Make A Way

Over the past few months, God has really been working on my heart. I've needed direction and guidance for some time and after a week at a monastery in Kentucky, I realized what I needed to do. My passions are worship, youth and missions. I am currently a youth director, but God has gifted me with talents and abilities in worship arts. I am a completely different person when I am serving the Lord through worship arts (photography, singing, playing music, etc.) There is joy, unspeakable joy that cannot be found anywhere but in the Lord!

In stead of running from this calling, I have decided to embrace it. By doing this, the Lord has totally blessed me and my family! He has provided my wife and I with great jobs (to start January 1) and a place to live! However, we are not promised an easy road. In fact, the Lord's path is straight and narrow and will have hardships. One of those hardships we have already encountered. The job that God has provided me with is 4 hours away from our family and 6 hours from our friends.

During this Christmas season, I am also reminded of two people who were obedient to the Lord's call. Mary was just a teenager, engaged to a young carpenter and had followed all the rules and laws of the age. However, God had other plans for this average girl. He divinely interrupted her life with a call and she was obedient. I'm sure she was terrified, scared and confused but was submissive to what God had in store. She was blessed by this by being the mother of our Savior, Jesus Christ! However, it had it's hardships.

Joseph, her betrothed, flipped out when he got the news and did not believe her. He had decided to leave her quietly and protect her honor. One night, in a dream, an angel came to Joseph and explained everything to him. This angel also asked Joseph to merry Mary and to name their son Jesus, for he would save the world from their sins. Joseph was obedient to his call.

Joseph was a noble man and Mary was a humble woman. Both of these people followed the call God placed on their lives and they were blessed. I am following the call God has placed on my life and I cannot wait to see what He has in store!

When God puts a call on our lives, He will make a way for it to happen if we are receptive and follow His lead. Inspired by my current circumstances and the Christmas season, I wrote this song.

Made A Way – 12/18/11
Capo 4
Intro: Am F C G/B

Am F C G/B
Family was never a thing that I knew well
Am F C
Torn apart before I could even speak
Am F C G/B
She raised my by herself for 21 years
Am F C
Did her best to hide me from her tears

F C G
And through it all You were there
F C G
When I thought I was alone You were there

F C
And you made a way
Am G
When the impossible loomed over my head
F C
Oh you made a way
Am G
When my life is filled with fear and dread
F C
I hear your voice say “Take my hand”
Am G
You light my way right where I stand
F C G
Oh you make a way….you make a way

I lost the one I loved to my selfish pride

The truth was further than I could see

Who have I become? This person is not me!

I talk the talk but live in hypocrisy

But through it all you were there

When I thought I was lost you were there

Chorus

Em Am
My life I’ve placed in your hands
F G
I’ll follow you and submit to your plans
Em Am
Lift me out of the clay and mire
F
For your name and renown is my heart’s
G
desire!

I traded my security for the unknown

I followed the call in my heart

It led me far away from all I’ve known

Oh God…could this be home?

And you made a way

When the impossible loomed over my head

Oh you made a way

When my life is filled with fear and dread

And you made a way

When the impossible loomed over my head

Oh you made a way

When my life is filled with fear and dread

I hear your voice say “Take my hand”

You led me to where I now stand

Oh you make a way….you make a way

Alternate Verse:

The nails they pierced his hands
A crown of thorns ordained his head
A Roman cross his destiny
That you and I we might be free

Alternate Chorus:

You made a way
When the impossible loomed over our head
You made a way
So everyone on Earth can say
Praise be to our God on high!
Forever, Lord, be glorified!

You made a way…you made a way.

Lost with a map

Ya know, now a days, nothing is certain. People don’t commit like they used to. Secure jobs aren’t so secure anymore. We all want the newest, biggest, better gizmo or gadget and we tend not to trust others and rely solely on our own intellect. Childhood drama and office politics build walls and start wars between us. But when the storms of this life come, and they will, whether they be a small spring shower, a hurricane Katrina or onslaught of deadly tornados, we lose hope, vision, passion and sink into the quicksand of despair.

