Who is Adam Powell?
I’m just a normal guy from South Carolina who loves Jesus, my wife, my two boys, people, and tacos. I’m a product of grace and owe my life to a Creator who gave Himself. My life has been forever indebted to Jesus and I am forever grateful for the unwavering grace He pours into my life. I also enjoy the outdoors,
meeting new people, photography, writing and a great craft beer.
When was the last time you laughed really hard?
I’d have to say this summer. My two boys were home in South Carolina for the summer months and my younger brother decided to drive up and visit them for the day. After treating ourselves to dinner, we all arrived back home and the boys asked their uncle to go jump on the trampoline before he left and drove back home. My brother told my two boys that he was totally up for it. The wife and I decided to stay inside while the boys and my brother walked to the backyard to jump on the trampoline. The sun had already gone down on the east coast, so they had to turn the outside floodlights on in order to see. About 30 or so minutes had passed and I mentioned to my wife that we should kill the lights outside and run out there and ambush them. She was totally on board, so we went for it. So, the wife and I killed the lights, gathered a dozen or so Nerf guns, grabbed two water hoses and took off in the backyard to ambush all three of them. It was hilarious as they had no idea what was coming for them. My wife started to peg all three of them with Nerf darts and I soaked all three of them with both water hoses. My boys and my brother just started to scream, “Nooooooooooooooo. Not like this” and “We’re unarmed!” It was hilarious. The wife and I ran back into the house and laughed and laughed. It was a fun night. Well, for us it was. Ha!
What does everyday life look like for Adam Powell?
Everyday life for me is always filled with joy and perspective. I believe nothing should be wasted and if God has given us a fresh new day with brand new mercies, we are to make the best of it. I also believe that in most circumstances, our lives are the best demonstration of who Jesus is. So, I try to be light in the world as much as I can. I have a full-time job that keeps me busy during the week. I also attempt to balance that and photography part time. It’s perhaps something I’d love to in the future dive more into and invest more of my focus into, but a person has to pay bills, right? Ha! I am also currently (still) in school and take a class here and there. I hope to finish my MBA before I die. Maybe someday. Ha! I’m also in the process of writing and publishing my first devotional and book. Hooray! I manage multiple social media platforms and a blog that I use as a platform to tell of the grace and love of Jesus. That keeps me busy in itself. Aside from the things in my life that keep me busy, I assist and help my wife who owns a business in the hair industry. Oh yeah, I eat tacos almost every day. I’m not ashamed. Mexican food is life. I also make an attempt to run 1-2 miles a day. Some days I fail, no lie. I love to run. It’s the motivation of getting outside that is the hard part. I also drink about 2-3 cups of coffee a day. It’s an addiction.
Tell us about your relationship with Jesus and how God has impacted your life?
My relationship with Jesus has impacted my life on a grand scale.
I believe God is always trying in every effort to gain our attention. He did it on the cross. He does it through people in our lives. God demonstrates it by the circumstances we go through on the daily. I’ve always felt that way – that if God doesn’t have your attention, then He will mess with what has your attention. In my adolescence, a lot of things and people had my attention. Then at 17, everything changed. My focus changed. My outlook on life was altered. And since then, every decision, every moment, every movement and every fiber and part of my life has centered around Him. I saw the love that Jesus demonstrated on the cross and everything He had accomplished in His life and death, was for us. Such grace. Think about that for a minute – Jesus stepped off His throne, strapped on flesh, became like us and ultimately sacrificed and gave up His life, for us. Such love. So, my relationship with Jesus has always been an intimate one. I believe that’s how God desires it. He wants us to freely approach Him, think about Him daily, seek Him out, care about the relationship, etc. Besides the birth of my two boys, the moment I met and received Christ is my life is one of the most important chapters of my life. I wouldn’t trade my relationship with Him for anything. I also find my relationship to be one full of irony. I hated Him at one time in my life. I hated everything to do with Him. Here’s a short backstory on how I (finally) met Jesus.
I started attending church when I was eight years old. You can say I was “that kid that grew up in the church.” Whenever the doors were open, I was there, even when I didn’t want to be. I grew up with not a complete understanding of who God was and who He was to me. Attending church was “something to do.” It was just an event on a calendar for me. Sunday religion in full. Throughout my adolescence, my high school social status took more of an importance and God was placed on the back shelf of my life. By placing God in the background of my life, resentment entered and I began to despise God. I hated Him. I didn’t like His people. I strongly disliked going to church. I didn’t want anything to do with anything He had his hand on. Nothing. Absolutely zilch. The story remained the same throughout Middle School and most of my High School years. After 12 near-death experiences, disobedience on all ends and ignoring anything that took His name was shut out of my life, the story remained the same. I was so lost, yet I had no idea.
At the ages of 16 and 17, God showed up. I was working at the Mama Penn’s Restaurant in Anderson, SC as a bus boy one evening. One of the friends I use to party with walked in that night and it forever altered my life. His name was Blake. His entire appearance was different, the way he spoke wasn’t the same and even the clothes he was wearing didn’t fit who I once thought he was. That night, Blake asked me what type of music I listened to and began to share how Jesus changed his life. He knew a major part of my life was hung up on music. I knew it too. Up to that moment in time, I had totally shut everything that had to do with God out, but at this moment, my heart was at full attention. I can’t tell you why, but it just was. That night, I rededicated my life back to Christ with my friend Blake. That night after working a shift at MaMa Penn’s, I went home a different person. That night started my pursuit of the One who was already waiting.
