Clean

Romans 8:1 says, “That there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Paul later urges us in Galatians that we are to “Walk in the Spirit” and we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. So if there is anything we need to focus on doing, it’s walking in the Spirit. Easier said than done right?

Paul also tells us later in Romans 8 that those who live according to the Spirit SETS THEIR MINDS ON THE THINGS OF THE SPIRIT. So Walking in the Spirit is a mindset…being transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). As a follower of Christ, the only way to conform our way of thinking to His way of thinking is to get into His Word. To wash our minds daily in what He says about us, to learn the plans and purposes He has for us, and to discover the kind of lives He wants us to live.

When faced with temptation, Christ responded to Satan with the Word. And that’s exactly what walking in the Spirit is, using the Word in everything we face. But here’s the kicker, the Word must first be it inside our hearts for it to be effective in our circumstances. When we hide His Word in our hearts, our actions align to His will and those actions become second nature because of the change that has taken place on the inside of us.

Illuminate

Totally been blown away the past few weeks at Mt Zion Christian Fellowship. We have been in a series called Illuminate talking about the power of God’s Word. David says in Psalm 119 that the Word gives us life! It’s amazing to see what happens in people’s spirits when the Word is simply spoken.  Death moves to life…darkness is expelled by light. Amazing.

It’s so exciting to be a part of exciting times at Mt Zion. God is moving. When His Word is prioritized, true change takes place. Cannot wait to hear the stories of God’s promises through His Word unfolding in the lives of our church community.

Jesus says in John 16:33, take heart for I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD. Yep, that’s right, it’s already been done. We just have to trust in the promises of God’s Word and SHARE in that victory! How much pressure does that take off of you? The victory is ours and the battle is God’s! Great stuff!

We have got to put God’s Word first in our lives–it will NEVER steer us wrong!

Psalm 119:105

Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

It’s Been a While…

Hello everybody! It has been so LONG since my last post. So sorry because I’m the type of person that believes that if you don’t have time to “blog” you shouldn’t have one!

But needless to say I have been a bit busy the past month.

About a month ago, our worship pastor at Mt Zion resigned. So between then and now, the church needed someone to lead band practices and facilitate worship on Sunday mornings. After praying about it and looking at things in our student ministry, I knew God was telling me I needed to step up in this area of ministry.

My whole life, I’ve always loved worship. There’s nothing like being in the presence of God. It is both indescribable and life changing. I also love music in general and any time worship and melody are merged, it’s a BEAUTIFUL thing.

So I jumped at the opportunity and assured my boss (a.k.a Dad) I was ready. We had a meeting and split up much of the communication/sound/performance duties between Dale Sellers and me. Dale was so integral in the process and I have learned from his leadership each step of the way. What an amazing team I am able to serve with!

Before we went up on stage on our first Sunday, the singers(Suzy Neal, Gina & Tiffany Sellers, Meghan Muse, David Freeman–Rod Frazier and Christy Citeno would join us later), the bassist(Austin Phillips), keyboardist(Joel Hobgood), Electric Guitarist(Jesse Peck), and Drummer(Brady Brannon) were all intent on one thing, we wanted to place a HUGE emphasis on musical excellence, but our main priority was to worship. I was SO nervous…but after the first downbeat, I experienced the presence of God in a way I’ve never experienced before. It was so amazing to be up there with a group all intent on lifting up the name of Jesus and making Him famous. God met us that morning.

The very next week, the presence of God came again. Dad was set to teach on faith and didn’t even get speak because the Holy Spirit moved and people were being ministered to…UNBELIEVABLE. We all walked away feeling used by God. The one word I think of when I think of this group is “Channel”. Each person on stage served as a connecting channel between the congregation and the throne room of God. Mt Zion is so blessed to have the humble servants that stepped up in such a needed time in our church’s history. We are blessed.

I enjoyed so much my time being able to lead worship at Mt Zion. I look back to the hours and hours I used to practice on the piano and can only see God’s preparation in it. That’s a cool thing to think about, wherever we are right now, God is always preparing us for something bigger–for something greater. It’s our job to be faithful where we are at and trust that He is leading and guiding us each step of the way.

We just hired a new worship pastor, Jeff Brannon. I cannot even begin to express how excited I am about Jeff being on the MZ team. He is so talented and I know he will take our worship to new levels at Mt Zion. I am excited about still being involved with music on Sunday mornings. Jeff has been so gracious during this time of transition. If you haven’t met him and his family yet, you are missing out! Amazing people!

