Fighting Screwtape

Facebook Games..

2011-11-28T09:27:00.002-05:00

I was encouraged by a friend of mine to put some thoughts into this blog post..so this is basically what happened: I am not one for facebook games...you know the "LMS and I'll tell you..." (LMS means like my status for those wondering..) In all honesty, they usually annoy me, because they are full of half truths and patronizing, but this one caught my attention for some reason. I think because it gave me a chance to really say some things I have been wanting to say, some things I needed to say, and forced me to think through some things I really didn't want to. Also, in order to play by the rules, you only post after the correct amount of people click like, as in a way of telling you they want to hear what you will say..So I figured..why not? I really didnt expect to have to do them all..and so quickly as well, but alas, I did, and here are the results for your viewing pleasure. Here are the questions I posed:

dear mom and dad..
dear girl i love..
dear collin..
dear current aliveYM student..
dear no longer aliveYM student..
dear future aliveYM student..
dear best friend..
dear ex-friend..

And my responses:
Dear Mom and Dad (Kathie Gajda and John)- Thank you. Thank you for always helping me even though I can be a bit hardheaded, for supporting me when I said I was called to the ministry and had to trust that God would take care of me and my salary, and for loving my wife so much. Your acceptance of her is what confirmed she was the woman God gave me. Thank you for spanking me and standing one step high to look me in the eyes when I was in trouble, teaching me how to respect people and always to seek encouragement when the world is full of such poison. Thank you for loving my son, and for supporting us when we screw up. I love you both very much.

Dear girl I love (Lane Kyzer Gajda): I love you. Not in a worldly way of I think your good looking..but adore you. I know sometimes i mess up, and I dont know how hard it is to be married to me, but I imagine its tough. Thank you for standing by me when we have to make hard decisions, for loving the students of PNCC because you do, not because you have to, and for giving me the greatest delight on this planet, which is being a dad. I could never thank you enough for your consistency, and have confidence that you have my heart forever.

Dear Collin- i know you can't read this, and that's ok, but I want you to know how blessed we are by you. When we were told you were never going to happen, and then you showed up, it changed our world. Your mom and I love you so much, and you are a miracle of God. When you grow up, Im going to be hard on you. Ill discipline you, ill encourage you, Ill love you, and Ill lead you, so know that everything I do for you is because you are God's gift to us, and you belong to Him, and you always will. We will honor that as long as we are alive.

Dear Current AliveYM student- I know that its been tough to hang on. I know that you may have been a part of alive for a long time, and that you have seen alot of change. You had one YP leave, and then I came in and made some big changes, and some of your friends stopped coming. Thanks for hanging on. I promise that its worth it, and that God is pleased with your commitment. Also, know that I know that I can be hard on you guys sometimes, especially when you dont want me to be. I promise its for good. I can't wait to see where God takes us next year and beyond, and know that I love you all. I really do. Get ready, because this next season is going to be awesome, and you'll want to do everything you can to be there. I can't wait to see you. Our leaders really do come because they love you..know that and live like it. They give up massive amounts of time because they know you are worth it.

Dear No-Longer-AliveYM student: There are a multitude of reasons you may have left, and in all honesty, Im sorry about that. I know that Alive changed, and that we brought in small groups...that we cut down on hang out time and snack bar time..and that maybe you had a leader get on you for something...but its worth it. Discipline in LOVE is something lost on many of us, and how you respond to it defines you. This culture doesnt define you, twilight doesnt define you, and neither does your family situation. What does define you is how you face adversity and change, and what you do with the promise that God loves you. If you left because you were mad, I encourage you..come talk to me, and lets figure it out. If you left because it wasnt "fun" anymore, Im sorry. Try us out again though, its worth it. If you left because you were offended by the preaching, I can't apologize, but I can hope you'll battle with what you heard and what may need to change. I don't think im right all the time, but the Bible is. God loves you, and I would love the chance to learn more about you. If you graduated, we miss you!

Dear Future AliveYM student: Can't wait to have you. This isn't kids pointe, but it is still awesome. I hope you are ready for a battle, because that's what we are about. although I am sad we don't have basketball or dodgeball anymore, the rest of what we are about is more important. When you come, be confident and come find me, as I would love to buy you a coke or mt dew, and don't be afraid to sing worship and play games on stage. Jesus loves you and wants you to find joy in what we do...And im looking to find some future leaders. See you soon.

Dear Best friend: (disclaimer: Lane is my best friend, but this is to my best dude friend) With every fiber of who I am, I want you to know Jesus. I want you to know how much He loves you, how much He cares for you, and although I will never have answers to some questions you have, and I cant explain why certain things happened in your life, I can tell you that I love you. Dude, I love you so much. I would die if it kept you alive, because your salvation means that much to me. I can't explain God in a way that will always make sense, but I can tell you that sometimes all you need is faith. If you let Him change you, He will. Give Christ that chance. I love you so much man, and if this gets to you it may upset you a little bit, but man, you know what you mean to me, you know what we have been through, and you know that at the end of this life ill be standing by your side. Take it to the bank my friend.

Dear Ex-friend (i had to change it a bit): I really don't understand. I feel like I had your back, and it seems like you feel like I didnt. Im sorry for that. If there is ever a chance to fix this relationship, im open..but you have to be as well. And we can't play a holy game and make it all spiritual, we just have to man up and admit mistakes, and push through. I still love you bro, and I hope one day this will all be different.

----------------
So there you have it. I would encourage you to look through some of this- do you have someone you need to tell something to? It was a great exercise for me to focus on things I needed to, and it was good for me to evaluate my heart a little bit. Try it out, and see what you think!

4 Major mistakes Student Leaders make...

2011-11-09T12:00:00.002-05:00

I am coming to an understanding that I don't understand. It's weird, really, this point that I am at. If I am being at all honest with myself or you, I have to say that everything I have been taught about how to be a student pastor is off balance. Now this is NOT saying that my education isnt valuable, and it is not saying that everything I was taught is wrong..But I think I got some of it wrong. I am just now coming to a great understanding of that. Ill attempt to explain it...

They have to respect you to hear you.
I spent way too much time (and I mean way too much) attempting to just pound theology and sanctification into our students. There is absolutely a need for those things to be taught, but investing in them is the most important thing. Little things that go a long way for this are remembering their name, remembering their opinions, and giving them the time of day to talk afterwards. It blows my mind that so many pastors deliver a message just to walk off the platform back into their office. This is a great opportunity to reinforce what it is God shared through you, so give your students (or congregation) that chance! When they know that you care for them, they will respect you and hear you.

You can't have an agenda in your relationship with students.
I feel like this is the biggest rule broken in all of ministry. I don't love my students because I have to. I don't love them because I want them to bring friends and make our ministry bigger. I don't love them so that they can be baptized. I love them because I love them. Granted, some people are harder to love than others, and you may not always mesh well with some people in your flock, but the beautiful thing about being a leader and leading leaders is that usually you will have someone who does. Students especially need to know that you care about them, regardless of if they want to get baptized, invite 15 friends a week, or tithe enough to buy you 4 xbox's for the ministry. They want to know that when they pour their heart out to you, you are trustworthy enough to listen, care, and respond. Teens especially are excellent at perceiving people's agendas, and if you have one in your own life when it comes to forming relationships with them, they are going to see right through that and cut it off before it starts.

They don't need you to be their friend. They need you to lead them.
Most of the time, a student understands your role in their lives. They aren't looking for you to glorify their troubles- but they also aren't looking to you to 'parent' them either. There is a balance they are looking for. Think of your own life. When you go to certain people with issues, what are you looking for? I know that for me (admittedly) that if I am looking for empathy I can go to certain people. I know that if I need someone to speak truth into my life, I have someone else I go to...and can trust. Students are no different. If they trust you enough to come to you with a problem, lead them! I had a student who I love who came to me with an issue. They went on to say the last time the shared their problem with a leader, (not in our ministry), they felt yelled at instead of loved and helped. What a blessing it was to be used to encourage them and help them out of their sin. This student is still close to me, and we trust each other. They know I am their pastor, but that when they need some help, they can find it in my office. Don't be the leader that demeans students- just because you don't have a handle on your sin doesn't mean you take the frustration out on them for theirs.

One last note- on the flip side of things...
Speak with authority because of the position God has placed you in.
GOD put you in the place you are in through your obedience to His plan for your life. Soak that in for a second. HE put you in the ministry you are in so that HE would be glorified through your obedience. Because of that, you may have to speak tough love some times...OK...A lot of times. It's not easy. It's not meant to be easy. Ministry isn't easy. That's why people don't last. Look throughout the Bible. EVERY LEADER in the scripture was forced to make hard decisions constantly. Go ahead. Think through the books. Adam? tough decision. Ruth? Tough decision. King David? Wow. How about Paul? Peter? or lets go directly to the top- How about Jesus? Remember the Garden?
The point is this: If you are in leadership, God has entrusted you to speak TRUTH. To be UNWAVERING. To lead in LOVE. To speak with deep HUMILITY. When students come to you and they need you, speak with the authority that has been placed in you. Jesus gave it to you, God confirmed it in you, and the Holy Spirit uses it to lead you. When students come to you with an issue, never fail to speak truth. The 'best friend' thought is already a prevalent epidemic in parenting...We can't let it become one in Pastoral leadership. Sometimes you will have to speak tough truth. Sometimes love hurts. One thing I promise you is this: Do it in love, humility, and through God's truth, and you won't fail yourself, your student (who you love without agenda), or God- who has placed you in that conversation, for 'such a time' as that.

Fighting alongside you...

Life, Parenting, and the fact that I know nothing...

2011-10-17T16:07:00.003-04:00

Collin John

Life. Its been hectic and busy lately...while also being exciting, tiring, and full of love in a way I never knew was possible. To the left you'll notice my new son, Collin John. He's 12 pounds and 22 inches of awesome, and full of life. On August 30th, at 6:48pm, our little dude came into the world. It was life changing at the moment- the excitement, love, the sense of protection, fear, and anxiety all wrapped into one moment was something that Ill never forget. Thats not to say it isnt still there- it absolutely is- but I think after 7 weeks the anxiety and fear are beginning to give way to confidence and understanding. I am learning more and more that in the same way that I don't really know 'how' to be a dad, Collin doesn't 'know' how to be a baby...It's just a natural state of mind. There is no way that anyone can prepare you for it- you just know (as a parent) that he has things he needs taken care of, and you do whatever you have to in order to make sure those needs are met. There is nothing that he needs that I won't do everything in power to make sure he has. Now let's be real: This doesn't mean that Collin will have every toy he ever wants, or cars, or money, or whatever..But I will give him everything he needs in order to succeed in whatever it is he chooses.

THIS is the call of parenting. I told myself a long time ago that when I was a parent, I was not going to be focused on being my children's best friend. I was going to focus on being their best parents. My own parents helped me tremendously in this. I never had the opportunity to think of them as my friends. They are incredible people, and although I mass produced gray hairs on their heads, I ALWAYS knew that they loved me. Every moment. Every day. It wasn't because we had an 'understanding' or that I had just figured it out, it was that my parents always told me- and still do- that they love me. I can remember time after time of my mom getting in my face and disciplining me (which she had to stand on one step because she was going to be eye to eye with me...no backing down in this woman) she always told me she loved me. My dad is the same way. Although I am a 27 (28 in 2 days) year old man and disagree with my dad on little things along the way, I know that he always has my best interest in mind...and at the end of everything, he ends up being right. Theres wisdom in that. There are lessons to learn in that.

