ONCOURSE Fall 2011 Extended Ebook

EVANGEL UNIVERSITY boldly christian. unquestionably academic.

MEET SOME OF OUR 2011 GRADUATES…where do you want to be in four years?

LINDSAY DONALDSON

ERIN JACOBS

DANNY SEBASTIAN

NICK REASOR

Springfield, Missouri Major: Government Pre-Law “Outstanding Graduate in Legal Studies” • Full-ride fellowship at Washburn University School of Law

Helena, Montana Majors: Accounting & Biblical Studies “Outstanding Accounting Major” “Outstanding Graduate in Theology” • Hired by Grant Thornton LLP Tulsa, Oklahoma, a Top 5 accounting firm

Des Moines, Iowa Majors: Speech Education & Music Theatre “Outstanding Graduate in Theatre” • Full-ride graduate assistantship at Oklahoma State University

Nixa, Missouri Majors: Management & Marketing “Outstanding Marketing Major” • Accepted into Walmart’s intensive 36-week Merchant Leadership Program • Recipient, $26,000 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship to study abroad in 2012

In addition to rigorous academics and championship athletics, at Evangel, you will make lifelong friends and prepare to fulfill God’s purpose for your life.

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GUEST EDITOR MATTHEW WEST

ONCOURSE magazine

fall 2011

NATIONAL YOUTH MINISTRIES TEAM Jay Mooney, National Youth Director Steve Pulis, Student Outreach Director Rod Whitlock, Student Discipleship Director Chet Caudill, Student Missions Director EDITORIAL TEAM STUDENT DISCIPLESHIP DIRECTOR @rodwhitlock Rod Whitlock EDITOR @oncoursegirl Amber Weigand Buckley

WHO IS THE AUTHOR OF YOUR STORY?

OCCOLLEGE EDITORS Emily Barney & Matt Smith

H

COPY EDITOR/WEB ASSISTANT Heather Van Allen ADVERTISING Amber Weigand-Buckley DESIGNER Josh Carter WEB MANAGEMENT Chris Gerringer EDITORIAL ADVISORY TEAM Emily Barney, Melanie Bush, Josh Carter, Chris Gerringer, Abby Smith, Matt Smith, Jack Trewern, Amber Weigand Buckley, Rod Whitlock & Mary Winslow.

ITEM NUMBER 746-079 COVER PHOTO COURTESY OF: Word Label Group OTHER PHOTOS COURTESY OF: Real Church, Seth Barron, EMI/Sparrow Records, iamsecond.com, ISTOCK, Alyssa Kellum, Reese Maxwell & Ty Morey All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used By permission of Zondervan.

All rights reserved.

Vol. 20, Issue #2 Fall 2011 (Issn 1061-0952) is published quarterly by National Youth Ministries of the Assemblies Of God in partnership with the Alliance for AG Higher Education ©2011 By The General Council of the Assemblies Of God (Gospel Publishing House), 1445 N. Boonville Avenue, Springfield, Mo 65802, (417)862-2781. Springfield, Mo. Periodicals postage paid at Springfield, MO. Printed in the USA.

ow did you get here? Do you see the world as nothing more than one big coincidence after another? Did the oceans just tell themselves they could go only so far? Did the sun just appear out of nowhere? What about all the billions of stars in the galaxies or the intricate design of a human life? Is there an answer for all these questions?

When your eyes see a majestic snowcapped mountain climbing a mile high in the Rockies, does the experience leave you awestruck and amazed? When you hold a newborn baby in your arms, are you filled with wonder as you touch the tiny hands and toes and ears? When you witness a great big world with billions of people moving in billions of directions, does your heart scream, “This can’t be mere coincidence! This could not be the work of human hands! There’s no way this all just happened!”

Even the English astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle concluded, “The chance that higher life forms might have emerged in this way is comparable with the chance that ‘a tornado sweeping through a junk yard might assemble a Boeing 747 from the materials therein.’ ” Sadly, more and more people are choosing the former way of thinking. In fact, many studies and polls report that atheism is on the rise

both in America and around the world. This really should come as no surprise in a society that places so much emphasis on self-sufficiency.

Nike prompted us, “Just Do It.” Burger King invited us, “Have It Your Way.” Apple Computers promised their products would give us “The Power to Be Your Best.”

In our world, all signs point to the notion that you and I are the ones who write the stories of our lives. And so people are choosing to believe there is nothing to believe in. Atheists believe there is no God. And to believe there is no God is to believe we are the authors of our own stories. Yet how can we be the authors of a story we never created? You were not the one who came up with the idea to create you. The decision of whether to believe in God is the foundation that every soul will build its story upon. The story of your life is being written every moment of every day, even as you read this right now. The question you must ask is, who is holding the pen?

EXCERPTED from The Story of Your Life © 2011 by Matthew West and Angela Thomas.

Published by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon. Used by permission. For more of the story and a review of the book visit oncourse.ag.org.

POSTMASTER: Send Address Changes To ONCOURSE, 1445 N. Boonville Ave., Springfield, Mo 65802.

ONCOURSE.AG.ORG Join ONCOURSE Friends and Fans on Facebook FOLLOW & TWEET ? AND ! @ONCOURSEGIRL Get OC Unboxed at momentum.ag.org “LIBRARY” NATIONAL YOUTH MINISTRIES 2011 AWARD OF MERIT • YOUTH PUBLICATION

ONCOURSE EBOOK The best source for extended online articles, past issues and some things that didn’t make it in the printed issue. Think of it as “ONCOURSE Magazine, The Director’s Cut.” Find it at oncourse.ag.org or issuu.com and search for “oncourse.”

FALL 2011 2011 33 FALL

4 ONCOURSE MAGAZINE | oncourse.ag.org

I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel that I may share in its blessings.

—I Corinthians 9:22-23

BY JOSH WELLBORN

T

he apostle Paul understood the value of taking on the customs and language of people groups for the sake of ministry.

His challenge for us was to become indigenous for the sake of the gospel.

The indigenous American teenager takes on many shapes and forms. Consequently many shapes and forms are needed when considering the role of the campus missionary (CM) in the public middle and high school.

Enter 16-year-old Seth Barron.

His ancestors literally came to the town of Seagraves, Texas (population 2,600), in a covered wagon in the early part of the 20th century. As a Texan, Seth has the boots, hat and belt buckle to be the perfect rural missionary, whether he’s showing prize-winning pigs or handing out Bibles in his high school.

Seth also happens to be the longest currentserving registered campus missionary in West Texas. He has spent over $300 on Bibles and CDs, which he has handed out to classmates and teachers, earning him a reputation as the one to go to for all things spiritual.

“Sometimes people just ask me questions out of the blue about God, or they want me to pray for them,” Seth says.

At the end of last year, he was able to lead one of the seniors in his school to Christ.

“I’ve found that there are many Christians

out there who need to come out of hiding,” Seth says as he describes the spiritual impact in his school. Seth also raises his own budget for ministry by selling “cross necklaces” which he makes out of horseshoe nails. (Last year he took part of that money and sent 15 students to church camp.) This year, he helped start a Bible club at school called “The Bold Few.” While Seth represents the efforts of rural CMs, Lakeya Knight is busy sharing Jesus with students and teachers in her

inner-city Detroit high school.

Around Casa Richard (pronounced Ray Char) Academy in Detroit’s “Mexican Town” Lakeya is known as “the girl that is always smiling.”

When people ask why she’s smiling so much, Lakeya enthusiastically replies, “Because Jesus has changed my life.”