I want to thank my church family for their support during this past month. I am thankful for you coming expecting the presence of God to show up every Sunday. Your love and encouragement have been HUGE blessings.  I can’t even think of anywhere else I would want to be.

I plan on still continuing with the worship band on Sunday mornings while leading every once in a while. My love for worship has gone to a new level through this experience.

All I have to say is this–God has GREAT things in store for Mt Zion. Greater things are yet to come…

I want to close with this worship song that has meant so much to our church the past month. It says everything that’s in my heart right now.

“Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Our God Reigns!”

Amen

Frazee Backpack Giveaway

A couple of weeks ago, we had the pleasure of taking backpacks and school supplies to the Frazee Dream Center in Greenville, SC. Everything was donated by our church family at Mt Zion Christian Fellowship. It was an unbelievable experience. Seeing all the kids run to the car and pick out their backpack was almost like Christmas Morning! I really cannot describe the feeling! Being a conduit of God’s love for these kids is something that our church family should be proud of! Giving NEVER gets old!!!

BIG Week!

As I sit here on Friday, I can’t help but think back to the HUGE week we just had at Mt Zion! First, last Sunday, I was privileged and blessed to be able to teach in the adult service. It was such a great experience! It was a lot different from the speech classes I took in college or the times I get to speak to the high school or middle school.  I absolutely loved sharing with the adults and hope and pray I will have more opportunities in the future to do it! There was much preparation that went into the message and I now have a NEW respect for my dad and other pastors that have to do that pretty much EVERY WEEK! Great learning experience for me!

That Sunday night (8/15) we had our back to school bash for our middle school and high school students! It was great to see many faces that I hadn’t seen all summer! It also got everybody raring and ready to go for the new school year! We had close to 80 students out which is a huge victory for us! There was an electricity in the student center that was contagious! A GREAT atmosphere! MZ Student Ministry has a great leadership team that stepped in to serve and love our students! A great night for both NOIZ(Middle School) and PULSE(High School)! (I will post pictures on the blog soon!)

Finally, Wednesday night was the “icing” on the cake for the week. We held our annual event Ice Cream Olympics at NOIZ. For many of our students, this is their favorite event all year! It’s basically a huge snowball fight with the cheapest ice cream that you can find. By the time the fight is over, we all have ice cream in our hair, ears, noses, and all over our clothes. The smell is so sickening and is always worse than I remember it. But there’s just something about pelting students with vanilla and neopolitan flavored ice cream that is just so much FUN! We had a great time and I know the students are already counting down until next year’s Ice Cream Olympics. I will post pictures soon!

Well this was the first week of the 2010-2011 school year! I am EXPECTING God to do BIG things in both NOIZ and PULSE! I am blessed to have the opportunity to serve the students as well as the people of Mt Zion. I could not ask for anything more!

Frazee Dream Center

Our students volunteered at the Frazee Dream Center a week ago. Here are some pictures highlighting that trip.

The Eyes of a Savior

This past week, I was blessed to serve at Wayfarer Camp 2010. While there, one of the speakers Chad Norris discussed what a true relationship with God looks like. He taught briefly out of John 13 where Jesus is spending his last moments on earth with the disciples.

Here we find Jesus, speaking to His closest group of friends on earth. But as we look at verse 23, we find an important key to what an intimate, loving relationship with God looks like; it reads, “Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom, one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.” John is literally laying his head on Jesus’ chest–HOW INTIMATE! Think about his perspective, what he sees, what he smells, what he feels. He is literally consuming himself with all that Jesus is.

I can only imagine the emotions that were going through John, but I think one of the coolest things he had to experience was when Jesus would look at him.  That piercing gaze that makes you feel vulnerable because you know that He knows all that is bad inside of you.  However, this same exact look says to you, “I believe in you and through Me you can conquer all things.”  It had to be moments like this that would ignite John to go on and do great things  in the name of Christ.

In my own life, I hate to look back and see how many times I’ve missed these moments because I “didn’t have time” or “just didn’t feel like it”. But here’s the deal, all Jesus wants us to do is lay our head on His chest. He wants us to experience the fragrance and renewal that comes with His presence.  He wants us to peel back the layers that we’ve built up inside so that his piercing look can heal the things that we’ve been holding inside.  And most of all, He wants to look at us and say, “Yes, my child, you matter and in you I have placed great power that the can change the world for my name’s sake.”

