100th BLOG!: I'm leaving SC, and Many Want To Know Why. It's All About The Mud.

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Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light. -Raymond Edman

I'm using my 100th blog to say very publicly that I'm moving to Wake Forest, NC to go to seminary full time on campus. Many people already know what's going on, but I thought I'd let everyone in on the story of how all this came about.

Though most people found out recently I didn't wake up three weeks ago and say with my best king impression, "I do here by decree that I am going to seminary full time in the spring." It was a decision that happened a little over a year ago. I was listening to a sermon podcast from Elevation Church, and to be honest I can't remember the topic, but I clearly remember the Holy Spirit speaking to me. He said that it was time.

Parent's Priority Step 1: Love God

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Um... Not exactly what I'm talking about, but still hilarious.

A Parent's priority is to gradually transfer a child's dependence away from them until it rests solely on God. -Craig Groeschel

How do we properly make that transfer? Step 1...

Love Our God With All We Have

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5

If there is one thing I can pick up from that verse, it's that God wants every part of our lives. The word, all is used 3 times! God doesn't want a small piece of our life. He wants it all. Our children will recognize if God is a thing that we do rather than a way we live our lives. We can't expect them to live devoted to God if we're not first setting the example.

I heard a message by Craig Groeschel, the Pastor of LifeChurch.tv, where he stated that it is dangerous to give our children a little bit of Christ. He argues that if God is only a part of your family identity then you're essentially immunizing your children to God's power.

Though Immunizations bring up bad memories of almost passing out as a seventeen year old at the health clinic, they also serve as a sobering illustration of what a little bit of God in our families can do. Immunizations work because the doctor gives you a little bit of the virus. Your immune system kicks in and learns how to destroy the virus, then you become immune.

Christian living isn't just a Sunday morning thing. It has to be an all day, all the time effort. If we want our children to become immune to the Gospel and immune to the radical power of Christ, give them a little bit of Jesus. Our lack of commitment to Christ sends a message to our kids that God or church is a, "Thing" we do.

Cool Story Bro: The Insane Car Alternator

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Pop the Clutch!!!

Catch the foxes for us- the little foxes that ruin the vineyards- for our vineyards are in bloom. Song of Solomon 2:15

In the middle of last week my car's battery warning light started sporadically blinking. Concern set in because we sold our other much newer car a week earlier. A quick look into my '94 Toyota Corolla owners manual told me the alternator was going bad. This wasn't a terrible repair. It was something I could do myself, and it wouldn't drain our emergency fund too much.

Everything seemed to be running fine for a couple of days. But being the responsible man I thought I'd pick up a replacement alternator from Advanced Auto before I actually needed it. I'd change it when I got the time. The time came sooner than I had imagined. When I tried to leave Advanced Auto my car wouldn't crank. The battery was dead and the alternator was finished.

Where's Waldo, Geo Caching, and Lost and Found

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Almost every week Oceanside provides me with Monday as a day off. It's a family day where we can recover from the weekend's ruckus and relax. The funny thing about having kids is relaxation rarely comes by sitting around. A day inside leads to parents driven to insanity. So we try to bring the kids to a park, Chuck E. Cheese's, or something fun outside the house. This week we went geocaching!

You may wonder what geocaching is. Here is a video that will explain it better than I can.

Allie has acutely trained eyes (It must be all those years of playing Where's Waldo). She can spot almost anything. While walking down an oak shaded path on the edge of Daniel Island Allie honed in on a small black book bag under some thorns and fallen branches leaning up against a young oak. She screamed, "Ivey, I found the geocache!" I sauntered over disbelieving she could have found it that quickly. I was right, she hadn't found the geocache, but she had found a bag belonging to a woman named Amy.

We eventually found the geocache under a walking bridge. It was filled with old Burger King toys and halves of discarded Family Circle Cup tennis balls. Searching for the geocache was the fun part, but the real find of the day was that little black backpack.

When we got home I quickly examined the contents of the bag. I found a check book, a wallet filled with everything except a phone number, a biography, and a spiral bound college rule notebook. I was glad the box hadn't fallen into the wrong hands. Because I didn't find a phone number I went to Google for help. I entered the name on the license into the search bar and within minutes I had her phone number. By 8:15 PM that night she had her six month lost bag in her hands. She told me she had given up hope. She gave us a small gift to say thanks, but the most rewarding thing was seeing the joy on her face when she got her bag back.

