New Mexico Youth Evangelism Conference.

I don’t often use this blog location to solicit prayers for myself. I usually reserve it as a medium for reflection or stories that will offer some inspiration for us to live our lives more fully devoted to Christ and His gospel, or as a medium for sharing the everyday occurrences that remind me of the presence of God as our lives intersect His purposes and as He speaks to our hearts in the average, mundane things we often ignore.

But this prayer request I am sharing with you actually has quite alot to do with my blog. As you know, I love to write because I am a communicator, and the pen (or keypad) seems to be, for me, second only to standing face to face with a crowd, as my preferred means of communicating important ideas and thoughts.

Okay, so here is the request. This Tuesday I will be sending in the first draft or “mauscript” of my first “official” book with a publishing agency. I have written 3 books independently and sold about 35,000 copies, but this one is different because it will be available to the general public in bookstores and online. The working title is SURROUNDED BY THE SACRED. The thesis is exactly what I communicate on my blog and in our newsletters, that God is always near to us, speaking to our hearts and our minds if we are willing to listen and if we will train our hearts and eyes to hear and see. Many of the blog entries you have read from me are fruther explored in the book.

So as I travel to and from New Mexico for a conference I am speaking at this weekend, would you mind praying that I can meet my deadline, but more importantly, that the Holy Spirit would annoint the words I type? I have never been a fan of quantity. I want to create quality, a book that God can use, and that will hopefully outlive me.

In the weeks ahead, I will give you an idea of how things are going and ultimately, how you can get your hands on a copy, if you so desire.

I thank you for remembering me. Now if my laptop battery can just hold up for the next 3 hour flight, I will be in business.

Someone asked me about a year ago what was the most difficult thing I had ever learned in my life.

If someone asked you that question, what would you say?  I had a dozen things instantly pop into my head.  Here are a few of the hardest things I had ever learned:

1. How to study and work ahead in college instead of waiting to the last minute
2. How to take financial responsibility for a family
3. Learning to say NO to ministry opportunities to protect my health and my sanity
4. That the world does not revolve around me and what I want
5. That how I feel at any given moment is not the measure of absoulte truth
6. That how I feel at any given moment is likely to change at any given moment

But if I am being honest, the hardest thing I have ever learned, or should I say the hardest thing I am still learning, is simply how to love people.

I am very good at loving myself.  I am my own biggest fan and I am also the greatest object of my own affection.  So when things like marriage and children entered my life, I assumed I would just push on through it, and tough it out, you know like I used to do at football practice.  It would be hard, but I would get used to it and then it would just become second nature.

Nothing could have been further from the truth.  One wife, two children, and dozens of close friends later, I find that I still forget what I have already learned about loving people. 

I am trying to remind myself that LOVE has little to with emotional attachment and even less to do with romantic attraction or physical desire.  LOVE is putting another human being in front of me, serving them and suffering on their behalf with no expectaiton or recognition or return.  And that ain’t easy for me, brothers and sisters.  I love to be recognized and I need to be encouraged and noticed.  But that is not how Christ loved, and He is the perfect, supreme, flawless example of sacrificial love.  The people He loved abandoned Him in His time of loneliness and isolation.  He kept loving and still does.

I am still trying to love, and trying by His grace to initiate acts of love and service without being prompted and without expectation of thanks.  And this is not some glamorous thing, where every time I change a diaper or wash a load of clothes, someone cues a worship song by Chris Tomlin in the background and an epic soundrack begins, followed by Jesus smiling and angels hovering overhead.  Most of the time I miss the opportunity to love, because I am too busy doing something that I want to do, that needs to get done, that demands my attention, or in other words, I am too busy loving myself.

So there it is.  Learning to love is the hardest thing I ever did and am still doing.  I doubt it will ever get easier, but it will always be right.

Humor me here.

I admit that I am a crybaby. Especially when it comes to my children. The last 2 days have been, how do I say it, like a movie on Lifetime, without the murder and adultery.

Tuesday night was a milestone. My son Jacob, who turns 6 years old next week, became a man. At least he began his journey toward manhood. Okay, I am being melodramatic. But I am emotional right now.

