How To Speak Truth In A "Post-Truth" Culture

We live in highly emotionally charged environments from time to time. 

“Don’t tell me the facts about Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump…because how I feel about my candidate is more important to me.” 

“Don’t tell me the facts about Kanye west because I believe….” 

“The story about Colin Kaepernick is not accurate because I think….” 

“I feel superman could clearly take out batman with his super speed before batman could even fire a kryptonite bullet because….”

How I feel is more important how I think.  What I personally believe is more important than facts, accuracy or the whole story.  My feelings, my emotions and my personal beliefs have more validity than the certainty, correctness and the actuality of a person, situation or an event. 

This is the danger for the young person navigating the complicated landscape of media and information outsourcing.   Not just that but this complicates the spiritual landscape as well: 

“I feel God wouldn’t create a hell because God is love so….”

“ I think the Bible is really just a book so I don’t believe that when God said ….”

“I believe that Jesus wasn’t a real person but an ideal person because….” 

These thoughts will take you down a path of duplicity.  Each thought a false a narrative that is building a fake backdrop to a fictitious life with make-believe characters. 

Every year, Oxford Dictionaries' lexicographers decide on a word that points to the year's biggest trends or changes in the English language.

“After much discussion, debate, and research, the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2016 is post-truth–an adjective defined as ‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.'”  Oxforddictionaries.com

Post-truth is defined as an adjective "relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief," according to the dictionary.

Oxford Dictionaries noticed a rise in the use of the word during Brexit and the 2016 US Presidential Campaigns, but really, “the concept has been simmering for the past decade,” said Oxford Dictionaries. 

This trend and nomination is reflective of the tendency in our culture that we care more about how something makes us feel that the truth about that something.  Obviously this word is applied primarily to politics but it also can apply to faith and religion as well.  The spiritual truths in the Bible have potential to lose their potency in a post-truth sanitized culture.  Truth will always be truth.  That cannot change.   Water will always boil at 212 degrees regardless of how you feel about it.  But does this mean how we approach how we share our faith has to change? 

At the beginning of the Acts 17, Paul is speaking to fact-driven Jews who valued truth. Knowing this Paul speaks to their familiar Old Testament scrolls and begins to make a methodical case for Christ being the prophesied Messiah. But in the second part of Acts 17 we see a shift: Paul preaching to truth-eschewing philosophers in Athens.  These pundits and thought leaders were proud of their complicated nuanced beliefs that oftentimes were not consistent and would compete with one another.

Acts 17 is similar to what we see and experience today with culture and those who attempt to shape it.  A truth that shifts when it’s conveneient to our feelings, to our beliefs and to our ideas. 

How do we speak truth in a complex “post-truth” culture like ours?

 

1.  Establish a relationship on common ground

“So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: ‘Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way,for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.”  Acts 17:22,23

Instead of shaming them for their false beliefs and gods, Paul does something that we also can do:  find common ground.  He doe this by asking about, listeningand a acknowledging their “Unknown God.”  This is his common ground. 

We can do the same.

Ask questions about what that person admires, enjoys and believes as you attempt to engage with them.  Humbly ask questions, then look for signs of admiration in what they are talking about and We equip them to ask questions in a humble way in order to establish a relationship and discover what they believe. Then look for things they can admire (i.e., the altar to the unknown god).  Ask about it and find the common ground in it. 

2.  Find voices in culture that they respect and consider as truth

“For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’”  Acts 17:28

Paul quoted a pagan poet to make a spiritual point. We ought to do the same. For us, this can be using things like music lyrics to popular songs or movie scenes to help make a spiritual point.

If they love spirituality…so do you.  Your “center” is Jesus.  If they are talking about a movie, find out it’s theme.  Celebrate the themes of redemption, forgiveness, honor and sacrifice…all Biblical themes (don’t worry about rating, language, etc; you’re finding common ground remember?)  Find spiritual themes behind music songs and celebrate those themes (Coldplay, Mumford & Sons, Sufjan Stevens, etc)  .  Observe supernatural themes and redemptive analogies in tv and movies (American Horror Story, The Walking Dead, etc).  Use culture to speak to these things.  If you feel you can’t watch it but you hear others talking about it, then do easy research.  There is enough on Wikipedia and other entertainment sources to give you an understanding so that you can have some knowledge about these cultural pieces even if you don’t know the show. 

3.  Share the Gospel and your own story as an emotionally compelling story

In Paul’s Gospel presentation he unveils the Lord as a loving Creator (v. 24-26), a caring God (v. 27-29) and a just God (v. 30-31.) These descriptions of God create warm feelings as well as a good kind of tension. That is to say, God is loving toward His creation, but is also the Judge over our sin.

Paul’s description of the Gospel provides an emotionally charged and spiritually compelling story that invites the audience in to ponder what he is saying. He puts the tension center stage by illustrating how the Judge of sin sent his own Son to die in the place of a planet full of spiritual criminals (v. 31.)

According to David Mamet, every great drama has three essential components: “Yes, no…but wait!” The Gospel has all three components.  There’s a “yes!” This is when a loving God created us to be with him. There’s a “no!” This is when we blew it by sinning and can’t bridge the gap back to a holy God through good deeds. There’s a “but wait!” This is when that holy God sacrificed his only Son on our behalf!

