Have you ever been waiting to turn left at a set of lights for what seems like forever, then when you finally thread the gap in the traffic, you almost hit a pedestrian or biker who is using the crosswalk?

You get so wrapped up in ‘making this light‘ that you forget that there’s TWO types of oncoming traffic you need to avoid.

Well, that happened to me this week. I was supposed to pick up my wife at five, and I was running a few minutes behind. I waited impatiently for the cars to pass, then saw a very small window of opportunity, so I took a hard left as fast as I could.

Suddenly, I saw someone sprinting across the crosswalk to catch a bus. I hammered the gas and they just missed getting smoked by my trunk. I checked the rear-view mirror just to make sure I didn’t clip them accidentally. Fortunately, I didn’t. Unfortunately, they missed their bus.

It took an entire 2 seconds before my conscience kicked in, I pulled a U-turn, and went back to offer them a ride for a.) almost killing them, and b.) being part of them now having to stand in the cold for 22 minutes.

There was no one there. In fact, there was no one anywhere in the area. Whomever I almost hit, whomever missed their bus; was gone.

Strange eh?

The point is, I did the right thing. And I learned a valuable lesson- slow down, you idiot…and keep your eyes open.

I also learned several spiritual lessons because of this experience. But today I’m going to do something a bit different:
Now it’s your turn to go back, re-read this post, and find the spiritual lessons that apply to you.

Best of luck, and I’ll see you tomorrow. Drive carefully!

Jay

New post by Michelle on her evening spend serving 50 prostituted women

I was at a cottage this weekend with a few friends and we watched the entire Band of Brothers series. (Enter rounds of abuse for our waste of hours, I know.)

We watched the truth story of countless lives lost- Americans, Germans, Jews, Polish, on and on it goes. Hitler and a group of evil men joined together to take on the world, and destroyed millions in the process.

And somehow the question is often asked today… “do you think Hitler will be in heaven?”

I guess it all depends on another question- “how big is the Grace of God?

Here’s something I struggle with: (and yes, it’s a run-on paragraph)

Let’s say Hitler said a death-bed salvation prayer right before he shot himself.  Is he now walking on streets of gold?  Part of me says that’s not true repentance, just fire insurance. Another voice reminds me that we are saved by confessing with our mouths that Jesus is Lord. But both James and John tell me that it’s about our actions, not our words, that prove we’re His. But it’s not about our works, so no one can boast, or work their way into heaven. And God’s pretty clear that He wants all mankind to be drawn to Himself. But He humbles the proud and He hates evil. But He’s abounding in love and relentless in mercy. But some people say they’d rather not go to heaven if Hitler is there. But, after all, all sin is equal, and Jesus said that hating a brother is the same as murder. And don’t forget that God sent His dearly loved son, Jesus, to die for the sin of the entire world.

All that to say this… just don’t be surprised who you see again some day.

After all, God created Heaven to be filled with sinners saved by grace.

As we get to know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need to live a godly life.  After all, He does want us to be just like Him!

And by that same power, He has given us a lot of amazingly powerful promises.  He even promised that you’d escape the decadence all around you, caused by evil desires. (some promise eh?!)

Do whatever you possibly can to apply the benefits of His promises to your life.

Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence.This leads to knowing God better.

Knowing God leads to self-control.
Self-control leads to patient endurance.
Patience endurance leads to godliness.
Godliness leads to love for other Christians,
and eventually, you will have genuine love for everyone.

The more you keep growing like this, the more you will become productive and useful with all that knowledge you have about God.

But those who fail to develop these listed virtues? They are blind…or at least, VERY short-sighted.

They’ve already forgotten that God cleansed them from their old life of sin.

2 Peter 1:3-9

Ps…I’m speaking at the Conestoga Retreat this weekend, please pray whenever you can, thanks!

Alright ya’ll, it’s business time.  I promised yesterday to do a series on somethings that I believe that definitely set me apart for the stereotypical Christian.  Please prayerfully consider my thoughts and see what God leads you to do.

Again, here’s my list:

1. Skipping church doesn’t mean you’re going to hell.
2. Gay people should legally be allowed to get married.
3. Drinking beer or wine is not a sin.
4. Masturbation is not a sin.
5. “Secular” music is not from the devil.
6. Not everyone in church is a Christian.
7. I don’t think the world is going to end in my lifetime.

This is NOT a permission slip to go out and do all these things- read all week to get what I’m getting at!

I’m going to start with number 2, since it’s obviously the heaviest topic, and the one that I’ve already received the most criticism about.  I’m sure I’ll get some pretty angry responses, that’s okay- I’m past the point of taking in personally!

I’ve already taken so much flack for this one.  I totally understand why.  I think by this point in time, each and every one of use knows someone who considers themselves gay.  It’s a raging debate in a lot of churches. Whole denominations are making stands on this issue that are blowing apart their congregations.

I think this is a very important issue to discuss, but not a very easy one to put to rest.

