Jesus I Am Resting, Resting

Monday evening Clemson Sophomore Tucker Hipps was pronounced dead.  His body was found in Lake Hartwell in Clemson, SC around 4:30 p.m.  Hipps went to high school at Wren High School in Piedmont, SC, which is about 15 minutes from my home in Easley, SC.  He went to church at Rock Springs Baptist Church, also 15 minutes from my home.

I never spoke one word to Tucker to my memory.  I saw him play church basketball a couple times and saw him at some social gatherings in high school, but he probably would not know who I was if you had asked him. 

All day I have been asking myself the question, "If I didn't know him so well, why is this situation so troubling to me?" I wasn't this distraught when my grandmother passed away.  I wasn't even close with many of his friends.  

Here are a few things I have been able to wrap my head around.

1. Tucker was young and it is always sad to see someone die so young
2. I wasn't horribly close with my grandmother and she was old when she died.  Her funeral was a celebration of her long life, while Tucker's will be one of sadness and mourning.  
3. Because I grew up in the general area he did I see the outpouring of emotion all over social media.  

This outpouring has been more than local.  Yik Yak, a social media outlet normally used to bully people and post crude things anonymously exploded with updates and support for the family, friends and school.  My cousin who attends Florida State University said the news had reached her Yik Yak.

Clemson started a hashtag called #Orange4Tucker encouraging students around the state to wear orange on Tuesday, to honor his life.  

So in my thinking about this today I asked myself 
A: What does our society tell us about death?
B: What does Jesus have to say about death
C: And How should we react?

A:  The most common fear among people around the world (along with public speaking) is death.  People do not want to die.  Most people do not wake up in the morning thinking they might die that day.  In fact, scientists everyday do everything they can to expand the life span of humans, to avoid death.  Death is sad, sudden and in no way just.  

I have not had anyone extremely close to me pass away before so I cannot completely know how any of his close friends and family are feeling.  Tucker's death is a tragedy, happened incredibly quickly and in no way just.  The people closest to him will not get to hug him again or hear his voice and it's just not fair.  And I hurt for those people.

B:  With that in mind I turn to what Jesus has to say about death and bring it back to the most important event in the history of mankind, Jesus' death on the cross.  Jesus' death was also tragic,  sudden (but prolonged), and in no way just.  Three days before his death, on Palm Sunday, he rode into town with people praising him. 

John 12:13 "So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!"

6 chapters later in John 18 Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested.  

(I'm sure many of you have heard this story before but bear with me).

He is then betrayed by the same people who had praised him the previous Sunday, who chose to free Barabbas the robber instead of Jesus.  

Bear in mind, while Jesus (in his human form) walked on the Earth he did not sin, but temptation and the sin of the world was still all around him. Jesus was tempted in the desert by Satan for forty days (Matthew 4:1-11)and betrayed by one of his disciples and people who had previously praised him.  

At this point I imagine Jesus felt in a sense a little bit abandoned and hurt by those people, but he put his trust in his Heavenly Father and trusted him.  

Even before his arrest Jesus prayed to his Father that he might not have to bear the cross. 

Matthew 26: 38-39 "Then he said to them (Peter and the two sons of Zebedee) 'My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here and watch with me.' And going a little farther he fell on face and prayed saying, 'My Father if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as you will."  

God is silent in this passage, which in some way may have made Jesus feel distant from him, which in turn is also how many of us feel a lot of the time.

Jesus then takes his place on the cross and bears a gruesome, torturous death full of mockery and pain during which he bore the sins of mankind.  The sin on him became so ugly God the Father turned his back on his Son, leaving Jesus dying and completely abandoned.  

Matthew 27: 45:46 "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice , saying, 'Eli, Eli, lena sabacthani?' that is, 'My God, my God why have you forsaken me?" 

But as we all know the story doesn't end there.  Three days later Jesus rose, finishing all remains of sin and death.

C: From all accounts I have heard Tucker was a good Christian guy.  His death comes as a story of sadness and it is completely to understand and question why God would take Tucker.  But more importantly, to ask those questions understanding that God is sovereign and powerful and loves us all very much.  

One of my favorite songs that I have come to learn in recent years at school is called From The Depths of Woe from Psalm 130.  The last verse reads.  

5. Though great our sins and sore our woes 
His grace much more aboundeth; 
His helping love no limit knows, 
Our upmost need it soundeth. 
Our Shepherd good and true is He, 
Who will at last His Israel free

From all their sin and sorrow(All their sin and sorrow) 
From all their sin and sorrow(All their sin and sorrow).