What do I do now?

Where do I go?

When will I get there?

I’ve tried and failed twice now. What good is trying a third time gonna do?

These questions and more are what we ask ourselves, our friends, our family and God. But when we ask God, we usually yell at God because we are angry. We are mad! “How could He do this to me?!” “If the God I serve is a loving God, then He would have warned me that I was going to get let go!” “He would have healed my mother!” We all have our vices, the things that bring us down and shake our world.

Sometimes, instead of getting mad at ourselves, God, other, etc., we crawl into a hole and do nothing. We get lazy because we don’t feel like we are good enough. “I don’t have enough experience so there is no point in applying.” “We don’t have the money.” We make excuses for not following our dreams when we are stuck in a rut. I know I’ve done it!

But you know what? There is a third option. Instead of getting mad at God and yelling at Him and instead of doing nothing, we can seek the guidance of the one who created us! It tells us in Proverbs 2:2-5 that if we “turn our ear to wisdom and apply our hearts to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”

Basically, by reading the Word of God and applying the teachings of Christ, we become wise. Then, when we cry out to the Lord and seek Him earnestly, He will give us the knowledge we seek and make our paths straight. In the very next chapter in Proverbs, in verses 5-6, it makes that very claim: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Maybe you’re currently in one of those ruts. If so, crack open your Bible (Psalms, Proverbs, James, Ephesians and I and II Corinthians are great places to start!) and start receiving the wisdom of the Great I AM! If you are one of the lucky ones who’s life is grand and you couldn’t ask for anything, maybe it’s time you start. Seek the Lord with all your might, that He may use you to give strength to those who need it. Pray that He would use you, a creation of the Most High, to bring glory to is eternal name!

When I Find Myself In Times of Trouble...

Mother Mary does not come to me, but I do find encouragement and strength in her son! The past week or so, I've been quite stressed. I have had a lot on my plate and there have been a lot of quick dramatic changes. At times it feels like I am being pulled in 5000 directions and because of that, I have no direction. I want to do my best at all I do, but if I concentrate on one thing, the other fall by the wayside.

Encouragement is an important thing in our lives, especially in the lives of those in ministry. If we are not continually filled with encouragement and the love of Christ, we will be serving from an empty Well and it will not only be hurt and draining us, but the ones we are serving as well. Sometimes I wonder "How do they do it?!" People like the president or heads of non-profit organizations and other ministries. How on earth do they not just want to give up and say "I'm done! I can't take it anymore!"

Life is stressful and if we give up at the first sign of adversity (in whatever form it may come), then we were not truly devoted to what we were doing in the first place and we were not doing our best and anything less than our best for Christ is a sin. It's not loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

This morning was a rough morning. My wife brought to my attention some things I have been derelict in doing. She was not trying to be mean, but she was trying to help me in my ministry. However, I took it as "Wow Jeff, you really dropped the ball!" Once I left the house, I went to the high school for FCS (Fellowship of Christian Students.) FCS meets every Friday morning at 7:45 for a time of devotion and worship. This morning, however, no one showed up and that just added to my already hurt and saddened spirit. On the way to the office I told myself "Jeff, you have got to perk up! You have the power of Christ flowing through your veins! God has called YOU to minister to these students! He has faith in You, Jeff! Have faith in Him!" Usually that works, but this morning, it didn't and I came into the office looking and feeling like Johnny Rain Cloud.

After sitting in my office for what seemed like an eternity staring at the pictures on my wall from my trips to China and Kenya, I went to my truck and grabbed my bible. Now, in the bookshelf no more than 3 feet from where I was sitting are 13 of my own bibles and another 20 bibles that I give to students who don't have a bible. But I went to my truck to get MY bible. This is the bible I highlight in, underline in. This is my personal bible.