Before I jump into this though, we need to set the record straight:
1. Stop assuming gay people can’t be in love. We cannot deny the fact that gay people  do love each other- deeply and intimately.
2. Stop assuming gay people are animals.  Legalizing homosexuality doesn’t mean that ‘next week they’ll all be screwing animals.’ That’s gross, and highly offensive to me and everyone else I know, gay or straight. Stop thinking so unconsciously.
3. You can be ‘gay’ and love Jesus. It’s not the attraction that’s the sin.  It’s the action.  There are people in your church who believe they’re gay, but are choosing to live holy lives in massive faith. Do not put these people down. Support them as much as you can. They are heroes, they are fellow soldiers, and they are co-workers in building God’s kingdom.

Alright, here it is…

I think LEGALLY, gay people should be allowed to be married.

There, I said it.  If my country put it to a vote, and the majority chose this, then so be it.  We can’t assume that church and state are the same.  We cannot deny their rights.

First thing people bring up:

Well then they’ll force pastors to marry gay people. Heck no. That’s a violation of my rights, and I’d never do it.

But they could take away your pastoral credentials or tax benefits if you refused to marry gays! Oh really?  You need credentials to do ministry?  Do you serve God for the tax credit?!

Here’s an idea: government could sign a ‘Gay Marriage Act’. This way, ministers could take the course and get licensed to marry gay people.  Those opposed simply wouldn’t take the course, therefore would be unable to marriage gay people.  That wasn’t so hard was it?

But Jay, legalizing homosexuality will break down society!

And society isn’t already breaking down?!  You need to realize that this world is coming to an end.  We’re on a sinking ship, and our job is the rescue as many as possible.  Stop blaming gay people for ruining the world, and start to change the world instead.

Christians, listen up: If someone doesn’t know Jesus, it is NOT up to the church to dictate morality.  My mom always said, “you can’t clean a fish until you catch him!”  (and it’s God’s job to clean my heart and life anyway.)  People will continue to sin, and heavy-handed judgement is the last thing we need to do as Christ-followers. So let’s start by cutting that out.

Secondly, and much more importantly- (Christians, we truly need to wrap our heads around this)  just because something’s legal doesn’t mean it’s right!!!

Seriously, conservative Christians have been battling gay marriage in the courts for soooo long… but does it really matter to the gospel?!  Who said legality is the be-all-end-all?

In Canada, you can legally have anal sex with a consenting 14-year-old. Doesn’t mean it’s right. In Canada, you can get off on a rape charge…if you were drunk. Doesn’t mean it’s right. In Canada, you can kidnap and force a girl into prostitution, and get away with a small monetary fine. Doesn’t mean it’s right.

Just because a country gives the green light doesn’t mean God says it’s okay.  Being married under the marriage act doesn’t mean you’ve got God’s blessing… gay or straight.  That’s a whole nutha level.

Realize that the world and the body of Christ are heading in two completely different directions.  It’s not up to us to course-correct legislation.  It’s up to us to change minds, present the gospel, and support the life-changing power of Jesus in the lives of those we’re loving and serving. (DANG…that was good.)

Okay, let’s go WAY beyond legalization…

Here’s my greatest concern about this issue: there’s a generation of Christians being raised that, because of their love for their gay friends, are accepting homosexual behavoiur as okay.  What’s happening is that they’re ignoring/throwing out/tip-toe-ing around what God says is sin in order to continue to care for those they SO deeply love.

You don’t have to ignore God’s commands in order to love gay people. Or straight people for that matter.  I’ve got a bunch of supposed ‘Christian’ friends who I’d love to punch in the teeth. But my commend from God is simple: love them.  But not their sin.

Let me be very clear.  God loves every single person he ever created.
But He does not condone their every single action, choice, habit, or lifestyle.

This includes me- God HATES my sin. He created me for more- for a life lived in Him.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 is SO clear:
Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.

Christians- do not deny sin as sin. See all mankind for who they are- broken, sinful, hurting people in need of a Lord and Saviour.  And then be like Jesus to them.

So what should we the church being doing about the whole gay issue?

I think there’s a LIST of things that Christians could be doing when it comes to the ‘gay issue.’  None of them involve gay bashing, putting others down, or shunning people with a different sexual orientation.

1. Stop the hypocrisy.

We’re SO quick to pick ‘GAY’ out of that passage.  But we forget what God is talking about here:  ALL sin- sexual sin, worship idols (like MONEY), commit adultery (before, during, or after marriage, people!), male prostitutes, thieves (including corporations and those who take advantage of others), or greedy people (who won’t even tithe maybe?), or drunkards (uh oh college kids), or are abusive (or just downright mean), or cheat people (this includes not helping the poor.)

If you’re a sinner, you’re just as sinful as a gay person. Don’t hide behind your goodness or religion or discipline.  We’ve all sinned. We’ve all fallen short.  We need to fess up.  And stop pretending we’re perfect.

2. Stop dictating morals.

God didn’t say “be good.”  And he certainly didn’t say “force others to be good.”  He said, “Love the Lord YOUR God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.“  Do that, and your goodness will PERMEATE the lives of others.