I wanted to turn this into a 'spiritual' post, but I won't go there today. What I will say is this: My desire is that I won't always be Collin's friend, but I will always be his dad. Right now we give him nourishment, warm clothes and a place to sleep, and take care of his needs; but the thing I can't wait to give him is the opportunity to follow Jesus. Although I would do anything I could to GIVE him Jesus, I know that I can't. Its a decision he must make on his own. Thank God for His grace, love and mercy. I was told by my good friend Robbie Foreman (check his page HERE) that I would read scripture differently, and let me tell you..I do. Romans 9:3 has got to be one of the biggest scriptures:

"For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.."

Paul is essentially saying that for the sake of unbelievers, he wishes he could be cut off from Christ so that all may gain salvation. Now don't misunderstand me- I don't wish that I were cursed and cut off from Christ...that would be horrible...but I would trade my own salvation for the sake of Collin in a heartbeat. To know Christ is everything, and the greatest gift I can give is for my wife and son to understand that more than anything. This is why I will never attempt to be his friend, only his loving dad. This truth is what has grown me so much- God isnt God to be my friend. He is here to be a loving father. Sometimes that means discipline when I disobey. Sometimes that means pain when growth is happening. All the time it means that He knows what is best for me. That He knows what my needs are. That He understands what I am going through. That He did everything He could for me by sending Jesus to earth to die on a cross.

That, my friends, is being a loving dad.

Step two in fighting for Moncks Corner: Sanctification

2011-08-16T11:05:00.000-04:00

Well, as is par for the course, I have taken a few months off of blogging. Honestly, things got hectic and crazy, and I couldnt make time for everything, so blogging took the brunt of the time cutting, and here we are. To catch you up:

Breakaway went smashingly well. Cheeks tore his ACL, couldnt go to Japan, and now is interning with me at PNCC until December. Lane's stomach keeps getting bigger, and we are awaiting Collin's arrival any day now. Apparently its probably going to be another 10 days or so, but im ready for him now. The NFL is back, the Indians are fighting for first place, and school is back in session TODAY, which means its about to get crazy up in here at Alive. However, I dont really want to talk about that right now.

My thought process has changed in the last few months/weeks- I have begun to attempt to understand why I do things- and with that- what I need to change. Its not enough any longer to just act on quick ideas, because when you do that, I dont feel like you act in your full capacity. Think about it- you have to have some idea where you are and where you are going in order to plan accordingly. Otherwise, you cant fully enjoy your experience.
Think of it this way. If you are going on a trip and decide 'hey, lets get into a car and just drive,' there is an excitement aspect yes, but what do you miss along the way? Without knowing where you are going, you could miss out on some of the greatest moments that God has in store for you. This is why vision is so stinking important. Everything revolves around vision.

Im not a great visionary. I understand that. Although I feel like God is beginning to give me those gifts, I am not one who is going to sit and address an entire church with a 5 or 10 year plan. Im not sure why that is, but I think it will change one day- but as of right now, God has gifted me in shorter plans. This past year I took over as the student pastor at PNCC, and I knew exactly what it was that God wanted me to do here. Constantly God brought to mind the story of Gideon's army- Do MORE with LESS students and leaders. You can read about that vision on my earlier blog post HERE. We haven't lost that mentality or anything, and God has honored our obedience, but God has put something else in to me- lets say a step two:

Berkeley county students must seek sanctification today in order to see lasting change in their lives in the future.

Clearly and sternly- over and over and over again- Scripture talks about being Holy, or set apart, or sanctified, pure in heart and spirit, etc. This starts in the Genesis where Adam and Eve are told to keep their bodies pure of the tree of Good and Evil. It carries through the Jewish law: Don't eat anything unclean. It continues in the Gospels: Jesus speaks of being purified and cleansed- saying things like don't be like the pagans...and comes to a head in Romans 6 as Paul speaks directly about what it means to be holy and pure- sanctified by Jesus' blood. To be set apart and different from the world- that our past lives, filled with sin and wrecklessness have NO hold over us any longer. The days of sin having its hold on you are over! We are obedient servants either to sin, or to the most High God, who delivered us from evil, sin, and death.

Year two of Alive's new era of ministry is just that. Teaching AND MODELING to our students what it means to live in purity and sanctification. Christians love to dance around the idea all the time: "If you are calling yourself a christian and not living it....." instead of saying "You have been set apart by God through HIS GRACE. Live in it, not in your sin! Demonstrate His goodness through your obedience to Him, and not your own selfish desires, and when people see your faithfulness, they will desire it, and you will have an opportunity to see lives, hearts, and eternities changed."

Thats the right attitude friends. We are here to see eternities changed. But it starts with showing ourselves worthy of the calling God has placed on us- if you are His, live like you have been called to His righteousness and purity- because you have.

Breakaway, Baby, and Life update

2011-05-23T09:56:00.000-04:00

I am beginning to grow into an understanding that my time is actually not mine. I haven't blogged in over 2 weeks, and its been mainly due to my inability to slow myself down and realize that my time belongs to God- since He gives it to me, its His- and it doesn't belong to me. So Im going to take a quick opportunity to update you on a few things going on in my life and next week Ill send one out about something 'spiritual' I have also been learning as of late.

The main thing eating up my time at Pointe North is Summer Breakaway. We leave in 22 days, and although we have a lot done already, we still have so much more we need to accomplish. This has led to full days and nights the past few weeks. I am so blessed to have Nancy and the interns here with me, or else Ill be honest with you...breakaway wouldn't happen. They have done so much to help, and I love them all dearly. We are all currently working our fingers to the bone to wrap up some last minute details, and we hope to have breakaway fully planned and packed up (minus some speakers and stuff) by June 3rd..which would allow us the proper amount of time to get our hearts minds and souls prepared for what is going to be happening in myrtle beach 10 days later.

The main thing that will eat up my time is my baby- Its a boy! His name is going to be Collin John Gajda, and he should come into this world sometime between mid august and the 1st of september. People ask me why Collin, the significance of the name, what it means, etc etc..Im an Irish kid, and we wanted to bring a little bit of that to our child, but honestly Collin was the only boy name that Lane and I both really loved. It fit. Its a strong name. We like it, and so we went with it.

His middle name however has much more of a meaning. My dad's name is John. I know its a regular thing (especially in the south) to name your children after parents or grandparents- but thats how people get names like Gertrude and Delbert. Our decision to name Collin after my father is much more than that. My dad is a man of high character and who is well respected. He is giving, caring, and loves his family more than anything, and raised us in a place where we could have the opportunity to learn about God and grow to fear Him in all aspects of our lives. In short, this is why we did that- to both honor my father, but also to put something into Collin- something for him to look to for leadership outside of myself. I am a young man, still learning a lot of things, but Collin will be able to look to his PaJohn (as he is lovingly called already by his grandchildren) for guidance, love, and im sure a little bit of spoiling as he grows up.

Thats whats been eating up my time- all of that plus the normal stuff...and although im ending this a little soon, I have some stuff to share with you all soon. Have a great day..

Celebrating (or not) the Death Of Osama Bin Laden

2011-05-02T16:44:00.001-04:00

Last night around 11:15pm (EST), a piece of current history was brought to my attention as the world awaited President Obama stepping to a pulpit and bringing Americans the news we had waited years to hear: "Osama Bin Laden has been confirmed dead."

I was just graduated out of high school, and was figuring out what college was all about. I had decided to take a semester off for the most part- I was only signed up for 3 classes- and my father agreed it would be a good thing for me to take a semester, figure out what college really was, and then go full on at it the following spring.

Classes had been in session for a few weeks, and I was about to walk into my favorite college class thus far: Ethics. Being a new Christian, I was interested to see what I really believed and how it really fit with the Bible, especially when brought into a classroom of people who were sure to fight me on my views. I think this is just one more way that God was preparing me for what I am doing now- since I CONSTANTLY have to defend my views to people who view them as being less than nice or fun to adhere to.

Ill never forget walking into my ethics class on September 11, 2001. As I walked in, the television was on, and the 12 or so of us who got there a little early were glued. I quickly came to realize what had happened. Just as I turned my eyes to the television, we watched as a second jet hit the second twin tower in NYC.

It was terrifying. Even being hundreds of miles away, you could still feel the entire world sink. We were sent home. School was cancelled. Businesses shut down. You couldn't watch anything but the coverage on the television. The WORLD as we knew it shut down. There was nothing like it.

And then the world found out who was behind these atrocious attacks. Osama Bin Laden and his cronies not only were found to be guilty of the crime, but claimed it all to the joy of their god. People began signing up for the military by the droves as stories continued to pour in about people lost in the attacks, families that would never be the same, and thousands of people who were sent to an early grave- God knows how many without Jesus.

So then, yesterday happens. The same day 66 years earlier that the world discovered Hitler was dead, President Obama addressed the nation that this tyrant militant terrorist Osama Bin Laden had also been killed. The nation (for the most part) rejoiced at the sound. CNN showed an impromptu party outside of the white house. News anchors were called in the report the biggest story of the young decade. And Facebook began to blow up with people seemingly mourning the death of Bin Laden.

Wait. What?

Yes. Mourning. A few verses came out, and Christians began feuding with each other. Proverbs 24:17-18 was everywhere, as was Ezekiel 33:11. Major Christian leaders began to post things that normal everyday christians began to eat up. Gandhi was quoted more yesterday than any other day in history. (Gandhi's quote 'Hate the sin, not the sinner' is widely misused and miscategorized as a Bible verse.) The problem? We shouldn't be happy that man who murdered THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of people was dead. That proper justice had been served. Instead, we should mourn him...after all, God doesn't like us gloating in the fall of our enemies, right?

Right. And wrong.

Proverbs 24:17-18 says "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, lest the LORD see it and be displeased, and turn his anger away from him." One of my first problems with this out of context scripture being quoted was the failure to read the next two verses: "Fret not yourself because of evildoers, and be not envious of the wicked, for the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out." Can we not agree that Bin Laden was an evil wicked man? The context of the scripture as well is not to say someone who is a sinner, as we all are. An 'evil man' and the 'wicked' spoken of is someone who practices and lives in those things, bringing harm to the cities and the people around him. Am I anyone better than Bin Laden biblically? No. I am aware of that. But here are the other 2 issues with this verse being misquoted: 1. This is about a personal enemy that someone would have in their lives. This is attributed to YOU and ME not gloating or finding pleasure in the situation where someone who we dislike has something bad happen to them. THIS is not the same as the USA rejoicing over Bin Laden's death. Its actually the opposite. It also implies that the person who is shamed is still alive and has to live in the embarrassment and pain because of their failure. In other words, this is like someone you don't like failing and having to go summer school, and then you demoralize them because of it, and find great joy in it.
The point of verse 18 is not that God will cease to punish the wicked person either. . .it means that the person who is gloating is now in sin, and has become no better than the wicked one. Remember, GOD IS JUST. To say that He is anything but that is wrong and heretical. Some may say 'no, that makes God merciful" and I would agree- God is merciful in that when Jesus died in our place, His wrath fell upon Christ instead of us...and if we accept that, our wrath is paid. Sure, this may sound like God is big and mean, and although a short sighted and naive person may agree, that is still a false view. God is not a liar, so when He says He is just, we must believe HE IS JUST.

On the other side of things, Proverbs 28:28 says "When wicked rise, men hide themselves; but when they perish, the righteous increase." So what are we to say of this then? Are we to be more upset over one man dead, who probably in getting justice for the pain and hurt he caused, or should we rather rejoice that the biblical truth is that the righteous will increase because of his death? Call me callused if you will, but because of Bin Laden's death, the number of righteous will increase. That is a worthwhile call. Its also easy to get upset over people like me- but what if you or someone you love who doesn't know Jesus was murdered by Bin Laden or one of his crooks before they had the chance to repent and ask Jesus to change them? Would that make it personal enough for you then?

