Allow me to get straight to the point void of flowery banter or introduction.

Part of what plagues the evangelical church is found sitting squarely on the shoulders of it’s leadership; pastors, preachers, teachers, authors, and and personalities. I willfully include myself in this august group.

I don’t hate Christian TV, it can be a wonderful tool. I actually preached on TBN a few years ago and it was a tremendous opportunity to communicate the gospel to millions of people worldwide. But I was reminded recently as I viewed another joker raising money by selling religious nick-nacks and what-nots on a local religious station that after a 30 minute rant, this rascal had said absolutely nothing about Jesus, His gospel or His Kingdom. And I had sat there like a hypnotized lab-rat wasting a half-hour of my life I could never win back.

And isn’t that a tangible temptation for those of us who preach and teach the gospel? That we become wrapped up in something else; politics or gay marriage or the environment or Obama or “Crucifying The Clintons” or abortion or the newest issue on FOX News or CNN. We are so adept at finding 1,000 ways to say nothing at all.

There is no excuse to avoid controversial issues, for these are the very battlegrounds upon which thousands of future corpses will potentially lie (consider over 44 million aborted children since the year I was born, 1972). But the reason why I have an opinion about the environment (we must protect it because God gave us dominion and stewardship over the earth) is because of the gospel. The reason why I have an opinion on nuclear weapons (I wish there were a realistic way to get rid of all of them, in every country and every terrorist’s suitcase) is because of the gospel. Logic would dictate that the world be better off (in a perfect world) without the ability of the human race to kill every last one of itself, leaving some people on earth to whom the gospel could be proclaimed.

My point? For crying out loud, people, let’s say something with substance! Let’s anchor every conviction, every sermon, every point, every conversation, and every flag-waving bandwagon we jump on in THE GOSPEL OF THE RESURRECTED SON OF GOD.

As W.A. Criswell is reported to have said…”If there were more preaching against sin from the pulpit, there would be less sin in the pew.” If given a platform to speak a word to a crowd of people, large or small, God forbid that I dilly-dally around with absurdities. If we have something to say worth saying, then may we say it clearly, deliberately, and without apology. If we have nothing to say, then let’s quit talking and wasting everyone’s time.

**We interrupt the current blog series (hey, I am only one post into “The Plague” so no big whoop) to bring you a nostalgiac reflection**

Things slip up on me as I have officially entered my mid-thirties (35 if you are curious). I was eating lunch with a friend today who had asked me how long I had been preaching. And as I began to answer that simple question by telling him the date of my first sermon, I asked myself out loud, “What is today’s date, anyway?” And when I glanced at my watch, I realized that it was exactly 21 years ago today that I preached my very first sermon at Crossroads Baptist Church in Simpsonville, SC. What a day that was.

I had only been saved a few months and I already felt like God had put a desire in my heart to preach the gospel and tell the world what Jesus had done to me, in me and for me. So when youth day began approaching and I realized another student in the youth group named Greg Miller was preaching the Sunday morning service, I asked my pastor if I could preach the Sunday night service. I don’t recall running the idea by anyone, I just figured if Pastor Skinner would let Greg preach, he would let me preach, too, though Greg was 2 years older than me.

So at age 14, I began preparing my first sermon. I made a few notes and read a few commentaries, but I mostly just read tons of scripture passages and memorized a slew of verses. And do you wanna know what the title of my first sermon was?

HELL.

Pretty simple and to the point. I practiced my sermon on our farm, and no kidding, I preached it at least 3 times in the barn staring at bales of hay pretending they were church members. I was a wee bit nervous, but no more than the pre-game jitters I had felt before a basketball game. And right before the service began, I remember feeling an incredible, tangible peace overwhelm me. I felt CONFIDENCE. And it was not confidence in myself, but in the sufficiency of the Word of God to speak and the Holy Spirit of God to translate the Word through my words to the people.

A few years ago my papa died. He was 78, a WWII veteran and a Cherokee Indian. My mother and I were cleaning out his house after his death and were going through his old country and bluegrass cassettes and records. Believe it or not, I found an original cassette copy of that first sermon that I preached 21 years ago today. I played it on the drive home and laughed a lot, and cried a little bit, when I realized that Jesus has only gotten better since that day, preaching has become even more fun, the Kingdom has advanced much in the past 2 decades, and in many ways I am still that slightly frightened little boy who has no idea on earth what he is doing.