I took my son to his very first football practice Tuesday night, and not European football (SOCCER), but real live American tackle football. Smashmouth football. Sprained ankles and bloody noses and grass clippings up your nose. I played football my entire life, and experienced the brand new emotions of taking my own flesh and blood to practice, the practice that could very well set him on a course that could either turn him out like me (waking up every morning with aches and pains in every joint) or that could lead him to super stardom playing on TV one day. I really just pray that he makes it to the pros, plays one year, and retires off his salary and signing bonus. As long as he makes enough to take care of his daddy in his old age, I am fine with it.

And then there was yesterday. YESTERDAY was horrible. Football practice was a time for celebration and adrenaline, testosterone and high fives with my boy! But YESTERDAY was nothing like that at all.

YESTERDAY I took my son to his first real day of school. He entered Kindergarten yesterday, and I videotaped the whole thing, from the parking lot, down the hall, into his room, taking off his backpack, meeting all his new friends, saying goodbye, and getting looked at by teachers and parents like a weirdo dad who could not let go.

Jacob was unfazed, unemotional, and happy. He walked in like he owned the place and immediately began talking to the other kids, telling them his name and all about his family and his favorite cartoons. He found a seat, sat down, struck up a conversation with a frightened looking little girl, all the while I stood back choking the tears down, swallowing hard, realizing this was much harder for me than for him.

When I picked him up he asked me if I could NOT pick him up or drop him off at school anymore. He wanted to ride the bus from now on. It was his first day of school, and he already wanted to ride the bus, evidently not wanting to be seen with dear old dad anymore.

Actually, the whole bus thing is indicative of my son’s personality. He has always embraced new things with zest. He fears very little and embraces new experiences. Things like that don’t faze him at all. Me, on th other hand….well, let’s not talk about me right now. I will be ok in a few weeks.

Letting go is not so hard if I can just keep telling myself that I am not actually letting go as much as I am empowering my son’s development into manhood and maturity. It is as much a spiritual lesson as it is an emotional one for me. His growing up is a sign of my getting older. I am not as young as I used to be. Neither is he.

So as a dad, I look back with love and fondness on earlier days while anxiously awaiting the man my boy will become. And my wife and I will be the greatest architects of that eventual man as we live the gospel in front of him, teaching him to care about people, tell the truth, give a firm handshake, work hard, obey his teachers, and hit hard on the field.

The lesson for me is embrace every season of change as a new opportunity for me to experience God’s grace, to see His presence at every stage, and to savor the moments that take my breath away, or cause me to cry like I’m sitting on Oprah’s couch.

This has been an unbelievable week.  On Sunday, I witnessed over 200 people begin relationship with Jesus at Newspring Church.  Then on Wednesday, I saw over 100 students repent of their sins and confess their faith in Christ at North Greenville University.  Then last night, the Word of God continued to speak, and the Holy Spirit continued to move.
 Over 3,000 students gathered in the outdoor ampitheater at Clemson University for the opening FCA meeting of the year.  And when I asked students to repent of their sins and put their faith in Jesus Christ, I could see about 50 students respond, but could see less than half the audience because of the lights.  Later, the leadership told me that at least 100 students had responded to the gospel, and at least 2 students personally told me they had no idea why they came, they were on their way to a bar when they just happened to hear the music and something drew them in.  
 What a miracle!  Salvation is God’s greatest gift, and it comes in knowing Jesus Christ, resurrected from the dead.
 But the thing I will never forget about last night was the conversation I had with a Clemson student after the sermon.  A young lady relayed her mother’s testimony to me, and I think you need to hear it, too.
Her mother has been in Wicca for over a decade.  She was a practicing witch who was about to go to the next level of training as a Wiccan high priestess.  But she told her daughter last Tuesday that she was walking away from Wicca and looking for truth.  She asked her daughter if she could go to church with her this past Sunday. Of course she said yes.
 Her daughter took her mom to Newspring on Sunday, and her mother, after 10 years in Wicca, stood to her feet to confess her sins and repent to God, receiving His forgiveness for her sins and beginning a relationship with Christ.  her mother is now a Christian, and she has indeed found the truth.
 The gospel is unstoppable.  God is unstoppable.  His Word is unstoppable.  People are getting saved from their sins, and witches are now worshipping Jesus.  What a day to be following Jesus!

