A Little Bit About Me

 Introduction

My name is Cy Belcher. I just turned 22 at the end of March, am married to my wife Ansley, and this is my testimony of how the Lord has worked in and changed my life.

My Upbringing

I was raised by my mother and father, Scott and Jennifer Belcher, and have a younger brother, Brock Belcher. While I attended school in Windthorst, my mom taught Algebra, and my dad coached, and taught Texas History. As you might imagine, there wasn't much wiggle room in terms of my behavior, because word travels fast when both your parents are on staff. I can't remember a time I was not conscious of the way my actions reflected the way my parents had raised me. On top of this, I was a people pleaser. As a result of my temperament, and the expectations of my parents, I tended to stay out of trouble growing up.

"Saved" at 9 Years Old

So no one questioned the fact that I had experienced salvation in Jesus Christ when I was 9 years old. After all, I was a good kid right? I can still remember Vacation Bible School, and the pastor asking anyone who felt they wanted to begin a relationship with Christ to raise their hands and look up. I raised my hand immediately, and prayed the prayer he asked us to. I wanted to go to heaven when I died. It was a no brainer. And after that prayer, I was thoroughly convinced heaven was my ensuing destination, and that Jesus had saved me of my sins. The issue was, I didn't truly understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The idea of starting a relationship with Jesus Christ sounded great, but I didn’t fully grasp what he had done on the cross at that point in my life.

This led me to have a false assurance of my salvation. As a result, I still had a big hole in my life; a hole that could only be filled by Jesus, and a relationship with him. I lacked purpose because of this void, so I tried to fill it with everyone's approval and admiration. This required me to seek my own glory, and do whatever it took to gain everyone's approval. Since I was always around sports growing up, that was what I naturally gravitated towards first. I can still remember dreaming of winning state championships, and going on to play collegiately from a young age. I believed that my life would be complete if I could do these things.

Junior High and High-school

Throughout junior high, I can still remember dominating and beating every team we played. At the end of my 8th grade year, we hadn’t lost a football game in three years. I can remember the talk around town of how great our class was going to be in both football and baseball when we got to high-school. I can also remember never truly being satisfied. No matter how well I played or if we won, I always wanted more. I couldn't ever stop and enjoy the success we were having, because I was obsessed with performing better or winning the next game. It was a never ending obsession.

This would continue into highschool. Except I had set my sights on another attainment alongside my athletic ambitions; being named Valedictorian. As you might guess, the same never ending cycle continued. I could have aced the most difficult test conceivable, and still not be content; because there was always another test to study for, or more work to be done. I had become obsessed with, and driven by my own expectations, and other's perceptions of me. No matter how well I was doing, there would always be something else I could improve on or set out to do.

By my junior year, sports, academics, and success in general had become my gods. I had become so good at deceiving others, that I had actually deceived myself. I truly believed I was saved. If you were to ask the people around me if I was a Christian, they would have likely said yes. If you asked why, they probably would have stated that I believed in God, and knew the most about the Bible in our grade. This was because throughout my whole life, I went to church regularly. I went to youth on Wednesday nights. I even started going to Sunday school regularly. I took notes on sermons, tried to pray regularly, and even attempted some bible reading plans. The problem was, I was still motivated by the same things that pushed me to be a successful athlete and student; everyone's approval and admiration. I wasn’t doing these things because I truly loved God and had committed my life to Him. I was doing everything actual believers did, but in a superficial manner. When I look back on my life at this point, it was obvious I wasn’t a believer in Christ. When you look at where my heart was and how I spent my time, nothing pointed to Christ. Everything in my heart pointed straight to my sinful self. I was a pathologically prideful sinner, chasing after my own glory on earth.

Shoulder Injury and Questioning God

In the middle of my junior year God rocked my world, and I hit rock bottom physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It was my first year as the starting quarterback, and I had had a great season statistically leading up to our 3rd round playoff game. In the second quarter of this game, a Texas Tech commit attempted to sack me as I was scrambling outside of the pocket. All of our weight came down directly on my throwing shoulder, and my shoulder sub-located; meaning it popped out and back into place. I can remember feeling a very sharp and searing pain in my shoulder, but was able to play through it due to the adrenaline in my system. We ended up losing badly, and as time went on my shoulder got worse. It stiffened and began to ache more and more. I could sense and feel that something was seriously wrong.

