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I have been reading all of the new posts daily at our Motions online community (matthewwest.com/motions), and some posts have really moved me. But one has stuck out, and remained in my thoughts recently. It's the story of Ryan Mcafee, an 18 yr. old kid from Oklahoma who tragically lost his life in a car accident. Not long before that accident, Ryan had posted the lyrics to "the Motions" on his Facebook page, saying he wanted to live his life with a passion for God that the song talks about. "The Motions" was played at Ryan's funeral, and I was told that so many people were so moved by Ryan's life and love for God, that 15 people made a new commitment to Christ right there at his memorial. Here Is Ryan's story from his older brother, Lance. -mw



Where do I begin? How about our God is an awesome God! Why? Well there are an infinite amount of reasons, but let me tell you a story about one of them. It's a story about my brother, Ryan Allen McAfee. My brother lived his life based on a couple of well-known statements, Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30) and Love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 21:31). You see, there was nobody too low or too high that my brother didn't love or become friends with. Everyone loved Ryan, I never heard a bad word uttered about him, nor did I ever hear him say anything bad about anyone else. Ryan lived like Christ, and was an awesome example of what a Christian in today's society should look like. Ryan obeyed the Word of Almighty God, he wasn't perfect, but he strived to be. Even in his last days, he felt the conviction of wanting to do more for Christ, he told of his dreams and how he wanted to change the entertainment industry by letting Christ use him in the films he wanted to make. My brother never cursed, drank, or smoked - he wanted to live in a way that would be honoring to God, his body was a temple.



On Saturday, March 7th he wrote the chorus to the song "The Motions" by Matthew West on his Facebook wall:



I don't want to go through the motions

I don't want to go one more day

Without your all consuming passion inside of me

I don't want to spend my whole life asking

What if I had given everything

Instead of going through the motions



Apparently he was telling his friends to keep him accountable to make sure he was living how he was supposed to live. He always wanted to do more, always pushing to serve. A day and a half later on the morning of Monday, March 9th - he passed away. He did not get the chance to live his earthly dreams; however he did realize his ultimate dream. He is now with the Lord, he died as a sacrifice, and that is the way he lived his life.



I say that because of what transpired after his passing. At the funeral there were approximately 2,000-2,500 people in attendance, and during it we played Matthew's song the "The Motions" and the crowd was in awe. Now previously to Ryan's death I had never heard the song, but when I heard it, I told my mother we had to put it in the funeral; that action was totally God inspired.



Needless to say, God is amazing! At Ryan's funeral, 15-20 people were saved! Can you imagine? God does indeed work in mysterious ways, it was perfect. If Ryan could have known that even just one person would be touched by the Lord by himself dying, he would have done it in a heartbeat. God has been escalated things ever since then, a news crew has done a story about Ryan, Matthew told his story on KLOVE*, and other amazing things have happened. Little did he know that the world would hear about Christ through his passing. God's will is certainly being done.



I miss Ryan, but I know he would not want to come back, he is seeing amazing things, and God is still using him here, I'm proud to be called his brother. I look up to him, as I always have; this is just a small story of why God is awesome!



Just remember that God will use you if you are willing; people are watching. When you are gone what will people say? Will they say that you lived a good life or that you gave Christ everything you had? I ask myself this question everyday. Let us show people love, let us give our all to Christ, and let us not go through the Motions!



God Bless,

Lance McAfee

May.16.2009



**Listen to Matthew and Lance's conversation on KLOVE in the myspace player (http://myspace.com/matthewwest)