The more I think about it, the more I realize the paradox. So much has changed, the world is a different place, we have iPods and the internet and Al Queda. But much has remained the same. People are still broken, the world needs Jesus, and God still uses willing vessels, no matter how green they are or how horrible their sermon titles might be.

Here’s to hoping I have at least 21 more in me.

I see a plague on the Christian subculture of America, particularly on those between ages 16-35 (my own demographic). It plays out like this…

A believer feels the presence of God in a big gathering or woship service. The music was loud, the lights were cool, the songs built to a crescendo and brought the believer to a point of epic emotional catharsis. The sermon was relevant and solid with a good mix of theology, application, and stories. The Christian left the rally/church service/youth camp/conference feeling like they had made a fresh decision to really live for The Lord. They were inspired and perhaps even convicted. Some would call this re-dedication.

A few hours after the event, the adrenaline leaves the system and the emotion fades into the gray folds and tucks of the brain’s corpus colloscum. The next morning, to the dismay of the believer, life continues on much as it has for his or her entire life; the alarm goes off, school and work await, traffic is bad, people on the highway are rude. By the time the day is done, it has been no different than any other, inspite of the fact that just hours ago, this Christian had the most unblievable experience at church/bible study/singles worship service.

Why is this the norm (because it really seems to be)? I have asked myself this question thousands of times (no exaggeration) and have come to one simple conclusion.

SPIRITUAL IMMATURITY. Much like my middle school romances, the Christian life of so many believers is up and down, hot and cold, on and off. Re-dedication becomes the pill that cures all sin and guilt and our lack of consistency is a direct reflection of a lack of maturity. We treat the Son of God like an old boyfriend or girlfriend that we can call up when we are lonely, make us feel good for a little while, then we move on without any substantive change or growth, and no real commitment.

A real relationship exemplifies maturity; sticking with a person regardless of how you feel, regardless of difficulty or inconvenience, regardless of the hard work exerted with little to show for it in the short-term. True faith plays out in a dirty, crooked world filled with criminals and loonatics. It plays out in how we treat our wives, how we talk to our children, and how we react to someone when we know they are lying to our face, but because we know Jesus, we are expected to return evil with good.

So for the next few days (more or less) I will be reflecting on what I call THE PLAGUE. But it will not be all bad, because I like to be a candle-lighter and not just a dark-curser.

Good-bye, Road Warrior Series. I have reached that point, where my inspiration has moved to a new place and I have said all that I want to say, for now, about life on the road. (I was also afraid that you might think I stole the idea from the new book called “Road Warrior” by Steve Arterburn, when in fact, I did not even know it was a book until I saw it in the airport Monday night).

Since I began this Christian journey 21 years ago, I have slowly noticed how God makes His presence evident to me in clear and unmistakable ways, often times when I least expect it or when I’m looking in the opposite direction. In college and seminary, I was further challenged to hone the discipline of “theological reflection.” In this discipline I simply train my eyes, my ears, my head and my heart to notice, in the everyday occurences and conversations of my life, threads of God’s reality and the gospel. And like training the body to run long distances in a marathon, my heart and my mind have become, over the years, trained to look for these glimpses of The Divine. I see that I am surrounded by the sacred.

Just a few days ago I was on the phone with an old friend and he was letting me know about an acquaintance in ministry, whom we both knew, who had just been caught red-handed in an affair with another woman. The man’s minsitry was shot, his kids devastated, his wife suicidal, and his church destroyed. It was a soul-sucking conversation to have, and it seems like I have them more often now than ever before.

We live in the middle of nowhwere. No high speed internet, sketchy cell coverage. To get to our house I must pass miles of soy bean fields and pastures, old farm houses, cows, horses, and the occasional wild deer or turkey. So I was on the phone listening to the gut-wrenching story of another man of God who stepped out of bounds when I saw something I had seen dozens of times before. But not like this.

It was a horse eating grass. Big whoop. He had his head stuck between the strands of a barbed wire fence and was stretching it to the point of breaking it. But what made this time different was that my senses were keenly aware of the striking symbolism due to the conversation I was having. This horse had plenty of green grass INSIDE THE FENCE. It was no different than what he was feasting on through the barbed wire. Same grass, different location. And the old phrase was there in front of me…”the grass is always greener on the other side.”

