby. He isn’t like all the other smelly humans, he is like a lamb. Instantly you realize that this is far better than the evening you had planned for yourself. You realize that your rest, your needs, and your plans fail in comparison to this. The next time you feel like you are inconvenienced by your shepherd you remember that what he has planned for you is way better than sheep jokes.

           

            There are way too many warm bodies in here tonight. You don’t know why, but a whole lot of people came in to town yesterday and brought their stupid camels with them. Now they are all sleeping in your house, eating your food and sleeping in your bed.

            If that camel spits on you one more time, you swear you are going to stick a hoof where that camel doesn’t want it.

            Now there are people staying here and they brought a screaming one.

            You are not sure how long your patience can take all these stupid camels and their bad singing (“my humps, my humps, my lovely camel humps”) as well as this screaming woman. Suddenly a baby shows up, though you are not quite sure how it happened, and is placed right in your manger. Granted, you pride yourself in being able to chew the same piece of grass all day by spitting it up and swallowing it again, seeing as how you are in fact a cow, but you were ready to dig in to some fresh hay, but somebody dropped a baby in your manger and now dinner has to wait.

            Suddenly you hear the bleating of sheep and you know that your night is about to get worse. You hate sheep jokes. You can hardly move on account of so many animals being in that tiny stable and your frustration level is at an all time high.

            But then you see this baby smile and you know that this kid is not just any baby. You make up your mind that no matter how annoying your companions may be, how inconvenienced you might be, or how hungry you might be, seeing this kid makes it all worth it.

           

            You are an ass, but you prefer to be called a donkey.

            You are definitely a city donkey, and are very comfortable on the streets but you were not prepared for this. Your master has made you carry some heavy loads before on account of him being a carpenter and all but they were nothing compared to his fat fiancée.

            This girl was tiny a couple months ago but she has a growth on her stomach that seems to be a pain for everyone around her. No matter how hard you try, you cannot walk smoothly enough to get her to stop complaining. This journey is taking forever and you are not sure how much longer you can carry this load.

            You finally stop for the night only to find that the stable is full and that you will have no respite from the hormonal complainer tonight as she and her husband are sleeping with you. Great. Your legs are killing you and your back is stiff and all you can think about is how wrong it was for them to make you carry their load that long.

            Suddenly, the woman starts looking like she is in a lot of pain. She seems to be carrying a load much bigger than you were and you realize that her journey here was a lot harder than yours.  Now there is a baby and now you know exactly why you are here.

            After catching a glimpse of this baby you decide that no burden is too heavy as long as you get a reward like that.

            This Christmas your plans may have been ruined. Maybe you are surrounded by people who bring out the worst in you. Maybe you are tired and weary from carrying that load around so long. The only solution is to just catch a glimpse of your Savior and remember that it is not about you, but about what He did for you and is still doing for you. Remembering Him is the best way to forget your problems.

            Don’t let your expectations get in the way of God’s extra blessings. You have the privilege of taking part in something much bigger than your imagination as long as you are up for the journey.  