It is times of pain and sorrow where Jesus works the most and where we can learn to grow in his grace and love.  

In John 16 Jesus says to his disciples "Truly, truly I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice.  You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.  When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.  So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.  

Tucker's death was in no way just and as his death is grieved and many people may be questioning God, rest in the fact that he will be seen again someday.  Rest in the fact that God is loving and sent his Son to destroy sin so that one day we may live in joy with him.  

13 Things That Already Went Wrong in 2014

Have you ever had a bad week?  Just a week where nothing seemed to fall in your favor? 

This week was one of those weeks for me.  It was as if a giant black cat walked in front of me, and sknocked over a giant container of salt. 

The story begins in 2013, but the events in 2013 consequently caused events in 2014. 

It began last week when I

(1.) Spilled water on my Macbook. 

It wasn't alot of water either, but enough to completely shut down my computer to the point where it would not restart.  This was extremely unfortunate because I was fixing to leave on a week long trip with the Winthrop basketball team to Dayton, Ohio.  I would be traveling to Dayton, Ohio computerless. 

I had planned to leave for Rock Hill the morning of the 29th (the day we left), but received a call saying

(2.) I needed to come up the night before because of a possible change in plans.

 I packed in a little under an hour and needless to say was feeling a little stressed out.  My mom was nice enough to offer me her computer for the trip because mine was unusable. 

My friend Kevin was nice enough to let me stay in his apartment for the night.  After unloading my things from my car, I locked it and went inside to watch Netflix. 

I should preface the next few things by noting that I have a tendency to be forgetful.  I watched Netflix for an hour and a half without realizing

(3.) I left my suitcase sitting outside by my car. 

 Somehow in the process of locking the doors of my car I forgot I had a suitcase and just walked inside forgetting I ever left it there.  I should have taken this was a bad omen for the week.  Fortunately it was still by my car and nobody had taken it. 

The next morning we practiced before driving to Hampton Virginia (a 6 hour bus ride)  for our game the ensuing day.  If you've never heard anything about basketball road trips, it is to expect the unxpected, especially as a student manager.  Always be alert and ready to improvise.  I can honestly say

(4.) I'm not sure we stuck to a single original plan on this trip. 

The Winthrop basketball managerial staff redefined working on the fly this past week. 

(5) The next day Winthrop lost to Hampton in a double overtime nailbiter. 

Unhappy game results make for unhappy bus rides.  Another 6 hours to Charleston West Virginia was ahead. 

About 4 hours into our 6 hour trip to Charleston we stopped at  McDonalds in the middle of nowhere to stretch our legs and grab a snack.  I took my backpack into McDonalds to change from my polo and khais into a t-shirt and sweatpants. 

After I changed I grabbed a snack and headed back to the bus. 

(6.) 5 minutes after we had left the McDonalds I came to the traumatizing realization that I had left my backpack at McDonalds.  My backpack containing my mom's computer, my new Bible, some gift cards and my car keys.   

Well turning around to get it was not an option, because as a team we had places to be and had to be punctual.  So I called the McDonalds and they had found it and locked it away in an office.

The next day was New Year's Eve and I was spending it in the great city of Dayton, Ohio. Most of my New Year's Eve was spent alone in my hotel room watching Johny Football take over the Chickfila Bowl.  It wasn't as bad as it could've been. 

(7) Winthrop played Dayton the next day in the first basketball game of 2014.  A rough performance against a very talented Dayton team led to a 34 point loss and once again, an unhappy 8 hour bus ride back to Rock Hill.  

 (8.) In one week I spent about 22 hours on that bus.  Think about that.

This is where the story gets all the more interesting. 

(9.) I mentioned that I left my keys in my backpack, but didn't realize it until halfway through the bus ride home.  I had planned to drive home at about 1:30 am and leave early the next mroning with some friends for the Orange Bowl.

I called my parents who at this point had found out about the backpack, and they found a spare key and decided they would drive 2 hours up to Rock Hill drop off the spare and drive home. 

(10.) Problem was, when they got there, the key didn't start my car, it only unlocked it.

(11.) So my parents waited in Charlotte/Rock Hill until we got back at 2am to drive me home. 

I'm not sure I have ever loved my parents more. 

We got home at about 4am and went right to sleep. 

The next morning came early, 7:30 to be exact.  I had an hour to pack everything for Miami and be ready to go.  Somehow going off

(12.) 3 hours of sleep

I succeeded in doing so and at 8:30 it was onward to Miami. 