It’s not just smiling that gets attention from her fellow students. Since being saved three-

and-a-half years ago Lakeya has been looking for ways to serve. During lunch she can be found offering to carry her classmates’ trays to the kitchen, or even praying with people. Even though her principal denied a request to start a Bible club, Lakeya continues to pray for her school every day. Recently a classmate asked for prayer for a headache and was instantly pain free when Lakeya prayed for healing.

It’s not just at school; Lakeya is a dedicated urban missionary in the projects of the Hamtramck section of Detroit. Since coming to Christ, her youth ministry has seen double-digit growth according to Pastor Chilly Chilton of Real Church. “Lakeya is doing so much. She is in a discipleship group, is part of a mentorship group and plays bass in the worship team,” says Pastor Chilly. “When you walk through the projects with her everyone knows her and she knows them.”

From urban to rural, campus missionaries are following the example of the apostle Paul and becoming all things to all people. But it didn’t start with Paul. God became man and was the original indigenous missionary.

JOSH WELLBORN @joshwellborn is the youth pastor at Mount Hope Church in Lansing, Michigan. He participated in the first ever National See You at the Pole when he was a student at Kickapoo High School in Springfield, Missouri.

FALL FALL 2011 2011 55

LASS NOTES her peers who is active in many organizations that help people around the world. Alyssa truly making an impact for Christ—so much so that even the school janitors voted for her to receive the award!

REESE MAXWELL is a CM in Jackson, Mississippi. At the beginning of the school year, he gave out several copies of the Book of Hope. Months later he was approached by a student who wanted more copies. Reese reports, “One of the people I gave the Book of Hope to at the beginning of the year read it and eventually became a Christian. When she read it, she thought it was amazing, and wanted more to give to her friends!” Reese didn’t stop there however. Thinking like a true CM, he then approached one of the students about also becoming a campus missionary.

ALYSSA KELLUM is a CM in Portland, Oregon. She chooses to proudly communicate her faith through her actions. She helped organize distribution of 500 pairs of donated socks through her church to the homeless people of the city. Often after eating lunch, instead of socializing with friends, she serves the cafeteria staff by clearing tables and cleaning up. At the end of the last year’s all-school awards assembly Alyssa’s teacher recognized her as responsible, kind and intelligent—a servant among 666 ONCOURSE ONCOURSEMAGAZINE MAGAZINE|||oncourse.ag.org oncourse.ag.org ONCOURSE MAGAZINE oncourse.ag.org

JOIN THE CM CAUSE Did you know that the high school and middle school campus is the largest mission field in North America? Commit to the cause to reach your school for Jesus Christ!

“I’VE FOUND THAT THERE ARE MANY CHRISTIANS OUT THERE WHO NEED TO COME OUT OF HIDING...”

-Seth Barron • Register on yausa.com as a Campus Missionary—and commit to Pray, Live,, Tell, Serve and Give.. As an official CM you can get the hook-up on firepack7118.com to recieve a FREE CM Firepack which includes 10 copies of the Book of Hope, a copy of the FIRE BIBLE Student Edition, the CM digisource and an “Ask Me About Jesus” backpack.

TY MOREY is a CM in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He began in 7th grade inviting people to church. By the time he graduated high school the efforts grew his youth group from almost non-existent to over 100 students. Ty’s commitment to reach his campus stood strong as a student at Clemson University through Chi Alpha and Fellowship of Christian Athletes and now continues into his graduate studies years at the University of Wisconsin OshKosh.

Read Ty’s full story as well as this complete article at oncourse.ag.org.

—SHANNON ZABROSKI

• Get your Focus Write down five friends that you want to see come to Christ this year. Keep those names in front of you and pray for them on a daily basis.

• Commit to ONE MONTH Visibly carry your Bible with you everywhere you go and watch the opportunities to share Jesus open up right in front of your face.

yausa.com/ /1month • Dare 2 Share Get equipped with awesome resources to help with the whys and how-tos of sharing your faith at dare2share.com.

FALL FALL2011 2011 77

ONCOURSE MAGAZINE MAGAZINE || oncourse.ag.org oncourse.ag.org 88 ONCOURSE

M

aybe you’ve seen it on YouTube – a video of an unlikely rapper offering a comedic tribute to his fondness to —yep, that’s right—candy. Watching it, you quickly realize, there’s nothing figurative here; this guy is rapping about the literal sweet stuff—any and all varieties of that sure to produce a sugar high, from hard candy to chocolate, even those little pastel-colored buttons you bite off that paper backing. So, who is this candy-loving artist?

His name is August…Chris August. The Candy Man, who was one of the highlights on the WinterJam 2011 tour, currently holds the title of Dove Male Vocalist of the Year and New Artist of the Year. And there is so much more to him than lollipops and lemon drops.

A cute girl in Spanish class tricked a teenage Chris into going to youth group. The youth group met at a place known for break dancing, so Chris went ready to show his sweet moves. Instead, he found Jesus and free pizza.

Free pizza is not all bad for a 15-year-old guy and it turns out, Chris found something in Jesus, too.

He had grown up with Christian beliefs, but it was through youth group that Chris learned what living for Christ meant. In youth group he also discovered worship songs and joined the worship band. While his original reason for going to youth group might have missed the mark (he followed a girl), ultimately Chris found a love for God and a love for music.

Skip ahead to college, where life picked up speed. While at the University of Texas-Dallas, Chris finished his first independent album, Make Things Right, and the album reached the hands of pop singer Ryan Cabrera. In an unexpected whirlwind, Chris found himself signing a management deal with Joe Simpson (you know, the father of Jessica and Ashlee) and a record deal with Geffen Records. Chris left college one year shy of graduating and moved to Los Angeles to work on his new record. He joined Ashlee’s tour that fall, as the opening act and as her keyboard player, and toured with her for the next year.

Chris was traveling the world, doing what he loved: playing music. But he admits that, along the way, his love for God became less. “I prayed and read the Bible less. I never really found a church in L.A. I definitely lost some of my passion for Christ,” he says. But on a tour stop in Philadelphia Chris bought Passion: Everything Glorious, and the song “Jesus Paid It All” stopped him. “I don’t know if it was a slap or a hug from God,” he says, but it was like God woke him up to what he already knew.

He arrived back in L.A. to a record deal gone bad, leading him back to his hometown in Texas and reconnecting with church. “I missed leading worship. I missed writing Christian songs. I missed the feeling of conviction,” he says. Chris started playing keys and eventually leading worship at his church; he even started writing Christian music again, something he had not done in quite some time. He eventually wrote the song “Starry Night” as a song of rededication of his life and his music to Jesus.

That song would change his life again and become his first radio hit. Chris recorded the independent album Starry Night, which found its way to Nashville, and he soon signed with Fervent Records. His debut album, No Far Away, released in August 2010, and seven months later he received three Dove Awards: New Artist of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year. Chris is only the third person in the history of the Dove Awards to win both New Artist and Male Vocalist in the same year (Jeremy Camp last did it in 2004). Now this fall he will join David Crowder Band’s final tour along with Gungor and John Mark McMillan.

Whew! That is quite a story, and with a happy ending to this point, though Chris would not call it a perfect story since he is not a perfect person. Still, God brought him to a place in life where he knows who he is and how he wants to share Jesus with others.