Saving Christmas, Again

Believe it or not but Christmas may not happen this year.
I had no idea either but apparently there is a good chance every year of Christmas not happening. If you don’t believe me just watch more Christmas movies, they will tell you all about it.
For instance, unbeknownst to the children of the world, the father of Christmas himself was very nearly prevented from making his annual deliveries on account of some blinding fog. Now, why Santa had not come into poor weather in the thousands of years he had been in the business or why he never thought of headlights before is beyond me. However, thanks to a mutant reindeer, who had to have been born near Chernobyl, and his rare gift (or curse) of nasal illumination, Santa was able to fly safely around the world and pervade the global spread of fog. The world would never have known about how Rudolph saved Christmas if Burl Ives didn’t write a song about it.
Later we find that Santa has gotten sick, for the first time ever apparently, as well as fed up with the greedy consumerism of today’s American child. He decided that he simply would cancel Christmas because he didn’t feel it was worth it. Incredible! One man decided not have Christmas so we almost didn’t. Luckily Mrs. Claus stepped in and with the help of two elves, Jingle and Jangle, went down to Summertown to prove that kids still needed Christmas after all. After a musical battle with the spoiled children of Mother Nature, Heat and Snow Miser, Mrs. Clause got the whole thing straightened out in true puppet fashion. I learned all that in “The Year Without a Santa Clause.”
Santa was accused of attacking a man on 34th street in New York, but thankfully a thrilling court case proved his innocence and Santa was free to return to his job at Macy’s and Christmas was saved again. In the nineties we almost missed Christmas on account of Tim Allen refusing to accept the undeniable fact that because the old Santa fell off his roof and for some reason he had been so compelled to wear the Old Santa’s pants that he was in fact, the new Father Christmas. In the next movie, Christmas almost didn’t happen because Santa found out he had to be married to continue being Santa.
I have seen tons of movies where Santa gets kidnapped and even one where he has amnesia. I just watched one movie where Santa’s time limit for being Santa had run up and he had to pick a replacement before the Earth split open in two and there would be some kind of rift in the space-time continuum or something. He chose Whoopi Goldberg to be the new Santa, and I am still trying to wrap my mind around that one.
With so much riding on just one night and one man, it is scary to think of how many times it almost didn’t happen.
It is a good thing Christmas isn’t about him. It is about a baby called Emmanuel, whose name means God with us, which means he will always be there.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”* Neither bad weather nor sickness, neither false accusations nor mistaken identity, will be able to separate Him from being with you this Christmas.

*(Romans 8:38-39 NIV)

The Mean Time

Everyone at some point in their lives will find themselves waiting. Waiting at the grocery store, waiting in line at Starbucks, waiting for the weekend, waiting for the Avengers movie to finally come out or waiting for a beard to magically appear on your face (those last two may have just been me).
When I think of waiting the most obvious place that comes to mind is a waiting room in a doctor’s office. It is a room built solely for waiting, hence the name.
These waiting rooms aren’t very exciting; most of the time they are just filled with sick people and old magazines.
A lot of us are waiting for something more important. We are waiting for something God promised us, freedom from the things that keep us down, or that person to finally be on the same page as you.
We find ourselves stuck in a waiting room hoping that the next name called will be ours.
I have been in waiting rooms a lot, and probably will be in more, and here is what I have learned. God always has more to teach you than just patience when you are waiting on Him. I think a lot of times we get this idea in our head that we are exactly where we need to be with God, that our butts are completely covered and all we have to do is wait patiently on the Lord and one day he will realize how awesome we are and remember to overwhelmingly bless us.
I call this going into martyr mode. Go ahead and get your sackcloth and ashes and wait until you have made God look like a bad guy for not blessing someone so righteous as yourself.
Don’t get me wrong, patience is one of those things that someone truly seeking after God must learn to acquire. It is absolutely vital to your walk with God. However, there is always more to learn. If you are still in the waiting room it means that you are not completely ready to leave. It isn’t like God is keeping you in a place because He didn’t expect you to make so soon and now He isn’t ready for you. He has things to plant inside of you, He has things that only this season of wait can prepare you for.
It is all about what we learn in the meantime. Notice it is called meantime and not “happytime.” More often than not the times in between are not pleasant or enjoyable, but they can be. Most of the time they are filled with questions like “OK God, what did that do?, What was I supposed to learn from that? Now what?”
The meantime is where we find time to read old magazines.
You may have read these magazines before, even multiple times, and you thought you knew everything they had to say. Sometimes what God has to teach us is an old magazine, a re-run, something you need to be reminded of or something you have never perfected but thought you had. Our prayer in those times of confusion should be “God teach me what I do not know, or help me remember what You have already taught me.”
The Israelites wandered for forty years in a big, hot, waiting room. Sure they were being punished for doubting that God could do what He said He would but why do you think God made them wait instead of just sending a plague or wiping some of them out like He did every other time? You see, the Israelites were coming out of the pagan nation of Egypt and into the pagan land of Canaan. These people had been raised under idol worship and polytheism. If there was no waiting room there would not have been any distinction between them and the inhabitants of the land. God used this time of wait to teach patience yes, but also to weed out everything that wasn’t Him, to teach them how to live the rest of their existence, and to set them apart as His holy people. They had a lot of old magazines to read, they had to learn some lessons multiple times.
If you are waiting it is probably because God is preparing you for what you are waiting for. This would be the perfect opportunity to learn how to worship God, and not where He is taking you. This would be a perfect time to go deeper with God than you ever have before. This would be a perfect time to remember everything He has done in your life. Read your old journals, they are like old magazines.

