I hope you all are not getting tired of hearing about this one. I probably post about it once a year, but I am sorry, I have to. Today is a very special anniversary. No it’s not my wedding anniversary, that won’t be for a few months. No it’s not my birthday, though that is only three weeks away. Today is the anniversary of the day I got my call to ministry, October 4, 1997. It was at a Promise Keepers event called Stand in the Gap. At that point in my life I was a mess and in danger of losing everything. I was completely sold out to my art career to the point of idolatry. I was working a full time day job and so completely dissatisfied with what I was doing that I was freelancing nearly constantly, to the tune of 20 hours a day, I was miserable and I was exhausted. When I got the invite to go to Stand in the Gap, I really didn’t want to go. I was probably crunching a bunch of deadlines, and the last thing I thought I could afford was a day of worship and prayer. I found out later that a lot of people were praying I would go, most importantly my wife.
There were a million men or more on the mall in Washington DC that day, and I know it sounds ego centric, but I felt like I was the only one there, because speaker after speaker proved they had “read my mail.” One after another they addressed the things I was doing and the mistakes I was making, and for the first time in a long time, I heard it and I was broken. The tears did not let up and by the end of the day I knew what I had to do, I had to give my art back to God, saying I would never take it up again unless I was doing it for the Lord, and that is what happened. I also knew beyond a doubt that God had called me to ministry. When I got home, I woke my wife and apologized to her. She had an attitude that was somewhere between relief and “I’ll believe it when I see it.” When I told her I felt the call, she had really mixed feelings. She’s a preachers kid and she knew I didn’t have a clue what that meant, and she was right, but I knew what I heard. The following Summer we took a group of kids to the Creation Festival. That fall I took over the youth ministry at the church as a volunteer “youth pastor.” In an effort to make my teaching stick, I sought the Lord and He led me (kicking and screaming) into using art. That opened the door to speaking opportunities, writing, and pretty much all the things I do today.
The ways my life was changed that day are innumerable. It saved my marriage and my family. My son married one of the girls from my youth group, and today they are the parents of the apple of my eye, my grandson. I grew in faith, changed vocations, and have been blessed to minister to two great congregations and to churches all over the U.S. in my traveling ministry. I’ve made countless friends and feel like I am living on purpose. I praise God for all that He has done for me through that day. It’s been 24 years since that hot October day, and it has been a wild ride, I share a video clip below from that day. Of particular note is when the man asked us to take a photo out of our wallets and look at it as we prayed. I only had two photos in my wallet, my wife and I on our wedding day and our two sons. As I looked at their faces, I was undone, and I knew everything had to change. Today I praise God for the change. On that day I did one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. I took the only thing in the world I thought I was any good at and laid it on the altar. Next to coming to Jesus and marrying my wife, it was the best move I ever made. When God gave art back to me, He made me better than I ever was before, but with a new purpose—to glorify Him.
And I am grateful for all of you for taking the time to read. God is good and He is faithful. Trust Him to know what is best and follow HIm. He will never steer you wrong and He might just change your life.
AMOKArts 