Chris finds that the best way to genuinely share Jesus is to live life honestly and in the place that God has for each person. Do not put on an act, he says. A person’s words and actions, those outward signs of what is in the heart, will reveal the genuineness of one’s faith in Jesus. Chris offers a simple example from his own life: “I wake up and think, ‘God, I’m not sure what you have for me today, but here goes.’ Whether I am sharing songs or high fives or hugs, whatever I need to do, I’m here to encourage others to live for something greater than themselves. I know that the music side of my life will open doors of conversation with people.”

Sharing Jesus means sharing yourself. Chris took the most challenging times of his own life and wrote songs about them. He did it so that other people could find the words that they did not have themselves. “I hope that when someone listens to my music, they are learning something about me, about themselves and about God.” That is good advice and Chris August is a good example. Find a way to share your story, and with it share Jesus—and do it honestly from the heart.

JACKIE A. CHAPMAN’s @jaqchapman fave candy is flavored with coffee.

(Watch the video on OCTV at oncourse.ag.org.)

I

nspired by Jesus’ message on forgiveness, Chris August shares his personal story of growing up in a broken home and learning to forgive his family as Jesus said, “7 times 70.”

• What does it mean to truly forgive someone?

• Think about your relationships. Have you been wronged by someone and held on to that hurt for a long time?

• What are some ways your relationships are affected by choosing to forgive or not to forgive?

• Talk with others in your small group about the struggles and fears you have with forgiveness.

For more OC Unboxed small group discussion starters go to oncourse.ag.org and click the “Leader” tab.

—JENNIFER TAYLOR

FALL 2011 9

VINTAGE If you were human and spoke English you could be pretty sure that Doug would be telling you about Jesus sometime soon.

One time a group of guys pulled up to a stoplight in their car. Doug was riding his bicycle and pulled up next to them, tapped on their window and started sharing the gospel. When the light turned green he simply grasped the door handle as they took off and finished sharing the message. When he finally let go they were going 45 miles per hour.

Doug could have gotten killed that day but that didn’t bother him in the slightest. To him, the most important thing was sharing the gospel with everyone who God put in his pathway (or roadway).

Watching Doug helped me overcome my fear of sharing Jesus. I believe the lessons he taught me about getting over my own Evangephobia can help you too:

Lesson #1 Fill up on Passion Fuel

BY G R E G ST E I R

D

oug was one of those high school teens who had every reason to keep his mouth shut. Having been raised in a very dysfunctional, violent and urban home, Doug’s basic struggles could have easily been more about surviving the mean streets of the city than sharing Jesus with others.

But instead of dwelling on the dangers around him or his very real disabilities (there were many of both) he chose to focus on sharing Jesus with anybody who would listen.

To be honest Doug could be quite embarrassing to be around. He wasn’t really smooth at bringing the gospel up. He’d just start talking to somebody about God, Jesus and heaven out of the blue.

What shocked me the most was that people, more often than not, would listen to Doug.

Maybe it was his genuine smile or his child like innocence. Whatever it was Doug had it and used it.

Doug would share the gospel with anyone, anytime, anywhere! Nobody was immune from his message, not strangers, hitchhikers, classmates, neighbors or friends.

10 ONCOURSE MAGAZINE | oncourse.ag.org

Doug’s motivational tank was filled with passion fuel. This fuel came from the impending reality of hell’s flames.

He used to always remind me that if people didn’t hear the gospel they would spend an eternity in hell without hope.

It was this scary reality that motivated Doug to open his mouth boldly and share the message of Jesus with anybody who would listen. Maybe it was verses like Jude 23 that kept Doug fueled all the time, “…Snatch others from the fire and save them….”

Doug was fueled by the reality of hell. What fuels you? God’s love?

Heaven? Judgment Day? Compassion?

Whatever your fuel of choice, it’s time to pull into the motivation station and fill’er up!

Lesson #2 Open your mouth and let it rip!

Too many teenagers wait for the perfect opportunity to bring the good news up with their friends, and most of them are still waiting. Because usually there is no “perfect” opportunity.

Bringing up the gospel can and usually does feel awkward at first. But once

you get into the discussion it becomes much easier. Maybe that’s what Paul was getting at in Ephesians 6:19, “Pray…for me that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.”

Doug never waited for the perfect opportunity and neither should you.

Lesson #3 You don’t have to have all the answers!

When somebody asked Doug a question that he didn’t have the answer to (which was a lot.) he simply said, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out!” He then would study his Bible and ask around until he found an answer. Then he’d go back and share that answer with the person who asked the question.

Doug refused to let the fear of a question keep his mouth shut. It should be the same for you.

What’s Doug doing today? He is a custodian at a public school in Iowa.

Every week or so I get a call from him, where he often tells me of the latest person he’s had a chance to share Jesus with. At the Judgment Seat of Christ I believe there will be thousands who stand and applaud this simple custodian who started sharing his faith with boldness as a teenager and never stopped.

I will be one of them. Why? Because Doug is my big brother. And I know that if my big brother could share Jesus then so could I—and so can you.

With my brother in mind I’m giving you what we at Dare 2 Share Ministries have come to call The 48-Hour Challenge. Will you share the gospel with that one friend in the next 48 hours?

Heaven and hell await your answer.

Article originally appeared in the Fall 2006 issue.

GREG STEIR @gregstier founded Dare 2 Share in 1991, and following the Columbine tragedy in 1999 resigned his pastorate to pursue Dare 2 Share’s ministry full time.

Dare 2 Share has impacted hundreds of thousands of teenagers across the country.

For resources on how to share your faith follow the link at dare2share.org.

W

hen I was little, we had a neighbor whose house I would play at often. One time a man who was visiting my neighbor took me into a room and sexually abused me.

Even though my parents, who are pastors, always said, “God loves you,” at that point I didn’t want to have anything to do with a God who would let that happen to people.

I didn’t tell anybody about what happened to me, but I would draw pictures of what happened and hide them in my closet. My mom would find them and ask me about them, and I would always lie and say, “It’s not what you think.” But she knew all along.

It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had … and he began to hurt (Luke 15:12-15, MSG).

When I started going to school, I was away from the church world and non-partiers, and I got offered the opportunity to drink. I started drinking a lot—like every weekend. That led to me doing drugs, just smoking weed at the time.

As I continued with that lifestyle, I was really unhappy, so I started doing coke. I went from relationship to relationship and didn’t find anything. I started to cut myself.

I moved out of my parents’ house when I was 16, and moved in with one of my friends.

She came home one day, and I was bleeding all over the place. She would try to help me, and I just didn’t care at that point. I continued to do coke and cut myself. I was really skinny because I barely ate anything; all I wanted to do was go get high.

One night I just sat there crying, and I thought, This isn’t what I want my life to be like. I got really scared and ended up passing out in my bathroom. At this point, I was going to college so I had my own apartment.

My dad had given me a Christian music CD, and I put it in the player, but never listened to it. The next morning, the CD player wasn’t even on, but when I woke up it turned on and was playing, “Jesus, I surrender all....” I started crying and called my dad. “Dad, I need to get out of here. I don’t want to be a part of this anymore. I need help,” I said.

That brought him to his senses. He said, “…

I am going back to my father. I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you …” He got right up and went home to his father (Luke 15:17-20, MSG).

He got me into Master’s Commission, an intense discipleship program. I was extremely rebellious the first couple of months, but then one day, I thought, I’m not going anywhere, and it’s stupid for me to be here and not try.

I’ve already tried the other stuff, so I’m going to give God a shot. Ever since I said that, there

was a release of the pain that I had. It was a long process for me to quit everything. I had people encouraging me 24/7—and God is good. Since graduating the program, I have completely surrendered my life to God. When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. … “…My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!” (Luke 15:20-21, 24, MSG) When I was partying, God would wake Dad up and tell him, “Jill just went out and smoked pot.” He was so good about the way he talked to me about the distructive choices I was making because he never showed anger.

