Tag Archives: Carlos Whittaker

September 21, 2015 · 5:30 AM

Second Chances

  
I was listening to Carlos Whittaker’s song “God of Second Chances” the other day. I tried to think of the people in the Bible who had been given second chances. David came to mind first. He had served God as king of Israel, wrote praise songs, brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem and then had an affair with a woman. He then had her husband murdered to cover it up. He asked God to forgive him and was given a second chance to continue serving as the king and spiritual leader of Israel.

Jonah was another person who was given a second chance. He had been called to be a preacher, but ran from that calling. After heading in the opposite direction of where God called him to, the Lord sent a violent storm to stop him. He decided he would rather die than to be a preacher, so he had others throw him into the sea. As he was drowning, a giant fish swallowed him whole. He had a change of heart while inside the fish, and God agreed to give him a second chance. He spared his life and with his second chance, an entire city was saved.

Peter was a person who also needed a second chance. After following Jesus for three years, he denied he even knew Jesus to save his own skin. Peter was distraught at what he had done. He didn’t get to ask Jesus for forgiveness at that point, but we know he was forgiven. Jesus found him after the resurrection and asked him to feed His sheep. Because of Peter’s second chance, the early Church was born.

In Matthew 18:21, Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” (NLT) He was asking Jesus, “How many chances should I give someone?” Jesus replied, “No, not seven times, but seventy times seven!” (NLT) Jesus then told a story of someone who had been forgiven much, but wasn’t willing to forgive someone who wronged him a little. The person who wouldn’t give a second chance to someone else was given the initial penalty he deserved.

If God is the God of second chances, you and I are to be people of second chances. To be like Christ is to forgive even those who continually wrong us when they ask for mercy. In Matthew 6:15, Jesus bluntly said, “But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins” (NLT). Just like God will forgive you for as many sins as you commit, we are to forgive others for their many sins. God has a history of giving people second chances. You and I can start today and write our own history of being people who give second chances. 

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April 8, 2014 · 7:52 AM

Wreck Me, Jesus

I was touched this week when I watched a video of Carlos Whittaker trying to make a music video. The video shows them setting up to shoot his video and the beginning of him singing his song “God of Second Chances”. Not long after he started singing, a homeless man walks onto the set in front of the cameras to listen. Instead of stopping the song and asking him to leave because he’s messing up the shoot, Carlos sings to the man. After a few seconds, the man kneels and begins to cry. Not long after that, he joins in on the song and freestyles a new verse.

It’s a beautiful video to watch, but it challenged me as a Christian and a person. I’m a perfectionist and want things to happen the way I imagine them. I’m quick to bulldoze people that get in the way of what I’m trying to do or who mess it up. I rarely look at them the way Carlos looked at this man. He didn’t quit playing and ask him to get off the set. He didn’t pout and say, “Dude, you’re ruining this.” Instead, he turned away from the camera and played for an audience of one. He was sensitive enough to God’s spirit to recognize this man needed the song more than he needed to record it.

I’m sure you’ve read similar circumstances of a homeless man walking into a church and sitting in the aisle. People started to murmur and complain. Finally one went to a deacon and asked him to do something. The deacon walked up to the man and sat beside him for the rest of the sermon. Another story I heard of was how a prostitute in Vegas went into a church and got saved. She was so excited, she brought several other prostitutes the next week. The people in the church were worried about their teenage boys and husbands. They told the pastor, “Do something or they’re going to wreck what we’ve got here. They’re going to mess things up.” The preacher said, “I hope they wreck us.”

You see, hearing these stories and watching this video are reminders to me that I’m not that different from the Pharisees. I like to think I am, but in these situations, I would have acted just like them. I wouldn’t have had the patience of Carlos, the sincerity of the deacon or the audacity of that pastor to look beyond the physical to see the spiritual needs. I let my schedule, my dreams, my ideas, my visions and my preconceived notions override the spirit of God in me. I get caught up in trying to do everything right for God, that I forget to do what’s right for God. Jesus spent a lot of His time doing things that upset people with my mindset trying to show them another way.

My prayer today is that God would wreck me and you. May He blast through the things that keep us from really seeing what He’s called us to do. May He tear down our dreams of perfectionism. And may He open our eyes to the lost who need us to be Jesus to them. I hope that each of us will look past the religious ways to do things and start meeting the needs of those that walk onto our set, sit in our aisles and bring their out of place friends into our lives. I don’t want to do things the way I want to do them anymore. I want to do them the way God wants to do them. I want to be more like Jesus in meeting the needs of others and less like the Pharisees. Thankfully, we serve the God of Second Chances and He will help me.

Click here to watch the video I’m talking about.

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September 2, 2013 · 7:00 AM

The Best Writer’s Conference

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Since it’s Labor Day, I’m going to take a break from my normal devotional message to share with you about a conference that got me writing devotionals like I do. I don’t get a kickback or anything from this conference for telling you about it. I was simply blown away by attending and want to share with you the difference it made in me.

I can’t believe it has been several months since I attended the inaugural Re:Write Conference. I had never been to a writer’s conference so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The truth is, I paid the money for the conference just so I could have a chance to meet Mark Batterson. I had heard of a couple of the other speakers, but wasn’t familiar with many of them. I had only one goal in mind by attending: meet Mark. That being said, I was totally unprepared for what would happen at the conference and in turn, I was blown away.

What was supposed to be a trip to meet one person and pick up a few skills to better my writing turned out to be a spiritual journey beyond my imagination as well. The speakers who attended the conference didn’t get up and give us formulas for success. They poured out their hearts into our lives instead. They shared their heartbeat of why they write, their insights into having a relationship with God and how to be satisfied with how God uses you wherever you are. Where I expected clinics, I got wisdom. Where I expected reclusive authors, I got to sit by them and have personal conversations.

What conference can you go to that has people like Paul Young author of The Shack (20,000,000 copies sold), George Barna the authority on church statistics, Ken Blanchard who wrote the book on business leadership, Peter Strople who is the most connected man in the world and so many more authors who won’t go hide in a green room, but will sit at a table with you while you learn? These authors were the opposite of reclusive. They sat at our tables during the conference and at breakfast. When I was at the airport leaving, I ran into Jim Henson. He initiated a conversation. Later I walked past Paul Young. He called out to me, came over, gave me a hug and said goodbye.

This conference instilled in me the importance of relationships in the writing community. None of us have all the answers or the market cornered. It is through relationships that we build our platforms. We are not competitors against each other fighting for readers. We are co-workers in the Kingdom trying to spread His message, not ours. I got to meet other bloggers, published authors, speakers and other incredible people from all walks of life and levels in writing at this conference who still keep in touch and offer practical advice.

The relationships, the information and the spiritual growth that I came away with from that conference are invaluable. This year, the conference is going to be in Austin, Texas on October 18-20. The list of authors headlining this event is second to none. We’re talking Mark Batterson, Ted Dekker, Lisa TerKuerst, George Barna, Crystal Paine, Carlos Whittaker, David Kinnaman, Mary DeMuth, Peter Strople, Chad Allen, Emily Freeman and Jim Henderson. If you are looking to grow spiritually and improve your writing ability, this is the conference for you. I encourage you to check out their website here for information. You can also follow them on Twitter here for info, highlights and even discounts. It’s a small investment compared to the eternal changes you will experience. I hope to see you there!

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