3. Realize that the gay lifestyle isn’t a very open and holistic way to live.

My wife took a class in university with a gay section. First day in the section…everyone sits down…the teacher knows Michelle is a Christian.  So he singles her out: “Michelle, what do you think of homosexuality?” Trying to make her look bad…but forgot she had the Holy Spirit.  And He came through big time.  I believe God spoke through Michelle…and it floored both her and silenced her professor.

“I think it’s sad that we live in a world where we base our identity solely on who we have sex with.”

So true Michelle. The biggest ‘gay issue’ is that it commodifies a person- that we are who we have sex with. “Hi, I’m Jay and I have sex with a woman named Michelle.” It takes the humanity out of the description and the equation.  No job, family, hopes, dreams, ambitions, hobbies, goals, vision, adventure, fun.  Just who we sleep with.  It’s so narrow and close-minded and shallow.  That’s the real issue here.

4. Address the hurt.

If the church focused on helping people receive healing- from past relationships, abuse, lack of good parenting, failures, hurt, broken dreams, others who’s condemned them….if the church focused on a restoration of humanity- we’d be much further along in being the hands and feet of Jesus to the gay community.

5. Lead towards Jesus with love.

1 Corinthians 6:11 gives us such hope:
Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Tell your story.  We were all once in sin of some kind.  Tell your ‘Exodus story.’ About where you came from, the long hard journey, and the Promised Land.

Gay bashing and hating? A sure-fire way to ostracize an entire community of people.
Offering hope and the possibility of redemption? Now that’s a game-changer.

Jay

As many of you know, my wife and I started an organization a few years ago to raise awareness about sex trafficking.  It’s called Hope For the Sold, and our work is part of what we hope will one day be a sexual revolution.  That’s why today I’m excited to make a very special announcement about it here on the Sex Rev.

Sex Trafficking has gained alot of exposure lately, thanks to movies such as Trade and Taken.

Obviously, the rape-for-pay industry is massive on a global scale.

Remember those two journalists that Bill Clinton rescued from North Korea?  Did you ever wonder why they were sentenced to over a decade of hard labour? They were doing investigative journalism on sex trafficking along the Chinese-North Korean border.

But it’s much closer than you think.  It’s a big problem in the United States and Canada, and it’s just about to get bigger.

Next year, the Olympics will be held in Vancouver, B.C.  Millions of eyes will watch the best athletes in the world compete for the gold.  But the untold story of the Olympics is the thousands of women who will be trafficked into Canada to service the ‘needs’ of the tens of thousands of Johns who are more than willing to pay for rape.

Traffickers will soon be penetrating our borders on a massive scale and will soon realize how lax Canadian sex trafficking laws are. (they’re basically non-existent.) We’re expecting to see a huge surge in the number of trafficked women.

Already, there are 100s of trafficked women within 50 miles of where I live.  Guelph. KW. Hamilton. Toronto. Niagara Falls.

We’re guessing it’s the same across the country, and we’re going to find out.

On a grant from the Millennium Scholarship Foundation, Michelle and I will embark on a 10,000+km roadtrip across Canada in September to film a documentary on sex trafficking.

We’ll be meeting with Members of Parliament, reporters, authors, police, and advocates…recording their stories and gathering information to then share what’s actually going on in this country.

Our major stops will be in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Vancouver… we’d love to meet up with as many of you as possible along the way!

Along with the documentary film, we’ll also be releasing a white paper report on sex trafficking in Canada, as well as renovating www.hopeforthesold.com too.  We’ll be adding a blog so we can start a huge conversation about this issue.

We’re very excited to be undertaking such a huge project, and I hope that you’ll join us in preparing our country for all that organized crime has in store for us.

So what can you do?

Contacts:
We’ve already arranged quite a few great interviews, but the more the better.  If you have family/friend/work connections and could get us in to quickly meet with powerful people in this field, please set that up.
Please send the details to Michelle.  You can either Facebook message Michelle or connect with her via Twitter at @MichelleABrock

Creativity:
We’d love the help of a few creatives to help design and code the website and blog, as well as design a Twitter background for the HFTS account.  We’ll need someone skilled at graphic design to make a paper report look pretty. Also, a few good video editors will be needed later on.  Please send me your contact info with a link to your portfolio. You can connect with me via Facebook message or on Twitter at @jaybrock.

Donations and Sponsorships:
Please only consider giving if you can afford to do so- I know this year has been tough for a lot of people.  If you would like to support, it’s very much appreciated…we have alot of extra expenses, including gas, accomodations, gear, food, etc.
We’re only a non-profit so you won’t get a tax receipt, but I promise that you will get a very nice thank-you card! And of course, we’ll put your name/company website on our site if you so choose.

Please make cheques payable to: C/O Jared or Michelle Brock

Mail to:
Hope For the Sold
P.O 73007
Hamilton, ON
L9A 5H7

Thanks so much for reading this lengthy message.  Please share it with your friends.  Once the site and blog are reno’d, I’ll send out another message for you to start following the journey from there.

I’m glad your a part of Hope For the Sold.  Hundreds of thousands of lives are at stake, and I’m so grateful that together we can change the world in a big way.

Jay
HopeFortheSold.com