Or how about Proverbs 11:10? " When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness." The wicked perished. There were shouts of gladness. Yes, God is sad that someone didn't repent (assumedly) and they are now in hell with Satan. The reality is that there were instead shouts of gladness- and hopefully because of his death, many people will have another chance to give their lives to Jesus and be saved. The end game is this: If we do not accept Jesus, we will end up the same place Osama probably already is...that is why the sacrifice of Christ needs to change our lives.

Im tapped out, so until later this week.....

Sean

Free lunch a day...

2011-04-25T10:00:00.001-04:00

This week is a celebratory spring break week...most of our students are out on spring break, which means most of them have a lot of time on their hands, which means most of them are looking for something to do, so I decided to start something called Find a lunch. Basically what it comes down to is that I am going to give 3 clues out as to my whereabouts in moncks corner, and the first person to find me and tell me 'Alive is the awesomesauce of life' is going to get a free lunch. I don't even care who it is. The only rule is you gotta have lunch with me. So here are Monday's three clues:

1. I will be arriving at a certain restaurant in Moncks Corner at the same time that is my wife's birthday. (not my best attempt at the english language there, sorry.) Basically this. If you take my wife's birthday month and day, and make that into a time format, you will know what time I will be there. As an example, my birthday is October 20th, or 10/20. Therefore, I would be at a place at 10:20. Figure out my wife's birthday and you'll figure out the time.

2. I will be looking for someone who can say "Alive is the awesomesauce of life" as soon as they see me. You also need to be wearing SOMETHING BLUE....after all, blue is one of the restaurants main colors.

3.The place I will be eating at has commercials with many famous people in them. The latest is Herschel Walker, ex NFL star turned MMA fighter. Other famous people include Doris Roberts, Jerry Rice, Jaime Pressley, and even MacGyver. They also contain whistling.

If you need some help with these clues, I may be able to point you in the right direction. Remember, Free food is still free, and you CAN win more than once. Looking forward to seeing you show up alive!

One More Day....

2011-04-18T11:47:00.001-04:00

In my life there have been a few things that I have anticipated...Graduating High School (anticipated that day twice..thanks summer school...) Graduating College, Getting married, buying a house, getting a job in ministry...all of those kinds of things. Each time you anticipate you almost always know what you are getting when that moment is complete- a diploma, a ring, a key, a paycheck- its all expectant. Its what comes with the territory. There is no real surprise to any of it, you just do what you have to do, accept what is happening, and move on.

I don't think I will ever be the same after tomorrow.

Yep. Tomorrow. 1 day from today. Approximately 28 hours from now, I will be walking into an office. My wife, Lane, myself, my Mom, Mom-in-Law, and adopted Mom all with us. That may sound weird- but allow me to explain myself- I am going to be anticipating one of the biggest moments in my life: The day I find out if I am going to be a father to a little boy or a little girl.

For those of you who have yet to experience pregnancy, I am not going to be able to shed any new incredible light on what you may feel one day down the road. But here is what happens: As the day approaches of your childs birth, more and more people ask the question "So, you want a boy or girl?" My answer: I don't really care. I mean sure, there is the answer everyone always gives: 'I don't care, I just want a healthy baby,' and although that is true, I have to be honest with you: I want a healthy baby.

You see, after a miscarriage of sorts a year and a half ago, my wife and I were determined to do everything in our power to have a child. This included diets, pills, and eventually even going to a fertility clinic and getting tests run, all to have a doctor tell us that a normal person has a 25% chance of getting pregnant any given month...and we had a 0-2% chance. Thats right. ZERO to TWO PERCENT chance.

We were beat down, broken, and on top of that I had to write a check for 500 bucks to these guys when our insurance didn't cover what we thought it did. We had given up. Sure, we could pay $25,000 to have a technique called Invitro Fertilization done, but that only gave us a 20% chance. We were crazy. So we went home and did something that we hadn't really done as much as we should have: we prayed.

I mean, sure, we had prayed every day for baby to happen, but never like this. This was gut wrenching, hurting, emotion-filled, angry, frustrated, sad, hard prayer. And we gave it up to God. That was it. It was HIS. We were done with it. Did it hurt? Yes. Was it hard? Yes. Did we give up hope?

no.

No, we didn't. We kept praying for God to keep us and our attitudes straightened out..to know that God was taking care of us, and that if we were supposed to just adopt, we were okay with that. (We still have plans to adopt one day). And then something crazy happened.

Our neighbors, Roy and Wanda, were some of the many people (and I mean many) praying for us. Ill never forget the Friday before Lane's birthday. We were hanging out at their house, and Wanda looked me in the eyes and said "Im praying for you guys, and not just that you are pregnant, but that you FIND OUT you are pregnant by the end of the year."

That was December 17th, 2010. No way, right? I vividly remember my attitude. I forced a smile and shook my head in agreement like I actually believed what she just had said. My faith was in Jesus, but after so much struggle, I just had given up the thought that anything like that could happen that quickly. We had only been to the fertility clinic a month before. Our dreams were dashed just 4 weeks before that statement. There was no way.

My friends, where there is God, there is a way.

I wake up around 6:45 on Sunday mornings to get ready for church (i have to be here by 8am) and this morning was no different. Just before my alarm was set to go off, on Lane's birthday none the less, I was woken up by Lane, shoving something in my face. All I remember hearing was "Honey, can you read this for me?" and then boom. A pregnancy test in my hand. I didn't have to read it. I knew exactly what it said. I hugged my newly pregnant wife and held her tight. I don't know what else was said, but I know what I felt. Joy.

Now here we are, 4 months later. Our little baby was only 4 weeks into the oven at that point, so its awesome to see how much it has grown. This baby is a testimony to God's goodness. His grace. His fulfillment. His promises. His blessings.

This is why when people ask me what gender of baby I want, my real heartfelt answer is: I just want a healthy baby. Because I do. If its a boy, he will carry on my family name. Ill teach him all of the stuff that my dad taught and continues to teach me: Ill teach him how to throw a spiral, what a 4-6-3 double play looks like, how to be a browns fan and how to spend his summers rooting for the Tribe. Ill teach him how to be a man that fears God, that lives in according to what His word says. That a real man serves and loves his family, and fights for them at all costs. That nothing isn't worth fighting for, and that in order to love other people, you have to be real about yourself. If its a baby girl, she will grow up in grace. She will follow her mother's lead in servanthood and love. In mercy and in peace. She will grow up a woman who fears the Lord, and lets Him lead her, so she can be lead by her future husband. She will honor her body, knowing that it is not hers to give. Ill take her on dates, so she can know what to expect (and not) out of any boy. She will grow to be a woman, and Ill work hard to keep myself healthy so I will walk her down the aisle one day, to a man who loves Jesus more than her.

The fulfillment of God's promises is that Lane and I are having a baby. I don't care what the gender is, I just want it to be healthy and to know Jesus.

Fighting for Monck's Corner with a Gideon size army

2011-04-11T12:17:00.000-04:00

As a disclaimer, I would like to go ahead and say that God can use everybody. There is no human being that He can't use for His good purpose. We may have to remove people from our programs from time to time, but a leader makes tough decisions in order that the ministry he or she is over may bring glory to God and no one else, and sometimes that means trimming the fat and realizing that some people just won't fit within what God has called you to lead. Now. With that being said.

Some of you may not know about the ministry we have at Alive here in little Moncks Corner SC. Its huge. I know a lot of youth pastors that enjoy going to conferences and bragging about how many students they have in their ministry, and although I am not one of those people, we do have a lot of students within our walls on Wednesday nights. We usually see anywhere between 260-330 teenagers, and have something around 40 volunteers who work full time jobs and then donate their time because they love teenagers and desire to see them in turn love Jesus. All of this to say we have what some would call a dream ministry.

I had nothing to do with it.

Thats right. Nothing. I came to PNCC 14 months ago, as it was already booming and had everything any youth pastor would desire. My own tech teams, worship band, everything. It was all in place without me having to struggle, build, sweat and bleed, and I was able to come in when it was good- and it has largely remained that way.
Fast forward 9 months and you'll find me as I sit now. Im the Student Pastor alone now, and I am leading students along with the same volunteers, fighting for their lives every week. But something had to change. Something needed to happen. We had way too many students, too little volunteers, and alive had turned into a place to go instead of a church about Jesus. I was concerned we had lost our vision as a ministry; thats not to say ministry didn't happen, and that services weren't excellent, but it is to say that I think we had lost some focus while trying to keep our heads above water.

God brought me to a passage in Judges 7 which talked about Gideon and his army. Long story short, Gideon was a great leader and commanded an army of 32,000 men. When he was going to attack the Midianites, God told him to stop, because his army was too big. So 22,000 were sent home. When the 10,000 returned, God told him again to cut his army down, because with that many people, God would not get the glory for what was going to be a victory in battle.
So God gave Gideon very specific instructions concerning the men, and which to take into battle. He said to lead the men to drink, and the ones who brought the water to their mouth and lapped it like a dog were the ones who were supposed to go to battle. They numbered 300. Thats right. 32,000 down to 300. God had to get glory. Anyway, the end of the story is that with the 300, the Midianites were defeated.

Gideon had to display 2 attributes in order for this to happen: Obedience and Trust. He had to be obedient to what God was calling him to do, and he had to trust that God spoke into his life and would follow through with what he wanted to do.

You see, we at Alive Ministries also felt like that. I felt God telling us that although we had a ton of students, he wanted to get the glory, and that wasn't happening. We could boast these great numbers, and everyone would look and want to know what we do every week..how we program...gain the magic formula. In a ministry world in which everyone is finding fulfillment in how many people are at your church, God was telling us, like Gideon, to do the opposite. To trim the fat.

I knew we had to make some tough decisions in order for God to get the glory.

So that is exactly what we did. We started mandatory small groups. Everyone had a place. We cut the time of the snack bar in half. We enforced rules and kept our students accountable. Do you know what happened? We began to lose students. Some wouldn't come back because of the new small groups. Some thought that it wasn't 'fun' to be at alive anymore. Some said it felt too much like church. And some didn't like the fact that they had to follow the rules.

Although it was hard to let go of some students, I knew that God wanted to get the glory. So we let them go. Yep. You heard it right. We LET THEM WALK. Now don't misunderstand me...we didn't give up on them. We didn't expel them without reason. In fact, every student we lost has a roadmap to get back into alive. Even 2 young men that got into a fight have a way back in- but it is at the cost of losing themselves in the call of Christ. Every student that was removed has a way back in- and it isn't even hard- just a little bit of swallowing your pride and knowing that Alive is a place where Jesus comes first.

With this new method, we have had to stick to it in order to show the students and leaders alike that what we are doing isn't a new program thing that will go away- that we had to be obedient to God's vision for our ministry and just like Gideon, trust that God would do what He said He would. And He is.

Our students are largely starting to 'get it.' Small groups are really starting to take off. We have seen changes in students lives in the last 8 weeks, and attitudes alike that I cant even begin to tell you. Its been amazing. We are far from perfect, or from where God has called us to be, but this new vision we are running with has allowed us to see what God is doing at Alive. I for one am excited. Our leadership is hanging on 3 words: Stay the course. We know that God is going to continue to show up, and although Satan is trying his hardest to fight it, I am sure that God is taking care of us. He will give us victory over the oppression of Satan, and one day people will see our ministry and be dumbfounded- not because of what we did, but because how GOD is using this town and these teenagers.

Now that our students are starting to get it, we have pruned down to around 270ish. But the good news is this: those 270 are starting to get it. Obviously, they don't all get it, are there for the right reasons, or understand what we are actually trying to accomplish, but most of them are beginning to. Students are asking for leaders to pray for them. EVERY student now has a leader they know they can trust. Each face has a name, each name has a ministry, and each ministry a place.