The next morning I couldn’t raise my arm above my head. I remember the panic setting in. When I told my parents I suspected it might be serious, we all decided the soreness and pain might go away with rest. I sat out the beginning of basketball, until I finally could shoot a basketball with only slight pain. I had played in only a few games before I was tripped up, and sub-located my shoulder again. I vividly remember the tears welling up as I tried to play through the pain. The tears weren't due to the pain, but from the realization that I might not be able to play quarterback or pitch anymore if it was a serious injury.

The MRI revealed I had suffered a bankart tear of my labrum; a quarterback or pitcher's worst nightmare. The recovery time after surgery to repair this tear was 9-12 months. When I received this news, I broke out in hives from the stress this news brought. Everything I had worked for my entire life was taken from me in an instant. I was now lost, and without purpose. This was a result of the hole in my heart I spoke of earlier. I didn’t know Christ, and had always tried to fill that hole with sports and success. This injury had exposed that. Sports were my identity, and this injury took them away from me. What was I supposed to do now without my arm?

I remember questioning God during this time. I had always told people that bad things occurred in life as a result of sin. All of a sudden this knowledge wasn’t enough for me though. “Why would God allow this to happen to me?” I remember thinking. I had gone to church, tried to read my bible, had been nice to others, and been a pretty good person. So why would he wreck my dreams of winning a state championship and playing collegiate football and baseball? He knew how much these things meant to me, so how could He do this? I questioned our very existence. I remember wondering why God would even create mankind if He knew we were going to sin. "How could that possibly be fair to us?" I thought. I knew that we were created to glorify God, but I questioned why we had to live in this fallen world, and go through so much suffering to glorify Him? It seemed very selfish to me, and all of these questions and thoughts infuriated me when I couldn’t think of logical answers. I was angry with God.

Because of this, I tried to turn away from God, and even tried convincing myself I hated God. Still to this day, I can remember how depressed and sick I was during this time. I would still go to church and youth to try and act like I had it all together, but I was broken inside. I was literally becoming physically ill from all that was going on in my life, and I was breaking down emotionally and spiritually. I was at rock bottom, and God used this to change my heart.

My Salvation

I remember the day that everything changed in my life like it was yesterday. February 25, 2020. Our basketball team had just lost a playoff game, and we were heading back home on a bus. I was reading an article that my cousin (an unbeliever) had sent me, that dealt with some deeper theological teachings. Within this article, I found the answers I’d been seeking since I suffered my shoulder injury.

The first piece of information helped me understand why bad things happen. I already knew that this wicked world was the result of our sin, but I didn’t know there was any benefit to our suffering. The article made the case that if nothing bad ever occurred or if everything in life was perfect, there would be no need for a reliance on God. There would be nothing set against us, to help turn us toward God, and validate that decision. I finally saw a reason for the suffering in life, and the trials I was experiencing. These trials were to show me I had no hope and no identity apart from Christ.

The second piece of information I came across, helped clarify why God would create us if He knew we would sin. The answer to this boiled down to our free will. Think for a moment. If you wanted to, you could immediately stop reading this. Just like I could choose not to go into work this week. Everyone on earth has the ability to make choices that exercise their free will. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden, serves as the perfect example for this. God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree. This gave them two options. They could either obey God, or take and eat from the tree, and disobey God. As we know, Adam and Eve ate from the tree, disobeying God, and caused sin to enter the world. Maybe you're following my thought process now, and the next question might be why God would give us free will if He knew this would make it a possibility for sin to enter the world. The answer is if we were given no free will, and forced to worship God it would mean nothing; just as life would mean nothing. It is said in Scripture that God desired fellowship so He created man. That fellowship means something when it is our decision to enter into, and walk in a relationship with God.

All of this information was the turning point for me. All of a sudden, everything clicked in my mind and heart. I understood God and His plan were infinitely bigger than me. I remember the feeling I had when I finally understood God’s plan for redemption, and what Christ meant for us. Immediately after this life changing realization, I bowed my head on that loud bus; praying for forgiveness from the sins I had committed, and the sin currently in my life. I prayed from the depths of my soul that we would make it home safely, because I didn’t want my life to be wasted. In the span of 5 minutes, my entire outlook on life had changed. I realized how meaningless sports, academics, and what people think about you are when compared to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And for the first time ever, I had a purpose and true identity because I truly believed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and made a conscious decision to commit my life to Him.

