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.

I simply don’t have time right now to tell you everything that I need to share, but with honesty I can say that I never dreamed this trip would turn out like it has.  One word…INCREDIBLE!

We have seen over 60 people convert to faith in Christ, and trust me when I say when someone here says they are a Christian, they have thought about it, considered the consequences, and decided that Jesus is worth whatever price they may have to pay for their confession of faith.  We have shared the gospel with students from Kenya, Libya, Nigeria, China, Indonesia, Thailand, and Iran.  The students that have made professions of faith literally have the opportunity to change nations for the gospel.

The conference I spoke at was for university students all over the city of Kuala Lumpur as well as the entire nation of Malaysia and Singapore.  Our conference led up to the Passion World Tour that was held last night in the big city.  Over 4,000 students gathered last night to worship and hear a great message about the movement of God in our world among young people.  I also had the honor to spend some time with Charlie Hall, Louie Giglio, and Chris Tomlin before Passion last night.  They were 3 of the most gracious and humble men I have ever met.

When I have more time, I intend to write about all of the amazing things we have seen over here.  (Actually, I have already written the posts during my all-nighters in the hotel lobby unable to sleep with jet lag).  Until then, pray for our safe return home later this week.

This summer, I preached a message on the parable of the Good Samaritan (which in itself is an oxymoron, because Samaritans could not be good, at all, in the eyes of the Jews.  They were the lowest kind of people, despised as half-breeds and trash).  And there was one point I made in the sermon that keeps rearing its ugly head at me.
 It is a good idea for preachers to listen to their own sermons, and also to apply what they tell others to be doing.  This is commonly known as “practicing what you preach.”  It seems like the Holy Spirit is relentlessly bringing back my own words to me until I begin to practice them.  Here they are, again.
 ACTION IS THE CURE FOR APATHY.
 All summer long I preached this.  The Samaritan was the opposite of the priest and the Levite who ignored the man bleeding and dying in the ditch.  They passed him by with little more than a glance, but the Samaritan took action.  He did not assume someone else would rescue the foolhearty traveler.  He adjusted his agenda to the current need.
 We are an apathetic nation filled with lazy people.  We are fat, out of shape, prone to complaining, filled with rage that spills over on the interstates, and opinionated on the most absurd and unimportant issues.  We, as a whole, cannot keep the promises we make, whether it be to our spouse or the bank that holds the mortgage to our home.  We can’t say no to impulsive spending, we can’t pay off our credit cards, and we don’t know our neighbors because we are too busy working to pay off stuff we don’t need, or we are too consumed with surfing the web or playing video games to walk across the street an ask our neighbors the names of their children.
 We are apathetic, and we blame everyone but us: Democrats, Republicans, Bush, Clinton, Homosexuals, Abortionists, Evolutionists, the traditional church, the emergent church, Elvis, rap music and China.  We want shortcuts to everything, so we waste years trying to save minutes.
 I rant and rave, but what is the cure?  ACTION is the cure.  We have to move.  We have to forget about what we want; not just once, but daily, and not just daily, but dozens of times a day.  It is not easy to kill our apathy.  It really is like murdering someone: YOURSELF!
 So we need to follow the example of the Good Samaritan.  He was under no obligation to help the beaten and bloody traveler, not by law or conviction.  But when he saw a need, he took action.  You and I cannot remain lazy and apathetic when we are on the move for others.  When we busy ourselves with the things on God’s agenda (serving the poor, helping the least of these, putting our children, our husband, our wife first), then apathy dies quickly.
 So in Jesus name, turn off your TV, put your iPod away, leave the internet and text messaging for later, and have a conversation with a human.  Chances are they have a need, you can meet it, and in the process your action will kill your apathy before your apathy kills you.

