Life has not slowed down at all in a month. It feels like I moved to Gainesville and then slammed on the gas and I cut my brake lines. This is both good and bad. Training camp has started for all the racers launching this year, and I have gotten to pour into them, Pray with them, and walk with them through their new seasons. This has been super fulfilling for me but also time-consuming.
I also got a Job. I currently work at Kilwins, an ice cream shop in town. I have had many conversations about Jesus and have encouraged my coworkers. One conversation in particular stuck out; one coworker told me her story, and she had a rough past where she made some mistakes. And in the conversation, she kept betting herself up. But she recently came to know the Lord, so the first thing that came to mind was Romans 8:
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because, through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”
And I told her Paul was a murderer. Mathew betrayed his heritage and people and became a tax collector. Abraham betrayed his wife and Gave her to Pharoah to protect his skin. The biblical heroes aren’t perfect, and neither are you.
In other news, as some of you know, I was attending community college online at Pellissipi while living in Georgia. I dropped out, and here is why. I felt like God gave me two roads. Road one: go to college, get a degree, get a job, get a wife, have three kids, retire by 65, and die in a nursing home. Or road two: I live a radical life for Jesus where I sacrifice security so that Jesus can utilize my gift to have the most impact on the kingdom. And I know that ministry and the classic American road can go together. In fact, as American Christians, they should! But I want to live a crazy and uncomfortable life for the kingdom. And at this stage in life leaning into more security would hinder that dream. I want to keep saying yes to God when he offers me bigger and better things. At this point, I don’t know what those things are, and I understand that can scare the people who love me. I encourage you to join me in prayer and continue to trust God with me.
I want the courage to walk out in the storm when Jesus tells me to walk on water, even if everyone else calls me crazy.
In other other news let me tell you about the class. I have absolutely loved CGA so far. We have dove so deep into the word, ourselves, and what it means to follow God truly. In the first week, we traced the entire Old Testament and learned the history of Israel and how God’s chosen people are truly the only narrative through the whole Old Testament. And all the parallels in the Old Testament that point to Jesus are frikin crazy. We have had a week dedicated to the Father, Son, and holy spirit for the past three weeks. We read a book called “spiritual slavery to Spiritual Sonship,” which is super interesting. It goes into what it truly means to be a child of god. For the “Son” week, we started spending a day reading a whole gospel. I chose John, and then we discussed the similarities and differences of each gospel. We also reviewed all of John’s “I am” statements to dive deeper into who Jesus says he is. For the spirit week, we studied 1 Corinthians 12 and learned about what Paul says the spiritual gifts are. We also went into spiritual offices in Ephesians 4. Also, the Holy Spirit was active before Acts 2. I didn’t know that. David had the holy spirit, and the prophets had the Holy Spirit when they were prophesying, and the Holy Spirit was literally at the dawn of creation in Genesis 1:2.
I have enjoyed studying the word this intensely and pouring my knowledge into the new racers, coworkers, and roommates.
That’s my life update.
I love every single one of you.
Thanks for everything.
-Drew McKinney
P.S. I’m Still fundraising. If you feel called, here is the link.
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