The same is with your testimony, your story…your drama.  Break your testimony down into 3 areas:  BC, conversion, AD.  What your life was like “Before Christ” (share a piece of your life that was difficult-depressed, prideful, bad relationship, family divorce, etc).  Then share what that moment was like when you found Christ and what He did in you in that area (share your prayer, your moment with a friend, your time in a church or small group that you prayed and Christ entered your life or when your faith became real to you).  Finally, share how that area of your life is different now.  The pain of divorce is filled with the peace of Christ, the suicidal thoughts are less or completely gone because of Christ, your pride is replaced with a desire to serve others like never before, etc). 

The more we can tell the Gospel and our own emotionally compelling masterpieces, the more effective we will be at reaching those steeped in a post-truth culture. 

Sharing Your Faith More and More

Sharing your faith in public is the tension we feel as Christians.   And to be honest, I think that tension is only going to be pulled tighter and tighter as culture drifts from it’s Christian center.   Making Christianity more foreign to outsiders of faith more and more. 

But Jesus inserted Himself into a Roman culture that didn’t have a Christian center either.  It was actually hostile towards Christians.  But yet, Jesus doesn’t come across in Scripture like he is “forcing his convictions upon us.  Jesus preached some of the hardest messages, yet crowds continued to flock to Him.   Part of the reason I think that faith isn’t potent in our culture is because we get nervous when the term ‘evangelism’ gets brought up.  Even recently, surveys point to an overall decline of self-identified Christians.   

But faith is still shared. 

Here are 4 things to remember as we continue to share our faith in a faith-resistant environments:

1.  Think both attractional and incarnational in the age of the “nones”

People are focused and will continue to focus their energies and efforts toward targeting seekers through attractional models of evangelism.  Inviting people to your church to worship together and experience a wonderful spiritual experience.  My church does this well. But as more young people are growing up with no awareness or little religious memory, people may find the attractional model more difficult to appeal to outsiders.  Followers of Christ must learn how to embody the love and service of Christ in their workplace, neighborhoods and friend circles.  This incarnational model is simply being, doing and telling good news where we live and work. 

2.  Cultivate a greater passion for mission

Pastors are not the only ones who are called to the mission of the church.  A pastor’s role is to equip others to the work of the ministry of sharing your faith with others.  Pastor’s should model how to articulate faith to those who are outside the church by how he/she references outsiders of faith during your weekend experiences.  You should feel comfortable bringing an unbeliever to your church and pastor because they will model love, actions and words that will draw your unbelieving friend closer to Jesus.  Replicate that passion to those around you.  People in the seats on Sunday mornings are never meant to be merely consumers of religious goods and services.  We need  all of God’s people engaged in God’s mission, from their neighborhoods to the nations.

3. Articulate a clear understanding of the gospel

Sharing the Gospel should not feel like a “I have to do” but an exciting “here’s what Jesus did!”  People don’t need self help but to deny self, take up the cross and follow.  People don’t need to “turn over a new leaf” but to “live a new life” in Christ.  We must articulate a message of faith that expresses Christ dying on the cross and resurrecting.  The resurrection of Christ is one of the main hinges on the door of evangelism.  Even the Bible says that if there is no resurrection from the dead, our faith is futile and is worthless (1 Corinthians 15:14).   So don’t share a message that doesn’t involve the cross and resurrection of Jesus. 

4. Focus on discipleship

God made us to grow and gave us an ability to receive growth. This can only happen through intentional awareness and leadership on the part of both leaders and church attenders.  Evangelism is moving someone one step closer to Christ.  How you grow closer to Christ will also be how others you impact grow closer to Christ.  So don’t neglect your own spiritual growth.   How you hear from God, study the bible and grow in community will inspire you to share what you are learning and experiences with others so that you can invite others into your thriving life. 

#blunt on success

Stop trying to measure success by comparing yourself to everyone else.  Someones else's success can't be your's because their yes to God isn't yours.  Success will not always be your outcome you want in a situation but your success will always be YOUR YES to God in a situation.  No one can worship God like you or for you and if your life is an act of worship then your choice to to say yes to God when He calls is the simplicity of success in a world that is full of comparisons and contrasts.  Your trail of yes to God will look different than those around you but the blessing is guaranteed.  

“Success will not always be your outcome you want in a situation but your success will always be YOUR YES to God in a situation. ”

"Your best" plus "God's bless" equals "your success."  So do your best with what you have with those around you with God's blessing.  Success is praising God despite the day or the outcome.  Success is blessing God despite how you feel or the mood of the room.  Success is honoring those around you whether they deserve it or not.  Success is moving past mistakes.  Success is forgiving an offense.  Success is rising above a disappointment.  Success is keeping joy from being stolen.  Success is fueling your fire to keep going when it's tough.  If you don't try you will miss out.  See...you're more successful than you think. 

#Instagramspiration

The best thing you can do as #thenewyoungchristian is discover who you are and how you're made

Stopping Unstoppable Sin Part 2

Many of us struggle with those seemingly "unstoppable sins” —those entrenched, persistent, difficult-to-dislodge sins that continually bug us as we do our best to follow Christ.   If you missed our set-up for part 1 of this 2 part entry, check it here to get you up to speed. 