He showed disappointment, but there was always love from him. When I was in Master’s Commission, he would call, encourage me and ask how I was doing. He showed Christ’s love the best way that he could—never judging, but always being there for me. I think he knew that I would eventually surrender all of my life to Christ. And that’s were healing begins.

To get answers to “What is Sexual Abuse” and other FAQs for victims follow the feature link at oncourse.ag.org.

For help with life-controlling issues go to teenchallegeusa.com.

HEATHER VAN ALLEN writes from her home in Springfield, Missouri.

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12 ONCOURSE MAGAZINE | oncourse.ag.org

HE FIELD SPREAD AROUND HIM. Dirt, sweat and grass stained his uniform.

Resin and chalk still gripped his hands. Josh Hamilton, “the Natural,” “The Hammer,” smiled as he strode across the diamond, with blue flame tattoos emblazed across his biceps. He released his bat into the dust, donned a black shirt and sat down.

“I should be dead, with all I have done to my body,” Josh said with amazement.

“Growing up, I was always great at sports,” Josh said with a smile. “Sports were everything.

Baseball came before God, friends, everything. When I entered high school, I knew baseball was what I wanted to do with my life.

Having a relationship with God, the one who gave me all this talent and love for baseball, was put second.”

He was the top Major League draft pick. He received a record four million dollar signing bonus right out of high school. And he was playing the sport he loved.

“Over those first couple of years, I did well, did really well. And I had more money than I ever wanted to have. And my parents were there watching me play the game that they had put so much into. They loved seeing me play.”

His parents were always his best fans. But tragedy struck.

“We were on our way home from a spring training game and we were hit,” Josh recalled.

“A dump truck ran a red light as we were turning left and plowed into us. … The two things I really knew in life, baseball and my parents,

were taken away from me at the same time.”

His parents eventually recovered but had to return to North Carolina for rehabilitation.

Josh’s injuries took him out of baseball for a month. “Without baseball and without my parents, I had to find somewhere I could turn where I felt comfortable,” Josh admitted. He recalled feeling lost, alone.

He continued, “I don’t know if you noticed, but I got tattoos.” He smiled as he showed his tattooed arms.

“I was taught that if I was around somebody long enough, I would end up doing what they’re doing,” Josh said. “But I thought I was better than that.” “It all started there [at the tattoo parlor], I was introduced to my first drug and my first drink.…”

The next four years were filled with drugs, alcohol and bad decisions. In 2004 he got suspended from baseball for three-and-a-half years. “…The one thing I loved more than anything in my life, I lost it....I didn’t have Jesus first in my life. I was trying to do it on my own. I didn’t think I needed help from anybody. …”

But drugs and alcohol were different. He found an enemy he couldn’t beat. A pitcher he couldn’t hit. “I just couldn’t stop doing it,” he admitted.

“My second child was born and even bringing him home from the hospital didn’t stop me from going out and using drugs that same day.

I sank to the lowest point. I’d barely been married for a year and we separated.

During one of those nights in 2005, Josh woke up at two in the morning. He was in a trailer and he did not know the strangers surrounding him. He was scared. He didn’t know what to do. It was in that moment that he remembered his grandmother who had always prayed for him.

“I remember showing up at my grandmother’s door that night. Grandma had always told me that I could come there for anything.…” Josh stumbled over his words, and he fought back tears at the memory of being embarrassed as a junkie and broken at the door of his grandmother’s house.

“She was always there for me,” Josh continued. “I wanted to get better. I didn’t want her to see me like that, but I started staying there, and that first week I used drugs a couple of times at her house. She confronted me about it.”

“Josh, you’re killing yourself. Please, stop,

please,” she whispered, with tears falling down her face.

CONTINUED ON P. 14 >> FALL 2011 13

If you read Josh’s testimony and realize that you’ve never asked Jesus to be first place in your life, please do that today.

Don’t wait for tomorrow. You have go guarantees of it. Don’t worry about what your family and friends will say.Eternity is at stake. It’s your decision and the time is now to take these simple steps: JUST TALK TO JESUS.

Just like you would be talking to me if I was sitting across from you at Starbucks over coffee. He is a friend, but so much more than that. Tell Him you want to know who He is and the reality of His love for you. Christ died for you so that you could spend eternity with Him. (See Romans 5:8).

ADMIT YOU HAVE SINNED.

Even though you may feel you’ve been a victim or that you’ve basically been a good person, we’ve all junked it up.

“We’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us.” (Romans 3:23, MSG).

BELIEVE IN JESUS.

CONTINUED FROM P. 13 >> “…God opened my heart that night and actually allowed me to see the hurt and pain in her face and her tears coming down her face.

And that’s when I felt like I could do this and I wasn’t alone.”

“A couple days later I had a dream, and in this dream there was this guy in a dark suit. I was fighting him and I know it was the devil. I was fighting him and beating him and knocking him down. But he kept getting up. I had a bat.

I kept swinging it at him. I swung and I swung but could never connect. He had this cold smirk on this face and he just kept getting up and coming after me and coming after me. And I was getting to the point where I was worn out and I couldn’t fight anymore.” “…It scared me so bad that I got up out of my bed, went across the hallway into my grandmother’s room, knocked on the door and said, ‘Grandma?’…I had a bad dream. Can I sleep with you?’”

“Looking back, it’s funny. This was a 25-year-old man asking if he can get in the bed with his grandmother. But it wasn’t funny at the time. She welcomed me in, and the next night, I noticed a Bible at the end of the bed.”

When he saw the Bible, he didn’t know 14 14 ONCOURSE ONCOURSE MAGAZINE MAGAZINE || oncourse.ag.org oncourse.ag.org

where to begin. He grabbed the Bible and started fumbling through it when suddenly a verse caught his eye.

“Humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7, NLT).

Josh fell on his knees. He was broken.

He had nothing left. He tried to fix everything himself. He tried to do it alone but he failed. He started to pray. He never felt like he knew how to pray, but this wasn’t just prayer, this was Josh crying and begging God for help.

“I had to put Christ first before anything would change. And once I surrendered myself to Him and told Him He could do anything He wanted with me, it all changed. I wasn’t the same. He started working on me, from the inside. He changed my heart.”

Excerpt adapted with permission from I Am Second the book

by Dave Sterrett & Doug Bender (Thomas Nelson, releasing January 2012). For more from Josh and other “I Am Second” testimonies and resources visit iamsecond.com. For a review of the book visit oncourse.ag.org.

Because we are completely incapable of pulling ourselves out of the muck with “Dr. Phil” or “Celebrity Rehab” or “Oprah” marathons—we are in need of the ONE and ONLY true Savior—that is Jesus Christ. Just call out to Him and know He is waiting just for you.

“This is how much God loves the world: He gave His son, His one and only son.

And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in Him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life” (John 3:16, MSG).

CONFESS AND LEAVE YOUR SIN.

Just say, “I know I’ve done a lot of things wrong; I am laying that down at your feet and know you paid the price for my baggage. You’ve covered everything and I surrender my life over to you.” And the results? Just take a look at 1 John 1:9: “On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing” (MSG).

COMMIT TO FOLLOWING CHRIST.

“Jesus said, ‘I am the Road, also the truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me” (John 14:6, MSG). This is a daily choice we make.