Find Out Why I'm So Happy I Got a $300 ticket! :-D

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Getting Ready to Leave for New York

Sorry I didn't blog last week. I was on a little thing I like to call vacation. I vacated to the metropolis of New York City. What an amazing city with incredible wonders. Time square, Freedom Tower, Toys R Us, and the Statue of Liberty are only some of the amazing sites I was able to see. All those things were great, but I was treated to the real New York experience. I had my car towed.

Me in front of Freedom Tower Which is on the WTC site

I can read. In fact you may say I'm quite good at reading. So when a sign says, "No Parking" I read it and know not to park there. But when a sign says, "No Standing" I figure it means not to stand there. HA! Was I wrong.

That is exactly what the sign said...

What I found was No Standing is actually a more severe warning than No Parking. It basically means that no body, car, or thing can be standing still in this area at anytime or it will be towed and ticketed. I parked my car in a No Standing zone at 10:45 PM and it was towed by 12:15 AM, barely an hour later. It was an expensive lesson that cost me an entire day of my vacation and $300. I'll never park in a No Standing zone EVER again. And I'll never forget the experience.

I was reminded in all this that even in the most annoying situations I should stay joyful. James explains it to us this way, Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.


This is another Biblical paradox. We are supposed to be happy when times are most sad. We rejoice in the trials of life not because it's fun, but because God is making us into the people He wants us to be. After we face a trial, if we react to it the right way by counting it all joy, we are closer to that final product that God wants us to be.

So what difficulty are you going through right now (If you're not going through anything yet, hang on, it's coming)? Stare it down and tell it that it's not going to get the best of you. Because you understand this challenge is only making you stronger and more like Christ. What an amazing thing it is when we can take the terrible events of our life, as minor or major as they might be, and put it in the joy column because we know God has it under control.

In Closing:
Halloween Scare House: As Halloween jets towards us we are working hard at getting our scary house together. We need help, your help. We need people to help build sets, props, sue costumes, and paint makeup. There will be another interest meeting this Sunday morning after church.

Oceanside Saturday Night: We have a mission at Oceanside to reach every man, woman, and child in our 2 mile radius. So in order to reach a new demographic we're going to start a Saturday night service. It will be very similar to the Sunday morning service except more technology driven (Twitter, Four-Square, Facebook, and so much more). We think it will appeal to a those who have challenging schedules, like to sleep, single, young & married, or all the above. Beta Service September 17th 8PM.

A Golden Calf, Really guys? Uhhgg. #ksitt

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The whole crew

Camp was really amazing this year. It was one of the best years that we've ever had. There were 8 salvations and re-dedications. God was at work. Johnathan was great, Pastor Trey brought some practical and challenging messages in the morning, and I had the privilege of speaking at night. I would like to thank everyone who helped make this year's camp possible. If you volunteered, supported, and/or prayed for, thank you.

Our volunteer staff being prayed over and hugged

Camp is never without its challenges. I warned all the students about coming home. I told them that the transition would be difficult. At camp we are surrounded by a wall of protection. Satan has been kicked out and we try to keep distractions as far away as possible. But when we come down off the mountain and back to the real world things get a little tougher. Look at what Moses went through when he came off the mountain after meeting with God (Exodus 32).

Satan will hit us with what we least expect. He'll bring up things in our past that we thought were long gone. He does it because he hates us. We have to fight him with all we have and not fall into the crazy temptations that can destroy us when we come off the mountain top.

The winning team's prize cake

I would like to encourage everyone with this: The decisions that you made at camp, or church, are only empty promises unless you back them up with actions. People will know you are serious when you start acting like you're serious. That means you'll have to make unpopular decisions. You may even have to break off some destructive friendships. Your relationship with Christ is more important than anything else. James 2:26 tells us, The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.


People don't care about our decisions we make at church camp unless we back them up with some serious action. Go out and live for God!! And, just for me, kick satan in the teeth. And every time you do report it to us on Facebook or twitter. Be sure to hash tag it #KSITT.