Blog
Student to Team Member
Daniel
Many of us have heard of and read the story of Daniel. Daniel was a prophet, a dream interpreter, an advisor, and most importantly, a faithful follower of God. Daniel loved the Lord and surrendered his life to Him. Daniel lived a life fully centered on the presence and power of God. If you haven't read the book of Daniel, go do that right now! Daniel is a book that tells the story of men who loved God so incredibly much that they were able to change not one, but two different Kingdoms for the people of God and the ways of God.
Many of us have heard of Daniel, but few of us have heard of King Josiah. King Josiah was a king who lived in a time so against God, so foreign to holiness and spiritual formation, that they only had one copy of the Bible… and IT GOT LOST in a closet in the temple. When Josiah found it while cleaning the temple one day he began a nationwide revival session and changed everything for the faithfulness of the kingdom and the training of the next generation. Josiah trained all people to live in a way where the presence of God was central to every part of their lives. One of those trained citizens was Daniel.
In Daniel chapter 6, verse 10 it says "Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. (Dan 6:10, NIV)" King Darius, the king of Persia, had decreed that no one may pray except to him, as king. The thing that I find most inspiring about this isn't that Daniel defied the king and prayed to God anyway, I realize the power of that. However, Daniel did something even more powerful that we read at the end of verse 10, "Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before." Daniel prayed every single day, three times a day, facing Jerusalem because he had been trained to do just that as a young boy in Jerusalem under King Josiah.
Daniel was a man who was so completely formed in his youth under King Josiah that his faithfulness transformed two separate kingdoms.
The Start of FP
I remember sitting in a classroom in a church in Clayton with a handbook from First Priority of America and my youth pastor who was helping us start FP in North Carolina. I remember before we started we were supposed to spend 3 hours planning and praying specifically for our school and how we could directly connect with other students in our school through a club to the gospel.
I had never sat for anything for 3 hours in my life and honestly this sounded like one of the worst ways to start. I was supposed to sit for 3 hours in a room with my youth pastor talking about sharing the gospel with my classmates?? That sounded exhaustingly boring.
However, once we began I fell in love with this idea called ministry. I was ministering to other students, my age, by praying for them and planning events and teachings and testimonies for them. I was loving them like Jesus called me to do and it was honestly exhilarating.
I learned an extremely valuable lesson that day, that I utilized a LOT as a student pastor with middle and high schoolers. Young people want and desire leadership. Through First Priority we give them training and form them into leaders who follow Jesus and help others do the same.
Me and My Friends
I have two great friends of mine, who sat in that very first student leader training with me. Their names are Taylor McDuff and Jacob Sims.
I remember all of us, as 8th grade boys, goofing off and cracking jokes for 3 hours during that training, however, we didn’t just joke around, we also learned, listened, and were trained. Praise God for that.
Taylor, Jacob, and I all attended Liberty University together, where each of us lived faithful lives, building new friendships and leading others in faithful training. We all became leaders on campus, being looked up to and known for our wisdom, knowledge, and faithfulness. Furthermore, we are all now married and living lives in different areas, two of us are here in Clayton and another in Jacksonville, Florida. However, we are all faithfully attending church, we are faithfully loving our wives, we are faithfully serving, tithing, pursuing discipleship, and living “in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ…striving together as one for the faith of the gospel (Phil 1:27, NIV)”
We are examples of young people, fully trained to live out the gospel of Jesus, because of the training and formation we received in First Priority.
The Full Circle
I remember sitting as a Senior in high school, meeting with Joel Rowland, the first Executive Director of First Priority NC and being so excited to consider doing ministry as a career because I might have the reach and impact that Joel would. (Even if I wanted to run away from that calling, but that’s another story for another blog)
I am a dreamer at heart. I sat at my high school graduation dreaming of ways that I could get involved in ministry and share the gospel with new people in new ways and help train new leaders to grow into the person that Christ had called them to be.
I sat at my college graduation, thankful for how God had given me the opportunity to minister to students in small ways and big ways as a youth pastor. I sat dreaming of even bigger ways that the Church could reach elementary, middle, and high school students across our county, across the state, and around the world.
I sat dreaming with my Senior Pastor, Jarret Hamilton, about a quote that he used in a sermon. “Do whatever you can to have the biggest impact on the Kingdom of God in the shortest time possible.” And we spent time talking and praying over the opportunity at First Priority, to work on staff and be a leader in new ways, and he sent me to do just that.
And now I sit here in the office of First Priority, as the new Associate Director, dreaming of ways that I can connect with pastors and churches to share the gospel and reach a new generation for Christ and I get so excited. Because, I truly believe that First Priority is a method the Lord is using in North Carolina to change the hearts and minds of students for Christ.
First Priority is an avenue the Lord is using to put the hope of Christ in every student. I’m so grateful to be a part of this team.
My Reflections
My job is to partner with churches to give them the encouragement and excitement they need to partner with First Priority so that we, as a united church, can make the biggest impact for the Kingdom of God in the shortest amount of time.
I think it is so nostalgic to consider the story of Daniel compared to our time. Daniel was living in a world where people did not follow God and they did not care about the practices, prayers, or training that Daniel enjoyed. We live in a world just like that, yet because of Daniels training he withstood the forces of the enemy and he lived in a way that honored God.
In the same way, we are training students to withstand the forces of the enemy, and to live in a manner worthy of the hope of the gospel placed in their hearts.
