Take it Back to the Basics

Well, road trip, Dallas, for what else, if you know me well enough it was not a hard guess after that little bit of information. It was for a concert with either three brothers with the last name Jonas or just one of the three. Which one was it? Nick, Kevin, or Joe? Or was it all three together?

Nick Jonas

What a show once again. I’m not gonna tell you about the show however. It was an amazing show. His new music is extremely good. In my opinion his new music is better than his first solo project that he had. I am going to tell you about some lyrics that he sang. It is from a song called “Vesper’s Goodbye.”

Wait Vesper? You mean Vesper from James Bond: Casino Royal? The girl that James has a thing for in this particular James Bond movie. SPOILER ALERT: She dies. Hints the goodbye part in the song title.

I can’t give you a 100% truthful answer for you that it is referring to Vesper from James Bond. I can tell you that the lyrics are what I want to talk about. They are what people care about the most anyway when you think about a song. At the end of the day, a song title is just something that can relate to the song.

“All of you
Shaped me into what I am
Carried out the better man”

What shapes your life? In order to have a good flourishing life, the answer needs to be, the loving relationship we have with God. Then the next step to that answer is to love others.

What you do for God is only a reflection of the relationship that you have with God. If you want to do great things, you need to have a great relationship with God. If you want to have a ministry that is strong, your relationship with Jesus has to be strong.

We also need to be in Fellowship with others to have a healthy relationship with Christ. We can’t battle Satan on our own. We’ve all tried multiple times, and every single time we……

……. LOSE!!

The people that we spend a huge amount of time with shape our personalities and how we act. If you surround yourself with good, strong, solid Christians, your life will be surrounded with Christ.

My small group in high school was a brotherhood. Our Father was Christ and we were just brothers who were sharpening each other for this next year to come.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17

Our small group got it, we understood the mission. We understood that each of us had to be rooted in Christ on our own. Then through our own personal relationship with Christ we could help each other grow in Christ.

So back to the lyrics. “Shaped me into what I am” — My small group guys in high school got me to where I am today. So now I can minister to others due to them ministering to me.

“Carried out a BETTER man” — There is zero doubt that after four years of small group with those guys that I am a better man. I am also confident that without them I would be totally different. So small group, thanks for who you have made me to be.

An M.O.G. — Man of God

So Bobby Harrison, Andrew Calaway, (our fearless leaders) Zach Dover, Grayson Faught, Tony Hall, Austin Shaw, Jarred Mitchell, Chipper Via, and Todd Touchstone. I want to say thank you for the impact you have made on my life. I love you all. Look forward to catching up with each one of you in the near future now that we are all on our own journeys at college, seminary, or back at home.

Prayer Request: Fall break is Wednesday! I am so close to my first break. Pray that I don’t quit this week and just look forward to Fall break. Pray I live in the present and now. That I finish strong and enjoy my break.

G3 — Give God Glory