I can’t explain it. God touched my life and heart. I was a new person. All of the “things” and people that had come and gone in my life didn’t fill the void. Jobs, friends, money, and a social status didn’t fill the void. Nothing else mattered but Him. The God I use to hate was the God I loved with every fiber of myself. Jesus became my only worthy obsession. He alone deserved my heart. He alone required my attention. Jesus went out of His way and took Himself off His throne just to seek me out. That’s the greatest demonstration of love – that Jesus never needed us, but He wanted us.
Describe what being a Christian looks like for you?
Being real, being approachable, being available and being human.
I think society, culture and the church have painted this picture that Christians need to be perfect and walk a perfect life. The thing is we will never be perfect. Not one person who stepped on this playground that we call Earth will ever be perfect, only Jesus. Perfection is overrated anyway. There’s absolutely no need to be perfect to inspire others. Sorry, there’s just not. God has called us to be real and who we are, not a carbon copy of someone else or a fake persona of what we really aren’t. I think there is so much pressure in our culture and in the church world that we have to meet some type of mold, know the right people, go to a certain college, worship a certain way, believe this and believe that, etc. I say squash that noise. We, as Christians, make Christianity so difficult to live for and believe in. God knows we are broken and He’s completely okay with that. That’s why He sent Jesus. God knew we needed saving. Brokenness is beautiful. It is, so beautiful. And it’s even more beautiful at the feet of Jesus. I think we as Christians need not regret our past” or suppress our mistakes. That’s so unhealthy. God is happy with our story, just like it is. The dirty parts, the good parts, the scary parts, the unsure parts and all. He’s happy with our whole story and He wants us as Christians to use our stories as a platform to encourage others. Why? Because when we share our story, we are declaring who God really is in our lives. To me, that’s what being a Christian should look like – dirty, but redeemed, broken, but put together by His grace and dead to sin but alive in His glory!
What’s a major failure you’ve had and how did you overcome it?
My divorce. It was definitely a whirlwind of a life change. There were moments back in 2010, right after my separation and divorce, that were very dismal. I deleted my presence from all social media platforms. My schedule got very redundant. I woke up, went to work, arrived home and watched television until I fell asleep. Rinse and repeat. This carried on for about six months.
Even though it was a dark season of my life, it was just that – a season. I had to understand that. Seasons come and seasons go. The one thing I’ve learned from my divorce and life is that the valleys in our lives are not permanent mailing addresses. They are passageways to greater things. I really believe through the grace and love of a Savior, being surrounded by such great family and friends and understanding that God was still good is what got me through those dark moments. That’s one thing I believe folks need to understand. In the moments we don’t understand, trust God. In the moments we do understand, trust God. Our trust in Him should never be based on our moments. God is good, always and in all things. This is the major “push” in me overcoming the dismal array of my divorce, which was my faith, my family and friends and the understanding that God is still good in it and has His best in front of me – no matter what!
What are some of your dreams for your life?
I’d like to have a book published someday. I’ve spoken and been in communication with local publishers and it is a reality. It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do since I attended seminary. I’ve always felt God had given me something to say and if reaches just one person, I’d feel accomplished.
If you could pick one thing you would want to be known for , what would that be?
That I was a person of integrity and character. If my name ever came up in a conversation, I’d like to know that people knew me as a person with integrity and with great character. We can believe this and believe that all day, every day. We can post statuses, blogs and preach from a pulpit, Jesus and how wonderful He is. We can throw our hands up in worship, highlight every scripture and listen to every sermon in the world. We can throw a banner to the world, letting them know what we believe and what we stand for, but none of that matters, absolutely none of that matters if we aren’t actively expressing the nature of Jesus. Beliefs aren’t the only thing that makes us a better person. Our behavior also makes us a better person.
What does being light look like for you?
Forging your own path in life, being a person of character and having integrity, extending grace to people, loving others and standing up for what is right even if it’s not a “popular” thing to do.
What is something that’s burning in your heart right now?
The landscape of our society today and the upcoming youth of this world. When you turn on any news media outlet, scroll through social media feeds or even glance at society around you, you can tell our culture needs a fresh move of God’s spirit. Young people today have so many battles and struggles on the forefront of their lives. Our youth struggle with an identity crisis, fitting in, being accepted and making their mark on the universe. I think our youth today need to see generals in the faith who can pour into them and be a great influence in their lives. The spiritual livelihood of our youth today burns deep inside my spirit. Our culture needs a revival within our hearts and I believe it’s going to start with our young people.
Where can people get in contact with you?
Anyone can reach me easily on social media. My handles are all the same, besides on Facebook, which is @realadampowell. You can search for me on Facebook by my name and you should be able to find me. I’m on most of the major social media platforms and make every effort to engage with others and post content daily. I love people and hearing their stories, so I’d absolutely love to connect with anyone. I also frequently post blogs on my website, which is http://realdampowell.co.