“Praise to The Lord, The Almighty, The King of creation,Oh, my soul praise Him for He is my help and salvation!”
The lyrics to this old hymn rightly describe how we all feel at Crossroads today.  We wrapped up camp yesterday, and because of God’s grace and the prayers of friends and supporters like you, it was, without a doubt, the best summer camp we have ever held.  Here a few highlights…
*Over 200 students responded to the gospel, repenting of their sins and trusting Christ as their Savior*Roughly 250 students surrendered to ministry, indicating they felt the call of God for Kingdom work*Over $30,000 was given by students to missions around the world, specifically in India*2,800 students, adults, staff, teachers, preachers, and musicians made this a phenomenal summer for Christ Crossroads Summer camps began in 1996, and it was essentially me running the show with help from some college friends.  I answered all the phone calls, made copies of registration forms at a local gas station, and not only preached every service, but also led worship with my 2 bands, Monogamous Fish or Adam’s Housecat.  Now, with the help of Matt Orth, Jeremy Berger, Jeff and Brittney Becker, and Justin Brock, all I have to do is preach and build relationships with kids and youth pastors during camp.  It is such a joy to be a part of such a healthy ministry, and an even greater joy to see people moved by God’s spirit, and to see them respond to His voice when He speaks.  I have the best job in the world.  I can’t believe I get to do this! 
The next big Crossroads event that we need you to pray for is our Crossroads Winter Conferences (one for students and one for college/young adults).Gatlinburg, TNJanuary 16-19, 2009Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday WeekendThis will be our 11th year, so plan to join us that weekend and bring as many people with you as you can squeeze into your vehicle.
If you are interested in going on one of our India trips this December, applications are available online, but hurry because the trips are filling up.www.crossroadsworldwide.com
And finally, pray for me, my wife Charie, Brent Sears and Justin Brock as we leave early Monday morning for Malaysia.  I will be speaking in some churches, teaching at a large student conference, and hopefully visiting the tallest building in the world in Kuala Lumpur (I shall not attempt to skydive from said building).  I hope to be able to blog while we are on the trip, I am sure there will be much to share!

No matter how long I live or how many late nights I have to endure, I will never get tired of seeing tenagers respond to the gospel.

Sunday night at our Crossroads camps, around 60 students responded to the gospel by putting their faith in Jesus and beginning a lifelong journey of salvation.  Then last night in Chattanooga, TN, nearly 100 more students stood to their feet in front of over 1,000 of their friends and peers, and with all the lights on and all eyes open and no soft music playing in the background, they confessed their sin and trusted Christ for their salvation and redemption.

After 21 years doing this, I love it more today than any other day.  I am more humbled now that I get the honor to preach the riches of God’s grace than I have ever been.  I just can’t get over what God does in a  person’s heart when He illuminates them to His death on the cross, His resurrection, and the love He has for them.

I laid down in the Country Inn and Suites, room 313, at about 11:30 last night.  The last time I looked at the clock before falling asleep, it was 2:13 AM.  I couldn’t fall asleep because I just couldn’t get over it.  I kept thinking about those kids who began the journey of faith.  I kept seeing them at the altar,  broken over their sins and overwhelmed by the gentle power of the Holy Spirit.  

I sincerely pray that it will never become old to me, that I would never count it as a small thing when a sinner converts to faith in Christ and crosses over from death to life.  And I pray that you would never grow tired of all the wonderful things that God does in your life; your wife’s gentle touch, the playful screams of your kids, legs that work when you wake up in the morning, clean water to drink from the tap.

I apologize for gushing forth all this juvenile joy, but I just can’t help myself, because there are some things in life you just can’t get enough of.  

Recently, a simple question asked by a pastor got some people to thinking.  Churches across the country began to preach series’ based on the book (that sold millions) based on this one idea.  The book went to #1 on the NY TIMES bestseller list.

What if you only had one month to live?

How would you treat people?  Spend your money?  Talk to your children?  It is indeed a good question to make us stop and take notice of how we order the steps of our days.  But just like most trends in Christianity (or trends in general), it lasted for a season and people largely returned to life as usual, though hopefully with a renewed sense to make some lasting changes and to live more deliberately.

This week at Crossroads, I had the opportunity to hear about a young man who had EXACTLY one year to live.  This was not a book title or a sermon series, but an actual human being who had a finite number of days left on this earth.  You might be inspired by how he lived his last year with us.