We are being obedient to God's call for vision at alive, and He is trustworthy in our obedience. Im looking forward to what is to come- not for my glory but God's alone...because when 200 of the original 350 get what its about, catch the vision, and live it- this place will be full and berkeley county will change...and thats a fulfilled vision that I don't mind being obedient to.

A little lesson of self-scrutiny..

2011-03-22T09:51:00.003-04:00

So I have come to a very real understanding: When God is telling you something, listen. Honestly, it is basically as simple as that. When God speaks into your life, and you are blessed enough to discern that HE is trying to tell you something, stop and listen.

It all happened like this. Last thursday, I was sitting at my desk, feeling overwhelmed. There was a ton of stress that i never really realized until this month. Leading leaders, leading students, leading an entire ministry. Being the authority in the ministry. Being head of security, small groups, the budget, snack bar, breakaway, service coordinating..It was a lot of stuff, and with my incredible ability to budget time correctly (read as sarcasm) I was starting to lose my focus. Thats not to say I was doing a bad job, but it is to say that when you lose your focus, your can be ineffective at times..and I was that last week.

What I haven't told you is the last two weeks, I have heard God telling me to slow down. I have heard God telling me to let Him take over and take our ministry to the next level...and I ignored it. I told God I could do it, that I would be fine, and that it was just a rough patch I had to fight through. I attributed it to the same type of thing when you are running..You run for a while, and then BOOM, you hit a wall. Everything in you wants to stop. Your legs hurt, your heart is slamming in your chest, and you are breathing hard which causes you to inhale the sweat pouring down your forehead. You have to tell your body to keep on pushing through..so as you labor and go, all of the sudden everything loosens up, and BOOM, you break through. I have noticed in the last month that I have been regularly running (4-5x a week) that my wall stays around the same time, and that as soon as I bust through it, I can run forever. Well, thats what I thought about last week. If I could just push through this...it was just growing pains..if i get through this wall, the rest will be easy peasy.

I was wrong. Since I didn't listen to God in my own quiet time, He decided to speak through some people. In a matter of 24 hours, I heard truth in all forms and ways from my senior pastor, Cal; my assistant, Nancy; one of my most influential youth workers/coworker/accountability partner Gary; and ending with my wife, Lane. None of them knew that any of the other had mentioned anything to me. It was 100% God. I was amazed that the Holy Spirit had spoken to and through those people, all who have great influence in my life, and that it was the exact same message that I needed to hear. So, I listened.

Im making some changes. I have been working out 4x a week to alleviate my anxiety. Guys, let me tell you something. If you are suffering from anxiety, GO TO THE GYM. WOW. Since I started going to the gym, i have only felt anxious once. Once as opposed to 3-4x a day. So im going to stay in the gym. I also am going to be staying off of Facebook once I get home. I realized im not guarding time at home like I need to be, so although I will be available if needed, if someone is dying or bleeding, you probably won't hear back from me right away. Its not that I don't like you, its just that I like my wife more. Also, ill be hitting the hay earlier, and getting up earlier. I keep reading and hearing that Jesus woke up early and went and prayed, and I intend on learning that discipline. Thats not to say I will be immediately successful, but I believe there is something to it if God as man did it, and I will figure it out with Jesus' help. The last thing I am doing is taking a weekend off. I wont be around thursday through Sunday, so if you need me, you'll have to text me. Im taking my wife away for a few days and we are plannign to visit some family..I haven't been home for more than a day in 2 years, and thats just unacceptable.

Do you have changes you need to make today to keep everything together tomorrow? What are those changes? Don't wait until God has to send 4 people your way to tell you different..Its not a fun process.

To Hell with Rob Bell?

2011-03-15T15:01:00.002-04:00

One thing most people know about me- if they know me- is that I really enjoy Doctrine and apologetics- some of that can be attributed to the way God made me, some can be attributed to the influences in my life, (college roommates Mark Rhodes and Alex Early) and some can be attributed to instances where my faith and motives were challenged by mainly unbelieving people questioning why I had put my faith in a Gospel that they didn't believe to be true.

This caused quite a stir in me. Since I was 22, I really have desired to learn more and more about my faith- why it is what it is. What makes Christianity right? How do I know if what I believe is actually true, especially when there are so many other people and religions out there? What makes me correct? So I did something about it...and continue to. In fact, it kind of saddens me to think that SO MANY people wonder everyday if what they believe is actually true- Christian or not- and then never do anything about it. We have so many people who are falling through the cracks every day because we refuse to acknowledge or need to actually understand what it is we profess!

Christians are especially bad at this. We take the Bible and 'study' it (otherwise known as reading a paraphrase and never going any deeper) and think we have a broad understanding of what God is trying to teach us. Now, I am not downing any certain translation of the Bible...or paraphrase. What I am saying is that because we don't actually attempt to ascertain what the Word is saying, we apply it however we like, and we end up with people like Rob Bell on a much smaller scale quickly shutting the door on the lost based in their idea that the call on their life and accountability needs to be also established in the life of each unbeliever they encounter- and they end up doing much more damage than any conceivable good that may have come from their desire to stand up for what they believe.

Being a Christian isn't about being a dictator over the lives of people who don't know Jesus! In fact, improper teaching of improper doctrine leads american christians to a place where we are destroying the call of Christ even when best intentions lead us to demand holiness from those who have none in their lives. Incorrect theology leads to incorrect doctrine which culminates in non believers ending up further away from the Gospel our people suppose they are preaching.

This has all come to a head recently with Rob Bell and his new book "Love Wins." Today the book apparently released, and already christians everywhere are flaring up and destroying the book that Bell has given us. In my desire for holiness and pursuit of theology and the defense of both of the aforementioned arenas, I am struggling with whether or not I am going to purchase and read the book. Everything I am reading is saying that Bell's new book is actually the handbook for 'Pluralist Universalism' (meaning Jesus is one of the ways to heaven, not the way) and that the backlash and misleading of thousands of believers is to follow. I will probably pick the book up only to read and study it in order to discern and teach what True BIBLICAL theology states and dictates- and that the endgame is that JESUS (who is 100% God and 100% man) stated that HE was THE truth, THE way, and THE life- and that NO ONE comes to the father except through Him. But my challenge to believers everywhere is this: KNOW WHAT YOU BELIEVE. KNOW WHY YOU BELIEVE IT.

Correct Doctrine and Theology will end up tearing you away from or leading you closer to Christ- and my fear is that not only has Rob Bell made that mistake, but that he is about to lead all of his church and thousands of others down the wrong path. I am more leaning toward discovering what this book is all about, and I will be sure to share with you guys all of my findings. I hope my random thoughts made sense, but if not, thats fine.

Until they do-

SeanGajda.com! (And other thoughts and updates)

2011-03-14T14:45:00.003-04:00

Well...been a while, but I finally went and made the plunge and now you can welcome yourself to SeanGajda.com! I suppose it gives me internet cred or something, but it is what it is..

Ill be honest, I have been reading a lot more lately and my buddy Robbie (you can find him at www.robbieforeman.cc) told me about this website where you can review Christian books for free as long as you do a mini book review on your blog..to which I thought was awesome! But I knew that I wasn't going to be approved if I had some crazy bloodspot.seangajda.annoyinglongaddress.com domain, so I went ahead and purchased SeanGajda.com so that it would be easy to find and easy to blog. There are going to be a few changes around the website, so come back soon and see whats going on.

Anyway, it has been a while since I have had the opportunity to blog, but I am going to be doing one a week if not more often, so come on back and see what is going on in the world of youth ministry. For those of you who I haven't kept up with in a while, here is what is going on in the world of Sean Gajda:

1. Lane and I are expecting our first child to be brought into the world sometime in August! I wish I could explain to those of you who haven't ever gone through this what its like- but it has been pure elation. We aren't even halfway there yet, (week 16) and already I catch myself daydreaming about what our child is going to be like...look like...act like...sound like...feel like...Everything. Lane found out on her birthday which was awesome, and we told our parents over christmas break- actually on Christmas eve/day! We have a video of when we told my family, and you can check that out right here...

It would do an injustice to say that it was an incredible feeling. For those of you who cant completely tell what is going on, we gift wrapped a HUGE box, and inside were 3 different layers. The first layer had a car decal sticker of a baby wearing a carolina jersey, with a big red 'don't do drugs' slash through it (like ø) and it said 'Not a stupid little Gamecock.' Then there was some tissue paper, followed by round 2: a car decal sticker of a baby wearing a clemson jersey, with the same ø with the statement 'not a little tiger', followed by more tissue paper and an Ohio State Onesie with the statement "It's a little Buckeye!" and about 2 seconds later, everyone figures out what is going on, and boom. Celebration. Our first child is due in August, and I am positive that you will hear what we are having in about 4 weeks from now. Lane and I couldn't be any more excited.

2. Ministry wise, God is doing some crazy big things. In mid December, Sean Rheaume dropped a bomb and told us he was leaving Pointe North to head home and be with his family. It was an awesome opportunity for him to move on, and I had kind of wondered if it was going to be happening with some of the statements he had made- nothing bad, just stuff like, 'you know, this is the longest I have been anywhere' and 'its hard not to be home'. They really stuck out to me and finally it all came to a head at the first of the year. Long story short, he's doing awesome at Rivertown in Columbus, and I am now the Official Student Pastor at Pointe North Community Church. Let me tell you- it is a LARGE undertaking, but Lane and I both know that God has prepared us in such a way to be here- I have been the heir apparent for a while now, but we never knew it would come so fast. Leading a ministry of 300+ students along with 40 volunteers (im dying for that number to jump up) is awesome and I believe God is growing Lane and I in a HUGE way. God has given me a huge vision for this group and although its a tough process, I know that in the end, something incredible will be happening. I have the best leaders, assistant, and support from my fellow staff that a guy could ever ask for, and the greatest support from the best wife a man could ever be created for.

3. Living wise, we are still trying to sell our house, and getting it back on the market is a huge priority for us. We are desiring to have it sold asap, but we also know how hard it is on the market right now- and how hard it will be/is going to be to pack up an entire house and move it by myself! We can't wait for the process though- we are looking forward to moving into the community that God has given us to serve. I also sold my Jeep..well, not my jeep anymore...to make room for baby (and taxes). I am happy where it went, as I know the new owner is going to take better care of it than even I did.

Thats all for now- my brain is too mushy to get into some of the reading I have been doing as of late. I am beginning to read Revelation and study it, as well as getting into the book of Mormon. Hear me: Im not becoming a Mormon :) just studying so that I am up on my doctrine and can defend against one of the quickest growing false religions in the country. Its about Jesus my friends, and while its a wild ride, im just trying to hold on.

A Chance to Hate Evil

2010-09-23T10:07:00.002-04:00

As a Pastor, and as a Christian, (not in that order) I often find myself attempting to take culture and dissect it in order to figure out what people are thinking. This is especially true when it comes to teenagers. I spend time watching things like the VMA's and Nickelodeon Awards, along with attempting to get through parts of Jersey Shore and True Life. (actually, I love TrueLife. Very real show, raw, and a great look into people's lives.)

One thing I usually don't do is listen to mainstream radio. I use the junk out of my Ipod and I load it with podcasts, good music (christian and non christian), and some music videos now and again. Now, there isn't necessarily anything wrong with some mainstream radio, but there is a lot of garbage out there. I began to listen what was seemingly safe for a guy my age to listen to- sportstalk radio. They were talking about a few things that interested me- Braylon Edwards being arrested for DUI (ex-Cleveland Browns receiver, and Michican't player) and Fantasy football. It was harmless really and something I personally enjoy hearing, talking, and discussing. However, what troubled me was the first commercial I heard directly following that discussion.

