Chad L. Beam ~ Licensed Minister, Worshiper, Catalyst, Writer, Teacher, Coach, Inspirationalist...
LIFE FOCUS: My focus is to creatively ‘INSPIRE’ others to realize and actualize their full God-Given potential…
LIFE VERSE: Romans 9:17 (NIV) … “I raised you up for THIS VERY PURPOSE, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
THE WRITER/POET -- Born and raised in Lawndale, NC, Chad Beam, the oldest of three siblings, saw his first run-ins with God through the generational curses of poverty, death, fatherlessness, lack of identity, and Anger. His God-given angel earlier on in life was his ‘Nana’. He watched countless times as her love, connections, reputation, faith, work ethic, and prayer provided miracles that kept hunger and so many other things away. One evening after exhausting his ways to tell her and show her how much he loved her, The young boy wrote a simple poem that started with, “Roses are red violets are blue…” It was in this moment that the Holy Spirit uncovered a gift with words & poetry, which has since become a passion. While ‘Nana’ has gone on to heaven, God taught Chad through her that love conquers all.
THE ATHLETE – With the love of his grandmother, Chad went on to discover his talent as an athlete. High School athletics were initially an option that kept the young man from selling drugs after school. Fueled by the Anger of his past, this young man quickly discovered that sports were also a safe place to channel and release that Anger. As a decent student, this young man found a sport for each season, which kept him off the streets. While engaging in basketball and baseball, it was football that provided the greatest channel for his anger. Channeling aggression into passion for the game made Chad a promising wide receiver. God, or the Ghost-Rider as Chad would call him, began to allow the young man to do things on the field that he couldn’t explain. Yet and still, it wasn’t enough to make him seek a personal relationship. With this notoriety came an introduction to sex, drinking, and a social life that allowed this young man to secretly experiment w/ these things. Not knowing that his little brother was enviously watching as his secret life played out and was transforming those secrets into public displays of defiance of his own. This success and secret life led to a college scholarship and a dead 16-year-old brother all at the age of 18. It was here that God, or the Ghost Rider, was teaching Chad that all choices, good and bad, have consequences. And while we may be able to pick the choice, we don’t get to pick the consequences of that choice.
THE WORSHIPER – The blessing of a free scholastic education was God’s vehicle to get Chad into an environment where He could continue to initiate a Spiritual education. Chad began attending Lenoir-Rhyne University in the fall of 1995 and graduated in the spring of 2000. He was a heralded wide receiver and center fielder. The speaker of the hour was named the 1st Black Homecoming King in the history of the college. While All conference honors, Dean’s list, Team Captain, Most Valuable Player, and Offensive Player of the year were all great accolades, hearing the voice of God calling late one night at a party led the speaker to his most celebrated accolade. A few days after, he answered God’s call, surrendered his life to Christ and began the process of falling in love with Jesus. During his personal conversion in his dorm room, God, in the miracle of a moment, stripped away All-Consuming Anger and replaced it with Worship! This replacement was his registration into the school of the Holy Spirit. After being enrolled in God’s Purpose 101, Chad, the celebrated athlete who thought he was destined for the NFL, learned instead that he was Destined for God’s Greatness as a teacher/educator. What one is talented at is not always what one is CALLED to be.
THE TEACHER/COACH – Leadership & Character Development Instructor was the initial responsibility that God placed in Mr. Beam’s life. Sixty 9th grade boys, sixty new little brothers, to not only replace one he lost, but to instill in them the lessons he so wished he could go back and instill in the one lost. It is truly amazing how God orchestrates situations to allow us to see ourselves and to teach us what we need know to become better sons and daughters. His lesson to Mr. Beam in this season was the greatest teacher MUST first become a great student and listener. Submitting to God as a student with a desire to become more of who God desired him to be, Mr. Beam went back to school to attain his teacher’s license to teach Secondary English. This accomplishment landed him a promotion to Freshman English Regular/Honors and Football Coach at his alma mater Burns High School. What better place to learn the ropes of a professional educator than at “home?” For three years there was no place like home. For three years God shaped, groomed, molded, and cut until finally it was time for Mr. Beam to be removed from the nest.
THE LION AND THE LAMB -- God wonderfully orchestrated a move from the Dog House to the Lion’s Den in 2010. The speaker of the hour became a “Faith Lion” who was learning not to make a stay out of a place that God meant to be only a start. In the process of this Daniel experience, the speaker of the hour accepted the Call of God to ministry, received his license as a lamb, and became the Minister of Music at Greater Shekinah Glory Church of Hickory, NC. After what seemed like a hellish first year of shaping, grooming, molding, and cutting, the speaker received several accolades including Distinguished Educator and Time Warner’s Star Teacher Award. By the shear grace of God and a lot of prayer, Mr. Beam emerged from the fire with no smell of smoke. Currently he is entering into his 4th year as an English Teacher at Shelby High School where he now conducts it’s Advanced Placement Honors English program. He is currently a member of Nu Creation Christian Center in Shelby, NC where the pastor is Juan Cherry. He continues to minister through music, teach under the direction of God through the English curriculum, write poetry and weekly inspirational devotional material, speak under the direction of the Holy Spirit, and assists in coaching young adults to reach their full potential. To whom much is given, much is required.
One of Mr. Beam’s thorns is that he has been married and divorced; however, currently after some Spiritual counseling and deep character searching and healing, he found and is currently involved with the greatest love next to Jesus he has ever known here to date. The God lessons learned from this experience are: God’s GRACE is sufficient; Where there is excessive pride, a fall is bound to occur; Listen to the elderly because they know what they are talking about; Pretty lies left unchecked will eventually become ugly truths; Resist the temptation to over rationalize to get your own way because rationalizing can quickly become an invitation to tell yourself “rational lies;” Learning and knowing your own character is a never ending process; and just because you fall don’t mean you can’t get back up.
C. L. Beam is a firm believer that Seasons are governed by self-exploration, God’s revelation, and then learning to walk out His expectations for your life. This is a process that is built upon lessons from God that can only be learned in the school of life. We will either allow these lessons to break us so that God can build us back better than ever, or we can break ourselves trying to ignore them. Either way, age does not constitute maturity; learning to apply good and Godly principles in our lives does.
C. L. Beam knows that he does not know it all, or even half of it as man’s knowledge pales in comparison to God’s wisdom, but one thing he does. He has chosen to forget those things, which are behind, and He presses on toward the mark of the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus. He has simply CHOSEN to become a PRODUCT of his past and not a PRISONER of it. He is a man of God who uses these and other life long lessons as a platform upon which to build God given inspiration that allows people to see themselves, see their potential, and see the limitless possibilities of finding one’s rightful place in God. This is the man of God, C. L. Beam!