For 21 years I have been preaching the gospel, and have seen God save thousands of people.  But this past Sunday will go down as one of the greatest in my life, as far as witnessing the power of the word of God and the gospel when it is preached and proclaimed. I am the Teaching Pastor at Newspring Church  in Anderson, SC.  I preach there when my good friend Perry    takes a break from the pulpit.  We have been friends since we were teenagers and he started Newspring less than 10 years ago.  It now runs 9,000 people in weekly attendance. It is one of my favorite places on earth to preach for many reasons.1.  They do everything with complete excellence2.  They treat visitors and guests with honor 3.  They believe in investing in children and youth ministries4.  They love the gospel and go after lost and unchurched people with God’s love This past Sunday, 217 people stood to their feet, with eyes open and lights on, confessing their sins in repentance and trusting Christ for their forgiveness and salvation.  Old people and teenagers were saved, as well some members of the Clemson football team.  (Coach Bowden brought the entire team and the coaching staff to church, and I had the honor to meet him personally.  I was impressed with his genuine humility and love for the Lord and his players). I continue to hear stories, mostly through emails, about how God saved people that had not been in church in years, or those that had given up on God altogether.  And I want to ask you to pray for all these new believers, that as they begin the journey of salvation, they would become mature disciples who serve God and His church. If you want to watch the sermon entitled “Are We Living In The Last Days?” or listen to it, it is available at www.newspring.cc 

I have been bitten, and bitten hard, and this is the first time it has happened to me, though the bug comes through once every four years.  I am talking about the Olympics.  I cannot quit watching.  We TiVo the competitions just incase we fall asleep before they are over, then watch them the next morning.  Even my two boys, who never want to do anything in the mornings except watch cartoons, hop in the bed at about 6 AM every day and and say, “Daddy, can we go in the den and watch the Olympics?”

There are a couple of reasons I have fallen in love with them this year.  First, I think that my age affords me the wisdom to appreciate what they are and what they stand for.  I could not understand the scope of these games when they were in Atlanta in 1996 and actually bragged that I did not watch a single minute of them.  I thought they were boring.

Secondly, I just spent nearly 2 weeks in Asia and many of the people I met were Chinese.  Going to a region and living there for some time has a long term effect on me; I always pay attention to anything that pertains to a place on earth where I have lived.  China has always fascinated me, now even more so.

Finally, it has made it much easier to watch this year because of some of the American athletes.  Last night, the American girls gymnastics dominated, taking gold and silver.   But it is none other that Michael Phelps, that freak of nature and discipline with the vampire teeth and fish-like swimming ability, that has brought the Olympics to life for me.  The man is just not normal.

I find myself rewinding it over and over just to watch how much better he is than every other swimmer there.  And I keep thinking of the other greatest competitors in sports history; Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Carl Lewis, and Greg Louganis. And I am afraid that it is easy for spectators like myself and maybe even you, to look at an historical athlete like Michael Phelps (now considered the greatest Olympic athlete in history because of his record number of gold medals) and assume that he just has natural talent, that he is predispostioned genetically and physically to be a great swimmer, that he just shows up at the Olympics, hops in the pool and slays everybody.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

To become the greatest swimmer and the greatest Olympic athlete in history, Phelps pays a serious price.  His life consists of eating, sleeping and swimming, and that is all.  This monster eats 10,000 calories a day and works it all off in the pool.  His coach pushes him to the point of complete exhaustion, when he cannot go any further, then he pushes him more to see what kind of muscle and energy reserves he has.  This constant regiment of training, being pushed to the point weakness and collapse and continuing, has given him a stamina and endurance that has simply enhanced whatever natural ability he was born with.