I flipped it open to Acts (where I am currently reading and studying) and read chapter 14. It talked about Paul and Barnabas and their ministries in Iconium, Lystra, Derbe and Antioch. In all these places they spoke with boldness and effectively. God enabled them to do miraculous sings and wonders so the people would believe. But still, in all these cities, there were people who rose up against them. Paul was even stoned and dragged outside the city because he was thought to be dead!

Then, in verses 21-22 is says

"They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. then they returned to Lystra (where Paul was stoned), Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and sncouraging them to remain true to the faith. 'We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God' they said."

After reading that, I was indeed encouraged. I've always known the apostles and disciples were persecuted (Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. - Matthew 5:10-12) but today, reading about it gave me the strength I needed to carry on. Granted, I'm not being stoned and mocked and yelled at by an angry mob, but there are time when I feel inadequate.

Praise be to God! The maker and finisher of all things! He has anointed me, set His seal of ownership on me, and put his Spirit in my heart as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come! (2 Corinthians 1:21b-22) God has made an investment in me! A dude who took 7 years to get a 4 year B.S. in History and Geography! He invested in me! A man who sins and falls way short of His glory! He invested in me! Charles Jeffrey Fyke, a 26 year old with great aspirations and little follow through. The bank may not want to invest in me, but my God does!

Below is the song "Believe" by the band The Letter Black. I just discovered them about a month or two ago and I really like them. They are a bit rocky, so I love playing them with my window rolled down driving down the back roads. lol! I don't know why God has so much faith in me, it will always be a mystery to me. I'll put my faith in the unknown and my hope in God alone!

"Believe"

The Letter Black

Sometimes I feel like I'm alone
Hoping, praying You hear me
Screaming inside to ease the pain
Save me, keep me alive

I'm not afraid anymore
Of what I don''t know
Believe (I put my faith)
In the unknown
Believe (I put my my hope)
In God alone
Have faith in what you don't know

Sometimes I feel like I have to cry
Until my emotions run dry
I'm breaking inside to hide the pain
Save me, keep me alive

I'm not afraid anymore
Of what I don''t know
Believe (I put my faith)
In the unknown
Believe (I put my my hope)
In God alone
Have faith in what you don't know

I know you're here
I can feel you now
I know your love embraces me

I put my faith in the unknown
I put my hope in God alone

Believe (I put my faith)
In the unknown
Believe (I put my my hope)
In God alone
Have faith in what you don't know

(I put my faith in the unknown)
Give up all your sorrow
Have faith in what you don't know
Believe (I put my hope)
In God alone
Have faith in what you don't know
You don't know

Significance

This generation is doing awesome things and one thing that it has noticed is that the American Dream is not congruent with the church of the risen Lord Jesus Christ! If I have to make a choice, I’m going to pick something that lets my life count. So how do you know how your life counts, that it is significant?

Ya know, usually when I wake up, I don’t know what day it is. Sometimes during the week ill forget what month it is and there are times I forget what day it is. The days and months and even years are flying by faster than ever. What did we do with today? You and I either wrote significance on our day or it drifted away into nothingness. The tragedy of our world and culture today is not that bad things are happening all the time, but that nothing significant is happening every day. God is giving you and I a chance to have a signature on the painting of our life, whatever goes in that frame today which builds into tomorrow and however many hours that has, that is a story and He is giving us the opportunity to write in the end of it.

Maybe your parents ambition was to have a nice house, good job and a family. My family was broken, parents divorced when I was 2 months old, home life was not the greatest and we didn’t have a lot of money. I always told myself that I was gonna get married, stay married, have a great job, nice house, plenty of money and not be my past. Maybe that goes along with what some of your future ambitions are. But whatever they are, at the end of the day when all is said and done, we all wrestle with the same question: Did it really matter? Is it significant?

