My older sister is staying with us for the next week, and we have some of the most interesting conversations. Our conversations usually stem from her interest in my faith and how I live it out. She recently asked me about my convictions verses my urban post-modern sensibilities. Her exact words were “Are you conflicted within”? It was both encouraging and a bit disappointing to hear her perspective.

I truly value my faith; I endeavor to represent Christ well, first as a Christian and also a minister. There is a mindset that in order to truly be spiritual you must adhere to the previous generation’s style and practices. I could not disagree more. We as Christians are often too quick to create rituals and rules based on them as to how God can, would, or will move. The problem is that we try to place God into man-made boxes.

I am the leader of a hip-hop spoken word movement called Destinations. I created this event to give the young adults at our church an opportunity to use their creative expression to win their friends to Christ. Some people were wrestling with idea if hip-hop could be used for God as if God ever used one musical style exclusively with which to express himself.

The key is to honor those who have come before us, but to allow God to speak in the current vernacular. As long as the doctrine within the expression is sound, that’s all that matters. Relevance is needed, rituals are good, but biblical alignment is crucial. So, I don’t think it’s a strange combination to embrace the current culture and hold tightly to ancient truth. I think it’s called Christianity.

Everyone once in a while someone will share insights with you that will alter the way you see yourself, your work, or the world. It’s a rare thing to have someone share something that changes the way you see the scriptures. I think that is because we hold the scripture (and we should) in such high regard that we are guarded as it pertains to it. I had one of these conversations with a brother and he turned one of my favorites back toward me and it was powerful.

He is also an author and we were talking about the process of getting your book in the hands of those for whom it was written. We talked about faith, and trusting God with your work, we talked about the necessity of book, and even the power of writing books to an underserved population like college students. So, I was definitely encouraged.

Then he pulled out a scripture, that I have lived by for years, "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matt 5:14-16

His point was that I God had given me light to share and it came in the form of a book. So it is my responsibility to not down play or hide the light God has given me, but to put it in the most visible place possible. I never saw that scripture from that perspective. It’s my responsibility to do my very best to market and share the book with all those possible. It freed me from feeling self-promoting. As a preacher/communicator/minister that is always a concern. The key is to focus on what God is saying through the book and His God promoting agenda. Then at the end of the day He is made much of and that is the goal in the first place. 

I believe what God says is true! I believe what God does is right! I believe God! Courage is not usually needed when you are doing your laundry. You don’t typically muster up courage when brushing your teeth. It’s not a character trait necessary for those who are simply hugging a friend. Courage is required when facing challenges that both scare and intimidate you to your core.

My life has been study in courage lately because my family has had to weather some storms that have tested our resolve. It’s a brave thing to willingly leave the corporate arena during a recession. It’s a brave thing to write a book in the hopes that people would purchase, read and value it. It’s even brave to have a wife apply to one of the most expensive PhD programs in the country. It’s especially brave to believe God for the healing of you child in spite of their diagnosis. But, these things have been level one, for where we are. Now, our hearts are being checked by the lack that comes with those decisions and it’s taking a lot of determination to stay on course.

This is in no way a pity party or a gripe session, because I am proud to say that we have held fast to what we believe God is doing in our lives. It’s moments like these that show who you really are, and I thank God that we are showing ourselves to be the real deal. I say that because although we’d liked to think we are strong and faith filled, often that thought is untested.

The enduring image that I have latched onto comes from Matthew 14:25-31,   “Between three and six o’clock in the morning, he came to them. He was walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. They said, “It’s a ghost!” and began to scream because they were afraid. Immediately, Jesus said, “Calm down! It’s me. Don’t be afraid! ”Peter answered, “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.” Jesus said, “Come!” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he noticed how strong the wind was, he became afraid and started to sink. He shouted, “Lord, save me!” Immediately, Jesus reached out, caught hold of him, and said, “You have so little faith! Why did you doubt?

I think so many people have make the moral of the story is Peter’s doubt. I think the moral of the story is that we should trust God to do the miraculous in our lives. Peter was the only one willing to get out of the boat. He was not content watching the miracle, but he wanted to experience it for himself. Even when he took his eyes off of Jesus, Peter was then helped up. It takes courage to step out onto unsteady ground to meet the son of God! That has been the thought that has sustained my family during the tough times.

I don’t know what you are wrestling with in your life, but take a chance, not on yourself but on Christ’s power in you. That takes great courage, but it also makes you his responsibility to keep safe. It’s out on the water where you no longer watch God work, but you get to be apart of it. I am not encouraging you to live recklessly, but to trust God to lead you into your destiny. That is living a Courageous Life! 

When creating the College Impact resource I did it with the greatest of intentions with hopes that God would use it to make a difference. The truth of the matter is, that no one really knows if the work they are doing will be well received. Especially, when you are doing something for the first time. That has been my experience.

So, I finished the book and trusted God with the rest. I was anticipating quick responses from the people who had received advanced copies and those who ordered it early, but that didn’t happen. Then I thought, ‘Well I will get feedback from my family because they love me’, to no avail. Then I thought, that since the book was quickly being purchased at my local church, sure my church would read it and nothing.

All I wanted was some feedback. Why, because I wrote it and thought it was good, necessary, and vital, but as a person who was barely literate until the 7^th grade you never know. So I waited, and waited and finally an adult from the church responded with, “I wished I’d had this as a student”. Then my siblings started reading it and they were complementary. That was a big boost.

More and more responses started coming in and I started to see that what I’d hoped for was happening. Students were connecting with the material and it was showing them how to make an impact on their campuses. It’s about what God wants to do through them, and they saw it. I even had one student say that he believed God wanted me to write the book for that purpose.

I am simply overwhelmed. I take it this is what all writers and musical artist experience when they put projects out their hoping that people actually embrace them. So, hearing the rave reviews on the book doesn’t change my resolve, but it is confirmation for what I trusted God to do. It’s encouraging, but now I must do all I can to continue to get the out to students and those who love them.