My New Life and Vision

From that day forward, my whole purpose was to become the man God created me to be. I no longer valued the temporary things I had before, and the only thing that mattered to me was living a life of eternal significance. Instead of thinking about short term pleasures, I was thinking, "What's going to matter billions of years from now?" I was no longer concerned with what people thought of my decision making. I knew none of these things would matter, when I was spending an eternity with Christ in heaven. For the first time ever in my life, I was truly content. I had overwhelming joy in Christ Jesus. I knew that the battle was already won, and that Satan couldn't win. This was liberating.

A month or so after my salvation, I told Mikey I was interested in ministry. At that stage in my life though, I was a spiritual infant. I really didn't know how to explain or articulate what had happened at this point in my life, because of the odd and unlikely circumstances. So no one was really aware of my recent conversion, as many people had already assumed I was a believer prior to this. I didn't fully understand the next step for my walk with Christ yet, but I understood the gospel. Because I understood the gospel, I wanted to find a way to bring the good news to as many people as possible. At this point in my life, the only way I could think of doing so was to be a preacher. Which is quite amusing, because at this point, I hadn't even studied an entire book of the Bible.

This interest actually upset a lot of people in my family, because I had turned away from pursuing collegiate football and baseball; even though I just started receiving offers to go play at the next level. I no longer cared or valued these things though. I was focused on making the biggest impact I could, and making my life count. And the only way I could think of doing so at that point in time, was becoming a preacher. While I still had this shaky goal in mind, I started surrounding myself with godly people. Godly people that I could clearly see fruit in their lives. Mikey, Clint Sissom and his family, and various other people in our church.

Soon though, I realized that I had become too fixated on the end goal of my life. While I believe it's great to be ambitious and have long-term goals, at this stage in my life I was too focused on impacting and changing the lives of millions of people through Christ. I was too concerned with changing others rather than myself, and hadn't differentiated my goals into smaller actionable steps. I really started to grow in my walk with Christ after focusing on the smaller improvements, and humbling myself before God. I focused on the "small" things: studying God's word daily, whether it was five minutes or five hours, daily prayer, fellowship with other believers at church, and etc. I focused on pushing to become 1% better each day, and God helped me grow in my relationship with Him exponentially.

Through this, I discovered how to walk in the Spirit, and allow Him to guide me. As I began to realize that there were other roles to play in the Great Commission, I felt as though the Lord wasn't leading me into ministry at this time. After much prayer and careful consideration, I felt the Holy Spirit was leading me to pursue coaching and teaching at this time. Telling these kids my story, and the story of Jesus Christ, and hoping that would transform their lives was what was on my heart. It broke my heart and still does, to think there are people chasing so many things that don't matter, and will never bring them true joy, happiness, or contentment. Everything of this world is fleeting, but Christ is rock solid. And no one can take Christ away from you. I felt that it was my responsibility to make these truths known in the school system.

That is until the past six to seven weeks. When we still hadn't found a new pastor for our youth, I told my wife Ansley I had a very odd feeling. I felt as though I might be being called into ministry, but wasn't entirely sure. I tried to detach from my current emotional state, and look at things from a bird's eye view. From this perspective, I was still unsure if I was really being called by the Lord into ministry, or if the pressure of trying to finish school while working full time was getting to me. After lots of discussion with Ansley, I decided to give the Lord forty days to make His will for my life evident. I wrote the priorities I would focus on for the next forty days down in my notes app on my iPhone. They were the following:

- Die to Myself. Take Up my Cross Daily.

- Be Passionately Weak, and Violently Desperate.

- Heartfelt Prayer

- Intense Study

- Look to Love/Serve Others

- Set House in Order

- All In On Current Youth Ministry

- Worship Music/Cutout the Junk

- Read Only Christian Books

- Focus On Building Relationships Within The Church

- Share The Gospel

- Serve In The Church

- Kill All Sin

- Surrender To God's Will

- Pray For Ansley

- Watch Intently

Thirty days into this forty day testing period I received a call from Mikey, asking if I was interested in potentially becoming the youth pastor. As you might imagine I was absolutely interested in this possibility, and went on to receive the job. I've since then been serving as the Student Ministry Director at First Baptist Church Archer City for 16 months.