 

 

4 WAYS TO STOP UNSTOPPABLE SINS IN YOUR LIFE:

1. Hate it.

A pure hatred for what this sin is, is doing and is going to do is .  The emotion of hate is powerful when in the right context When we bring Christ into the context of our sin we feel the need to be saved from it.  In the case of unstoppable sins, when we bring our sins into the context of Christ, we feel the need to hate it.  

Psalm 97:10 says, 

"You who love the Lord, hate evil.  He protect the lives of His Godly people and rescues them"

When you hate something, you are gripped with an emotion that is powerful.  So channel that emotion towards the power of sin.  Fight power with power.  We have to feel the magnitude of our sin and be gripped by its stench and repulsed by it's actions.  Sin turns healthy marriages into abusive and relationships.  Sin turns good men into porn addicts.  Sin takes trusted friends and turns them into hated enemies.  If we pass over sin lightly with shallow applications of grace and flippant prayers of forgiveness—we will probably never get around to the serious vigilance required for killing it. Truly subduing sin requires properly resisting it.

So take a moment to stop and examine for a second that sin that you can't seem to beat.  Really look at it, what it can do to you and how it will affect your relationship with God and your relationship with others.  If you can't stop being offended, sin's most corrupt end-result of living offended...loneliness.  If you can't stop looking at porn, sin's most corrupt end-result of continued porn in a marriage......divorce.  So get mad, get angry and hate it...hate the sin that cleary hates you!  In  Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis, says that “the surest means of disarming an anger or a lust (is) to turn your attention from the girl or the insult and start examining the passion itself.” Stopping unstoppable sins often requires this uncomfortable, honest reflection and acknowledgement on what the sin is doing within us.

2. Starve it.

I remember seeing the film, A Beautiful Mind.  In this film Russell Crowe plays Nash, a brilliant mathematician who came up with the game theory of economics and won the Nobel Prize, decades later, in 1994. At age 31, he develops schizophrenia and suffers a mental breakdown.  Imagine being diagnosed with schizophrenia and told that several of your friends aren't actually not real. He genuinely misses talking to them.   So how does he deal with his battle of the mind ... he simply chooses to ignore them.  

He says this in the film, 

"I just choose not to acknowledge them. Like a diet of the mind, I just choose not to indulge certain appetites."

Even at the end of his life, he still sees the delusions, but they have lost their destructive power over him.  What if you chose to put your mind on a diet.  Choose today to not indulge.  Choose today to not even acknowledge your sinful desires—starve them of your affections and your attention, and they grow weaker.

There is a similar principle at work in our struggle against sin—the more we indulge in it, the more of a grip it gains over us.  But, as with any addiction, the less we feed it, the weaker it becomes. James says it well, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:7).  I love this Scripture because it's not just, "DON'T DO" but right after those two words the next two are "DRAW NEAR."  You need to not just to avoid but you must also take in.  We would agree an unhealthy diet is to stop eating.  That's anorexia.  A healthy diet plan is to stop indulging  what's unhealthy and fill up on what is good for you.  

3. Corner it.

Sin, like any other evil enemy, thrives among its allies (bitterness, unforgiveness, discouragement, etc are some that come to mind). To wage effective war against sin, therefore, we must deprive it of the opportunities for it to gain strength with it's partners.  

Most sin lives and lurks in environments where it gains strength from it's partners.  Lust and deception go together.  Unforgiveness and bitterness go together.  Betrayel and mistrust work together.  So remove the partner from it, corner it and don't let it escape.  In other words when sin wants to find more strength from other areas of dysfunction in your life, then corner it so it can't strengthen itself.  Isolate it and place it under the authority of Jesus so it can never return.  

This means we need to study the particular triggers of sin in our lives.  Most of the time it's a partnership of sinful emotions partnering with sinful habits.   Lust is greatly weakened when it cannot appeal to fatigue, emotional need, loneliness and shame. It’s more difficult to succumb to envy when you’re soaking your heart in your heavenly inheritance. Sinful resentment often melts away when you are spending time with exceptionally kind, forgiving people.  Basically, an effective fight against a unstoppable sins will often involve thoughtful consideration to your sleep, exercise, diet, emotional life and relationships.

4. Overwhelm it.

In the gospel, God has given us the resources that we need to deal with unstoppable sins.  The first is patience.  The gospel means that God has “perfect patience”for us even amidst our struggles with nagging sins. In the Bible, 1 Timothy 1:16 says,

"But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life."

To stop unstoppable sin in our lives, we need to know that God has not given up on us. Even when we have lost patience with ourselves, God is a patient father, always calling us back to Himself.  

The second is grace.  The Bible also says in Romans 5:20, 

"As people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant."

If you feel like I can't stop it, this sin is too strong, God reminds us that to counter the growing strength of sin is an even more potent strength of grace that is growing to counter sins effect on you and in you.  God knows what you need so let grace triumph!

Finally, God gives us power.   The power to overcome unstoppable sins (2 Timothy 1:7). His Spirit gives us strength beyond ourselves with which to fight.  His all-satisfying presence gives us the promise of a sustainable and lasting joy. However strong the unstoppable sins may seem, it is truly possible in Christ to “not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). 

