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 I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, maybe because it’s graduation season, and since I work with youth, the obvious topic of discussion is ‘What are you doing now that school is out or where are you going to college?’I can't help but look back through the window of my own past and have some very strong feelings beginning with the questions: Is it worth it to gain status and success, yet only to lose your soul through the process?What you are doing may look like progress, but success alone as the bottom-line can actually be destructive. Progression is commonly looked at as any advancement in life.  Diploma. Scholarship. Degrees. Certifications. Promotions. Higher salaries…I progressed through 16 years of schooling and obtained a scholarship, which resulted in a degree in Business Administration from Temple University.Progression?  Maybe by the world’s standards but personally and eternally, not so much. And that is because I was moving up at my soul’s expense.The world has us believing that progress is chronologically linked with success. Think about it. “Years involved” in striving to advance only makes one tenured or scholarly or masterly.  But if that next stage of “progression” is the ends to the progressive means, I wonder, is the desire to progress controlling you or are you controlling it?I don’t know, but I know this: Whatever we choose to serve becomes our master, even progression.Outward success does not equal inward progress. So, is there a right type of success and progression? These days I look to a different paradigm to examine that question.Progression can’t only mean “chronologically moving forward in success or advancing to another stage of an outward development process.”  Because if so, how then did Jesus rise well above His contemporaries?How did He progress with His life when it ended up hanging on a cross?  At the time, the propagators of theology, royalty, and nobility had ridiculed that He was nothing more than a carpenter; therefore they refused to stop their “progression” and appetite for "succession" to hear Him. They progressed in the world at their souls' expense. Consider this: Jesus was not schooled, nor did He sit at the feet of great rabbis. He did not climb the corporate ladder, nor did He spend more than three years in His work.Progression then had nothing to do with advancing chronologically or succeeding materially and everything to do with developing maturity, success of the soul.Thus, no matter how much one may gain in this world, without Christ, they have nothing. No matter how much one may lose in this world, with Christ, they have everything. True progress and success in the soul.

(Actual Column Onine) I met a remarkable man last year at Dr. James Dobson’s ‘Family Gathering’ conference in Colorado Springs, Colo. His name is Victor Marx, and his life defies all odds.  I immediately was struck by his commanding stature, his godly confidence, gentle humility -- and all of that -- couched within the horror story of his own life.  You see, as a child, Victor lived in 17 houses, and attended 14 schools.  He had four stepfathers. Three molesters.  And one unsuccessful attempt by a pedophile to murder him at the tender age of 5, when he was lured into a building, sexually assaulted, and then locked in an industrial cooler to freeze to death. His family found him there, unconscious.Things didn’t fare much better for him in grade school, where a teenage boy began showing him much needed attention with gifts and taking him on trips— this would be classic grooming techniques to ensure his silence when the molestation began.  Victor says, “I felt like Humpty Dumpty, and I’d fallen off the wall.” (Citizen, 2015)How does one survive such gross abuse?  Marx’s story is so powerful and compelling because it demonstrates how a relationship with Jesus Christ can alter a man and his future.  Marx’s story exemplifies that nothing in our lives is ever wasted, no matter how disastrous, when turned over to the Lord. It is yet another example of God taking our mess and producing a message.  It is what ‘Standing Strong’ looks like.  All odds would say that Marx’s brokenness as a child would have stunted him, hardened his heart, or perhaps even begun a repeat cycle of abuse on another child.  No!Once Marx found Jesus Christ, he allowed Christ to restore and pick up all the broken pieces that within his own human effort was impossible. And out of God’s grace and his personal pain, Marx birthed a ministry called “All Things Possible” (ATP).This ministry has grown exponentially through the years from prison ministry to saving children in conflicts in the Middle East.His heart beats for the hearts of broken children, perhaps because a time long ago, still hidden away in his own heart, he knows well the feelings of neglect, abandonment, and abuse.  He has inwardly walked in their shoes. He continues to impact fractured communities all over the world in Northern Iraq, Syria, Burma, and Cambodia. As a former Marine and trained martial arts seventh-degree black belt, he teams up with missionaries and has completed six high-risk missions to provide children medicine and support in war-torn areas.The history of this outreach and his personal testimony are chronicled in the film “The Victor Marx Story.”I share this with you because I could not be more excited to announce that Victor Marx will be coming to Ocean City to be the keynote speaker at the Soldiers For Faith Men’s Gathering—Standing Strong—at Coastal Christian Ocean City church, Eighth and West avenues July 29. All men, ages 12 years and up, are invited to attend. You can get more information and register at www.soldiersforfaith.com.I believe there are plenty of males out there, but we are in great need of strong, godly men. Marx’s testimony will truly inspire. ED. NOTE: Matthew Maher is a former professional athlete and author of the books "U MAY B THE ONLY BIBLE SOMEBODY READS: R U LEGIBLE?" & “Imprisoned by Peace”. His “Decisions Determine Destiny” assemblies are funded by State Farm and service youth in the tristate area. He is the President of Soldiers for Faith Ministries and also the Director of Student Ministries at Coastal Christian Ocean City. He served four years and seven months in N.J. State prison and was released August 2014. You can learn more at www.themattmaherstory.com. Follow him on Twitter @mattmaherstory and Instagram @matthewmaher7.

