Get to know these folks . . .

First things first, this may not be the most thought provoking or spiritual blog, but I wanted to give a little background on the friends whom I have listed under my links. I am thankful God has placed these friends in my life and all of them have helped form who I am to some degree. That being said, I would encourage any of you to click on their links and peer a little into their lives. These are all genuine friends who love Jesus and have truly been a blessing in my life.

David Joseph (aka Micro, Fly Guy)
I met David through my involvement with Student Venture a few years ago when he was a senior in High School. Upon graduation, David began interning for Student Venture and taking classes at the College of Biblical Studies. Last summer he began working at Texas State Bank and through God's grace we ended up in the same department. David loves the Bible and is one the rare Christians who actually shares his faith with anyone he meets. Friends, co-workers, couriers, you name it. The Human Resource Department here told us it was OK to read our Bibles on a break, but not to try to "convert" people. Although we know that we don't convert people (God does . . . Salvation belongs to him), keep David in mind because I don't think that will prevent him from sharing the Truth. David has the spiritual gift of teaching and it is always a joy to hear him proclaim the Bread of Life. He also can eat mass quantities of food and is skilled in poetry and break-dancing.

Jim Hamilton (Dr. Hamilton)
I met Jim a few years ago when I started my first semester of Greek and I have been blessed to have him as a professor over the past four semesters. At a time when I thought about leaving SWBTS, God brought Dr. Hamilton to our school and this was a major factor in me continuing my schooling there. Jim has a contagious passion for the supremacy of Messiah Jesus and a true love for the original languages. Some of his prayers include revival for our Southern Baptist Churches and helping train up a generation of pastors who know and teach the whole counsel of God through expository preaching and examination of Hebrew and Greek. He is currently the interim pastor at "Baptist Church of the Redeemer" in Sugarland. He has become a dear friend and mentor and I'm excited about the possibility of joining his church. Anyone who has an opportunity to hear him preach or take a class from would be plain dumb to pass on that opportunity. I consider our seminary blessed to have this man and I consider myself blessed to be his friend. Outside of his love for theological studies, Jim played college baseball and is an avid runner. Him and his wife Jill have a son named Jake.

Travis Cardwell (TBC, TCard)
Travis is an Associate Pastor at First Baptist in Liberty where he lives with his wonderful wife Alicia and their two children, Caraline and Brayton. (I'm hoping to join their family at some point . . . is it legal to adopt an Uncle?) I met Travis four years ago when we began our journey at SWBTS. He has become one of my best friends over this time and I am thankful God has grown this friendship. Travis is commited to the Truth this is evident in his life and ministry. God has done a lot of similar work in both of us in regards to our values and beliefs in theology, church, family, ministry, etc. and we tend to chat quite often. (He even takes phone calls up until midnight . . . not bad for a married guy!) Travis and I are praying for opportunity to do a church plant at some point and he is definitely a guy that I could began that journey with. His wife makes incredible chicken spaghetti and his children are good at answering the phone! The only negative thing about Travis is that he lives in Liberty which is an hour from Houston. (I still forgive him, though)

Ross King
I met Ross and his wife Staci while standing in line to watch Lake Placid about 6 years ago. I had just bought one of his cd's "Big Quiet Truth" a few weeks earlier (my first Christian CD purchase) and they happened to be a few people in front of me and I thought he looked familiar so I said "Are you Ross King?" Six months later I began attending Community Church, where he was one of the pastors and over the past five years our friendship has grown. I appreciate and value every conversation with Ross and his influence on me has been exponential. The way I saw him, Scot Stolz, and Worth Whitley (other pastors at that church) doing church and ministry has had a profound influence on me. Outside of being a pastor Ross travels and leads in worship through music. He has a true gift and a God-given ability to speak real Truth through his music. Ross loves Jesus and all of his songs promote the fame of our King and bleed biblical truth. My friend David and I play his songs for others to hear and the other day we heard a "believer" say "ah, his music is OK, but his music isn't that great." We are pretty positive that this person is not saved. If you ever have the opportunity to hear him play, check it out and buy all of his cd's. He has a great sense of humor and Staci and him have a wonderful son, Samuel.

Nicole Starch
I met Nicole the first time I went to Community Church about six years ago. My brother was with me and her and a friend asked us to go to Fuddruckers after church and we went and had a great time. Ever since then I have continued to build my friendship with Nicole and she has been a wonderful friend. She has given me advice and counsel time and time again and from earlier on I always felt comfortable confiding in her. She has a true passion for following Jesus and for being as authentic as possible. Nicole works at First Baptist Bryan and has just released her debut cd. It is quite possible that I have been anticipating this cd more than anyone else and it has been playing in my car, at my home, and in our office at work. Go buy seven or eight copies and give them everybody you know. Nicole is a dear friend and a humble person. Her only negative trait is returning phone calls. Maybe I can buy her a pager for Christmas . . .

Jason Kates
I met Jason somewhere on the sports fields at 2nd Baptist about four years ago. He is a fierce competitor and we have played flag football, softball, ultimate frisbee, and basketball a little here and there. Much like me, Jason is trying to shake the sports image and have Christ be the defining mark in his life. He has become a great friend this year and I'm thankful that we were able to go beyond the realm of sports and center our friendship on Christ. He is a genuine, sincere person who has a heart for the Lord and for loving others. We are on the dangerous journey of attempting to figure women out and it's been a trying season. Jason and I both desire to be great husbands and dads, so we have had some great conversations. Jason is perhaps the best quarterback in all of flag football and we tend to connect on a few TD's every now and then. Also, we are also hoping we will be brothers-in-law someday.