Let me be frank, or somebody else

Sometimes it is all about me. There are many time when the world does, in fact, revolve around me.
To be honest, most of the time I just want to better myself. I want to be the next C.S. Lewis, the next Billy Graham, the next spiritual giant. Unfortunately this becomes my motive for growing closer to God. I get in these places where I worship what God has promised me and not Him. I worship His presents not His presence. I forget that He is my destination, not my means of transportation.
I tell God that I will go anywhere and do anything for Him, but secretly I just want a good story to impress people. I want people to compliment me and talk about how much I inspired them with my words of brilliance. My pride is a drug and I seem to be a junkie.
It just goes to show that doing all the right things for the wrong reasons will fail. I have to ask myself if no one recognized how Christian I was, if no one read this stupid blog, or if I never was given the opportunity to speak in front of an audience; would I still be in love with my Creator? If God never gave me anything else, what He has done in my life already and in the history of this planet would be enough to deserve more than what a million “me”s could give Him. It can’t be about what I get in return. My relationship to the God of the universe should be more than me having a good reputation.
A thought came into my head awhile ago that my pride can’t handle the pulpit I was called to. Imagine if God looked down and decided to hold back on what He had promised and created you for because he knew that if you had it you would just use it to flatter yourself.
I hate it when God has to put me in my place.
I have had to ask for forgiveness because I was using the opportunities God has given me for ministry to make myself feel good. Even in asking forgiveness I have to question my motives.
Proverbs 27: 21 says “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but a man is tested by the praise he receives.”
I failed the test. It became all about me.
You see, it isn’t my name that makes demons tremble. It isn’t my name that when called on can move mountains. It isn’t my name that brings life to the world and healing to the broken.
At the end of the day knowing me won’t change your life. Kyle Semple is awkward, insecure, and over cynical. Kyle Semple thinks way too highly of himself. Kyle Semple just recycles old jokes pretends he made them up himself. Kyle Semple is still speaking in third person even though he should have stopped awhile ago.
It is Jesus Christ who is worth following.
Greater is He that is in me than he who is just me.

