Saturday, March 26, 2011

Christmas Break 2010-2011 Part 1

Christmas Break couldn't have started off any better.  I went to Dallas for a College Golf Fellowship (CGF) Retreat at Ben Crane's house.  College Golf Fellowship is a Christian ministry for college golfers.  They have summer and winter retreats, and they also have Bible studies at college golf tournaments throughout the school year.


The day before the retreat, I was able to hang out with Jules for the afternoon.  She showed me around Dallas, and later that evening we met some friends for sushi.  After dinner, my buddy Kevin Kring and I went to Brad Payne's house to spend the night.  Brad Payne is on staff with CGF.


The next morning we woke up, got some breakfast, and went to Vaquero to play golf.  When Kevin and I arrived at the driving range, we saw K.J. Choi giving lessons to some kids.  It was pretty cool to see a professional golfer giving lessons.  Anyway, we warmed-up on the range, and then headed for the first tee.


We played the front nine, and then made our way to the back nine.  As we were playing hole 12, I noticed a golf cart flying down the fairway.  As the cart got closer, we realized it was Ben Crane.  Ben dropped a ball in the fairway and asked, "Is it okay if I play a few holes with you guys?"  Obviously, no one in our group had a problem with Ben playing a few holes with us.  I immediately got nervous and excited.  I realized that I was going to have to hit golf shots in front of a PGA golfer.  I immediately thought to myself, "Oh gosh, I hope I don't shank one."


We made our way down the fairway to where my ball was.  I was about 180 yards out and pulled out my 4 iron.  I took a few practice swings, and set-up to the ball.  I don't think Ben could tell, but I was definitely shaking from being so nervous.  I had never hit a golf shot in front of someone who had won a PGA Tour event.  As soon as I hit the ball, I knew the shot wasn't going to be good.  When I looked up, I saw the ball helplessly fly through the air and land about 30 yards short of the green.  When I swung, I hit the ground before I hit the ball; a shot golfers call hitting it "fat."  This was pretty embarrassing.  However, I wasn't too worried about it.  I knew Ben was a nice guy, and I knew he wasn't going to make fun of me or laugh.  I'm sure he sees a lot of bad shots when he plays with nervous amateurs.  We finished playing hole 12, and then made our way to hole 13.  Ben hit a perfect drive, and then hit his next shot to about 3 feet of the hole.  He then made his putt for birdie.  Simple as that.  I hit a drive into the left rough, and then hit my next shot on the green.  I had a long, uphill putt for birdie.  I hit my first putt short of the hole by about 10 feet.  My next putt was still uphill, and had about 2 feet of break.  I took a few practice strokes, and then hit the putt.  I watched the putt roll up the hill, and break to the right, right into the center of the cup.  I then heard Ben say, "Nice putt."  I was pretty happy.  Ben Crane, the 2010 Farmers Insurance Open Champion, and the 2010 CIMB Asia Pacific Classic Champion, just told me, "Nice putt."  That made my day.  He did beat me on the hole, he birdied and I parred, but at least I played respectable golf on hole 13.  After that hole, he drove off to play with other college golfers.


We finished the rest of our round, and then drove to the Crane's house for dinner and the first session of our Bible study.


After we finished dinner, 80 college golfers gathered in the living room and kitchen of the Crane's to listen to the guest speaker.  Brad Payne introduced the guest speaker, Matt Chandler.  I had no clue who Matt Chandler was, but quickly found out.  Matt Chandler pastors a church in Flower Mound, Texas, called The Village Church.  He started speaking and I was quickly amazed and challenged.


I went to the CGF retreat the previous year and failed to bring a notebook to take notes.  This year, I did not make the same mistake.  As soon as Matt Chandler started speaking, I quickly took notes.  Chandler was incredible!  He challenged us, encouraged us, and preached the truth.  Friday night, December 17th, he spoke about how we (humans) fail to measure up to God's glory.  He said we want God's stuff, but we don't want God.  We think we are smarter than God.  He also said we fail to acknowledge God.  He said everything we have on earth was designed for us (humans) by God, for God's glory!


After Matt Chandler spoke, we all branched-off into our small groups to discuss what Chandler spoke about.  After our small groups, we had some time to hang out and play ping-pong.  Shortly after that, we all went to bed.  Fifty college golfers stayed at Ben Crane's house, and the other 30 college golfers were at other houses around the neighborhood.


The next day we woke up and listened to Chandler speak again.  This time, he spoke about how we can't go through life on our own.  We need the help of Christ to make it to Heaven.  He gave a great illustration too.  He told us to picture a young child who is learning to walk.  The child takes a few steps, and then falls.  The parents then cheer.  The parents don't cheer because the child fell, the parents cheer because the child was walking.


This is how our walk with Christ is when we are infants in Him.  We are the children, and God is the parent.  Once we start walking (living for Christ), there will be times where we will fall.  God doesn't get frustrated and angry with us.  He knows we are trying.  He is in Heaven cheering even though we fell down.