The Appeal of Authenticity

I must first give a shout out to my good friend, Travis Cardwell, who is keeping me accountable on maintaining fresh blogs. I appreciate the few of you that read this and hopefully all of our blogs can promote Kingdom-living actions in our lives and thoughts.

Today I have the honor of meeting up with a good friend, my former pastor Worth Whitley and I'm looking forward to our time together. I attended a church called "Community Church" for about 5 years and the pastors and people at the church were truly the most genuine, sincere folks I've ever been around. We would gather and talk and just be honest about our sins and struggles and fears. I have to admit that it was weird at first. After slowly crawling out of my shell of comfort and security in my private life I began to grow and experience real church and real community. I had entered a new world.

That being said, I have come to realize that most people are not authentic. Through my work at the bank, time at SWBTS, time in other churches, time with other friends, and past experiences it is really hard to find genuine people. There are a million people that will shake your hand and smile, but just a handful of people that will really listen to what you have to say. The phrase "How are you doing?" is always to be followed with "Great!" or "Fine." or maybe even "Peachy." (for those of you who try to be a little different, but is that really any different?)

People are attracted to honest, genuine people. Authenticity works. As I have been going through some changes this summer I have found myself leaning on those who I feel are real, sincere people. They care about me. They don't tell me what I want to hear, but what I need to hear. Being honest is much more vunerable. Perhaps that means telling somebody something that is the exact opposite of what they are wanting to hear. It is not easy to say things that might not be taken well. But aren't we commanded to speak the truth in love? If we truly love people then we will speak truth even when it is not popular.

If we want to be effective in ministry we must be authentic. We must admit our sins. Our imperfections. Our fears. Our failures. Has anybody else realized that we are not fooling anyone? When spending time with others we need to learn to listen to what is going on. We need to love and pray for folks. Authenticity breeds more authentic people. Try it, you would be surprised.

Jesus was always authentic. He met people where they were at and loved them and ministered uniquely each time. We need to exchange our cookie-cut molds of fixing things and embrace people for who they are. This is not easy. This will require time. This will require effort. This will require Spirit-led living and strength from our Creator. We need to die to our schedules and plans and stop putting people off or fitting them in. We won't claim to have all the answers. We won't claim to have all the medicines. We won't claim to have what it takes. Living authentic lives will cause us to be exposed and naked and the only boast we will claim will be the grace of God and the crucified Messiah who endured God's wrath.

Let us embrace who we really are. Let us stop trying to outdo one another. Let us stop seeking attention and look to the only One who deserves attention. There is a hurting world who needs a real, authentic Savior. Let us show them our Messiah through genuine love and sincere living. Let us admit that we aren't perfect. We aren't all the ones with the cure. Let us love them by speaking real truth about our real Christ.

the futility of sports

In the last few months God has really changed my desires and diminished the value that I derive from playing/watching sports. I do want to add a disclaimer that I am not anti-sports nor have a ceased to ever play/compete again, but there has been a significant change in my desires and satisfaction in sports.

A little background: Since the age of 5 , I have always been active playing baseball or soccer or swimming or football or basketball or just about any sport one can think of. Even after the High School days ceased, I stayed active in intramurals throughout my years at A&M. The post-college years continued to stay busy with basketball leagues, softball leagues, and flag football. Needless to say, sports have always defined who I am to some degree. I have been blessed with a hard work ethic and a healthy body and through these I have been successful at most sports which have added to sports defining who I am.

Over the last fours years I have met numerous friends through 2nd Baptist and various softball leagues and what most of these folks know about me is "hey, Billy is a good receiver or Billy is a good softball player." To me that is really sad. My aim in life is to make much of Jesus Christ and to bring glory and fame to God. I don't want to be known for some temporary, man-centered pseudo-glory that comes from winning a meaningless game or winning a championship, cotton T-shirt. I also feel the conviction from Ephesians 5, where Paul exhorts us to make the "best use of our time." I don't want my nights and weekends to be filled with trivialities. Yes, it is OK to play sports once a week or in moderation, but my desire is to spend my evenings and weekends pursuing real relationships and doing Kingdom-building things. Investing my time in the Word, loving others, serving others, and cultivating meaningful relationships to bring glory to God is how I desire to spend my time now. I don't know why it took me 27 years to want to grow up and leave the childhood sports dreams behind, but I am thankful for God's deliverance.

I don't want people to think that I am over-reacting, but sports (tournament softball in particular) have damaged some of my precious relationships and have stolen many valuable hours from me which could have been used for much bigger things. Sports in moderation is OK, but weekend-long tournaments and golfing on every Saturday while the wife is at home are serious sins. They damage relationships and take over lives. They become idols. Matthew 12:34 says "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." When I was wrapped up in softball 5 times a week and playing tournament ball, softball was all I talked about.

Let us be consumed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and fill our conversations with glorious, eternal truths. By meditating on the Word day and night and delighting ourselves in God we will not be able to not talk about our King. I pray others will join me in the surrender of trivial things whether it be sports, TV, video games, etc.