Test

Test

I was talking to my friend Reg this week about an earlier post, and he sent me an incredibly interesting prayer…

“Oh God, our Heavenly Guide, as finite creatures of time and as dependent creatures of Thine, we acknowledge Thee as our sovereign Lord. Permit freedom and the joys thereof to forever reign throughout our land. May we as klansmen forever have the courage of our convictions that we may always stand for Thee and our great nation. May the sweet cup of brotherly fraternity ever be ours to enjoy and build within us that kindred spirit which will keep us unified and strong. Engender within us that wisdom kindred to honorable decisions and the Godly work. By the power of Thy infinite spirit and the energizing virtue therein, ever keep before us our oaths of secrecy and pledges of righteousness. Bless us now in this assembly that we may honor The in all things, we pray in the name of Christ, our blessed Savior. Amen”

Despite sounding much like something any of us would pray at church, this is certainly not your typical Sunday-go-to-meetin’ prayer!

It was prayed by Sam Bowers, former Imperial Wizard and leader of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.  He served just 6 years for his part in killing 2 young Jewish men and a black young.  Later, after going through five juries and 22 years of court, he was sentenced to serve life for the firebombing death of civil rights leader Vernon Dahmer, who was simply working hard to register Blacks to vote.

Bowers justified the murders quite easily, at least in his mind:
“As Christians we are disposed to kindness, generosity, affection, and humility in our dealings with others. As militants we are disposed to use physical force against our enemies. How can we reconcile these two apparently contradictory philosophies? The answer of course, is to purge malice, bitterness, and vengeance from our hearts.” Whew, glad we sorted that one out!

Seriously, stop talking.

Because words mean nothing if you don’t live for Jesus.

My friend PJ over at the Link youth group in KW asked me to write an article for their newsletter a month ago. It was written to high schoolers with one question to be answered: what’s one thing you wish you were told when you were young? Here’s what I wrote:

I’m a late bloomer.

I wish I knew it was okay to dream big and start young.

We’ve all heard THE verse: “do not let people look down on you because you are young, but set an example in life, love, faith, and purity.” But that’s the starting blocks, not the finish line.  I’m assuming you’re growing and setting an example in these for areas.  If you’re not, get in community and get some older wiser people to lead you there.

We live in a culture that expects very little from you as teenagers.  If you haven’t read the book by the Harris brothers, you need to… it’s called “Do Hard Things.”

Truth is, you’ve bought the lie.  That you can’t achieve the things God lays on your heart…yet.

But ’someday’ is the poison that ruins ‘today.‘  Because today is all you have.  And you need to steward every moment.

What CAN be done by young people?

• Did you know they used to let kids run the New York Marathon?
• My wife started an organization that reached 20,000 college kids in the first 6 months. She was 19.
• I have a Twitter friend in South Africa who makes over $10,000 per month online. (he’s 20)
• My buddy Kevin became a pastor at a downtown Toronto church at age 20.
• I started a scrappy little blog that’s reached over 10,000 people in the past 9 months. (I know, I’m old at 23)
• Did you know there’s a development bank founded in India that’s run by street kids? They have 79 locations in 6 countries, and no one’s over 18.

Small things, big things, all things.  Everything must be done to the glory of God.  Miss that and you’ve missed it all.

So why not ask Him what He could use YOU for…right now?

William Carey was a shoemaker who taught himself another language and became the first missionary in India. He paved the way for the big Mama T. His life chorus was “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.”

What’s going to stop you?

1. You. Lazy you. Distracted you. Sinful you.

2. Others. Others putting you down. Others discouraging you. Others distracting you.  Others not expecting much of you.

3. Satan. Get some prayer partners, some godly mentors, and a holy community. Resist the devil, and he’ll get lost.

But you gotta fight through.  You must dream big and start young.

Because what’s the worst that can happen?

You remain exactly as you are.
Trying can’t hurt!  “Shoot for the stars and you might land on a cloud.“  It’s pretty much the only smart thing Kanye West has ever said.

You miss out on what God created you to be and do.
In that case, did you ever really life at all?

You become a cynical old fart.
I know SO many people that are brutally cynical of my dreams. Even people in their early 20s.  Because they’ve ’settled’. They’re down with the status quo. They’re comfortable or unknowing or lazy or distracted.  You don’t want to become someone who not only doesn’t fulfill your dreams, but also discourages others.  The Bible says you should tie a rock around your neck and go for a swim.

Dreaming big and starting young isn’t easy.  But there’s a dude who sticks closer than a brother.

Rick Warren said it best: “if God brings you to it, He’ll bring you through it.”

Rest in that.  Work in that. Play in that.

Dream big, start young.

Holla.
Jay Brock is a daily blogger at www.sexrev.org.
He and his wife Michelle run an organization that fights sex trafficking called Hope For the Sold.
His dream is to be a significant author and an elder that helps lead a rockin’ Jesus-centred church community.

Post-script

Here’s an afterthought- if you think that God can’t use you until you make more money or get a degree, does that mean that God alone isn’t big enough?

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Gideon was a silly little man who was hiding in a cave so he wouldn’t get beat up by a group of tools from the next country over.  Then an angel calls him out.  Gideon mans up and calls together the remaining forces of the Israelite army- 32,000 guys in total.

He tells anyone who’s a chicken that they can just go ahead and get gone.  22,000 wusses leave (full disclosure: I’d probably be one of them!).  10,000 remain.  God says “too many Giddy.”

So Gideon calls a water break.  Every heads for the river.  9,700 of the men assume the pushup position and drink straight from the water.  300 cup it in their hands, presumably to inspect for dirt…or to keep an eye who for those who would seek to jump them from behind.

God goes- Gideon, I’m envisioning an army of 300 men to take on thousands. (sound familiar? Yeah, Hollywood likes to rip off the Bible!)  What God says next to Gideon in Judges 7:2 would have made me faint right on the spot…

The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go, each to his own place.”

Great Lord… We’ve got 10,000 brave soldiers, and you want me to take only those who don’t like getting their noses wet?!

Notice how God watches his wording- he didn’t tell Gideon that Gideon would beat the enemy.  He didn’t say that the army would beat the enemy.  He said that He’d take care of it.

And he did.  The day, those 300 men literally surround the enemy camp, light some matches, play some loud beats, and the sleeping army destroys itself.

All that to say…“Lead in such a way that the glory MUST go to God.”

That’s the key to becoming a great leader.  Step out in faith and tackle projects that are DESTINED TO FAIL unless God intervenes.

• The best churches are planted that way.
• The most influence ministries are built this way.
• The greatest missionaries knew this was their only hope.

If we can do it in our own strength, we’re not dreaming big enough.

Lead in such a way that the glory MUST go to God.

Jay