 

Stopping Unstoppable Sins Part 1

I wish when you repented of a particular sin, it was gone forever.  Never to return.  I felt that way about the toilet swirl in my bathroom.  

When I was little I flushed a lot of things down the toilet.   There were many times I would rip toilet paper and make them into small boats that would meet their imminent doom.  I would pretend that "ominous swirl" was a "whirlpool of death" that would devour toilet paper boats, popsicle sticks, my green army men, an action figure or two, hot wheel cars, etc...never to be seen again.  

Unless it was too big.

Then I had a choice to either force-feed this porcelain monster a second time or dry my tortured items off for future play.  Sometimes my mom would come in and find some of these fun items floating lifelessly in this germ-saturated abyss.  I guess what I thought was gone forever had a way of not staying gone for long. 

Sin has a way of not staying away for long.  

When you repent, Jesus does remove it as the east is from the west.  But for some sins, when you think it's gone, you find yourself dealing with it again.  Repentance is normal for a Christian.  But after a few days, weeks or months you suddenly faced with that reality that some sins are harder to get rid of than others.  What you thought you flushed away is floating back to the surface again.   

The Bible describes sin as a ruthless, defiant force in our lives:

Sin deceives you (Genesis 3:13)

Sin desires you (Genesis 4:7)

Sin destroys you (Genesis 6:7)

Sin wages war over you (Romans 7:23)

Sin entices you(James 1:14)

Sin entangles you (Hebrews 12:1)

Many of us struggle with those seemingly "unstoppable sins” —those entrenched, persistent, difficult-to-dislodge sins that continually bug us as we do our best to follow Christ. 

The gospel gives us hope that ALL sin, even our unstoppable sins, can be both forgiven and subdued. But because sin has such persistence and power, we got to be vigilant in our struggle against it.  Since sin is so vicious (the Bible says the wages of sin is death) then why would we expect such a comfortable and easy battle with it?  If sin's purpose is to fight us to the death then we have to have the same tenacity to fight sin to the death. 

The truth is our hope is in Jesus.  What we think is unbeatable or unstoppable is beatable and stoppable because of Christ's work on the cross (1 John 1:9).  

So why do some sins persist and harass us after we confess?

Let's break this down.  There are 3 parts to how we are made as human beings.  We have a body, soul and spirit.  This is true according to the Bible: 

"Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way and my your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again."  - 1 Thessalonians 5:23

Your Spirit is your connection to God. It's your ability to receive and connect with God.   It's the part of you that communes with God.  It's the part of you that speaks to God.  It's the part of you that hears from God (Psalms 104:29; James 2:26; Ecclesiastes 12:7).  

Your soul is different.  It's separated from your spirit.  Even the Bible talks about the soul and spirit being distinctly different pieces of your spiritual design (Hebrews 4:12).  Your soul is basically who you are—your mind, your emotion, and your will. But the function of your soul is to express God.  Mary did this when her "soul magnified the Lord" (Luke 1:46-47).  Your soul is your mind, will and emotions. It's you being you in the world.  

Your body is just that.  Not much to explain here other than God made you...and He made you unique (Psalm 139).  

We are a spirit being, we live in a body and we possess a soul. Period.  The person inside of us is our spirit. Our soul consists of our mind, will and emotions. Our bodies are obviously what we live in while we are here on earth.

Here's what happens at salvation:  

First, at salvation your spirit is made new.  It's pure and it begins a constant and unbreakable communion with God that can never be impure again (2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 6:2-6; Ezekiel 36:26, 11:19).  This new connection is how you connect and relate to your creator.  

Second, at salvation, your soul begins transformation.  In other words, the day after your salvation, you may still have a bad thought, make bad choices and have a bad propensity towards certain things.  As your spirit is connecting to God and you are hearing Him speak and direct your life, your mind begins to think more like Christ, you become more aware and start living a self-controlled life, your unhealthy choices start become more spiritually healthy (you want to start reading the Bible, you long for your next church service so you can pray, you start singing worship songs on your own because you long for the presence of God, etc).   

At salvation, your body is still experiencing the effects of sin.   You will still get a cold, get sick, experience sickness and disease.  You may receive a miracle from God and get healed at your salvation experience as well.  That is not a guarantee but can happen and has happened with some Christians.  But the good news is, day after day, your bodily breakdowns become a prayer moment for you to draw closer to God for you to experience supernatural power of healing in your body.  

So here's what happens throughout your Christian life:

Your spirit continues to connect to, give to and receive from God through daily Bible reading, prayer, church, etc.  You begin to hear God's voice more and you begin to have revelation on the plans and purposes for your life that God is showing you.  

Second, your soul is being transformed bay by day to be more like Christ.  You begin to change way you think about others, how you see your job, how you lead your family, etc.   Your soul (mind, will and emotions) are being refined daily as you spend time in His presence, as you learn to think like Him and behave like Him and love like Him (1 Peter 1:22-23; Romans 12:1-2).  Over time as you get closer to God, your bad thoughts, negative emotions and unhealthy choices  will become less and less.   You are reading the Bible more and more, you crave worship more and more, you long to serve and bless others more and more, etc.  When you arrive in heaven, your soul becomes brand new and you will fully be alive as you see and experience the true and unhindered revelation of Christ. 