Smacking Weathermen

It has happened several times every year and I never learn. It gets me every time. It usually goes something like this:
I wake up before the sun does and drag myself out of bed. I go to the bathroom and come back into my room and sit down trying to find motivation to go for a run. Sometime later I find and get ready to run. I have my shorts, a dry fit T Shirt, and running shoes that have put in a couple hundred miles. I walk outside and suddenly get the urge to smack a weatherman.
Don’t act like you don’t do it too. You know those days when you walk outside and find yourself in excruciating pain because a gust of icy wind seems to be beating you up and giving you a wedgie. The weatherman didn’t tell me it was going to be this cold, not that I was really listening anyway.
I was complaining to myself about how cold it suddenly was when I realized, “Dude, its 5:30 in the morning in November.” I should have definitely seen this coming.
I do this all the time with God.
I am fully aware that every year fall comes after summer, and I am fully aware that seasons in my life are going to change yet I am surprised by both. Should I find it surprising that a season of “everything is awesome with God” would be followed by a season “What’s going on God?”
Should I find it surprising that a season in the valley would be followed by a season on a mountain?
I get so focused on what is going on right here, right now that when everything changes I get mad at God, even though I can look back on my life and see change all over the place.
Jesus told the Pharisees and the Sadducees when they demanded a sign from Him about seasons.
“When evening comes, you say, ‘it will be fair weather for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times” (Mt 16:2-3 NIV)
One of the biggest problems with Christians today is that we don’t recognize what season we are in. We pray for warmth in winter and a cool breeze in summer. We pray for direction when we are in a season of growing and rest when we are in a season of going. Instead of recognizing that God has specific times for specific purposes we get mad when He changes things on us. We want to smack a weatherman.
Solomon wrote about seasons in Ecclesiastes chapter 3, and then British Invasion rockers named The Byrds wrote a song about it. Now you have that song stuck in your head, it will most likely be there all day. You’re welcome.
The point of what Solomon was talking about was that there is a season for everything so we shouldn’t get stuck in the season you are most comfortable with. I am really comfortable in the season of being on the mountain and not so much the season of learning how to rock climb.
Paul tells Timothy in his second letter in the fourth chapter to “be prepared in season and out of season.” This means dressing like a Georgian.
I have discovered that Georgia does not have true seasons, we just have days of the week with each day having an entirely new pattern of weather of its own. True Georgians never pack away their winter clothes because they know some random day in April it is going to start snowing and then be 80 degrees the next day. That is what it means to be ready in season and out. You cannot leave behind the things you used in your last season when you move on to your next season or it would defeat the point.
I find it interesting the in the English language the word “season” is remarkably close to the word “seasoning,” which has a very different meaning. My thinking is that the more seasons you get to go through the better you will taste to the world in the end. Just a thought.
What season are you in? What is God doing in you right now? What season do you think is next?
“Through everything, turn, turn, turn. There is a season turn, turn, turn. And a time for every purpose, under heaven.”

The Last Mile Workout