A promo began for a website called ashleymadison.com. (do yourself a favor, don't go there. I didn't hyperlink it on purpose.) It was a poem of a guy reading about famous people in government and sport- specifically Tiger Woods- about how they "had" to have an affair. The commercial went on to speak of how great an affair was- and that people do it anyway, so why not come on board. The end line you ask? "Life is short, and so is marriage...So have an affair."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This is a website..a social network which has ONE SOLE PURPOSE: To help people have affairs discreetly and safely. Their mottos range from "Life is short, have an affair" to "Play with someone else's wife tonight." The THOUGHT of this makes me sick to my stomach. It hurts my brain! I know I am a young newlywed. I love my wife with everything I am. The thought of this makes me cringe though! They even offer a 100% guarantee that you can have an affair. Your credit card statement is even booked using a discreet reference so that your spouse won't find out or even be suspicious if they see the charges.

The most startling thing I learned through this commercial wasn't even the content- it was that SEVEN MILLION PEOPLE have used this service. They boast that 20000- yes, that's twenty THOUSAND- people are online ready to begin an emotional affair hoping to lend itself to a physical one.

I. HATE. THIS. WEBSITE. Proverbs 3:7 tells us to fear the Lord..and to HATE evil. Proverbs 1:7 tells us that the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom. Proverbs 8:12-13 says that we fear God by hating evil.

This is evil. This website is garbage...and the sad thing is that it is SOAKING up people. Jesus said that you have already committed adultery in your heart by looking lustfully upon someone. Job 31:1 tells us to make a covenant with our eyes to not look lustfully upon a young woman....and yet here is a garbage commercial in the middle of my fantasy football segment on SPORTS TALK RADIO!!!

Have we become to cold and numb to the world? Why are people not rising up and fighting this crap? I am a youth pastor..yes. I CONSTANTLY deal with students whose lives are torn apart because selfish brainless parents pull crap like affairs.

If you are reading this right now, and you want to give me reasons why its understandable to

have an affair, I have one sentence for you. Ephesians 5:5-"For you may be sure of this. that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has NO INHERITANCE in the kingdom of Christ and God."

That's not Sean's opinion...that's God's word. So why do we not rise up and fight garbage like this? Am I the only voice in this fight? Are YOU with me? Romans 12:9 says- Abhor that which is evil.

As christians, we have to stop supervising evil, and start eliminating it with Love, accountability, and JESUS. Are you in?

Getting ready for a big week...

2010-09-21T10:42:00.003-04:00

Well, as I usually do with each blog, Ill start out saying its been while. I hope to change that starting today..not that I have mind blowing things to say, but I hope my words can be a catchup to family and friends along with an encouragement to anyone else who may stumble upon this here word holder page.

There is a lot going on in the Gajda household nowadays. We are trying to sell our house, trying to get pregnant, learning a lot about love and life, and attempting to put it all together in a way that is beneficial to our lives and marriage. The more mature I get (which I am the first to admit I have a long way to go) the more I understand things about myself. Its not some quarterlife crisis- I'm not going all crazy trying to figure out who I am at my core- maybe it is just a time where I am finally realizing that I am a grown man and need to act like one in all facets of life.

A few months ago, I came to a point of understanding. As I was teaching at youth group one day on forgiveness, I realized that I myself haven't forgiven everyone I know or asked forgiveness from everyone I have hurt (knowingly). God used this in my life to approach many people- from guys I knew back in high school that I didn't get along with to teachers who I let down (or didn't like) all the way to guys I knew who were willing to befriend a young teenage punk kid at the cost of their own comfort and lives. I went on a mission the next few weeks- studying forgiveness and how Jesus did it. I was amazed that He spoke in authority to His closest friends, but wasn't scared to tell them when they were being idiots either...I mean, He called Peter satan. Thats some serious stuff there. Now, I wasn't going to go to that extreme..these people weren't Jesus, and I sure wasn't Satan, but I felt a need to seek redemption all the same.

Some people wrote or called back..some didn't. I was amazed by the responses I got with a few people. Everyone seemed relieved to hear that I knew I messed up and wanted to share life with them again. At the cost of myself, I decided to go and ask people to forgive me. One response in particular fired me up (in a good way) and was a huge relief to me.

Alex Early is one of the most Godly men I know. You can read/hear his story at http://fourcornersnewnan.org/about. (Do yourself a favor..watch the video and anything else you can get your hands on.) Anyway. Alex is a guy who is a couple year older than I, and was one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) influence in my walk with Christ my first couple years in college. I sat under him and watched every move he made, wanting to have the same passion he had for Jesus. My dorm for my first year of campus had Jesus All stars in it- Steven Furtick, Smooth Via, Alex, David, Eric Phillips, Jarrett Hall, Chris, and Matt Tolbert...I mean most of these guys are in ministry (some you have probably heard of, and a couple of them are missionaries. These dudes were all stars. I digress. Alex is a guy who I saw struggle mightily. After our first summer, we both went through some lady struggles, and I saw the alex I know melt away in anger, sadness, and struggle. We had a really hard semester, but Jesus never failed Alex, and he knew it. To see his resolve in his faith and knowing that God has such an incredible plan for his life was something I will never forget. The thing about Alex was that even in those times, it was never about him. That same desire seeps through him even today in everything he does- and this is in no way meant to puff him up or anything like that- or for me to suck up..I guess I need to get back to the story.

I let Alex down tremendously. He asked me about starting a church with him a long time ago (before he went to London) and I didn't take him seriously. I ended up losing touch while he was in london altogether. We had become so close before that- almost speaking every day on the phone for a long time each time...and I let that get away, and didn't follow through on anything I told him I would.

All of this to say this- He was one of the last people I called...I feared so much what he would say. As I asked him back into my life to coach me and become friends again, I almost shuddered in fear. Now he would read this and laugh at me because of how stupid it sounds, but its completely true. What I heard next surprised me in a big way.

Not just yes, but heck yes, absolutely. It fired him up. He and I have recently gotten back in contact, and next week Im headed out to Seattle with him to go to church plant bootcamp at Mars Hill Church in Ballard, Washington. In fact, exactly one week from now I will be boarding my first flight out of Charlotte headed on my way to Seattle. I am looking forward to spending time with Alex, but also to get some coaching from the Acts 29 network..learning how to be a better Christian, Husband, Pastor, and Man. I am hoping to share a lot of what I learn while Im out there with you guys..all...4 of you..over the next week.

My point is this..What relationships are we missing out on because we are too proud or forgetful to say sorry? To take that first step and reach out to make amends. Sure, Jesus called Peter Satan, but He loved him in that same breath. Sometimes we may not like something- the way someone speaks to us, or anything else- but we have to realize that sometimes they may be loving us in the same breath. And as Alex said in one of his videos- at the end of the day, the guy I was bitter toward was moving on with his life...and I was still being defeated.

Seek forgiveness today. Don't back down and let people walk on you, but be humble enough and caring enough to seek reconciliation and not just an americanized version of Im sorry. I can't tell you exactly how to do that..I can only tell you Im working my hardest to figure it out.

Constant Endeavor to learn..

2009-04-22T10:41:00.002-04:00

Another week down, and here we are. I think sometimes we get to a point where we are just passing time- trying to get to the next big thing. In my youth ministry world, sometimes we get caught up in the next event, or service project, or hang out time..and we end up missing the things God has for us that very day.
I wish i had started a list when i was a young kid which held the day and time for every time I heard someone say something to the effect of "where did the years go..." and that I was also wise enough to ask what they felt like they had learned in that same time.
When I start thinking about my day before I go to sleep, I desire that I will always have something new to take to my ever waiting pillow. If I go to bed knowing or understanding more than when i left it that morning, that should be a day of one more minor victory. I imagine if I could use that little bit of knowledge for the glory of God, then I would be in good shape, right? So my question is this. Are we doing that very thing? Am I doing that very thing? What am I learning each day, and is it to the glory of the creator of the universe?

Another Day, Another battle.

2009-04-14T11:25:00.002-04:00

Heeeeellllllllooooooo..Dis is Reverend Charles. Listen to this right heaaaa..oh wait. No its not.
Well, as I always say when starting a new blog session, its been a while. We have had so much happen in the last few weeks that I have barely been able to keep my head on straight. It has been a crazy time of babies being born, people getting saved, ministry meetings happening- enough to have a new youth pastor's head spinning. To put one part in perspective- We had 3 babies born in our close friends and family circle this month- and it now puts the number at 11..11 birthdays in the first 12 days of April. Craziness! Alas, we love all 11 of you, and if you read this and your birthday falls in the first part of April, please know that we do care and are happy that you exist. :)
On a more serious note, but not too serious, I would ask you to pray for me and Remount Baptist Church. We are at a point where I feel like God is taking over. We have experienced alot of people in leadership positions leaving our church, and our church body has been hurt by that, but at the same time I am starting to see a fire grow within our church. I always say to myself that when people start feeling their toes get stepped on its because God is doing something bigger than us, and i feel that way now. We have a group of Deacons with incredible amounts of wisdom, our church is beginning to understand the vision that God has set before us, and the youth group seems to be growing not just in number- but in depth of a relationship with Christ. I can see how God is working, and how Satan is attempting to rip apart, but I know in the end who the victor is. (I read revelation, hate to spoil it for you, but God wins.)
I believe in prayer. I know it works. Paul tells Timothy that he prays for him in morning and in the evening, and I ask you now, how often do we pray for others? Are we praying constantly? I know I can get better about meeting with Christ, and I intend to begin that today. If we are not living to glorify Christ at all times, who are we living to glorify? Jesus himself said you cannot serve two masters. Contrary to what the world and our culture tells us, serving yourself IS serving another master. Make a decision on who you will serve today. At all times we are glorifying someone or something. If it is not Christ, then who is it?
I do not believe it to be easy to live for Christ...quite the opposite. However, His burden is light. He carries us..all we have to do is let Him. I love each and every one of you guys, but mylove is nothing compared to His. Step back and put your old self away- let it melt off of you- and let Christ live within you. It is what we are given for free. Live in it.
I am sorry for my crazibrainness right now, but that is my stream of consciousness coming out..so enjoy your little view into my brain-but in all things, Delight in Him! Psalm 37:4 says it best: "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." I think the important thing to remember here is that it does not say delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you what ever material good you want..or favor or anything- Think of that verse in light of this: When our hearts are fully reliant on Him, and fully delight in Him, our desires of our selfish heart will melt away. There will be no reason for our selfish needs and desires, for HE is the reason our heart beats. When we fully delight in something, that is what rules our hearts and our actions. When I fully delight in Christ, my life no longer is about me, but instead I become a better husband, son, Youth pastor, friend, and leader. THAT is why we MUST delight ourselves in Him first..when we do, all the desires of our hearts will be added onto us..but beware, those desires are most likely not going to look like the same desires you had before your life and heart changed. And what is our response? To take joy in it.

Productivity is the word of the day!

2009-03-23T12:35:00.003-04:00

Hey Everyone!
If you read this..(3 people, maybe?) ..and if you know me personally, you know how productive I can..and can't be at times. Well, I like to think that I left the unproductive Sean back in college, but I also am a realist and realize that at all times I can't do everything I need to.
Today, however, is the antithesis of unproductive. I have been really good about getting stuff done. Granted, Im only halfway through my day, but I am taking some major steps today for things I needed to do!
I have part of Wed. night's talk done, I set up a meeting to FINALLY get our tshirt issues figured out (and hopefully printed out) and also got some initial reservations about our SUMMER TRIP! Here is a test: If ANY of the youth read this, first one to contact me and quote Romans 5:8 gets one of our BRAND NEW SWEET True North Tshirts....FOR FREE!! Anyway, I had my meeting with staff, did my quiet time, blogged, sent some emails, wrote my newsletter, and I am about to go hang with the wife for an hour or so. Id say that was productive.
The most important part though is that I was productive in my walk with Christ today. I want to encourage everyone who lays eyes on this blog to stop what they are doing and take 5 minutes and meet with Christ. He is worthy and He is waiting, all we have to do is stop and talk. It is quite an amazing thing that God LISTENS to us! Nothing we can do can seperate us from the love of Christ..and that is an unbelievable thing.
More on this later, But I want to encourage each and every one of you guys to come to Youth group this Wednesday. Its going to be good, encouraging, and honestly- is going to hit really close to home I think.
Any of my family reading: I am hoping to come see you soon. I may be there Thursday night for a concert with Tim, but I am still trying to figure out how I can make all of that work. I love you guys!