(13).  4 hours into our trip we hit some traffic and ended up rear ending some other friends we were following down to Miami.  Their car was fine and no one was injured, but my friend's car was totaled. 


After about an hour the technical details of the wreck had been taken care of, but I would no longer be going to the game.  After 4 hours of waiting in the run down town of Hardeeville, Georgia, my friend's parents arrived and drove us 4 hours back home to Easley.

What. A. Day. 

In the end my backpack was shipped back to my house, my computer is fixable, I got to watch the Orange Bowl with friends and family and more importantly I haven't been injured. 

At some point in the middle of all of these misfortunes I picked up my Bible and turned to the beginning of Matthew and read the story of the birth of Jesus.  Everyone remembers the wisemen bringing the gifts to the manger, but what often goes untold is the story of Herod's plot to kill Jesus. 
Herod sent his wisemen to review the situation and God warned them in a dream not to return  to Herod.  Then an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream and told him to flee to Egypt until he deemed it safe to return.  Herod then proceeded to kill all male children in Bethlehem under the age of two, which if you think about it is worse than any tragedy that has occurred in my lifetime. 

What I took out of this is that God had an elaborate plan to keep his Son safe, because he loved him and He has that same exact love for me.  When I lost the backpack I was still on a trip doing something I enjoy doing.  Sure I misplaced some valuable items, but my situation was nothing compared to the story in Matthew.  For some reason, I was not intended to go to the Orange Bowl this year, and thats okay.  I know that God still loves me and has a great plan for me just like he had for Jesus. 

It is good to remind myself that he is watching over me in times such as these. 

I can always think about what had happened if I hadn't spilled water on my Macbook or if I hadn't been in a wreck, but it made me rely on God and look to him. 

It's been an extremely long, stressful week.

Bu I have is parents who love me, and a God who loves me even more.

A Day To Remember

12 years ago today terrorists launched multiple attacks on the United States, taking the lives of thousands of innocent Americans.

I remember sitting in my second grade classroom at Siloam Christian School when the news was broken.

At the time I did not understand the totality of what had just happened, but I remember feeling sad.

Today I wake up in my dorm room, now a Sophomore in college and think about the state of America and what today brings.

For many today is a day of mourning, because of the people lost in this tragic event.  For others it is a day of remembrance, thinking and praying for the people affected.

Regardless of how people treat today, there is one underlying theme.  The events that transpired on September 11, 2001bring the people in this country closer together.

The Fourth of July,the Olympics and tragedies such as the Boston Bombing are events that Americans use to come closer together as a country

And the fact that we take these select days to unite as Americans is absolutely terrible.

Yes, that is right, terrible.

Not terrible in the sense that it brings people together, because days such as 9/11 that bring people closer together are excellent.

But why should we only take certain days to feel united as Americans???

That is an approach that should be taken every day.

Why should it take a travesty such a bombing or a shooting to make me feel like I have something in common with the person next to me?

Here is a scene from a Boston Bruins hockey game days after the bombing, uniting as a city and a nation singing the National Anthem with no music

That video gives me goosebumps.

It is what we should aim to make every day look like.

Take a moment to talk to the person sitting next to you.  Yes that's right, get off the iPhone and actually take time to talk to people and invest in their lives.

Because there is a good chance you have something in common, you are both American, which is a great start.

This here directly correlates to how I and other believers live their lives as Christians.

The tragedy (almost)

The tragedy occurred a few thousand years ago when Jesus was hung on a cross, mocked and tortured Jack Bauer style.

Nails were driven through his hands and feet.  Thorns were lodged into his head.  He was stabbed, beaten and had alcohol poured on his wounds.

And he did it all for those who believe and trust in Him, to take away their sin

Is that not great?  It is an incredible action of sacrifice and love.  Three days later he rose again, but in and of itself, for the people on that day it was a tragic event.

Christians have certain days that they use to unite and become closer together, just as Americans do.

Christmas, Easter and just Sundays in general are days Christians use to celebrate who Christ is and what he did.

But as Christians God calls us to celebrate Him and be disciples of Him every single day.

Mark 16:15 reads, "And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature."

Meanwhile, Christians (I included), walk around caught up in the worries and wants of life, not thinking to even speak to the person sitting next to me.

They may be a Christian, they may not, but God puts people around us and gives us opportunities to share his love with those who do not know it and to make Christian brothers. 

I hope this article makes you think a little, and is a bit convicting.

I know it was for me.

So in a me-first world I want to encourage everyone to take advantage of the situations God has given us and to become closer to the people around us.  

God Bless America

Comment below with your thoughts

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