Will we choose our way or will we commit ourselves to Christ in love which creates an outflow of obedience? Stay in Scripture, prayer, seek the support of solid Christians and a church family. Align yourself with the fuel and maintenance for the discipleship journey.

For Alive in Christ, Student iValues and other resource support for the journey go to youth.ag.org/discipleship.

FALL 2011 15

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Sacred Identities

BY BECKY TIDBERG

“Who am I?”

A question asked by ingénues, outcasts and every average teenager on the planet.

Musical maven Beckah Shae was no different.

Her soulful, beat-driven music makes you want to dance in the car and then go have a Bible study. But her road to Nashville and the fulfillment of God’s call to Christian music took detours through a variety of false identities and dead ends.

Social Chameleon After Beckah’s parents divorced she moved around changing schools and exchanging personalities faster than you can flip through four hundred channels to find nothing on worth watching. “I learned how to adapt and dived completely into new identities.”

At one school she listened to Mary J. Blige, wore baggy clothes, sucked on pacifier necklaces and called everyone “home girl.” In Orange County she donned ripped jeans and listened to Nirvana. Then she fell in with a Rock-a-Billy crowd, listened to Duke Ellington and went swing dancing every night. Brainiac, homeless, gangster, or bling-bedecked, Beckah wore identities loosely, prepared to shed them as situations required.

Culture Club Each identity, Beckah now realizes, was tied to the powerful draw of music. “The music affected everything – how I talked, my interests, where I went, how I dressed. I didn’t know who I really was. Never truly free or happy.”

God clung to Beckah’s heart even as she sought a place to belong and people to love.

Nine years ago she was in Vegas with her heart in a literal and figurative desert. “I was singing

in a cover band surrounded by darkness. I knew God but I didn’t know myself.”

She stepped out in faith and moved to Nashville where God redirected her path and the real Beckah Shae was uncovered, born anew into God’s great plan. After a year in town she met her future husband, Jack “Shoc” Shocklee, a young music producer whose passion for the Word and for music gave Beckah the perfect partner. “My name changed and my mission changed.”

Love-colored Glasses Since that change in mission, Beckah has made it a goal to use her music to help others find their true identity in Christ. “See yourself as God sees you” has become one of her life mottos as she takes words of freedom to audiences. Knowing that her own identities were born out of music, Beckah strives to write songs that are rooted in the power and wisdom of God’s Word alone.

“If mainstream music could cause me to dress/talk/be a certain way then so can Christian music.” Beckah still has a love for the hip-hop sound but now she writes in a way that creates an atmosphere of praise and purity, a way to honor God instead of offending Him. The title song from her 2010 release Life opens with the line “Here I go on my way with my love glasses on.” That song has inspired an entire Love Glasses movement. In June Beckah released a new song titled “Put Your Love Glasses On” with accompanying video profiling some identities that Beckah has lived in an effort to encourage believers and challenge non-believers to: “Keep truth-seeking, listen to wisdom speaking, catch His heartbeat, abide and see the world through God’s eyes.”

Living Like Heaven Her fifth album Destiny—released August 16th—is an “anthem for those surrendered to the call and a call for those who aren’t.”

Destiny is so titled because Beckah has chosen to live like Heaven in 2011. “Life is a vapor.

Heaven is my destiny,” she says. One method of living out Heaven she’s chosen is to dress in gold—the color of Heaven and glory—every day in 2011. Inspired by the story of Esther who arrayed herself before appearing before the King to beg for the lives of her people, Beckah has been blessed through even the simple act of getting dressed every morning, ready to speak the Word to the world.

Scripture Snacking Frustrated with how many music listeners don’t even know the lyrics to the songs they are allowing to penetrate their hearts and minds, Beckah and Shoc have also been working on an album of Scripture snacks. “A song of mine is like a whole dinner. Scripture snacks are just one or two verses sung over and over in different ways to help people get the Word into their heart. [So many songs out there are] like eating junk food. Because it’s there we eat it but it’s killing you.”

You can connect with Beckah on Facebook, Twitter and BeckahShae.com where you can see videos of how Beckah and Shoc work together —vocally and creatively—to produce Scripture Snacks.

BECKY TIDBERG is a freelance writer from Northern Illinois. She and her husband were recently honored by Focus on the Family as Courageous Parents for their work parenting foster kids in a group home.

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18 ONCOURSE MAGAZINE | oncourse.ag.org

OCCOLLEGE “Modeling such behavior is the most effective way to emphasize [meditation] but also incorporating it into assignments and expectations without making it onerous, is useful,” Waldemar says.

SOCIALITY

BY MATT SMITH

“F

reedom!” The common cry among freshmen minds as they first enter their college home and are pulled from the watchful eye of their parents. Yet, God’s Word gives balance to this celebratory yell with another word: discipline.

Wow! What a buzz-kill!

And the first part of Hebrews 12:11 gets where you’re coming from, saying, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.”

But take a look at the rest of that verse: “Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (NIV). In short— discipline has its benefits.

Students struggle with transitions in four main areas of life through their college years: spirituality, sociality, academics and finances.

The disciplines from Richard Foster’s book, The Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, provide a compass to direct students in each of these areas.

SPIRITUALITY Healthy spirituality should be what drives the other three facets of your life as a college student. How can you stay spiritually strong in the midst of the pressures of campus life?

Waldemar Kowalski, professor of Bible and Theology at Northwest University, suggests that you know the Bible and really meditate on what God is telling you through it.

In addition to spiritual strength, freshmen can build their rapport with friendships through more than picking out the right table during lunch. Camaraderie starts internally, but it works to serve a human need, according to Robert Crosby, professor of Practical Theology at Southeastern University. In his article entitled, “A New Kind of Pentecostal,” he highlights social concern through the discipline of community service.

“Our churches increasingly have focused on the poor in practical ways: food banks, AdoptA-Block, mentoring programs for children of prisoners, assistance to single mothers, and so on,” Robert says.

Colleges provide plenty of community service opportunities that open the door for relationships to those in need and among the students who are serving. And prayer helps, too. Waldemar suggests that a close relationship with God has a way of making us more likeable.

“The more we resemble Christ, the less obnoxious we are,” Waldemar says.

Social life is about more than developing peer relations through serving the community. While all of that is good, you will, of course, have times—especially on the weekends—when you will want to have some just simple, relaxing fun. How you choose to discipline yourself will factor into what fun activities you choose to engage in—and while some choices—yes, fun choices—are healthy, others—not so much.

Be careful about buying into the myth that a Christian college, with all its biblically-based rules and sometimes even pledges you have to sign, will be an automatic safeguard from trouble. If a strong sense of freedom has you by the spirit, you’ll be able to find and get into just about any activity or behavior you can imagine in practically no time at all. Rules, guidelines and curfews don’t create disciplined people, but rather discipline that starts within the heart is what motivates a person to follow them.

ACADEMICS Maybe your relationship with God and your friends is under control, but college and classes go hand-in-hand, so what about the discipline of study? How does studying go beyond the Icrammed-so-I-can-get-through-this-test mentality? According to Waldemar, the discipline of studying broadens and takes students out of their traditional thought process.

“If I make it clear that I know what’s going on, and that I consider it relevant to life as a Christ-follower, and if my students consider me effective and worth following, I’ve done a lot to encourage life-wide study,” Waldemar says.

FINANCES Finally, students must face the responsibility of handling money. In The Celebration of Discipline, one financial discipline stands out among the rest: simplicity. Of course, this doesn’t mean we should burn our iPads, cell phones and cars. As Roland Dudley, Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Trinity Bible College, explains, students that choose to live, satisfied with what they have are pulled from “the weight of unnecessary encumbrance of debt.”