There is a higher name and a higher glory that brings significance to all that is. That is the message. In order for us to write significance on our lives, there has to be a transformation (gospel message – Col. 2) When the transformation happens, a connection happens. Than we realize that He is the significant one. It’s not me, I’m loved by the significant one, I was pursued by the significant one and I am alive with the significant one. That trickles down and all that I do, in word or deed, I wanna do it all in His name. That is the significance statement that I want in my life.

Intentionality. You don’t live a life of significance by accident. It’s simple but crazy. What is God’s will for my life. The answer is that we all have a unique passion, fire burning in our heart. If you don’t, forget about significance and go back and ask Lord God to ignite a fire in your heart about something! Cuz we don’t need any more people floating in the world like bumps on a log without something burning in their heats about what they wanna offer to the world! I think whatever that passion is, that’s God’s will for our life. Well that can’t be right because when I surrender myself to God’s will, it’s gonna not be fun and great. Right? No. Doesn’t it make sense that God would set you free to pursue your passions? The passions that He gave you?!

Here’s the deal. You’re in a small group and the question is asked “So, what’s God doing in your life?” You hear some of your friends say, “I feel like God is calling me to the north to plant a church!” Another person says “God is calling me to translate the Bible for an unreached people group!” And as everyone shares around the circle, you are stuck on...ballet (because it is the one thing that you are totally passionate about.) Lol! When it comes to you, you say “I don’t know what God has called me to yet.” Now it’s not going to be like when you get to heaven, all the preachers and bible translators and worship leaders and whatnot are in the front and you are in the back in the fine arts section. No! There will be one line marked human beings and its going to be for people to go and stand before the throne and say “This is what I did with my life!” There will be preachers in that line who have nothing to celebrate in eternity because they never wrote significance over their ministry because it was all about them the whole time. Then there will be ballet people come up and there will be truck loads of rewards backed up and they will be told Thank you for ONE, being amazing at what you did and TWO, doing it in such a way that shined a light on the name that is the most significant name of all names.

You see, passion and purpose aren’t the same. Our purpose is to glorify God. Communicating the gospel is not my purpose! There will be no preaching in heaven. My purpose is to lift up the name of Jesus. My passion is to communicate the gospel!

Our goal is excellence! Our goal isn’t to be the best Christian whatever, our goal is to be the best whatever! I don’t want to get business because I’m a Christinan, I wanna get business because I am the best! I mean if my truck dies and there are 2 guys standing there and one says I’ve been in the business for 25 years and know exactly what’s going on and I can help you and there is another saying im a Christian and I’m gonna do my best, I’m gonna go with the guy who has experience. His experience, his excellence, is his platform.

Excellence builds a platform for which you can tell the world about Jesus!

If you can be excellent at what you’re doing now, you can’t be excellent at anything because you write significance over everything you do or you don’t. What would happen if you didn’t show up to work/school today? What would or would not happen? What did I create or offer today? The difference defines our contribution to the world. People will forget what you say and they will forget what you do, but they will never forget how you make them feel.

So, in all that you do and say, write significance on it. You might not be a preacher, but you dont have to be to share the love of God and make every moment of your life count!

Worship Philosophy

Worship is our response, both personal and corporate, to God for who He is! and what He has done! expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live.

We don’t worship because we need it, we worship because God is worth it. It’s taking me out of the center and putting God into the center. It’s for God, to God and all about God! Jesus is the audience. It’s not about us!

So, what kind of worship does God “get down with?” Is he a traditional kind of guy? Maybe He’s a hard core rocker! So, if we asked God, what type of worship He enjoys what would He say? The cool thing about God is that He is always going to say the same thing. God gets His “groove on” when we worship in Spirit and Truth!

^“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
John 4:23-24

. My life verse is Isaiah 26:8

“Lord as we walk in your ways, we eagerly wait for you! For it is your name and your renown that is the desire of our souls!”