Dealing with the Everyday..

2009-03-16T11:54:00.003-04:00

So this is how I do this..How I live life..completely by the seat of my pants. I try to plan for those things that need planning, ie youth group, long trips, and vacations, but things like this blog I never truly know what I am going to say.
I am in the middle of a normal monday, a day that starts with dogs, then a meeting, and then a time in the office completely alone where I can focus..but today I can't really focus. My mind keeps bouncing around in my head and my ADD hits harder than ever- My wife is at home sick, which means the pups are chillin in the crate, which both mean I need to get home which is compounded by the fact I need to pick up some rice and ginger ale at the store. I keep thinking about Youth group this week (which should be awesome), Christian skate night tonight, Bible study at my house tomorrow night, trying to get home to see the fam this weekend, praying for my fellow youth pastors who are in need (srheaume, this goes out to you), and my students who constantly are hounded by Satan...And this is just what I am thinking about now. But maybe I get thrown off because my day is filled up? Maybe I get thrown off because I let all of those things bounce around so hard in my head that I get distracted. Maybe that is Satan's way to work..Maybe that is the way he plays it. To make us think that things that arent as important are- or to constantly throw blocks in our path so that we eventually get so caught up with removing them from our path that the eventual ending is forgetting where we were going altogether.
Perhaps thats our issue. Its easy to have GREAT desires to do things. I would love to run more. and to work out. i think my body and my wife deserve that. I would also love to write more music. I think my God deserves more time. I think the students at remount deserve more time. Hanahan and North Charleston deserve us to serve them. But bringing that stuff to fruition is not something we can do alone. If it was, there would be alot more good around here.
I dont really have any purpose in this blog other to tell myself that I need to start prioritizing my days. I need to stop filling them up with stuff. I need to man up and do some things I said I would.
On that note, I need to go pick up some ginger ale and white rice. :)

Oh! How He loves Us So!

2009-03-09T11:04:00.003-04:00

I had a moment last night.. every now and then I get these feelings where I want to cry out to God..to make things right-and easy- like that is the business He's in. The more I grow in my faith and learn new things about He who loves us the more I learn how wrong I have always been. See, here's the deal. God isn't here to make things easier. Being a Christian is not an easy button. Caring for the entire world? Understanding the truth that is the fact that if people who you love do not know and grasp His desire for their hearts will never see redemption is not an easy thing to swallow. But we wallow in self pity. In a chance for us to sacrifice our own happiness to feel better..saying to ourself, Oh, I care about those who don't know Christ.." while with another breath we absolve ourselves from witness because we sing on Sunday mornings.

Thats not good enough. Not for me. I know faith is a struggle. I understand that. I live that struggle with you. But Christ never said that being a Christian was easy. Faith, in its truest definition is not something you logically figure out. That is why it is called FAITH. Because it isn't something I can put my hands on..something I can wring my palms around and hold tightly because Im so scared to let go-that is just not what Faith is. Faith is something you grasp with your heart and your mind. You hold on to it with everything you have. We here so much about unwavering faith..In Matthew 8 we read about a Roman centurion..A soldier. This is a guy who has alot of influence. He is a high ranking soldier within his own division and this is the man who has the greatest faith in all of Israel. He simply believes that Jesus is capable of doing incredible things and knows that all Jesus has to do is say yes.

How much do we not do that? Instead, we have false teachers like Creflo Dollar and TD Jakes who say pray in faith for a Jaguar.. How about pray in faith that Christ would move in the heart of a prostitute? Or that God would draw himself nearer to your friend who doesn't understand Christ's love? God doesn't care about what kind of car you drive- Only about what you do the moment you unbuckle and step out of that vehicle. Where those wheels stop. We have a very real battle within our own culture. People don't want to be preached at. They want to be loved.

This is so far off from where I intended it to be. Getting back on topic. I was moved last night by a simple chorus of words: "How He loves us, Oh! How He loves us." The video for the song is here..I could explain it all, but its so much easier to take a few minutes and hear it for yourself. It amazes me that someone has the faith and real desire for Christ that they could write the words "We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking."
And to follow that up with saying He loves Us..I began thinking. I have experienced little tragedy in my life, but enough to know that I don't want that feeling again. When my best friend's dad passed away last year, in what was one of the worst days of my life, people were looking to me for comforting words..and I had none. I know I was not in a place where I could write words of He Loves Us. Woah how He loves us..

and that shook me. It should shake all of us. I desire that faith. That strength. I spend my days preparing to teach teens what the words in 66 books mean each day- If I lost my best friend, would I be able to write words like that? The beautiful thing is this: He does love us so. The writer, John Mark McMillan, his friend..Steven..He loves him so much he brought him into heaven that day. The selfish part of me hates that Dan left us to go with Christ- but HE loves us so much that Christ brought Dan to be with Himself. It took me months to realize this. The beauty of that. It is hard to hear pain in my friend's voice. To see anguish in his mother's eye. To talk to my own parents, Dan's best friends, and see their heart still breaking months after we endured this- but the proper response isnt always just pain. HOW HE LOVES US. HE LOVES US. The pain is real..it is understandable. It hurts, but Oh how He loves us. It is NOT an eternal seperation. We are drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes..

My friends..He loves us. Instead of losing ourselves in the daily grind of how we get frustrated with things let us instead be thankful that we have the opportunity to get frustrated. Those people are here now. Love the time you have with them. Who cares how a song sounds on sundya?? What key its in? How someone is standing? What a person has on that day? QUIT. QUIT worrying about things that GOD DOESNT CARE ABOUT. Instead focus on the simple truth that is that HE LOVES US.

And to those of you who know Him..Know His redemption and love and are throwing it around because you are too worried about living for your own I tell you you are wasting yourself. This life isn't about you. If you are too proud to accept the fact that YOU do NOT own your own life or your own heart- Then I pity you. Why are you spinning your wheels like a gerbil? You are in an endless pursuit of nothing. You will always be in a wheel on a stand. Instead, find yourself whole in the love that is Christ. Find His heart again. We ARE His portion. He IS our prize. Claim that. Understand that. Make that your life and your heart! I beg! People may say to me those aren't things you should put out there being in leadership and all..but I would tell them that honesty and clarity is exactly what Christ has called us to. I am not proud in anything I have written. This is purely my heart and what I feel like I myself have failed at-I just don't want you to have to learn the way I have.

There is a greater place for us. Though agony may sometimes taste like defeat, understanding what really has happened is the greatest victory.

Been too long for so longs...

2009-02-17T11:56:00.003-05:00

Well, here I am in my office, right at 1 year since I got a phone call from this random pastor named Joe.
Little did I know, this average Joe wasnt average at all. He was going to be someone who i see 5 or 6 days out of the week, someone who I eat lunch with regularly, and dinner I guess too...Here I sit in my office (which still I havent finished putting together completely) almost a year later wondering where everything went. Walking in here you would be able to tell that SOMEONE inhabits this place, and if you were my wife or mother you would be able to tell it was probably me due to the..unkeptupness if i may..and yes, you will see gatorade, girl scout cookies, my journal, and the very keyboard where all of this magic takes place...

But being in ministry the past 7 months or so has taught me so much- and I have been humbled in so many ways. I have been able to find however that CSU did prepare me pretty well. I have been able to react correctly to so many situations. I always wondered how a doctor or nurse would know what to do with someone dying on their table and I have come to learn that it is not about slowing everything down and thinking out the answer to the issue- when you have trained yourself accordingly, done the research and worked hard, it all just HAPPENS. In the heat of the moment you do not have time to go back to your books and read about it..you just do.
I think its the same in the life of a Christian- if we just keep studying and keep learning we will have the opportunity to just DO. Good works don't get you anywhere- you aren't just a nice person, but you do those things as a christian because that is what is within you. It is who you are. If we are constantly attempting to be little Christs (after all, that is what a Christian by definition is) and we desire and maintain effort to become more like Him, those things are natural. They are effortless. In the heat of the battle you see where you are.
As much as I hate using current media as an example, but in the newest batman movie, there is a scene where the Joker is being guarded by a detective. He asks him how many of his friends he has killed- and says something to the effect of seeing them in their final moments, he probably knows them better than the friend did, because at the final moment you see who they really are.
This is where I want to be solid. I want to be so like Christ that in any moment of battle when the rubber hits the road, it is clear that I am His, and that He has and is my heart.

fyi: now that i have more of a schedule, im hoping to do this at least once a week or so. looking forward to it. next week: SKI TRIP!

A Broken heart full of Thanks..

2008-11-25T23:14:00.002-05:00

Hi Friends- I am writing this header after I have written the following post. I feel like it contains truth and things we as the church need to look into. If you are upset by my words understand they are not meant to offend, but to encourage. If we want change in our churches, we have to ask ourselves what we need to change. I tell my students all the time- You cannot control someone else's heart- Only your own. And its true. My post tonight is not meant to change anyone's heart- but afterwards I feel like my heart has calmed down and that I spoke semi-clearly. I would love to hear your thoughts on what I wrote- I really feel like God is calling us to something bigger than ourselves and what we envision Church to be. When we get past ourselves its unreal what God can do. With that..."warning", I give you my words....

Sometimes I wonder about ourselves...humanity..Tonight, for maybe the first time, my heart is broken in defeat of fully understanding how much we hurt ourselves as a church! My heart hurts! Why are we so apathetic? Why do we have this idea of what "church" looks like?? How it should be done?? And why is your way any better than mine?? Why is my way any better than the drunk on the corner? Its not! We are so stuck on our own ways..comfort...Never have I been more frustrated with myself..I have all of this emotion and feeling and I lack the ability to speak through it..It isn't an empty feeling- It is not at all the lack of expression due to a loss of feeling- it is so much the opposite. My heart HURTS. People are dying and people are moving away from Christ because we are too stuck on our own ways. We put God in our box and how big that box is..It drives me crazy! Did God create us and give us minds so that we could decide who He is and who He isnt? May it never be! Does clay turn to the potter and say this is what I think I should be like? No! The potter molds the clay by his own labor- forming each curve and ridge by his own hands. Why do we think we have the right to tell the potter how to form the other pots? Have we been given some sort of authority over them because we were merely created before them? What is honestly greater? A man who can humble himself and accept that the potter is greater than the clay?? Or a man who attempts to force his own will on the potter with the arrogance that the potter would listen to his creation and look to it for advice? We are so caught in our presuppositions of how a pot should appear- its strengths, its attributes, its core- that anything which would go against our own created ideals of what that is would be deemed inappropriate..But what we do not realize is that each pot is created for a different purpose. A tall and strong pot may be used to hold those things which are to appear beautiful- maybe to hold up strong roses..even if the beauty is passing anyway..Another may be set on a shelf to hold pieces of things important to daily life..another used for cooking or heating water..The point is each pot has a different purpose. We are the body of Christ, to use "proper church terminology" and yet we think we are supposed to operate as a group of the same member. What good is a group of 30 arms? or a few pairs of legs? Sure, it may get us to where we want to go..but we wouldn't ever be able to experience or understand the fullness of what Christ has in store for us. Can you imagine getting to a mountaintop without being able to experience the view? The feeling? The sounds? I liken that to our Body of Christ. Want to know why the Church is falling apart in America? Because when we decide what each pot is supposed to look like and act like and what their attributes should be..(and which pots are allowed in our house as well..) we have a church that cannot possibly experience the fullness of what God has created His church to be. Instead, our arrogance and apathy kill that which GOD created for us. When people walk in our doors we look at them, make snap judgements, and instead of hearing what they have to say we tell them what we want to hear. Forming clay is not our job. God has already molded His clay to what He wants it to be. It is our job as the church to find its spot on the shelf. To encourage it to grow in its strength. To fulfill a purpose in which we were created for. To learn how we all operate together.