Life experiences tend to teach life lessons. I know I haven’t been around a real long time but I have acquired enough life experience to get quite a few sermon illustrations and blog ideas, as you can probably see. I have gotten a lot of these life lessons from running cross country for three years. For instance, I have learned that my legs are really white (like seriously- you don’t understand… especially in those shorts, I have to wear sunglasses or I will be blinded by them). I have also learned that the whole world thinks you are a freak if you slightly enjoy running at all but I think they are just jealous of my meaty 150 pounds and tall lanky body that was crafted to do nothing else but run for miles on the side of the highway.
I have learned a lot about myself and my walk with God by running as well. What God reminded me of today is what is called the “Last Mile Workout.”
In high school, cross country is a sport (yes, it is a sport) in which the participants run a 3.1 mile course through woods, parking lots, or whatever else they can come up with and compete against up to a couple hundred runners at a time. Practice is more than just running for an hour or so, most of the time. A good coach will have different workouts that train the runner for different parts of the race.
I ran my first race in a year this past Saturday and as I hit my last mile I realized that in my training I had neglected my Last Mile Workout that would prepare me to finish the race strong. I was less than 400 meters behind first place and I did not have the strength I should have to catch him for the win.
As a beginning runner, I never understood when my coach would have us do a Last Mile Workout. We always had to run weird distances in weird times with weird paces. I discovered that the first half of the workout was designed to completely exhaust you while the second half is to show you what you are capable of when you are almost dead.
These past couple weeks for me have been a lot like the Last Mile Workout. I am learning things that don’t really seem to apply to where I am right now. Sometimes I don’t understand why I go through the things I go through. I don’t understand what I am supposed get from all of this.
Then I realize that I am being trained for the whole race, not just the first mile.
Some things I have just to file away for later and use when I need them.
If there is one thing I have learned about running, it is that if you do not have the end of the race in mind you will lose at the beginning.
I am in training to be in ministry, a field that has had its’ reputation burned since its’ inception. Ministers have broken families, destroyed faiths, and continually re-crucified their Savior with their actions.
The divorce rate is the same for clergy as it is for layman.
The Bible tells us that God gave about 400 people the responsibility of leadership. Only 25% of them ended their lives still in accordance with God’s will.
Anybody can start ministry, but I am here to finish. Every day we are one day closer to the return of Christ and I don’t think this world can afford another Jim Baker, another Jimmy Swaggert, or more recently another Eddie Long. I want to be who God created me to be 20, 40, and 60 years from now.
This does not just apply to ministry. If God has promised you something, every moment from the receiving of the promise to the fulfillment of the promise is preparation and training for the promise. God is always teaching you more than patience. Your whole life has trained you for today. What you do right now might not teach you what you need to know for tomorrow, but it might teach you what you need to know for the day after tomorrow.
So when you don’t understand what is going on or what the heck you are supposed to be learning just write it all down. You will use it later.
This nugget may not have been super spiritual but who knows what it will look like once I am in my last mile.