How utterly stupid it was of my ministry colleague to venture outside of the restraints and safety of marriage and actually believe it would better than what he already had! Just like that dumb horse straining and pushing through the pain of sharp metal barbs poking through his skin, his animal desire to have something off limits took over. I literally pulled off the road to watch this horse eat while thinking about the agony of a family and a church community because one man could not be satisfied with his own wife.

It could happen to me. And you. Only by God’s grace have we not disqualified ourselves with some stupid lust or demonic desire. So as you drive around this weekend, ask God to open your eyes and quicken your heart. You will be surprised how many sacred things surround you and how God will speak to you if you will listen.

The Apostle Paul had one over-arching goal; one prize for which he labored.  At the end of his life, possibly under house arrest in Rome, he said that he was ready to die.  He said that he was ready to receive the prize for which he had been working.  His prize was Jesus Christ Himself.  But up until the point twhen he would ultimately meet Jesus (which we have not yet heard Paul speak of, but I anxiously await hearing about once I get to meet him), it was people, changed lives, the church, and the salvation of his sisters and brothers that made it all worth while.

This past Sunday at Newspring, I preached a message called “Whatever It Takes” from Mark 2.  It centered around a need for urgency in ministry as we share the gospel, practice personal evangelism, and make efforts to get our friends close to Jesus like the friends who carried their crippled companion to Christ.  After preaching 4 straight sermons Sunday and catching an early flight the next morning, I was forced to ask myself, like I have so many other times…”Is it worth it?”

The answer is YES.  A million times yes.  It is worth it all, and there are so many reasons why.  But Sunday, I shared a story at the end of my message about a guy that I led to faith in Christ in high school named Buck.  I will not tell you the story here because you can watch it or listen to it for free here  http://newspring.cc/226312.ihtml?ResourceID=1258

After seeing 2,000 people give “Buck” a standing ovation Sunday and getting to see him again after all these years, I know now, more than ever, that it is worth it all.

I haven’t posted in a few days for 2 reasons.
1. I wanted to leave my comments up about UNLEASH at Newspring as an encouragement for those that were there and in hopes that anyone who missed it will be there next year
2. I have not had time. Really.

As I prepare to wrap up the Road Warrior series, let me reflect on the past 5 days. There is no way I could give you anymore accurate picture of what life on the road is like than this.

THURSDAY
Up at 5 AM, unable to sleep, I got ready in the dark because the rest of my family is normal and they sleep at night. I did not want to wake them up. I attended UNLEASH all day long, seeing old friends and supporting Perry and Newspring. I left the conference a few minutes early so I could drop by and surprise my parents for supper. They are aging and sick and my daddy has total kidney failure. He is on dialysis every other day. Time with them is precious. I fell asleep on the couch at 8 PM on my 4th attempt to watch “Pirates of The Carribbean: At World’s End.”

FRIDAY
Awake at 4:37 AM, shower and dress in the dark so as not to wake up Charie. On the road by 6:30 AM, I drove several hours to Spruce Pine and Crossnore, NC. I spoke 4 times to 4 public school assemblies; 2 of them middle school and 2 of them high school (over 3,000 students in one day). Got lost on the way home in the pouring rain, but made it in time for supper with my family. I gave the boys a bath after 45 minutes of ‘rassling with them in the floor, and fell asleep on the couch by 9 PM while “Pirates of The Carribbean: At World’s End” played for the 5th time in the background as I snored.

SATURDAY
Wash clothes and pack for the next 3 days. I took my oldest son with me back to Spruce Pine for the Ignite Youth Outreach. Over 2,500 students and adults came to the event with 104 salvations. Jacob and I drove back home, in more rain, and pulled in the driveway at midnight on the dot. He had long been asleep in the back. Crawled into bed about 12:30 AM.

SUNDAY
Up at 5:45 AM and on the road by 7 AM for the 90 minute drive to Newspring. I preached 4 back to back to back to back sermons to approximately 8,000 people with a short break in the middle to watch Clemson lose to Carolina. Left Newspring at 8:15 PM and drove to Charlotte, NC to spend the night with a buddy, Nathan Smith, who lives close to the airport. In bed by 11:30 PM.

MONDAY
Up at 5:30 AM to be at the airport by 6 for a 7 AM flight through Memphis to Tupelo, MS. Landed in Tupelo at 11 AM, spoke to 4,000 students at the state Beta Club Convention at 3 PM. Caught a 5:15 PM flight out of Tupelo, through Memphis, landed in Charlotte at 10:15 and was home around midnight, in the bed by 1 AM.