Third, your body will continue to decay because or sin.  Sickness and disease will continue to infect our world but we will experience miracles along the way and healings along the way.  God will restore, preserve and sustain you along your faith journey through prayer times, altars at church, miraculous moments where God does a restorative miracle.  But you won't receive your new body till heaven and that's when it becomes brand new just like your spirit and soul ... never to experience the decay of sin ever again.   It's not until we finally get to heaven that we are promised a new body that will be congruent with our new spirit and purified soul (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).  We can experience heaven on earth with our bodies when God chooses to heal our bodies but our complete healing comes in heaven.  

That unbeatable sin seems unbeatable because you know that God is right and sin is wrong.  You know He is pure.  You know He is true.  You believe He is all you need.  But your soul - the part of you that knows and believes you need this, is in process or in "transformation mode."  It is not fully there yet.  Your soul is caught in a tug of war.  You know you need to choose God but you crave the old pleasures of that old life that you gave to Jesus when you died to self on the cross. So in a moment of weakness, you "give in" and choose wrong.  Your sprit that is connected to God knows this and you sense and feel the conviction of this in your soul and the affects of this choice in your body.  

Your soul is not fully transformed in this area of sin yet so you will screw up from time to time.  This doesn't mean you don't love God or that your salvation isn't secure (because nothing can separate you from the love of Christ according to Romans 8:31-39).  It just means there is a part of your life that is unfinished where God is working out your salvation (Philippians 2:12). This  incongruent moment when you love God but you long for something or someone else other than God  is when we face that sin and it appears unstoppable.  It seems unstoppable because you've prayed and ask God to forgive you but you do it anyhow. 

The Bibke speaks about this in Romans 7:21-25

 Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

God understands.  God gets it.  

But it still is eomotionally and spiritually draining.   

Here's the good news:  You can stop an unstoppable sin.  

Here's 4 ways to stop unstoppable sin.

Part 2 is next...

 

Following Jesus When I Don't Feel Like It Part 2

Following Jesus when you don't feel like will likely be one of the first tests you walk through when you start to follow Christ...and these testing moments will continue.  If you haven't read PART 1 of this post you can read it here.

Spiritual living isn't void of feelings.  Spiritual living relies on feelings to affirm and confirm what God is doing and refuses to make feelings the primary source of God's will for your life.  The primary source of God's will for your life is and always will be obedience.  

Jesus made that absolutely clear when He said if we love Him we will obey Him (John 14:15-31).

Matthew 26:33-35 speaks about Peter who is a great example of a Christian whose emotions and obedience are in  alignment.  Peter is following Jesus and doing ministry with Jesus.  To the point where he emotionally outburst, "

33 Peter told Him, “Even if everyone runs away because of You, I will never run away!”

34 “I assure you,” Jesus said to him, “tonight, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times!”

35 “Even if I have to die with You,” Peter told Him, “I will never deny You!” And all the disciples said the same thing.

Peter and all the disciples are obediently following Jesus as close as possible.    They are also emotionally charged with passion and excitement for who Jesus is and what they will do for Him.  These are similar to our moments when we follow Christ with our own passions and our own exciting, "I will never deny You moments" :  At a worship experience and we are shouting out lout with all we have that we love our God, when we are sharing our faith at a coffee shop boldly and fearlessly, when we pray with someone at school or work and we don't care what others around us think, etc.  

But then we see a moment when we see Peter feeling like we do sometimes.  Peter, like us, has a moment where his own feelings about how he feels about himself and how Jesus feels about himself are misguided and not truly reflecting who Peter is and who Jesus is  

After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.”

“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.

Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

“Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.”

“Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.

A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.   John 21:15-17

Peter felt Jesus didn't love him...but He did.  Peter felt Jesus was mad at him...but He wasn't.  Peter felt he wasn't worthy...but he was.  Peter felt he was unforgiven but he wasn't.   Peter felt he wasn't worthy to be a disciple (went back to old profession of fishing)...but he was to be the disciple leading the outpouring in the upper room in Acts.  He didn't feel like "the rock" but Peter realized that moment that how we feel about ourselves and how we feel about God isn't always true.  Peters misguided feelings are finally aligned with God.  Peter obeys God from that moment forward to obey the command of Christ when He said, "Feed My sheep."   Peter wasn't feeling it but Jesus certainly was.  

Finally we get one of the best highlights from Peter's ministry when he is preaching in Acts 2 and thousands come to Christ.  Passionately feeling it and purposefully obeying the call of God on his life that Jesus spoke to him in his early days, "Upon this rock I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18).

Obedience and feelings don't always line up.  When we don't feel it but we are doing it it's like our feelings are dragging.   Maybe I'll say it this way:  

Our feelings have to catch up to our obedience.