Captains Log: November 1, 2010

It has been awhile since I updated everyone on what we have been doing, so I have a lot of catching up to do. We have been everywhere in the last month.
In Lagrange we were involved in a revival in which Pastor Mike was speaking. When we go to a church we have no idea what to expect because Missio Dei seems to be all about keeping us on our feet. There are some things that we do pretty consistently though like run the merchandise table, perform some kind of skit or drama, and help out with the altar (I have become a very good catcher by the way). Occasionally some of us get to share our testimony or talk about what we do and I usually get nominated to speak on the spur of the moment- which is awesome. The leaders know I value every opportunity I get to hold a microphone. We got the chance to do some more door to door witnessing and I am really excited to get to see what God continues to do in Lagrange.
From there we headed to Jackson where the Abundant Life church was in the middle of a new movement called Reach the City. RTC is the brainchild of our director and founder Mike Holt which basically is a 40 day campaign to completely turn a city upside down for Christ. It involves every person and every ministry in a church and equips, inspires and commissions them to become contagious Christians. They are constantly encouraged to reach their co-workers, friends, and family in bold ways. We are tired of Christians who go their whole life without telling one person about what apparently means so much to them.
Reach the city is a brand new idea and Abundant Life Jackson is the first church to launch it. Needless to say a lot rested on this church. Our expectations were completely blown away by the eagerness, determination, and creativity of each and every member of that church. I have never seen so many people ready to get out of their comfort zone and change their world. On the final day of outreach, the congregation invaded every part of the city. They divided and they conquered. If you were to drive through Jackson that day you would have been bombarded with free soft drinks at one red light, a free kids event with inflatables and face paint on the side of the busiest road in town, free cookies at another red light, and a whole team of door knockers. The church decided to end their 40 days with the beginning of a 3 week tent revival which attracted hundreds each service.
During the course of the week we were there we had the amazing opportunity of being involved with what is called the 7 project. Though we are not the team in charge of the 7 project, we were filling in that week for the usually team who couldn’t be there. The 7 project is basically an initiative where we go to as many schools as we can and ask the principals what the 7 worst issues facing the school and do school assemblies addressing those topics. These are not your average school assemblies as they consist of skits, videos, relevant speaking, and 70,000 dollars worth of professional sound and light equipment. The responsibility of operating and learning this equipment was given primarily to me so I had a lot of fun with even more frustration. I learned a lot and realized how much more there is for me to learn about sound and lighting for huge events.
We were blessed with the chance to do two back to back school assemblies giving us the opportunity to speak to the entire freshmen and sophomore classes of Jackson High School. Even though technically we can’t talk about Jesus in a school setting, that did not stop Him from showing up anyway. I know the government might think they took prayer out of school but we saw that it is still there. With a secular message we had many people brought to tears in front of all their friends because of hoe emotionally stirred they were and dozens of kids who came to the front of the cafeteria to “bury” the things in their life that were killing them inside in a real coffin we set up on stage. We would be pretty content if that was all, but God had more planned.
The point of the 7 project is to bring students into a relationship with Jesus Christ, which cannot be done by us in school. So we invite everyone to a special “7 at night” that takes place after school hours. We took over an old gym with fog machines, Atlanta’s own “The Varsity” who gave out free chili dogs, professional sound equipment and an over the top light show. 300 students showed up and over 150 filled out salvation cards. Yes, that is half the people there! The night was a huge success and a great victory for the church which completely staffed the entire event and was an excellent help.
After we left Jackson we headed back to Macon where many of the team was able to go home and do fundraisers. There are still a lot of funds needed to be met within the team and prayers would be greatly appreciated. I got to go home and see the birth of the new kid in the Semple house, my little brother, Samuel Quinn Semple. I have been at the hospital when all of my siblings were born (not in the same room thankfully) and I was really glad my schedule worked out to see Sammy. I had no idea someone so small could bring so much healing and hope. This kid has destiny to change the world and it is already all over him. I am proud I get to be his big brother, though it will be hard not being able to be as much a part of his life as I have been for the others.
When the vacation was over we headed to one of my favorite places in the world- Rescue Atlanta. RA is a homeless ministry in downtown Atlanta that is in pursuit of the people God desperately wants. It doesn’t matter what race you are, what sexual orientation you are, or whether you have had a shower in the last month- Rescue Atlanta loves on people and shares the love of Jesus with everyone they come in contact with, which is a lot of people. I visited this place four years ago and it changed my life. Since that trip my heart has been broken for the people in that city and I can’t go through there without being compelled to do something.
It took a couple of days for our team to really figure out what our place was in this ministry but when we figured it out God moved. We sorted through donated clothes, helped prepare meals, and fed got to hang out with the homeless on the streets where we were feeding them. Thursday, a worker at RA talked to us about what the Bible says about healings. He showed us that Jesus and the disciples never prayed for healing, they just believed and claimed it with boldness. Moments later we were laying hands on each other and saw two definite and immediate physical healings right there within our own team. Needless to say we were pretty inspired to go out witnessing, which we did.
We have done street evangelism before and none of us are completely uncomfortable talking to strangers but we went out that day into downtown Atlanta with a boldness we have never had before. There was no beating around the bush or wimping out before things got uncomfortable. In a matter of 2 hours we saw 4 salvations and 3 or 4 healings. What we learned here will take us through wherever this journey takes us.
We have been at home base in Macon for a week, and we will spend the next two weeks here as well doing further training, drama practice, worship practice, and various other things. Next is a weekend in Biluxi, Mississippi for the Mississippi Youth Convention and then straight to Savannah for more inner city ministry.
Oh, and I redesigned my blog. I am pretty proud of it.