As I walk in the way of Christ (picking up my cross and following after Him – Luke 9:23) I wait with great anticipation for His return. For to me, the name of Christ and His eternal fame and glory are the only things that matter in this life. This is the way I strive to live my life. Do I fail? Yes, all the time. However, I learn from my failings and allow God to teach me, mold me and make me through my trials, tribulations and failures. I am nowhere near perfect, but I aim for the perfection found in Christ (Matthew 5:48). Jesus said that God's law was never about mere rules; instead, God desires a complete righteousness of the heart, a total devotion to God's purposes in this world.

So, to me, worship is a lifestyle. I worship not because I have to (for it I don’t, the rocks will cry out – Luke 19:40), but because I want to as a response to the overflowing love of the Father. Whether by service, music, prayer or meditation of His Word, I worship God because I cannot get enough of Him!

Wii Golf

I’ve noticed in my life that when I don’t get something I want, when I don’t win, when I’ve worked real hard for something and still miss the mark, I get mad and angry. I complain and it ruins my day. This was quite evident a few weeks ago at my in-laws house. My wife and I, along with her parents were all playing golf on Wii Sports. I am usually pretty good at it (best game is a – 5) but this particular day, it was totally off! I started off good but on hole 2 I got a double bogey and it just went downhill from there. I think I ended up with a +7 for the game. I was furious and I took it out on myself. Because of my attitude, I sucked at the rest of the games that night too. Not only did my attitude put a damper on my night, but it also made everyone else’s night less enjoyable.

This morning one of my students gave brief message at FCS (Fellowship of Christian Students) at the high school. He talked about Isaac giving his blessing to Jacob and not Esau. He then had us write down people we look up to and then throw the paper away because us trying to attain their status was getting in the way of us being ourselves and allowing God to use us in unique ways. It was a great message. Afterwards I went back to my office and re-read the story and picked up on something else.

Once Jacob had stolen the blessing, Esau came back from hunting and discovered what had just happened. He pleaded with his father but nothing could be done. Jacob continued pleading with his father, “O my father, bless me too!” In Genesis 27:37-39, the prophecy is revealed:

³⁷ Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”

³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.

³⁹ His father Isaac answered him,

“Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness,
away from the dew of heaven above.
⁴⁰ You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke
from off your neck.”

Isaac told Esau that he was to submit to his younger brother because he was the one that was blessed, but after a time, we will be able to break free. This infuriated Esau and he “hated Jacob because he had stolen his blessing, and he said to himself, ‘My father will soon be dead and gone. Then I will kill Jacob.’”

When I look back at that I see two things. The first is this: anger is a powerful tool of evil that can radically changes lives for the worst. Esau had every right to be hurt and mad, but instead of having control of his anger, he fed and wanted to kill is brother. Later he goes and marries his cousin, Mahalath, adding to the wives he already had. For years he hated Jacob and wanted to kill him. That is the power of hatred and anger. It is an infectious disease that targets the core of who you are and what you stand for.

The second thing I see from these verses is this: There is freedom! Isaac told Esau that after a while, he would be free from Jacob. When I read this, I see it as after a time, Esau would be free of the anger and hatred he had towards Jacob. In Genesis 33, Jacob and Esau make peace. This is a huge ordeal! Generations had risen up (the children of Jacob and Esau) before peace between the brothers was restored. But the time in between peace isn’t the point I am trying to make. The point is that THERE WAS PEACE!

No matter how small the issue that aggravates us or angers us, there is always peace for those who want it. Both Jacob and Esau wanted peace between the two of them. In order for that to happen, we have to lay down our pride and focus on what is good. For them, what was good was each other. Jacob had Esau and Esau and Jacob. Once they realized that, peace was able to be made.

In my case, I was furious that I did horrible at a game. But later that night, before I went to bed, I realized that I had an amazing wife and family and that I was indeed blessed to be playing a game at all! It’s easy to let anger win, but when we take the time to humble ourselves before the Lord, He will lift us up* and He will be glorified.

* James 4:10