July 4, 2007.  One year ago.  Thomas Bayham was a 17 year old rising senior from Loranger, LA.  He was at Crossroads summer camp with his youth group.  The very first night of camp, Thomas felt the Holy Spirit drawing him to salvation, so he stood to his feet and publicly confessed his sin and trusted in Christ as his savior and Lord.  Three nights later, July 7, Thomas Bayham stood to his feet to surrender his life to ministry.  He felt like God had a specific purpose for his life and he wanted to preach the gospel.  He was saved and called into the ministry the same week.

July 4, 2008.  One year later.  Thomas Bayham was an 18 year old teenager who had spent the last 10 months in and out of the hospital with a rare disease that finally took his life.  He died exactly one year from the day he gave his life to Jesus.  And he really did give his life to Jesus, and to ministry, because he did more with his faith in one year than many of us will do in a lifetime.

When he returned to LA from Crossroads, he was on the football team, living life like a teenager, taking a bold stand on is team and at his school for Christ.  When he got sick, he told people that he trusted God and God would work things out.  He told his team about Christ, he testified to all his friends about his salvation.  One night at his youth group at church, he took off his football jersey and laid it in the middle of the floor.  He told all the students there that his jersey made him part of a team, and they were a team for Christ that needed to work together to see all their friends saved.  He was so radically changed by Jesus that even after losing dozens of pounds and going in and out of consciousness, he shared the gospel with his nurse and led her to faith in Christ before he died, right beside his hospital bed.

Thomas Bayham was buried this past week.  And everyone that knew Thomas knew that his last year on earth was different.  He lived the gospel, he lived the change.  And he is with Christ now while we still get the honor of living the difference here in this world.

One year was all he had.  He did not waste a minute of it.  May the same be said of me, and of you.

Recently, a simple question asked by a pastor got some people to thinking.  Churches across the country began to preach series’ based on the book (that sold millions) based on this one idea.  The book went to #1 on the NY TIMES bestseller list.

What if you only had one month to live?

How would you treat people?  Spend your money?  Talk to your children?  It is indeed a good question to make us stop and take notice of how we order the steps of our days.  But just like most trends in Christianity (or trends in general), it lasted for a season and people largely returned to life as usual, though hopefully with a renewed sense to make some lasting changes and to live more deliberately.

This week at Crossroads, I had the opportunity to hear about a young man who had EXACTLY one year to live.  This was not a book title or a sermon series, but an actual human being who had a finite number of days left on this earth.  You might be inspired by how he lived his last year with us.

July 4, 2007.  One year ago.  Thomas Bayham was a 17 year old rising senior from Loranger, LA.  He was at Crossroads summer camp with his youth group.  The very first night of camp, Thomas felt the Holy Spirit drawing him to salvation, so he stood to his feet and publicly confessed his sin and trusted in Christ as his savior and Lord.  Three nights later, July 7, Thomas Bayham stood to his feet to surrender his life to ministry.  He felt like God had a specific purpose for his life and he wanted to preach the gospel.  He was saved and called into the ministry the same week.

July 4, 2008.  One year later.  Thomas Bayham was an 18 year old teenager who had spent the last 10 months in and out of the hospital with a rare disease that finally took his life.  He died exactly one year from the day he gave his life to Jesus.  And he really did give his life to Jesus, and to ministry, because he did more with his faith in one year than many of us will do in a lifetime.

When he returned to LA from Crossroads, he was on the football team, living life like a teenager, taking a bold stand on is team and at his school for Christ.  When he got sick, he told people that he trusted God and God would work things out.  He told his team about Christ, he testified to all his friends about his salvation.  One night at his youth group at church, he took off his football jersey and laid it in the middle of the floor.  He told all the students there that his jersey made him part of a team, and they were a team for Christ that needed to work together to see all their friends saved.  He was so radically changed by Jesus that even after losing dozens of pounds and going in and out of consciousness, he shared the gospel with his nurse and led her to faith in Christ before he died, right beside his hospital bed.

Thomas Bayham was buried this past week.  And everyone that knew Thomas knew that his last year on earth was different.  He lived the gospel, he lived the change.  And he is with Christ now while we still get the honor of living the difference here in this world.

One year was all he had.  He did not waste a minute of it.  May the same be said of me, and of you.