NaCL (Sodium Chloride)

The world is not what you want it to be.
You try your best but you can never have all your problems solved at once. There are still things about you and your world that you hate.
The problem is that a long time ago you completely blew it. You knew the right decision, but you chose the wrong one and now you have to suffer the consequences. You are dust.
In Genesis chapter 3 we see that humanity’s first test patients, Adam and Eve, have blown it. Christians like to call it the Fall of Man, which happens to me a lot on account of my lanky clumsy body. God tells them that from this point on that will be dust.
“…for dust you are and to dust you shall return” (3:19b).
This is a real bummer because dust isn’t very fun at all. I have been thinking about dust a lot lately (don’t judge me, I know it is weird) and here is what I have learned.
First of all, dust collects. I don’t ever remember saying “Oh look, there is a particle of dust.” Dust is found in numbers. I guess it is easier to consider yourself dust when you are surrounded by people who are just as dusty as you are; people who are dying, hurting and headed to the same destruction you are. Being with other dust is a whole heck of a lot easier than actually ceasing to be dust.
Another thing I have noticed about dust is that it gets in the way. I hate it when I am sitting on the couch trying to watch The Office when I begin wondering why there is a cloud in front of Steve Carrell’s face. I think “Hey maybe Al Gore was right about this whole Global Warming thing and smog has already invaded the Dunder Mifflin paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania,” until I realize that it is just an inch of dust that has collected on the TV. Dust gets in the way of the things you are trying to see. Being dust clouds everything and yet you wonder why you don’t know what to do with your life; why nothing ever makes sense. (By the way that last anecdote was completely hypothetical).
What is disgusting about the dust in your house is that most of it is made up of dead human skin cells. That makes a lot of sense, because a lot of what makes up a dusty person is the dead things of somebody else. Their parents had a problem and gave that problem to them. The people they love had problems so they gave their problems to them. We as people on this planet have been collecting the dead things of other people since the beginning of time, or rather, since we were declared to be dust. We aren’t life, we are just what is left from it.
This is our origin and our destiny. This is what we have to look forward to. Frankly, it is all we deserve.
Thousands of years after we were sentenced to become dust a man named Jesus came and changed everything.
Instead of reminding us of our hopelessness He says that we don’t have to be dust anymore. In Mathew chapter five He says that we can even be salt.
Now salt and dust are in no way alike. They have completely different molecular structures, different appearances and different tastes (don’t ask how I know what dust taste like). The transformation Jesus is talking about is that drastic.
Here is the thing about salt- it preserves. If you know anything about meat you know that salt is one of the best natural remedies against meat spoiling. Even though we used to be on a course set for death we can now preserve. I find great comfort in this; that I don’t have to struggle just to maintain happiness but I can be preserved forever.
Psalm 3:5 says “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the lord sustains me.”
He sustains me. Being salt means I am not set up for death. It means that whatever is going wrong in my life will not kill me because He sustains me. I am preserved without spoiling. I am sustained.
Another thing about salt is that it makes you thirsty. I love pretzels but I don’t even bother with them unless I have a bottle of water beside me. It is why you can die of thirst while stranded in the ocean. Being salt means you have a desire for more.
It’s a good thing Jesus said “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” (John 7:37).
Basically, thirsty people get more because they want more. God is pouring Himself out for us but we have to be thirsty enough to want Him. It helps to be salty.
I love salt. I put it on pretty much everything, which I know probably isn’t good for me. I am aware that enough salt can raise my cholesterol so high that even Honey Nut Cheerios can’t save me but it just taste so good. The last thing I noticed about salt is that it can give you a heart attack.
I have been talking about salt and dust like it only applies to the individual but this blog would be seriously lacking if I didn’t talk about what being salt or dust does to the people around you.
The bottom line is that if you truly are salt then the hearts of those around you should be attacked, metaphorically speaking of course. If people aren’t compelled to change themselves from dust to salt because of how salty you are then you aren’t salty enough. If your saltiness doesn’t make others thirsty for God then you aren’t salty enough. If your saltiness doesn’t preserve the downtrodden, the hopeless, or the abandoned with real life giving flavor then you aren’t salty enough. We are to be the salt of the world not the salt of our own lives.
Now let me talk to the dusty people.
As dust you probably feel that your destiny is already determined. It is right that you feel this way because you destiny is already determined. You are dust, you have always been dust, and you will continue to be dust for the rest of eternity. That is, unless you choose to be salt, which happens to be your only other option.
Your destiny is already laid out for you and I would bet that the people who know you best could guess it pretty accurately. It doesn’t look good but you have the choice. You do not have to be who you have always been or think you will always be.
You don’t have to be dependent on other people just like you and collect together for your happiness. You don’t have to get in the way of your vision of your future like you always have, you can know exactly who you are and why you were put on this crazy planet in the first place. You don’t have to be the leftovers of dead things. You can have life. You can be salt.
God is all about rewriting destiny. He told Simon, whose name means a reed that sways in the wind, that He would change his name to Peter which means rock. He told Jacob, whose name meant deceiver that He would change his name to Israel which means “one that has struggled with God and has overcame.”
Who you are is not set in stone, it is set in dust and dust can easily be blown away by God’s mercy and rewritten. You are not forgotten, oh dusty ones, you were created to flavor the world.



*All Scripture references are NIV