The spiritual lessons simply jump off the screen at me every time I watch Phelps take another gold medal.  In ministry, I meet so many people who are lazy and apathetic.  Granted, they are not the rule, but the exception, but some seem to want a successful ministry, a large congregation, a gigantic salary, a loyal staff, book deals and a mega-church as their first pastorate.  They want a giant record deal and sold out concerts at stadiums.  They want to copy the “success” of other ministers, bands or churches, but they are unwilling to pay the price.  Maybe they sleep late or stay up too late, maybe they download sermons from sermons.com instead of digging into the word for their own messages, or maybe they just spend their days reading a thousand blogs and reading a dozen books on church planting, instead of paying the price and getting out into the community, meeting people and investing time in the lives of humans.

I get this often.  Young men want to know how Crossroads became so big or successful, or how I got the preaching opportinities I have.  I am always honored to help encourage and mentor young ministers, and the first thing I always tell them is that I have been doing this for 21 years.  Two decades!  If all they are looking for are the 3 secrets to ministry success or a network to plug into for speaking gigs, then I am the wrong guy to talk to.  There is no such thing as a shortcut or a fast track, and even the churches or ministries that may seem to gain “quick success” have always paid a price over the years before they gained regional or national recognition.

Books and blogs are great (you are reading one right now).  But I never have to break a sweat if all I do is read, memorize, and try to copy what soemone else has already done.  It is not just good DNA that makes us “successful” as Christians and ministers.  It is paying the daily price of saying NO to all the other distractions that fight for our attentions and affections, and saying yes to the disciplines; prayer, the word, accountability, community, generosity, forgiveness, and kindness.

One parting thought…is success even really the goal?  What is success anyway?  Today’s successful evangelist can be tomorrow’s washed up, divorced has-been.  The goal, if you ask me, is faithfulness.  To my wife, my kids, and my God.  Michael Phelps is a success because Michael Phelps has been faithful.  Faithfulness is the means to an end, and Jesus Christ is the end.

So let’s quit wishing we could be as good or big or successful as the minister, pastor, or athlete that we love to watch, and let’s be the best, most faithful person we can be, remembering that in order to be that person, we mut pay the price daily, and our faithfulness will pay off, not in gold medals, but in crowns we can one day lay at the feet of Jesus.

My apologies for not posting in a few days.  Jet lag is a beast, especially when you fly across 12 time zones.

So you know how lit up I am about our recent trip to Malaysia, and there are so many stories worth sharing, but this one deserves the top spot.  It is about a new brother in Christ who repented of his sins and exercised faith in the gospel during our trip.  His nickname is Richie and he just began a relationship with the Living God!

I met him one evening after I spoke at the conference for university students.  He immediately struck me as being extremely intelligent.  He began asking honest questions about my message, about the basics of Christianity, and the claims of Christ and of scripture.  He informed me that he was  Hindu, but that he was also a free thinker, something that most university students adhere to in Malaysia.  We spent a little less than an hour talking about how all religions may contain elements of the truth, but they cannot all possibly be true because they contradict one another on multiple levels.  Hinduism, I told him, believed in a multitude of Gods, none of which love people and none of which died to save people from their sins.  Orthodox Christianity claims there is but one God, and Jesus was that God come in the flesh to this world in love to deal once and for all with our sin on the cross.

He listened intently but gave no indication he was ready to go any further.  I walked away thankful for the chance to share but not expecting to see any sort of immediate fruit from the conversation.  Man, was I surprised!

The next message I preached was a simple Biblical and apologetic sermon on the person of Christ and His death and resurrection for our salvation and the atonement of sins.  I gave an invitation (something many people cringe at, especially beyond American Evangelical borders) and 33 students indicated that they had prayed to receive Christ.  Richie was one of them.  I walked to the very back row where he was seated and he told me that he knew he was supposed to convert to faith in Christ, because he knew it was true.  He said he felt hot all over his body, his heart was beating fast, and all he wanted to do was cry.  We prayed and he shared his decision with a campus minister that had been sharing with him for some time.

Two days later, Richie was spending some time with our group while we were walking around town, and he asked me if he could share the rest of his testimony with me.  I tried to write it down verbatim.  Here it is, with his permission.