I think this is an awesome illustration!  There are so many new believers who come to know Christ and say they will never go back to the sin they once lived in.  A few months after committing their lives to Christ, they mess up and find themselves committing that same sin they said they would never commit again.  God doesn't get frustrated though.  He understands they are trying.  He is there to help them back up just like a parent helps their little kid back up.


Chandler said we aren't going to follow God by trying harder.  We are going to follow God by walking with God.


That evening, Ben and Heather Crane spoke about their lives and their relationship.  Heather gave some great advice about relationships.  She said don't date to date, date to marry.  She said find someone who makes you better.  She and Ben also gave a key point to relationships, they said, "Don't be prideful."  Learning from Ben and Heather Crane is great!  First, they both have a solid relationship with the Lord.  Their first focus isn't each other, but rather Christ.  They always put God first and look to serve Him.  They have so much love for each other, and have two great kids.  Their home is so peaceful and filled with joy because they keep Christ first in their lives.  After Ben and Heather spoke, Matt Chandler spoke for the final session.


Chandler began his Saturday night talk with this, "If you put anything primary before God, you will be unsatisfied."  I am going to write out the rest of the notes I put in my notebook because I think it is so important what Matt Chandler said...



  • Galatians 2:20
  • If you say, "I can do whatever I want because Jesus will forgive me" you are not saved.
  • (Chandler's) Fear: You know about God, but you don't know God.
  • Colossians 3:1
  • Are you a partaker of Jesus Christ?
  • If you do not have a desire to know God, you are not a Christian.
  • Colossians 3:1-2 "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."
  • When you become aware of your mortality, you view God and life differently.
    • -Stories of young people passing away
  • Fill your life with the things that stir your affections for Jesus Christ.
  • Spiritual formation begins when you throw those positive logs on the spiritual fire.
  • What you love, you can read about.
  • I'm going to know, follow, and worship Jesus Christ.
  • Surround your life with the things that fuel your spiritual fire.
  • *Side note- Relationship advice: Find someone who you are intimately in love with. (Soul to Soul)
  • Focus on following Christ, not avoiding sinful things. (Focus on the positive)
  • Don't be the guy who goes to church, but lives a secret life.
  • Be a guy who lives his whole life for Jesus Christ.
  • Be a Godly man.



After Matt Chandler spoke, we got into our small groups again to discuss what he talked about.  After small groups, we went to the kitchen to have dessert, and then we went back into the living room and listened to Martin Piller, Ben Crane, and Paul Stankowski talk about faith and golf.


As Ben Crane was talking, he said some things that really stood out to me.  He said we need to run toward Christ.  He also said we need to pray, spend time in the Word, and spend time in worship.  Everything else will fall into place.  The last thing Ben said was that there's nothing better than walking with the Lord and sharing the Lord with others.


Sunday morning we all got up and went to The Village Church.  After a great service and listening to Matt Chandler preach, we went to play whirlyball in Plano, Texas.  After whirlyball, Kevin and I drove back home to Missouri for Christmas break.


The College Golf Fellowship Retreat was absolutely incredible!  It was amazing to listen to Matt Chandler speak about what it means to be a Christian.  He spoke the truth and presented the Gospel to 80 college golfers.  I learned so much from listening to him, listening to others, and discussing everything in my small group.


Now that the CGF Retreat was over, I was ready to spend Christmas with my family.


We celebrated Christmas as a family, and then we celebrated Christmas with our extended family.  It was so good to see everyone!  Christmas break was going great!  I had two weeks of complete relaxation and hanging out with family.  I honestly didn't know how it could get any better.


I signed up in the fall for a conference in Atlanta, Georgia, called the Passion Conference.  My friend, Travis Hartley, is the one who told me about Passion.  In September, he asked if Stephen (another friend) and I would go with him.  I told him I would think and pray about it.  After looking at the website (268generation.com) I knew this would be something I wouldn't want to miss.  Stephen, Travis, and I signed up for the conference in late fall.


December 30th came and it was time to pack for the Passion Conference.  I packed for the 4-day conference which was scheduled for January 1-4, 2011.  Of course, I do a great job of procrastinating, so I didn't get fully packed until about 1 a.m., December 31.  We were scheduled to meet at Stephen's house around 7 a.m.  It was a short nights rest.


We met at Stephen's house where his mom fixed us a delicious breakfast.  Stephen mentioned a few weeks earlier there might be another kid joining us from his school.  When I got to Stephen's house, I realized there were two more kids who decided to go at the last minute.  There were now six of us heading down to Atlanta.


After breakfast, I was ready to go!  I had just eaten, and I was running on adrenaline from excitement and a lack of sleep.  Since I was wide awake, I decided to drive first.  We packed up the minivan, yes, the minivan, and our group of six guys began the 12 hour drive to Atlanta.


My Christmas break had already been incredible.  I had a great time at the CGF Retreat in Dallas, and I was having a great time with family.  How could it get any better?!


I have never said anything is life changing.  However, the next five days (December 31, 2010- January 4, 2011) completely changed my life.  I had no clue what God was about to do in my life, and in the lives of 22,000 other college students.

1 comment:

  1. That's some great powerful stuff K dawg! Gives me goosebumps!

    ReplyDelete