RULES, GUIDELINES AND CURFEWS DON’T CREATE DISCIPLINED PEOPLE, BUT RATHER DISCIPLINE THAT STARTS WITHIN THE HEART IS WHAT MOTIVATES A PERSON TO FOLLOW THEM. Whether students are focusing on money, friends or other facets of life, God calls each one to shape their lives by the rules He has laid out before them. After all, the end result always provides satisfaction in some form.

“When success, sometimes measured success, emerges, it is certainly reason to celebrate,” Roland says.

Evangel University Department of Kinesiology have developed a comprehensive minor for students interested in becoming personal trainers or group fitness instructors. Read about it at oncourse.ag.org.

MATT SMITH, former OC intern is media specialist / editor for The Alliance for AG Higher Education.

Matt read Celebration of Discipline his freshman year at Evangel University (Springfield, Missouri) as a part of his Essential Christianity class. For more information about the 18 endorsed AG colleges, universities and seminary visit colleges.ag.org.

FALL 2011 19

S

AMUEL: Born into a chaotic time in Israel, Samuel became God’s young agent of change in his country during a time of moral and spiritual crisis.

Samuel Speaks Today: “Your friends are who you are. Choose them wisely so you will follow the wisest and most successful path.”

Digging Deeper: Imagine how hard it was for Samuel to live out his faith. Sure, he grew up in the temple, but the temple was defiled with all kinds of sinful activities and bizarre pagan practices. And it doesn’t seem that there were any good friends around to hang with. Eli’s sons were ringleaders of the party-all-the-time atmosphere.

Apparently, Samuel, as best he could, chose to avoid influences that would bring him down. He could have hung out with Eli’s sons, but he didn’t. This means Samuel probably had few friends.

Sometimes teens have to make this tough choice. You want to have good friends, but what if there really are no spiritual guys or girls in your school?

Samuel hung out with Eli, even though Eli was many years older than he was.

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If you choose to hang out only with people who share your values, you may have to be alone often or get comfortable being with people who are older.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be friendly with persons who don’t know the Lord. That doesn’t mean you should think you’re better than everyone else.

But you must not allow the wrong values of others to influence your values.

Just Like You: When should you stop hanging out with a friend? You want to be a good friend and be there through thick and thin. But what do you do when your best friend is making choices that are just plain wrong? How do you stop him or her from being a bad influence on you? Walking the tightrope between judging others and having wisdom can be difficult and dangerous, so here are a few pointers: • Make sure you’re not being overly critical.

If the issue of concern isjust an annoying habit, that’s no reason to stop being someone’s friend.

After all, you have annoying quirks too!

• Be honest and real by talking face-to-face with your friend. Confront the person about the bad choices he or she is making. If you use a polite but firm approach, he or she may reconsider those bad actions, especially if that person knows continuing the actions could cost your friendship.

• Help when the friend wants help. If your friend is struggling but asking for help, this is the time to be an even greater friend, by taking your friend’s problems to a parent or a spiritual leader.

• Note your friend’s attitude. If your friend has a carefree attitude about breaking the rules and makes fun of you for wanting to do right, then you know it’s time to part ways.

Remember, that person is not being a true friend, because he or she is choosing lifestyle over your friendship.

• Don’t make a public spectacle of the issue.

It is sometimes easy and tempting to tell a bunch of people about your friend’s wrongdoing and make yourself out to be a hero, but doing that is just as wrong as the choices your friend is making.

• Pray for your friend. Ask God to work in your friend’s heart to help him or her see the need to repent and come back to the Lord.

For more Truth from Teen People of the Bible: Miriam click here.

DANIEL DARLING is a pastor, writer and author of Teen People of the Bible as well as Crash Course and iFaith (2011). He lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.

FACE Name: Kenny Vaughn Birthday: Feb 6 Hometown: China, Texas Occupation: Shields of Strength Founder and President Web site: shieldsofstrength.com

S

even times he failed. Long distance water ski jumper, Kenny Vaughan waited for his turn to compete in the national championships. In a few minutes he would be skimming on the water’s surface at over 60 miles per hour. He would have to line up with the boat, calculate his speed and the angle with the ramp just right or the results could be deadly.

Kenny has broken his leg, his foot twice, his arm, completely dislocated his knee and been knocked unconscious. After overcoming setbacks from each injury, Kenny finally reached the nationals healthy. But the fear of another injury and failure was paralyzing. No matter how hard he trained, no matter how far he tried to push past it, he couldn’t defeat the fear. That day, Kenny skied poorly and after his seventh fail, he hung up his skis for good.

Five years later, he met his girlfriend, Tammie. Wanting to show off, Kenny started skiing again and it wasn’t long before the passion to win championships returned. Within two years, he was competing at the national level. But the fear was still there and he failed again.

That following year, Tammie wrote Philippians 4:13 and 2 Timothy 1:7 on Kenny’s water ski handle as a reminder. Through her encouragement, Kenny learned the power of prayer and trusting God. “For me it was a lack of knowledge,” says Kenny, “I had no idea God wanted a daily relationship with me.”

Kenny returned to nationals in ’96. “I made

the decision that, forget the gold medal, I was going to do my best for God. At first it was a cop out but then I realized that was my higher calling because I would give more for God than I would for my medal.” With a 179-foot jump, Kenny won nationals and achieved his dream.

“After nationals, I needed a reminder. I couldn’t carry my ski handle everywhere so I went to an army surplus store and had dog tags made. Then I gave some to friends. When I saw in someone else’s eye what I had fought for so long, I wanted to help them.” As a result of the growing interest in the dog tags, Kenny founded Shields of Strength. The organization made and sent Scripture engraved dog tags to Christian bookstores. “One bookstore was in Arizona near a military base,” explains Kenny.

“A soldier bought a tag and his colonel asked for 500 to give to his soldiers. Soon soldiers were wearing them overseas.” By February of ’97, Shields Of Strength were sending thousands of dog tags across the nation.

Today, Kenny and Tammie are celebrating their 14th year of marriage. Heading the growing Shields Of Strength organization, Kenny is an author and frequent inspirational speaker at military events. Through it all, Scripture con-

tinues to be Kenny’s shield of strength. “I just pick up the Bible and read, mostly the New Testament. If I’m feeling insecure or fearful or proud, I pick up the concordance and look those words up and read what the Bible has to say. And the power of God’s Word in my life has made me trust it. Other times what I read I don’t understand. But I don’t’ walk away, I keep pondering.”

Kenny’s journey is incredible, but its not finished. “I still struggle with fear in other forms. I learned that if I can get to a place where I cast down imaginations and put my eyes on God’s word, then God would give me the power of a sound mind. At first it’s really hard. But I realized the power in God’s Word and now I can tell others, ‘I know you have that fear but you can face it with God’s Word.

If you get knocked down you can get back up.’”

For info and resources to armor up with God’s Word through Scripture memorization visit biblequiz.ag.org.

ESTEE WELLS is an award winning teen fiction author from Ridgeland, South Carolina. She is presently studying abroad in Dublin, Ireland as a student at Taylor University.

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22 ONCOURSE MAGAZINE | oncourse.ag.org

SOUNDCHECK

A N T H E M If

you take an album based on it’s cover, you might think Anthem Lights is a boy band . And despite the fact that there will probably be high school girls who drool over their self-titled debut album cover and the vocalists could all sing lead in unison the stereotyping ends there. Anthem Lights isn’t about to write any puppy-love songs, or make a major lyric out of the one-word phrase, “Girl!”