“Clayton, I had been hearing about Jesus for sometime, and was confused about so many things, then I went to church with my friend.  After church, I kept thinking about the words and about Jesus, but did not want to leave my tradition.  But a few nights later, in my sleep, Jesus appeared to me in a dream.  He did not say any words, He just stood there looking at me and smiling.  I felt great calm and peace, and I knew that He loved me in my dream.  When you asked us to put all our faith in Him, I felt that same calm come over me, and I knew it was time for me to submit to Him.  Now I am a Christian and I love Jesus, too.”

I really don’t think that testimony needs much explanation or commentary from me.  God is already in all the places where we pray the gospel will spread, and we get the joy of being those who carry it to this world.  Glory to God for Jesus, Who is still alive and still calling people to Himself!

Kuala Lumpur – The Crossroads of The Planet

Traveling is a part of my life, and has been for the past 2 decades.  It is actually more accurate to say that traveling is my life, not just part of it, because my calling requires that I spend a great deal of time in places that are not my home.  This current trip to Malaysia is a landmark of sorts for me…as of last week when we landed here, I have now traveled in 30 different countries, with South Korea being #29 (a brief stay in the Seoul airport) and Malaysia clocking in at #30.  I have a feeling that I will break 50 before I turn 40.

Nonetheless, this has been a surprising trip in many ways.  The last several trips I have made to the Asian continent have been fruitful, but in a different way than this trip.  We have seen numerous conversions to faith in Christ by people of other religions here (more on that in the next blog).  But the real surprise has been this country itself, and more specifically, the city of Kuala Lumpur.

At the risk of overstating my conclusion, having been here a week now, I want to suggest that not only is the country of Malaysia the NEW CROSSROADS of the planet, but that the capital, it’s largest city of Kuala Lumpur, is the most strategic city ON EARTH to reach a generation of young men and women for the gospel.  This kind of statement requires “some explaining” so let me do so.

1. Malaysia lies geographically in an almost perfect location.  It is an Asian country close to China, Thailand, the Koreas, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, and not that far from Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific.  You can get to Malaysia easily from almost anywhere in the East.
2. Malaysia just celebrated 50 years as an independent nation and has miraculously transformed into one of the most vibrant economies in Asia.  It boasts the world’s tallest buildings (the Twin Towers of Kuala Lumpur) and possibly the world’s greatest religious freedom for a majority Muslim country (between 55-60% Islamic). 
3. It is a literal cultural stew.  The Chinese love Malaysia and form the largest minority, along with Africans, Europeans, Indians, and North Americans.  They are lured here by the economy, stability, infrastructure, and education.
4. Over 650,000 college students live in Malaysia, and they are among the brightest on earth.  I have personally met students from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the Sudan, China, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Thailand, and Libya.  Since 9/11, it has become almost impossible for international students from Islamic countries to get student Visas to study in America and it has become more difficult for students from those nations that have historically send us their brightest young minds.  Malaysia has taken over as the educational destination of choice worldwide.
5. A majority of the students live in Kuala Lumpur.  A majority of the tourists who visit Malaysia stay in the city.  The financial and political power structures are in KL (as it is called by the locals).  And EVERYONE here speaks a common language…ENGLISH.  There are vibrant evangelical churches in the city.  And everyone, even of other faiths, takes pride in being open minded and tolerant of other faiths (a statement that sounds troublesome to believers in the States sounds wonderfully inviting here in South Asia because it conveys an openness to the gospel, or at least conversations that might lead to the gospel).

I really do believe that if we want to reach the men and women that will be making political policies for their governments, discovering new medical breakthroughs, engineering the world’s buildings and bridges and nuclear power plants, driving the world’s future economies, and trailblazing technological and biomedical research, then we can do it by reaching them while they are in University in Malaysia.  They are here!!!  By the hundreds of thousands, and they are polite, intelligent, and honestly seeking truth with open minds.  The world is pouring into Kuala Lumpur, so if you want to reach the world with the gospel, this would be the most logical place to start, and you can start by praying for it.

I am personally praying about our involvement here with Crossroads, and I believe that this will be a place we will come back to over and over again in the years to come.  So pray for the nations that have sent their brightest students to Malaysia, and pray that while they are here, they will come face to face with the love of Jesus Christ and take that love with them wherever they go when they leave this wonderful place.