From Friday to Monday, I had spoken 10 times to over 20,000 people, driven over 1,000 miles, flown over 2,000 miles, and experienced enough adrenaline to keep me awake til 2016. But as of today, I have 12 days off, at home, with no speaking or preachng engagements til the end of the month. The Road Warrior will be watching cartoons, making lunches, driving the boys to school in the mini-van, and going on some dates with my wife. Work hard, play often, rest well. I cannot believe I get to do this for a living!

I have just had one of the greatest days of my life. And that is no embellishment.

One of the greatest joys I have as a Road Warrior is that I get to develop friendships with great people all over the country, and in 21 years, I have developed more than a few. Today, it was almost like someone planned a big party and invited a majority of old friends, people I have known and preached for and served, to come and party with me. I just pulled in the driveway from UNLEASH. It is a pastor’s/church planting conference put on by Newspring Church, the church where I serve as teaching pastor and where my good friend and accountability partner Perry Noble serves as pastor.

The band was tighter than my dad’s checking account. The food was delicious, the coffee was strong, the weather was perfect, the atmosphere was electric (boogie woogie woogie woo), the teaching was terrific, the preaching was phenomenal, and the event was second to none. Kudos to the team and volunteers and Newspring for exceeding anyones expectations and doing everything with excellence.

For me, the most meaningful part of the day was seeing old friends and knowing the reason they came. I had a chance to talk with Jay Hardwick, a younger brother (than me) who I have admired for years. We shared meals at the Waffle House and some good times at North Greenville University. I got to see Howard Allen, one of the very first pastors to believe in me. He allowed me to preach a revival at his church in Blacksburg SC when I was 17 years old. I got to see Lee Clamp, one of the best youth ministers in America, as well as about 18 other pastors and youth pastors that have entrusted me to preach in their churches, to their students or their adults, over the past 2 decades.

I sat beside Ray Hardee for a session, a man who mentored me in college and never once said a negative word to me about anyone. I had a chance to see Steven Furtick for a few minutes. First time I ever met him, I knew he was nuts and he was annointed. I am so proud of how God is using him in Charlotte and honored that he worked with us at Crossroads for 3 years before he planted Elevation.

But what brought me to tears, for real, was seeing my accountability partner and friend stand up on the stage and adress pastors, volunteers, church planters, and lay people, encouraging them not to copy any other church or model but to simply do what God has called them to do. Nearly a decade ago, before Newspring was running 9,000 people a week, it was a small Bible study that met with 12 people in Sullivan Hall on Anderson College’s campus. Nobody had any idea what it would become.

Today, 2,000 plus people came to Anderson SC because my friend had a vision and he stuck to it. Perry Noble and I became friends in 1990 when we were nobodies and had nothing to offer. We are still nobodies with nothing to offer, but by God’s grace, we have remained faithful to His calling. And God has given Perry a platform because he has been faithful and he has preached the gospel. I was overcome by joy and happiness today, seeing old friends, reconnecting with brothers and sisters I have not seen in years, and rejoicing in how God has used a guy that I have known and loved for a decade to change a city and a region for the gospel. May God give us the satisfaction of seeing our friends succeed, bear fruit, build the kingdom, and may we rejoice in their blessing and annointing for the glory of God.

Life on the road does take a toll.  It drains me physically and emotionally, but it also takes alot out of me spiritually.  And I cannot replenish on my own.

I guess what I need to say, clearly and deliberately, is that there is no substitution for the local church.  NONE.  What I do as an evangelist and what Crossroads does as a para-church ministry all exist to serve the local church.  Unfortunately, Road Warriors have gotten a bad rep because a few self-proclaimed evangelists have taken advantage of local churches, stolen money, slept around, embezzled funds, misused their authority, lied about where their love offerings go, and just plain creeped people out.  I believe most of these steroetypical problems associated with evangelists and Road Warriors could be avoided if they were connected to and accountable to a local community of believers.

My family is plugged in at Broad River Community Church.  We are about 2 years old and we meet in an elementary school in Boiling Springs, NC.  Even though I travel, I am there about 1 out of 4 Sundays with my family.  But we are not the kind of church that makes everything about Sunday.  We are a real live, authentic community.  We eat and work together, we spend time together outside of the Sunday event, and every Sunday after church, the entire body eats a meal together.  In the elementary school cafeteria in little bitty chairs and tables.  Our pastor believes that one of the ways to teach people about coming to corporate worship with an attitude of worship and sacrifice is to give them the chance to actually prepare something tangible to bring with them, to the table, so that in the breaking of bread we grow to know and love one another weekly.

