One Thousand Risks: Fighting Fear for an Awkward, Awesome Life with Jesus

Hi! My name is Chad. I'm a Jesus follower, people lover, reader & writer, husband, father, fan of quality coffee beans, Nashville-style Hot Chicken, and creatively crafted ale. Beth, and our amazing kids, Sydney and David, share life with me in the rolling hills of West Nashville, TN. Twelve years ago I was living in Seattle as a successful Christian music industry guy climbing a great career ladder. But, I was also living in sin. I was addicted to drugs, pornography and myself - struggling to love Jesus, let alone anyone else. Around the time my sin was at it's best, someone gave me a copy of Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper, which was when I realized I was doing just that: wasting my life. While driving into the office one day, God powerfully met me. I sensed Him asking a question while simultaneously breaking through my hardness of heart; Why are you fighting Me? Right there, during the morning rush hour on the Seattle viaduct - hopeful none of my commuting neighbors were noticing - I broke down crying, weeping even, confessing my sin and asking Jesus to give me the kind of story He wanted to write over my life. Fast-forward a few years and I was at a conference in Minneapolis when I still-small-voice heard the Holy Spirit answering my Seattle prayer from years earlier with four simple, bold instructions: 1. Make your life all about Jesus. 2. Stop worrying about money. 3. Make disciples of artists and others. 4. Give yourself away. That was when my true calling came - at the peak of industry success - an unexpected, undeserved twelve-year career that had securely affixed my name to an album or two. Five days after the conference, I put in my music-industry resignation to begin awkwardly stumbling after Jesus. I was one part impassioned and three parts foolish. I cashed out 401(k), gold plaques, my record collection and the unremarkable old for a messy, extravagant new that has led me - reluctantly - to every continent on the planet. Obedience is what every single Christian is called to, even if that looks drastically different for you than it does for me. Following - actually trailing after - Jesus, wherever and whenever He leads, is the greatest joy and yet the easiest place where we fail. Had I not listened to what Jesus was telling me back then, I would not have this story to share with you now. To obey is better than sacrifice, to listen than the fat of rams. - 1 Samuel 15:22 What if you took only one risk to love God and neighbor as you love yourself? How much would your own experience - not to mention the whole global world - turn upside down? Equipping you for a life of risk is why I'm here. If God can move through me, He can flow through you. Fear is not your friend. Take a risk, your Father is King of the Universe. If you'd like to know more about me or my story, consider visiting http://www.chadisliving.com or http://www.onethousandrisks.com.