Maybe that was the problem with Peter.  Peter was with Jesus.  He was following him from the boat to the shore, talking and eating together...but was he feeling the vibes?   No.  He was doing what Jesus asked but his feelings didn't catch up to His obedience.  Sometimes Jesus will call us closer to Him to pray, to love, to worship, to give to follow and we just need to obey because eventually our feelings will catch up and we will know because not only will we be doing the work of Jesus but also we will be feeling it as well.  Jesus said it best,

My sheep listen to my voice: i know them and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall enter perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.  John 10:27-28

How to not let your feelings get the best of you:

1.  Remind yourself that a loss of feelings doesn't mean a loss of faith.

I don't call my dad every day.  If I don't feel like I love my father every day it doesn't mean he doesn't love me every day.  I see my dad a few times a year but our love doesn't change and my feelings don't change.  God is my father and i'm His son.  Nothing can change that.  God is not a Father who abandon's and leaves you orphaned.  Quite the contrary.  He adopts you into his family and nothing can separate you from his love (Romans 8:15, 31-39).  So if you feel like God doesn't love you,  trust in the strong bond of the Father's love that he will not leave you. And even you cannot remove yourself from Him.  He's you're Father and he loves you unconditionally.  

2.  Be all in with God because God's all in with you

We may not always believe in us but God always believes in you.  What He starts He finishes.  The good work He begins in you is also the faithful work He completes in you (Philippians 1:6).

He's not like me when I'm trying to build an empire state building puzzle.  After I build it for a while, the border, then i'm out.  I'm not the guy who has the puzzle on the table for 6 weeks and delightfully shuffles over to the 10,000 piece nightmare and say to myself, this is so relaxing staring into a pile of chaos.  So I'm notorious for pulling out.   God's not...He's all in and will finish what He started.  

3. Know how God feels about me is different than how I feel about me sometimes

Just because you don't feel like you are worthy doesn't mean God doesn't think you are.  Just because you don't think you're worth the fight doesn't mean God isn't fighting for you right now.  Your perceptions and feelings about you are going to be different than how you feel about you.  

4.  Respond to God's promises than reacting to your feelings

God makes these promises to you when you don't feel like worshipping or praying for seeking God:

When you seek him with all your hearts you will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13)

When you press on to know Him, He will come to you like spring rain (Hosea 6:3)

When you come to jesus, your heart hunger will be satisfied (John 6:35)

5.  Remind yourself when we are faithless He is still faithful

Even though I may not be loving God like I should every day, God is still loving me.  2 Timothy 2:13 says, "If we are faithless he remains faithful, for He cannot disown himself."  In the midst of my uncertainty he is certain to be with us no matter what

6.  Do what you used to do

When was the last time you were "on fire for God?"  What are you doing during those times that give you passion to keep going?  You're reading your Bible, spending time in prayer, hanging with other Christian friends, in Bible study, staring your faith?  Start doing those things and watch your feelings change

7.  Walk by faith and not by site.  

We walk by site.  We walk by feelings.  We walk by hearing.  We walk by feelings.  But God's best for us is to walk by faith as often as we can (2 corinthians 5:7).  Obedience is visible expression of our faith.  So follow God in obedience and see Him more than you ever thought you could.

8.  Don't live passively

The key here is refusing to be passive and making a conscious decision to do what’s right. Being passive means you wait for an outside force to move you or to feel like doing something. Use your will to choose what’s right. And pray for God’s grace to give you the ability to do it.

Following Jesus When I Don't Feel Like It Part 1

Let’s be honest, there are times when it is really easy to follow Jesus, and then there are times when it is really difficult.

For example, when I am in a worship service and the song is powerful and moving to me then it’s easy to follow Jesus.

When I am sitting on the beach watching the sun rise, listening to the waves and looking at the ocean contemplating the peace and beauty of God, it’s easy to follow Jesus.

When I am sitting on my patio with a cup of coffee in my hands reading my Bible with my new Hillsong record on...it's easy to follow Jesus.

But …

Let someone be driving in the fast lane when they should be in the slow lane…

Talk behind my back and then forgive you for it...

Guy in front of me with 12 items in the 10 items or less lane....Oh, hail to the no.

These are meant to be funny...and to poke fun at how life is challenging in small ways as a Christian.  But what about the harder times in life when "I'm not feeling it" :  

When I'm reading Scriptures and when they are supposed to be the life-giving Words of God they just feel like words on a page to me...

When I'm praying to God who is my creator and Father but it just seems like I'm talking to myself...

When I'm worshipping in church and others around me are enjoying God and I just seem to be singing a song and I begin to wonder if this is all real...

There are times when it's hard to follow God and here's the simple reason:  I am not feeling it.  I don't feel like I love God.  I don't feel like worshipping.  I don't feel like reading my Bible.  I don't feel like going to church.  I don't feel like praying.  Again, I am simply not feeling it. 

And here's the difficult part:

Feelings come across so genuine.  Feelings are usually so authentic.  Feelings are so strong and they get me so emotional.  They are so vivid.  They seem so tangible.  They seem to validate who I am and what I am doing.  Which makes them easy to trust.   

But they are also misleading.  

Their are days and seasons when you feel like you love your spouse and then there are days when you don't feel it.  Because life happens:   You have to clean the house; you have to go to work; you have to change a diaper; you have to pay bills; you have to get up early or you are running late; you are short-tempered; you haven't seen each other in a few days...and the grind wears on you.  Ask me if I love my wife like I did on our wedding day when we are in the middle of a fight, the answer would be "not feeling it."  But ask me if she is the love of my life and I would say yes before you can finish the question.  Our marital love is a spiritual decision that started on my wedding day when she said yes. I chose Heidi when I felt like it and I choose her during the times when I don't...but I still choose her and always will.   I don't let my feelings dictate my marriage but I let my covenantal choice I made 19 years ago remind me that she's the one and all I need.  I can't fall out of love with her because I never stumbled into it but I chose her to be my love as she chose me.  My emotions don't disqualify my marriage when it's tough but my emotions affirm my marriage when we are close.  The point:  I don't always "feel" like I love my wife but I have chosen to commit myself to her even when my feelings don't match up.   My feelings where telling me that I didn't love her because I didn't "feel it" but the reality is our marriage is for life and I love Heidi more than anything in this world. 