Want to know why there is so much strife in churches? So much frustration? It is because we act like that clay. We buy into the idea that church is not what God has prepared, it is what we think we understand how God should work. We have to quit telling God how to work, and start working to understand how God wants to work.

I apologize if this is a rant, but I just feel broken to the idea of how far off America is when we call ourselves the Church. I suppose an article I read today by Francis Chan led me to write this..but being at a place where I feel the Spirit of God speaking to me, I felt like the only way to get this out was to type it out...to think it through and to let my heart speak. If what I have written offends or upsets someone, I apologize only for not being able to personally speak to you and explain what you may be wanting me to hear. This post is also not in a specific reference to anything, it is merely ideas that have been floating around my heart and have only now come to a point where I can no longer hold them inside myself.

If we want the Church to change, we must be willing to answer the hard questions. We must actually first be willing to ask them. I know and understand that it is uncomfortable and that it is hard to look at ourselves in a light that may not be self gratifying, but isnt that what improvement is about? Growth? Life? Yes. We have to put ourselves aside and start welcoming everyone..We have to start opening ourselves up to God and what He wants to do..And quit turning people away with our actions and judgement..did Christ ever turn away anyone? YES. The Pharisees.

Comedy, Noodles, Work..

2008-11-17T10:46:00.006-05:00

Well, its monday morning again- and I am getting ready for a day full of meetings and stuff. This is a huge week for me- but Ill get to that in a minute. Let me first respond to my earlier post- I am behind america 100%, and behind whoever the president is..for the most part. I just wish that america wasn't so stuck on making history and instead on voting for whats right. I am in no way recinding what I think about Obama. I do not feel like he is going to be a good president, but I do think he will be well regarded just because Bush is doing such a terrible job. Presidents who come in after war presidents usually end up looking pretty good. He inherits a terrible economy built by oil money and sustained by oil money..America could not take any more of it, so it had to tumble down. Now that Gas prices are at early 00's prices, america is going to travel again, put money into our states and our economies, and maybe, just maybe our economy can pick it up. Exxon, BP, Shell, and all you other oil companies better watch your step from now on. Greed will make any economy tumble, and you are pretty much in the thick of this last one, and now its costing you.

So, now that I have that rant out of the way, I want to talk about whats been going down lately. We had some REALLY cool stuff happen these past 2 weeks, and I want you to see what I am talking about. We went to a place called pretty place chapel with the youth group on the mystery retreat..It is easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It is a clear picture of God and His artistry and gift to us of breathtaking views..Places that have yet to be cut down and torn out, still in its original locale and beauty..heres some pics of what I am talking about..The first is just a picture that does no justice to the actual place we were..its a chapel in the mountains, and man, something about being there you just feel God's presence. This is a picture of a couple of our students studying during our time up there. On an added cool side note, we saw 3 people get engaged while we were there! It was rockin! (no pun intended..rock..diamond..ok..I digress.)

It was amazing and I can't wait to go back. From the sound of it all, we will be taking another trip really soon..It was that impressive.

Up next is our Comedy and Noodles! I am very excited seeing as how this is my first time with Comedy and Noodles- for those of you who are not sure what I am talking about- Comedy and Noodles is a fundraiser that our youth group does and basically it turns out to be Dinner and a show. It is a comedy show and I am going to behonest with you- It is hilarious. These students work really hard for it and it shows. It is on Friday and Saturday night this weekend, and tickets are 10 bucks each. If you want to come, we'd love to have you, just shoot me an email at sgajda@remount.org and let me know how many tickets to buy for ya. Its a cheap date, and it is going to be a GREAT time. Ill post some pics and a post about it next week for sure.

Lane and I are doing great as well, and our new exciting news is that we are going on a cruise in february!! We are so excited! This will be my very first cruise, and I am looking forward to seeing crystal blue water for the first time in my life. My wonderful and beautiful wife however is a cruiseline officianado, and she will be showing me the ropes on her 1,349th cruise. Okay, not really that many, but she's been on alot. Seems her and her mother both have the love of cruises in common :)

Meanwhile, here are some more pictures from our retreat to enjoy!!

Congrats Mr. President..sorry USA

2008-11-04T23:03:00.003-05:00

I just don't understand this.

People Crying. Screaming and shouting. Dancing in the streets. Apologetics for things of hundreds of years ago.

This is the announcement that Obama has been elected our next President. They are showing all minorities on the news. People of all ages crying. Jumping up and down. Congrats Mr. President.

USA..We have failed ourselves. THESE are the two best we have available. THESE are the ones who are now leading our country. A man who voted 'present' over 85 percent of his time in the senate? A man who voted for partial birth abortion? A man who has been tagged the most liberal senator in 2007?

Pray America, Pray. I know God is in control, but I fear alot of people voted to make history, not to bring change based on morals and what they stand for. It is amazing so many people can be so outspoken for someone like this..They can dance freely in the streets, they can cry and fall down to their knees for a man who loves those things contrary to the character of God. A man who attends a 'church' based on hatred and anger. The same man who turned his back on his pastor because of what it would do to his election chance.

We elected a man of small character. A man of even smaller morals. I trust in God. I know He controls everything. But as I see this fanaticism for someone who was completely unknown 15 months ago makes me sick. How about a Man who is God who stood and DIED for us 2000 years ago? How about a Man who came and changed the world for the good of eternity? Why are we not standing in the streets for Him? Why are we not crying out for Him? Why are we not writing to the editor, standing up in huge convention centers, being upfront and honest with EVERYONE we encounter? WHY DO WE STAND FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS NO CARE OR LOVE FOR US INDIVIDUALLY? PLEASE, explain that to me. Is it because it isnt popular? So that makes it less easy? Having character and integrity isnt easy. Christianity isnt easy. Never was supposed to be. Ashlyn Giles said today- Christ doesnt promise lots of money and ease in this world. The Bible promises tribulation and tough times. Hardship. Judgement. Sacrifice. Persecution.
I understand that McCain doesnt know me individually as well. I would also venture to say that a large part of this post would be the same if Mccain had people crying and dancing in the streets. A group of people who historically could care less about an election. Young people, minorities..Crying in the streets. Maybe Im just fired up because I am watching as I type. And maybe someone is going to jump down my throat for my post, but I stand by my beliefs.

We lost on a man who has been in the senate for over 20 years and stood strong even when it was unpopular...for one who barely voted in his short tenure. Are we going to be fighting socialism? I sure hope Obama doesn't let people down when he doesn't fill peoples gas tanks and pay their mortgages...(search obama is going to fill my gas tank and pay my mortgage on youtube.com if you don't know what I am talking about. Clear picture of how ignorant we as americans are about politics and how this country was founded and should be run.)

And one final thought: let me clarify that I DO NOT have any issue with Obama because of his race or party. I think it is great that America can FINALLY look past racial lines and elect someone of a different ethinicity. It saddens me that people seemingly voted based on color of skin and not content of character however. A part of MLK's dream came to fruition tonight, but another part died just a little more.

As I type this, McCain (who I was not a fan of FYI) stands and gives his speech of congrats to Obama. As his crowds begin to boo, you almost see a fierce anger in his eyes and demeanor. He loves America. He understands his place now, and is speaking well. He has given his life to America, both in battle and in office. Character, Honesty, Integrity. I am happy at least he is standing with poise and speaking truth again. (and just mentioned Obama's gma that passed away standing in front of her creator God in heaven..)

I hope this isnt as wild of a ride as I think it may be. I know God is in control and that this in NO WAY means that America is spiraling out of control. Though I was young at the time, I am sure some 25 year old was as frustrated as I am as Bill Clinton won the election. Growing up in a Democratic Household, I always liked slick willy, but hey, this is 2008. This is new. Here we go. Bush was awful, lets see what Obama can do. Comment if you want, Id love to know what you think.

Its a Girl! Oh, and the Election...

2008-11-04T10:10:00.002-05:00

Well the day is finally here. Tired of 6 bajillion signs blockading each advance to further your car down the asphault tower of frustration? Sick of hearing about how Obama is a socialist? Tired of wondering what Sarah Palin is talking about?
Me too. Welcome to the day that ends alot, but starts much more. Election day. For the first time in my life I am really watching this one close- not because thats my civic duty (and duty as a Christian) but also because it is pretty interesting. Think about it. Either way the election comes out, we make history. Obama wins, we get an African American in office. McCain wins, we get a Woman in office. Either way it is something new and fresh. Just what...America needs?
Im not so sure. I really did not anticipate writing my blog like this, but it seems when I get behind these keys that thoughts just seem to...come out. I say I'm not so sure not because I know its not what America needs (nor do I have any evidence or thought to back it up) rather just the contrary. Who in the world knows what America needs? We have the same issues now that we had the last elections. Health Care in the dumps, War in Iraq, Social Security (or Social Insecurity if you prefer..such a flawed design..) UnEmployment, the Economy..Finally we have some sort of break at the pumps-even if it is due to a crash of the stock market- So my answer is this- We have no clue what America needs. If there was a thorough and clear answer, there wouldn't be such disagreement would there? I may be altruistic in thought, but I would hope that if there was a cure for our ailment the government would be of one body and get it done. If we could solve Breast Cancer, do you think people would hold back the miracle cure? Of course not! It would be all over the place. All of this to say that I dont know what we need..But I sure don't think anyone else does either.
On to better and brighter things- In April, I will be a proud uncle again, with Reese Addison Seman (i think thats the name they are using) coming into the world. A brand new niece. So that is awesome. Congrats Chris and Shelley. I love you both and I can't wait to see the gift God is giving you.
Now for one final portion of the post- The Browns. All I have to say is kudos to Phil Savage and Co. for FINALLY playing Brady Quinn. DA was the victim of drops, sure, but let me point out something. We were tied with Philly and one other team for the most drops in the NFL. Donovan Mcnabb was STILL completing 62 percent of his passes. The other guy is in the mid 60s as well. DA was 48.2% of his passes. This is not to be blamed on drops. Brady would have been the guy all along if he hadn't held out in Training camp last year. What is comes down to is this: It is time to see what the golden domer can do. He has had time to sit and wait on the bench, and his time is now. Brady, you have my complete support. A couple of notes to the rest of your team:

Shaun Rogers: Don't give up. You are a beast and we need you.
Kam Wimbley: Please show me why we picked you in the first round.
Willie McGinest: You looked good on Saturday until the 4th Q. Be a leader. Take yourself out when you get tired.
Braylon Edwards: You are from Michicant. You killed Ohio State when you were there. You DO NOT have to jump every time you catch a ball. Alot is riding on you with BQ at the helm, and you need to learn to hold on to the ball. Your drop last week is responsible for a loss. Don't let it happen again.
K2: Glad to have you back. Now be a TE and block, or please give us a reason to take steve sanders out of the game.
Lawrence Vickers: Please come back soon. Ali is decent, but man we missed you.
Coaching Staff: PUT JEROME HARRISON IN. Dude is fast. He hits the hole like a normal speed back would. Jamal can only run over people so many times! Really!
Browns Fans: Back your team. We have seen teams ALOT worse than this. In fact, the talent is there to be a good team. Keep showing up to the games, cheering them on, and DO NOT boo brady for at least a few weeks. Let him get his feet wet. Then lets see what he can do.