Alan Powell – who stands right center on the album cover – explains that most of the band’s lyrics are inspired by the Bible. “‘The Stranger’ is a song that came from the first verse in 1 Peter. Peter says, ‘Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God’s elect, strangers in the world...”And I was in 1 Peter reading that verse. Sometimes you sit down and do your devotions and spend time with God and read chapters at a time and learn something, and sometimes you sit down and God just rocks your world in a matter of words, and that’s what happened to me that day.

When I read that Peter called us strangers, it really resonated with me and what I was going through at that time. So, I just went and immediately sat at the piano and wrote the song in one sitting.”

Other songs come from everyday life, but they are always God-centered. When Alan wrote “Light-

L I G H T S

BY ERIC BRASWELL house,” for example, “I was watching . . . one of those entertainment shows, and it was just kind of on in the background. For a moment I stopped and was watching it and was just kind of overtaken by the darkness that’s in this world. I took that inspiration and went and sat at a piano and came up with this idea of ‘Man, we really need to be the light in this dark place.’ ” Alan, Chad [Graham], Caleb [Grimm] and Kyle [Kupecky] don’t just sing the songs, these guys are serious about God. “Being on the road is not conducive to having a walk with God, to be completely honest.

It’s very difficult. It’s easy to let the things that are important in this Christian life fall by the wayside, when you are out doing ministry, which sounds kind of paradoxical but it is the truth,” says Alan. “Spending time with the Lord is something you have to work into your day or have a time for regardless of where you are. When I’m at the house here in Nashville, I know that the first thing I’m going to do when I wake up is spend time with the Lord. It’s the same thing when you’re on the road. I don’t have that same chair and little table that I go to when I’m at home, but I sit at my bunk or sit in the back of the bus or find a place in the venue. You have to make it a priority.”

“If I could go back to the Alan of 15 or 16, I would encourage him to walk deeper. I would encourage him to dig deeper in his faith in Christ

because that’s what we’re called to. We’re called to not just have a surface level faith. We’re not called to have the kind of faith where we know all of the answers and we go to church on Sunday and maybe Wednesday nights. We’re called to the kind of faith that changes every single part of our lives.”

ERIC BRASWELL writes a monthly OC blog, Manliness is Next to Godliness. Check it out by following the blog link at oncourse.ag.org.

Watch the Anthem Light’s video by following the “OCTV” links at oncourse.ag.org.

WHAT’S BEING SAID ABOUT ANTHEM LIGHTS? “One of the strongest debut albums I’ve heard in long time.” —NewReleaseTuesday.com “This pairing of talented young men has potential to become a preeminent player in the world of Christian entertainment.”

—JesusFreakHideout.com “Anthem Lights’ 10-song debut carries a message of hope and purpose for believers and non-believers alike.” — hmmagazine.com.

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LOVE.

What does that word mean? We hear about God’s love for us. We talk about loving our friends or family or our pets. We even refer to sex as “making love.” Aren’t these really different kinds of love?

When I was a teenager I looked forward to meeting someone special and getting married, but I understood love as something strange that would just happen to me. We use accidental language to describe love. Love is something you “fall into.” But I have come to believe that very little about love is accidental. Love is quite intentional.

If we want to be “in love”… what does love look like?

Last year I started studying the Song of Solomon, the epic love poem of the Bible. It’s about a man and woman deeply in love. What struck me most while I was reading was what they called each other. They call each other by three titles – brother/sister, friend and lover. I believe these titles hold the key to what “love” means.

Love is not one kind of thing, it’s three!

The first kind of love needed for a great relationship is a spiritual love. What did our man (let’s call him Mr. Solomon!) mean when he called the woman “his sister” (Song 4:9). It was against Mosaic Law to marry one’s actual sister, not to mention it’s beyond gross! Mr. Solomon saw the woman he loved as a “sister in the faith.” They shared the same belief in God, God’s Word and walked as brother and sister in obedience to God. The Bible encourages us to make spiritual compatibility a priority when we are thinking about finding a mate. We are directed to be “heterozugeo“ or spiritually-equally-partnered (2 Cor. 6:14). Being “brother and sister in Christ” is when we are pulling in the same spiritual direction, encouraging each other to put Christ first in all things. This is the first kind of love needed for a great relationship.

The second kind of love needed for a great

relationship is friendship love. Mrs. Solomon refers to her man as her “friend” (Song 5:16). I used to see the “friend zone” as instant death for a possible romantic relationship, but after 16 years of marriage I’ve come to see the necessity of friendship love.

Research shows that the strongest marriages are based on solid friendship.

What makes a good friend? I have done premarital counseling with many couples that if they were not “in love” they would not be friends. Friends enjoy each other’s time together. They play, laugh, talk and are there for

lesson human chemistry reveals that doing this is disastrous to a relationship. Oxytoxin is released in the body during sex. This Godgiven chemical helps us bond with our partner, but oxytoxin is no respecter of persons. Since sex makes two people one (1 Cor. 6:16), it is possible to feel connected with someone with which you are completely incompatible or worse, someone God would never want you to be with.

When I was a teenager, I wish I knew that

“SEXUAL LOVE WAS CREATED TO BOND AND UNITE TWO PEOPLE WHO ARE COMPATIBLE IN THE BEST WAYS – SPIRITUALLY AND RELATIONALLY. SADLY, MANY TRY SEXUAL LOVE FIRST.” each other in the difficult times. Friends make the best marriage partners! When friendship is strong, romance can awaken. This is why we need to be aware of the power of opposite sex friendships and keep healthy boundaries to ensure purity and loyalty.

The third kind of love needed for a great relationship is sexual love. As spiritual partnership is established friendship love grows, the relationship naturally progresses to sexual love.

When Mr. and Mrs. Solomon finally marry, their friends encourage them with these words: “Eat, friends, and drink; drink your fill of love.” (Song 5:1). Sexual love was created to bond and unite two people who are compatible in the best ways – spiritually and relationally.

Sadly, many try sexual love first. A simple

being in a relationship was about three different kinds of love – spiritual love, friendship love and sexual love. There is an order to these kinds of love and after marriage, a great relationship keeps all these kinds of love alive.

We must be intentional about agape, philia and eros, as the Greek language calls them. C.S. Lewis, Plato, Sirach and many of the ancients knew of these different loves.

Mr. and Mrs. Solomon had it right. Let’s follow their lead and find real love as God intends!

JASON CUSICK is married to his college sweetheart Marie and they have three children. He is a pastor in Manhattan Beach California and you can find out more of his thoughts on dating, friendship and sex in his book Love3: Three Essentials to Making Love Last.

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TRUTH I

n every season, in every situation, being reminded that God Is Able can help keep hearts on fire and lives on track. How do I know this? Because that precisely what I’ve experienced for myself.

But this is not going to be a testimony piece. My life has been no harder, no more dramatic than anyone else’s. Yes, there have been times of great rejoicing, times of suffering, tears of happiness and tears of sorrow, and some of you will have known greater grace, more dramatic rescues or harder journeys home to our Father.

The lessons and experiences that I want to share are the ones that are woven in and out of the songs on God Is Able. These songs are packed with meaning, each one slightly different, but together they unite to form something far louder and larger. Together they are stronger.

I wanted to write a song that reminded us of God’s amazing ability to use our generosity in powerful ways.