So as you spend time with God, remember to lay your head on His chest and allow intimacy to invade your relationship with Him.

There’s Still Time to Sign Up for Wayfarer Camp 2010!

Want to take an opportunity to put in a plug for Wayfarer Camp 2010. Last summer, I had the incredible opportunity to work with Wayfarer Camp at Anderson University.  It was one of the neatest experiences I have ever had in ministry. The excellence with which they do worship, speaking, recreation, and service blew me out of the water! There is still a chance to take part in this opportunity this summer.  I plan on taking a group of youth from Mt. Zion during their June 21-24 Camp. If you go to Mt. Zion and have yet to sign up, the deadline is June 10th. Please do not miss this opportunity for your student to grow this summer. You may contact me by emailing me at nate@mtzion.net or calling the church office at (864)297-0105. If you would like more information about the camp, please visit their website at http://www.wayfarer.tv/camp/home .

The Cross: it’s about Sacrifice

This past Sunday, at PULSE high school ministry, we discussed the Cross. What it means to us. What it means to the world. How people perceive it. For me growing up, the cross was my relation to something I loved watching, the annual Easter production at Mt. Zion Christian Fellowship (“A Reason to Rejoice”).  My mom recalls many a afternoon looking out the kitchen window watching me haul a homemade cross around the yard, place it up against the fence, and make my next door neighbor friend “nail” me to it. After that, I would go hide in the large grouping of pine trees we had in the yard, and come out of them with my arms open wide yelling “He is risen!”. Looking back on this, I laugh, but you have to remember it’s all I knew. I was a PK (“Preacher’s Kid”) and that was my world. Just like I have done, if we all take a step back and think about it, we cannot deny that the CROSS means something to us in some way, shape, or form. THAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE.

As we look in God’s Word, Jesus challenges us in our belief about the cross. In Mark 8:34, Jesus tells us that being a true follower of Christ looks like this, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” As Emeril would say, “BAM!” That’s thick right there! Everyday, we must make a conscious effort to say, “Ok, God. Less of me and more of You today! I sacrifice my life so that others will see YOU through me and not me.”

All Jesus is asking us to do is be different. Let others look at you and see Him. In order to have life, we must first lose it. Paul writes in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Because Jesus sacrificed His life, so can we! We don’t have to deal with baggage such as jealousy, lust, gossip, anger, pride, and self-righteousness.  So I encourage you today to LAY YOUR BAGGAGE AT THE CROSS! Once we ask God to forgive us, we bear it no more! How great is that?!?! The image at the beginning of this blog entry is a great representation of that, our high school students and leaders nailed their sins to the cross trusting the fact that Jesus took care of them all over 2,000 years ago. Once we cast our cares on Him, the next step is simple: pick up your cross and follow Jesus. I will guarantee you that you will have life to the full and beyond what you can ever ask or imagine (John 10:10).

Put on some new shoes…

I don’t know about you, but for me, there’s something about opening a new box of shoes. The smell, the fresh look, the crisp feel–how can you not love a pair of new shoes?

In Ephesians 4:17-24, Paul urges us to “put off” [cast off/aside] our “former conduct, the OLD man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.” He says that in order to do this, we must be “renewed in the spirit of [our] minds.” After we have chosen to discard this “old man” we must put on the “new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”

Think about this, God WANTS to accurately reproduce His character in us. But we have to take the initiative by putting down our old self [that which lives with no purpose] and putting on a new man [a God-fashioned life].

Imagine this, you’ve been walking around for years–that’s right, plural “years”–with the same pair of shoes on. The smell, look, and feel have got to be just nasty! But when  you CHOOSE to take them off and replace them with a brand spankin’ new pair of the whitest Puma’s you’ve ever seen–sorry, got a little carried away there–the way you feel changes and people NOTICE the change!!!

How do we do this? We first realize that we need to cast aside our old way of living, then we choose to renew our minds by constantly refreshing ourselves with the Word of God.  Romans 12:2 says to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind.” “Renewing” is an active verb describing something that is ONGOING. This is something that is not a one and done thing, we have to actively renew our mind. In transforming our minds, we begin to take on the character of who God really is.

So it’s time to take off our old nasty shoes–a life with no purpose that concedes to the lusts of the flesh–and trade them in for a new pair of shoes–a life that does not lose it’s “newness” and has the true character of God changing us from the inside out to the point that people cannot help but notice that there is something very different about us from the world. I don’t know about you, but I want some new shoes!