My church provides for me a place to worship, tithe, give, build community and be instructed and taught the scriptures.  Matt Orth is my pastor and we have been in ministry together for 9 years.  I gladly submit myself to his spiritual leadership at our church.  This also provides for me a source of accountability.  I assure you that the men in leadership at Broad River love me; they love me enough to be honest and tell me if they ever had a discernment or a caution that I needed to heed.

I cherish my church.  This is the community where Charie and I have chosen to raise our kids, invest our time and money, and serve.  It keeps me grounded to see people on Sundays and throughout the week that respect me, but are not so impressed with me that they place me on a pedastal.  And it gives The Road Warrior the roots he needs to bear fruit on the road.

This series has been so much fun for me, especially the kinds of questions it has generated from my readers. One of the questions I get often, not just on this blog but also when I meet people, is, “How did you get started doing this?”

I ordered a Tony Robbins motivational self-help video, and the rest is history.

Ahh, a joke. Seriously, it is a story of God’s grace and nothing else. I am an evangelist, and I travel the world proclaiming the gospel. This takes me away from home, my community, my precious boys and my lovely wife, several hundred days a year. No man in his right mind would CHOOSE this career. How did I get started? In a word….GOD.

I do not come from a long line of preachers. Nobody on either side of my family has ever been in ministry. It never occurred to me growing up that I would preach one day. My plans were to play college football, get drafted in the pros, play one year for the Dallas Cowboys, and retire on my signing bonus a year’s salary. But instead, at age 14, a radical covergence of events altered the trajectory of my life.

In short, the night that I repented of my sins and was converted to faith in Christ was the night that God laid both His hands on me, calling me to preach. I was at the altar at a youth rally with a ton of other teenagers, and I was praying “the sinners prayer” for real for the first time (I had prayed it dozens of times before but never meant it or udnerstood it). And while I was praying, I looked up and saw the preacher’s shoes at eye level. And I was reminded of the passage in Romans where it says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news.” It was at that very moment I “got my start” because that was the moment that God not only called me to His salvation, but also to His kingdom work.

A series of events took place that laid the foundation for what is now Crossroads Worldwide and my preaching ministry. I asked my principal at Shannon Forest Christian School if I could preach in a chapel service and I asked my pastor if I could preach on a Sunday night at Crossroads Baptist Church. They both said yes, and I preached. Word began to travel around our area (Greenville, SC) that a 14 year old kid was preaching. Several other pastors invited me to preach for them, some of them out of curiosity, others for the novelty of it, and others as an act of kindness to a young man that they believed in. Then I sort of began a preaching circuit of churches in the upstate of SC, not to mention getting involved in a prison ministry at age 14 where I was weekly teaching inmates the scriptures. This experience, being exposed to the stories and testimonies of murderers, rapists, and criminals, seasoned me at a young age. God gave me a discernment since many of them saw a great opprtunity to manipulate and use a boy my age. God protected me in those years, and taught me volumes about His grace, humanity’s depravity, and what He could do with a willing heart.

By age 17, I was preaching 3 times a week, sometimes 5 or 6. Youth rallies and conferences and youth groups and Bible studies…I did not care how far I had to drive and never asked for a dime. Then during my Junior year of high school, I was elected as National Beta Club Secretary. This opened up vast opportunities for me to travel to state Beta conventions around the nation, speaking at secular events, public school assemblies, and non-religious events. I would meet people, make connections, get invitations, fly all over the country, and preach. I was the happiest teenager on earth, because I still got to play high school football and preach.

When I went to college, the doors continued to open. I began to travel internationally, make new friends, get bigger and better opportunities, and watch God work. Now at age 35, it seems like a dream come true.

So what is the secret? Here it is plain and simple. I HAVE PREACHED THE GOSPEL FAITHFULLY FOR 21 YEARS. That is it. I never marketed myself, never self-promoted, I just tried to preach the simple message of the cross. There is alot to be said for sticking with something for 21 years. It is all by His grace. I could have never done this, I would have never chosen this life or this career. And I know that everyone’s story is different, especially us ROAD WARRIORS, but this is how I got started. And I am just warming up.