When it comes to the matter of giving, generous hands will never be empty because—as we are reminded in Ephesians 3—God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

So I suppose I should have seen it coming. I thought the song would inspire people a little, encourage them in their giving and maybe lead some to think about the ways in which God could transform others through their kindness. I had no idea that the three simple words - God is able - would become so important to us, but they did. As Australia was shocked by floods and cyclones, as we watched our neighbors deal with earthquakes and saw friends from further away go through the horrors of further earthquakes, tsunami and nuclear crisis, those three little words became our anchor in the storm. Troubles come, but God is Able.

Sorrow rips at the soul, but God is Able. Hope appears lost, but God is still — always and forever—Able.

Watch the “God is Able” video at oncourse.ag.org .

For more info on Hillsong United visit live.hillsong.com .

FALL 2011 27

BY TORRY MARTIN

I

am a self-confessed reality-TV junkie. In fact, I should probably join a support group for people who are addicted to reality television. But the truth is, I’d much rather watch a reality show about a support group for people who were addicted to reality television.I’d TIVO that in a second!

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Since I’m from Alaska, naturally “Deadliest Catch” and “Ice Road Truckers” are two of my favorite reality shows. But a little over a year ago, I discovered a new one called “Swamp People,” and it’s my latest addiction.

It’s all about hunting alligators in marshes and wetlands where nature rules and humans struggle to tame it.

The only thing that could possibly be more exciting than watching gator hunting would be going gator hunting. So I went.

It was while filming a movie in Texas that I was presented with the opportunity to go gatoring with Kenny Vaughan (see his story on p.

21) and his brother Gabe. Kenny is a national champion athlete and also the president and founder of Shields of Strength Scripture dog tags. And Gabe I met when we were both at a convention in Atlanta. We hit it off immediately. As soon as he found out that I would be filming an hour from his home in Texas, he invited me to go gator hunting when I was there. I knew it was a chance of a lifetime plus I really liked the guy. There was no way I was going to pass it up, so I could hardly say yes fast enough!

The day before I met up with the Vaughan’s, I headed to the local mall to get some clothes suitable for the adventure. Being a man of some girth and knowing we’d be hunting at night, I was worried that if our boat should somehow tip over, I would be the visual equivalent of a floating buffet for the gators.

Thankfully, I found the perfect shirt. It had a black background and was covered with palm leaves. It would help me to blend in perfectly with the swamp at night should I fall in. I hoped that the camouflage would convince the gators that I was just a small floating island, and that they’d swim right by me on their way to the more snack-sized Vaughan brothers.

(That might seem heartless of me, but they were both Christians, so I was assured of their eternity in heaven should such an incident occur.)

On my way out of the mall, I noticed a Kermit the Frog baseball hat in a store window that I thought would make the crowning touch for my swamp disguise. The hat, with my palm-tree shirt, would make me look like a large frog on a lily pad. Plus EVERYONE loves Kermit, so I knew the alligators would love him too and thus leave me alone.

Finished with my shopping, I stopped at the Bass Pro Store to indulge in a little gatorhunting practice at the shooting arcade. After about twenty minutes of practice, I felt more

than ready.

It wasn’t long before I was on the water with the Vaughan brothers, and my adventure of a lifetime began. This was my first ride on an actual airboat. Kenny was clearly at home on the water, handling the boat with confidence.

The sun had just set, and the sky was giving us a beautiful orange glow as we motored through the marsh. It was so peaceful, and I found it hard to remember that somewhere in the tangled aquatic vegetation there were hundreds of alligator eyes watching me. The prehistoric reptiles were safely hidden in the dark. Only when I was handed the flashlight and scanned the area did I see hundreds of red glowing eyes reflected in the light, and I realized how outnumbered I was. I immediately began to question the wisdom of putting myself in so much danger!

My adrenalin was flowing at full force when one of Gabe’s friends named Andrew Wilson suddenly leaned out of the airboat and scooped up an alligator with his hands, bringing the thrashing beast into the boat. He quickly pinned the gator’s nose down with both hands while Gabe taped its mouth shut with duct tape. Even though the huge teeth were tied together, I still felt unsafe with the snarling creature on the boat. Of course the whole point of the adventure was to take some pictures so I could show off my Texas gator-hunting experience, so I attempted to look brave as I held the gator and posed for the camera.

Inside though, I was shaking, and I couldn’t wait to let go of that gator and put him back out into the marsh. Part of the reason I was so nervous, however, was that Gabe is a bit of a prankster and had been trying to scare me for at least two hours by making gator noises or pretending to fall into the water. It didn’t help matters when Gabe informed me that alligators loved to eat frogs and that it was one of their main snacks—so my Kermit hat would likely work as an attractant for mealtime rather than a deterrent. “Great,” I thought.

“I’m an oversized frog hors d’oeuvre.” It was not exactly a relaxing boat ride, even though it was a beautiful one. I couldn’t help but wonder how a land so filled with mesmerizing scenery could also be filled by ferocious creatures with deadly intentions.

After saying goodbye to my newfound friends in Texas, I soon found myself teaching at a Christian writers’ conference in Philadelphia. I was dining with some friends when I received some pictures on my iPhone from Gabe Vaughan. Gabe had just returned from taking my fellow actor and good friend Cylk Cozart on a gator-hunting trip of his own. The pictures from their trip, however, were of a less playful nature than mine had been. In fact, they were downright frightening. One of the gators they had captured had bitten into Gabe’s hand before they could get its mouth taped shut. The gouge was deep and looked painful, and several of the pictures showed the boat awash with Gabe’s blood. It removed any desire I’d had of ever returning to hunt the powerful creatures. I no longer had any desire to wrestle gators.

LAUGH

I later learned that alligator bites are serious injuries due to the reptile’s sheer bite force and the subsequent risk of infection. Even with medical treatment, an alligator bite may still result in a fatal infection, because the gators have bacteria in their mouths that actually start the animal’s digestive process. Those bacteria are designed to break down flesh and tissue by

nature—just like sin does. Gabe had to soak his bite in alcohol and painfully scrub it with a toothbrush and antiseptic to combat the bacteria. That kind of thing can take all the fun out of an adrenalin-filled adventure.

Now I know that most of you aren’t planning a gator-hunting trip. But you will eventually end up facing things just as dangerous as a snarling alligator but far more subtle and twice as deadly. 1 Peter 5:8 says “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour:” Satan’s goal is to do as much damage as he can without us ever knowing he is there. Every day we are enticed by things that seem as exciting as a nighttime swamp adventure—things like drinking, drugs, online pornography. The momentary adrenalin rush and the thrill of showing off your prowess to your friends can be appealing. But flirting with these kinds of dangers can lead to spiritual and even physical death.

The media makes things look exciting and adventurous. But they’re not telling the whole story. The ads we see and the glamour of socalled “reality TV” are designed to entertain.

They don’t show the reality of certain highrisk behaviors. The reality about sin is that it actually bites and leaves a mark that has to be cleaned. And that cleaning can be very painful.

And it can leave scars.

God does heal our wounds, though. His mercy and grace are very real. We shouldn’t buy the non-realities that the media throws at us—but if we do, and we get bitten, we can turn to God with our brokenness. We can seek healing from our loving Father.

But if you want to play it safe, don’t go wrestling with “gators”! Leave ’em in the swamp, and find true reality in the fullness God has to offer.

TORRY MARTIN aka “the gator hunter” prefers to keep all his limbs in tact in order to meet all his writing deadlines. Visit him at torrymartin.com. A big thanks goes out to Rebecca English for helping clean up the wounds of this article.

FALL 2011 29

30 ONCOURSE MAGAZINE | oncourse.ag.org