I heard a really good sermon recently that challenged the listener to consider the impact and legacy of their temporal life. The main question was, “What are you doing within your dash?" You know the dash between your birthstone and your gravestone.  In other words, what are you doing with your life? Personally, I have a dash within a dash--if that makes sense. That additional dash was the five-year pause that occurred between the dash of my date of birth (DOB) and my date-of-death (DOD). It encompassed my time in prison—a metaphorical death of sorts—where I was removed from society and reduced to a number 314525E.  And though my dashes are all years apart and separate, they are inseparable. Please let me explain.You see, every-eternal-thing that God has for me can be fulfilled within that dash from D-O-B to D-O-D (even a pause), the dash represents the time given by G-O-D. I was not responsible for my date of birth, nor am I in control of my date of death.  But what I do control are the actions and attitudes that are attached to the dashes latitude. And while we can micro-manage—to a certain degree—the quality of our lives, it is the time that existed in the dash of my prison life that exposed me to the true quality of life.And here’s why: I may have been diminished to that dash of time by the system, but what I did with the time was not controlled by the system.  From arrival to departure, the dash was the most intensive part of my sentence.  It was where I learned to truly value time. And though that dash was given to me because of my recklessness, God still used that dash to teach me about His faithfulness. It was in the confines of my aloneness that I experienced God’s companionship.  It was in the daily chaos that I felt His peace.  And it was in spiritual solitude that I heard His still small voice.A prison chaplain, Victor Hudson, once said something so simple, yet so profound, and it permeated into my mind and impacted my daily actions. He said, “Gentlemen, take root where you are planted.”  Now I’m not talking about taking on the indoctrination of a prison environment, but rather a spiritual application of utilizing my gifts and talents in spite of the prison walls around me.Take advantage of the dash.  So I studied, I led Bible study, I encouraged people, and I shared my resources.   

As a result, I am still being blessed by the dividends of the time spent within the dash of my prison life. Those unique experiences, because they were given to me by God’s plan, have prepared me for what I am doing today. So maybe the most important question for you to ponder is:  What are you doing with your dash?  What legacy are you leaving to those around you? And what are you contributing in this life that will set you up for an inheritance in your eternal destination?ED. NOTE: Matthew Maher is a former professional athlete and author of the books "U MAY B THE ONLY BIBLE SOMEBODY READS: R U LEGIBLE?" & “Imprisoned by Peace.” His “Decisions Determine Destiny” assemblies are funded by State Farm and service youth in the tristate area. He is the President of Soldiers for Faith Ministries and also the Director of Student Ministries at Coastal Christian Ocean City. He served four years and seven months in N.J. State prison and was released August 2014. You can learn more at www.themattmaherstory.com. Follow him on Twitter @mattmaherstory and Instagram @matthewmaher7.