There are days I don't feel like I love God.  But I am in a love relationship with God that isn't based on how I feel for the day but based upon the faith that God gave me to love Him and live for him 24 years ago.  So i trust my covenant  more than I trust my feelings or my emotions.  

But does that mean I shouldn't feel emotion or be emotional? 

No.  

God is emotional and has feelings.

If we are made in God's image, then we also are emotional and are supposed to have feelings.  Here's how God feels about spiritual things:  

God feels anger:  Psalm 7:11; Romans 1:18

God feels laughter: Psalm 37:13; Psalms 2:4

God feels Compassion:  Psalm 135:14

God feels grief: Genesis 6:6; Psalm 78:40

God feels love:  1 John 4:8; John 3:16

God feels hate:  Psalm 5:5; Psalm 11:5

God feels joy:  Zephaniah 3:17; isaiah 62:5

And the biggest point of it all:  God came into our world to know every temptation and every feeling and emotion we can experience but the difference is that as a human being... He didn't sin (Hebrews 4:15) while feeling everything we felt.  That's what makes God so trustworthy and understanding about your emotions and your feelings about a situation:   He knows what you're going through emotionally because He is emotional, He made you emotional and He knows what emotions you're feeling right now.  

We can live from faith to faith (Romans 1:17), strength to strength (Psalm 84:7), grace to grace (John 1:16)...but not from feeling to feeling.  

If you live from feeling to feeling you are in danger of "emotional living."  Emotional living is the opposite of a spiritual life in Jesus or "spiritual living."    So how do you know you are emotional living?

Here are some dangers of "Emotional Living":

Danger #1:  I don't feel God so God's not with me or cares about me.    Emotional living says if you don't feel God then God is either mad at you, upset at you or doesn't want you.  Spiritual living understands nothing can separate you from the love of Christ (Romans 8).  

Danger #2:  I'm feeling it so I better jump in and just do it.   Emotional living leads you in the wrong direction because what if what you are feeling isn't true...now you're heading in the wrong direction.  Spiritual living puts a reliability on God's wisdom and counsel and you choose not to make abrupt hasty decisions but calculated wise decisions with the right counsel. 

Danger #3:  I feel it's right so it must be true.  Emotional living doesn't tell the truth.  Emotional living wants your emotions to speak first and then let truth back-up what you're feeling.  Spiritual living relies on Scripture to confirm and affirm the truth of a situation.  

Danger #4:  I feel it strongly so this must be my reality.  Emotional living encourages that the only tangible and reliable substance to your faith is your tears, your joy, etc.  Spiritual living understands that what you feel right now is now what is actual.  

Danger #5:  I feel like I am the only one that understands what I am going through because no one feels it like I do.  Emotional living isolates your feelings to be unique to you and that no one in your community could possibly understand.  Spiritual living relies on your community for support and prayer to help you navigate the decision or the season. 

Danger #6:  I don't feel like praying or reading my Bible so God must not be real.  Emotional living makes your spiritual life dependent on having a feeling to back up every spiritually good desire.  Spiritual living understands that faith is critical for moments when you don't feel like it and that faith sustains you till the next time you do. 

Spiritual living isn't void of feelings.  Spiritual living relies on feelings to affirm and confirm what God is doing and refuses to make feelings the primary source of God's will for your life.  The primary source of God's will for your life is and always will be obedience.  

Jesus made that absolutely clear when He said if we love Him we will obey Him (John 14:15-31).

Part 2 is here....

But this is the problem for Christians, our obedience sometimes outpaces our feelings.  Their are times our feelings are in perfect step with out obedience.  But there are also times when our "yes" to God happens and our feelings haven't caught up to our yes yet.  

So how do we follow Jesus when we don't feel like it?  That is in part 2 coming up next....

Stop Telling Me I'm Judging You When I'm Loving You

I love my friends.  A lot.  They mean the world to me.  And I also live in the tension of wanting my community to get along.  I am the kind of person that wants everybody to get along.   I have the kind of faith that doesn’t want to exclude people.   It bothers me when someone hurts another person.  It frustrates me when someone doesn’t like a church, group or another person ...or me.

If you agree with any of the above statement now I'm going to move you into the WE category....We also live in the tension of not wanting to offend others around us.  When we hear about our friends having sex with their partners, getting drunk on the weekends or simply seeing our friends moving in a direction that isn't healthy, we are now faced with the decision to either let them "keep going" or have the hard conversations.  And when we do, the response of some of our friends is this:  

"Who are you to judge me?"

A caring decision from a loving friend to have the conversation about this past weekend's behavior now becomes an episode of Judge Judy and you are the harsh judge declaring a sentence and a fine for their conduct...when all along you were just wanting to be a good friend because you truly cared for them.  