That is all for now as its Tuesday in the am, which means I have already been up for 5 hours as of this posting at 10:30 in the morning. You get my drift.

Oh, and if you read this, pray for me! I have a sinus infection which is nasty and we have an important retreat coming up this weekend! See you all soon!!

craziness, busi-ness, business..

2008-10-30T22:40:00.002-04:00

WOW. Been wayy too long. As I sit here now just hanging out I am staring a big huge month right in the face. But I will get to that later.
I havent written on here in so long..and im sure all 3 of you who read this have really been wondering what was going on. The answer is alot. In all honesty, I straight up told my mother in law that I would be updating my blog, and didnt. And then, I had half a blog written and I was ready to finish it...but I ended up accidentally closing out the webpage and losing everything that I had just typed.. So that was a whole lot of fun.
There has been so much going on lately that it would be rediculous for me to type it all in detail...So lets see. This month was my birthday month..I got alot of presents. My brother told me he was having a baby, which is awesome, and actually I find out tomorrow if its a boy or a girl!! So thats awesome! I am really excited. Don't tell Shelly, but im pullin for a boy. She wants a girl, but I know how much Chris wants a boy to yell at and coach football for and stuff. So thatll be pretty cool.
My buddy Brad got married, which was cool..but man was that a loooonnng weekend..A lot of fun, and a long trip home. I really like his now wife, and was really happy to see him so incredibly happy. It was awesome. She walked down the aisle to the same song as Lane, so I would be lying through my fingers if I told you that i didn't let a few tears come through. If you are reading this and you arent married, youll understand one day. If you are reading this and you are (chances are you are one of my moms) then you already understand what I am saying.
No post would be complete without talking about all of the cool stuff I have been learning about my relationship with Christ. We have been doing an indepth study of James- which has been really cool and I have really enjoyed it. It is interesting that James says stuff that can seem to be the opposite of what Paul says, especially about works (James says Works without faith is pointless, Paul says works are not what save us, but grace) and I really dug into what that means and how we can reconsile the two together in order to properly work in the theology of the new testament. Its good stuff. When Im not so tired and my battery isnt about to die, I will be sure to hop on it and share some of my thoughts.
One thing I realized this week is that I know that Youth Ministry is definitely my call. Rather , God's call on my life- building relationships and sharing with students and being REAL and HONEST with them is what brings me to life! I love it.
I seriously have to go..my computer is dying. The browns have 2 games this week, including round 2 of the ravens matchup..I am excited for the Browns to whoop up on the rookie Joe Flacco..Hopefully our offense stays alive and we can do this!

No post is complete without telling my wife how much I love her- So Lane, you are awesome and make me who I am. I LOVE YOU!!

until next time, which hopefully won't take so long...

Underprepared and Overwhelmed

2008-10-07T10:50:00.002-04:00

So again here I am sitting at my desk in my office. There is nothing on walls..A crumpled CSU banner sitting to my right, an empty box formerly holding my books to my left, and a phone that rarely rings directly at my right hand. To my left is my lifeblood though. My cell phone, which never stops, (not a bad thing at all), and one of my Bibles. It is open to matthew 15, which is what I plan on speaking from when I teach at FBC on thursday morning..But more on that later. A nearly empty coke can tells the story of my early morning, and the constant playing with my flip flop poorly hides my discomfort with my sitting position.
It seems pretty normal for a youth pastor who woke up really early (for a youth pastor)..but it isnt. If there is one thing I have learned in my short tenure as a youth pastor it is that you can never really feel overly prepared. You never feel ready. Just earlier I was "talking" to someone on a forum about theology and I realized how prepared Jesus always is. I mean think about it. EVERY situation that arose, He had an answer. The Pharisees all got together time and time again attempting to find a way to trip Him up, and they NEVER could. Ever. Not once. He was never caught in a bad position.
I realize that He is God, was God, and will be God, and so of course He knew what they were doing before, during, and after they did it, but still. Why am I not prepared like that? What would I do if someone asked me certain questions? Would I be ready? Im not sure..but here is the beautiful thing about that. We live in America. We can freely go buy a Bible and learn. FREELY. Is that not awesome?
I also feel overwhelmed..as you may tell by the Title. I am speaking 4 places this week, including youth group, and its just alot. Its funny that just when I feel like I have my day in control and my time planned out accordingly, something always happens to remind me its not my time to decide where and when I do things. One would think that would be annoying, or add to the stress of things..But that is completely false. It, in fact, does quite the opposite. I feel encouraged. I feel calm. God is telling me that it is HIS time, and that HE will take care of things. HE is control, not me, so what is there to be concerned about? It makes no sense to get all uptight about things..If I know God is in control, then matthew 6 needs to be my lifeblood. Do Not Worry. Joe (our pastor) talked this week about being still and knowing (He) is God. Lets do that! I challenge you- take 5 or 10 minutes today. Be still. KNOW that He is God. Know He is in control. Know HE knows whats best for you..and Live that today.

What a weekend....

2008-09-29T12:25:00.002-04:00

Phew! Im tired. As I sit here now, I honestly am impressed that I can keep my eyes open.

Seriously. Not joking.

This was quite the weekend! My awesomeness of a wife put it best when she said: "I am supposed to be able to catch up and relax when I'm not at work..But I just feel like its always go go go!" Which of course, as most of you know, got me thinking.
Let me first give the details of this weekend, and then we can get deeper. Friday (my supposed day off, ha!) I slept in a little bit, but followed that with starting some work around 11. I ended up at the church by 12:30, and from then on, it was craziness. We had this event coming up, lovingly dubbed angellunchhangshavingcreamwiffleball day..and as you can tell, that is alot of preperation for an event with such a long name. We ended up planning and working and shopping and planning until about 8:45pm that night..All to come home and absolutely crash. Or not. We hung out with James and Rachel and played Scattegories into the wee hours of the night. Oops. It was awesomely fun though.
Next morning I was up and at the church around 10. We had angelfood distribution (awesome ministry) Lunch, hang out time with video games, and then the most awesomemest event ever in shaving cream wiffleball. Imagine wiffleball, but the ball is full of shaving cream, each basepath is a slipnslide, third base is a baby pool filled with water and muck, and to score you have to slide into home on the slip and slide and end up in a smaller baby pool filled with shaving cream. Awesome, I know. Ill have some cool pictures up here sometime this week, as soon as I can get them. We ended that around 6:30, which means cleanup and everything I got home at 7, which Lane and I went to dinner on date, and I ended up sick the entire night. Not Good. When I finally got to sleep, 3:30 am seemed a little too late, thus...
I was almost late for church. But I got there, we had service, and it was awesome. Andrea is killer when it comes to sunday school, and a true blessing for me. We talked about prayer (as we are as a church whole for the next 4 weeks or so..) and it was cool. Then we had church, which was great as well.
After that I watched the Browns (ugly as it was) beat the Bengals, and then went to church and dinner with some youth friends as a set of parents..which was great. ALL OF THAT TO SAY:

Phew. I am tired. But I want to go back to what Lane said earlier: We are always so go, go go, all of the time..Aren't we? Why cant we just sit back and relax? Why is it always the next big thing? I have this issue. I always want to be busy. I can consume time with anything. But rushing around so much, I know I have missed some of the awesome things God has for me. My most favorite part of my anniversary was when Lane and I sat on the pier in a swing and just looked at what God had done in our lives. We sat for a good hour...doing nothing but thinking and talking..and I will remember those moments for the rest of my life. I didn't plan to do that at all..Lane actually said we should, and man, I tell you, it was a great decision.
Maybe if we just slowed down we would have more moments like that. When is the last time you walked outside and really looked at the stars? Not a glimpse, but REALLY looked and thanked God for His awesome creation? How about pulling over and watching an incredible sunset? Sure, maybe Im a romantic, but did we ever think maybe God puts those things there for us to enjoy them? To stop life for a minute and just be amazed at His creation? Maybe God has these incredible things so that we will stop. So we will pull over. So we will acknowledge Him. I challenge all 3 of you who read this blog..Stop and pull over. Go outside tonight. Just chill out for one second. Just like the top of the blog says.."Be STILL and KNOW that I AM GOD." (Psalm 46:10). Maybe we just need to put down what we are doing, slow down how we are acting, quit feeling sorry for ourselves, quit worrying about all the things going wrong in our lives, and BE STILL. Don't just sit there and be still alone..The Bible says to be still AND KNOW that I am God. So do it. Take 5, 10, 15 seconds, minutes, hours, whatever..and Be Still and know that HE is God. And while you are at it, Being still and all, Be still and KNOW YOU AREN'T. Just like Jesus calming the storm in mark 4, we can't do anything about anything. Acknowledge God for who He is. The creator of all things. Slow down your life. Take 5 minutes. be Still. Know that He who loves you and He who created you is God. Is Love. Is Life.

God Loves You all, as do I.

1st post, 1st Blog, 1st time..

2008-09-25T14:49:00.004-04:00

I have ever written one of these things like this. I mean, sure, I may have blogged once or twice, but never to a point where I hoped anyone was actually going to read it. This is blog number one, and I hope it to be of many more, but who knows.
Here we are and it is almost October. This year has seen so much already- A new job- or I should say a new ministry- a big move down to Charleston, other friends moving to other coasts, my first year of marriage, so many of my friends getting married, a brother getting married, friends, friends parents, and grandparents passing away- 2008 is definitely going to be a year I remember the rest of my life. I am not so sure why I am so contemplative about my past 250 or so days on this earth (im sure someone will figure out just how many we've had thus far) or why I have this desire to speak of those things. My life has undoubtably changed over these past 9 moons, and yet I still feel the same overall.
Now, you could say to me that I am, in fact, the same person, but I would still attempt to disagree with you. The only thing is, I would be wrong. You may be thinking to yourself that I have many different things happening now that weren't earlier, but those are merely circumstances that have changed in my life. I am still the same person. I fully believe that I would still have made the same decisions I made this past year, even with the foreknowledge I would have of how those events would unfold, I can't tell you I would want to learn from those mistakes any differently. Man, I have screwed up this year. I have made most of you upset or frustrated at some point. I have been frustrated with some of you at some point...but fact remains, we are both still here and still caring.
You may ask where I am going with this. Or you may be saying to yourself, Sean, seriously, Im bored of reading your random thoughts. But check this out: If you and I still have a solid relationship built on love of some grounds, and even if we get each other mad, still care in the end, how much more does a Father in Heaven love us? A creator who created love US. We do not anger God! Sin hurts, yes, but we are forgiven in that..Grace is beautiful and free, and having that grace in our lives is what keeps us from experiencing an eternity without Christ. If we still care of each other, how much more does God care for us?
I became incredibly aware of that last night and this morning. No, I did not have some huge thing in my life happen..but I did experience God. Last night we had a See You at The Pole rally (www.seeyouatthepole.com) for those of you wondering..and It was so cool to see students get together and honestly open their hearts to God. I had a chance to honestly open mine, and I feel like God just wants us to be open to Him! How much of our time do we spend worrying? How much of our time do we spend depressed? Stop being concerned about issues you have no control over! God IS in control. He has your back. He created your back. He created the idea of someone having your back. We have things that are hard for us to understand- maybe we need to step back and acknowledge that God IS the creator of the universe, and maybe he has a little bit of an idea about what is going on.
Thanks for reading. I hope you come back. Once I get this thing figured out, maybe the picture of that kid wont be so huge..:)