Obviously their are friends that don't care for you, don't have your best interests at heart or love you and you can dismiss them. But I'm talking about those who are in your community that you have a general respect for them and a general trust with them and you sincerely enjoy being around them.    These friends in your community took a sincere moment, stepped out nervously and brought something to your attention that they saw as harmful, hurtful and damaging to you and your response is ... "don't judge me."

The reality is they weren't judging you...they were caring about you.  

I've had to have these conversations before and when I do, it's tough.   When I have had to have these tough conversations with my friends, my heart is to never to offend them or hurt them... they're my friends! That's the last thing on my mind! 

But I do want to talk to them and help them.   Because I love them and want the best for them.  That friend in trouble must have forgotten how hard it was to get the courage and the strength to have the conversation to even approach this and when I do...their response is to accuse me of judge and juror.  

I'm here to say to those of you who have said to your true friends to "stop judging me" you were wrong.  They weren't showing you judgement but showing you graciousness.

 What is graciousness?  

Graciousness is having a forgiving attitude and a compassionate posture while walking in wisdom with those who belief’s, attitudes and opinions differ from yours.

Of course the Bible says it best:

“Live wisely among those who are not believers and make the most of every opportunity.  Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.”  Colossians 4:5-6 NLT

Your friends were not being judgmental towards you but they were being gracious towards you.  What does it mean to be gracious:

Have a forgiving attitude.

A gracious person doesn't see your wrongs but sees you righting your wrongs.  They see a future for you that is for your good and betterment!   A forgiving attitude means they are forgiving and looking past the behaviors, issues and actions that are warranting the conversation you're having. There are not seeing the issues because the forgiving the issues but they are seeing you.  I’m not saying you have to walk around saying “I forgive you” to every friend who is on the wrong track.  What I am saying is when your attitude is, “I won’t hold it against you when you have a different belief than I” you are wanting to continue to go relationally farther with that person despite their beliefs or their behaviors.  A judgemental friend has an unforgiving attitude. They can't look past your issues and will hold that against you.  When they see you they see your issues and they see your sin and choose to not see you apart for your issue.  But a  gracious friends sees what God sees: a future you that has you healed, whole and thriving.  Even though they know that what you are doing is wrong they choose to not hold your sin against you but forgive you and the issue instantly because they love you. They don't let it offend them but they choose to be like Jesus and continue to love you despite the sin.   They recognize that what you're doing is wrong but cannot let you stay that way.  Who doesn't want a friend like that.  Friends who practice graciousness aren't holding it against you but ... maybe you are holding something against them or even yourself.  Stop judging your friends and yourself and start forgiving.  Even though you have different views you can still have a conversation and stop letting your issues get in the way of your friendship. 

Have a compassionate posture.

A gracious person has a posture of compassion. A gracious person postures themselves by having a humble yet confident voice to share the truth of Scripture with love and respect.  Their motive is goodwill and kindness because it’s the kindness of Jesus in a follower of Christ that actually compels someone to reconsider their stance and opinion and move to a posture of repentance (Romans 2:4). A judgemental person doesn't have sympathy because their motive is proving they are right and desiring to tout being the expert in your spiritual matters. Like a spiritual umpire calling out your strikes and declaring you disqualified from running your race with God.  A compassionate posture reflects a sympathy for your misunderstood thoughts on life or their situation.  Not only do they hear and observe your misguided thinking but a gracious person has a strong desire to help your current situation.    They know, as a loving follower of Jesus and as a true friend, the words of Christ will always move you towards freedom from faulty thinking more than a good-intentioned opinion from the biased crowd.  

Walk in wisdom.

A gracious person walks in wisdom.  A judgemental person walks around as an expert.  They walk around giving you advice.  A gracious person desires to give you wisdom.  Jesus is your wisdom, “God has united you with Christ Jesus.  For our benefit God made Him to be wisdom itself.” (1 Corinthians 1:30).  Graciousness has the eyes to see beyond the crowds opinion and the wisdom to move you forward into your designed future that God has prepared for you (Proverbs 3:5-6).  How Jesus deals with differing opinions is how we should deal with opinions that are different from us.  Your gracious friend is going to be Jesus to you in the moment.  The ethic of graciousness is found in treating others like Jesus treated others without compromising the truth of Scripture.   And if they are talking to you about what you are doing that is different from what you believe, don't throw up the judgment word, but hear them out because what you hear as judgment might just be the wisdom you need that God is sending you through your friend to help you.   This posture of graciousness not only stops a judgmental thought in it's tracks but I think it overpowers it.  Forgiveness, compassion and kindness are words that unify and not divide.  I'd like to think of graciousness as being irresistible to anyone because of it's very nature of being kind about a cultural position or friends situation.   But it's not just showing kindness it's also being wise.  It's knowledge of what is true and right with insight and sound judgement.  

I've been recently talking about this my friend Lindsay Willis, leadership developer and entrepreneur, and she said this recently:  

“As this next generation of young Christian leadership, we get the love of God right and we get the story right but we don’t know how to speak truth.”

— Lindsay Willis

That's what I hope graciousness does...to help you speak truth. If you are in a situation and you have a friend that is confronting you about it, maybe don't play the "stop judging me card" and instead play the "thanks for loving me card" and watch your future and friendships be stronger than ever before. 

 

 

 

Founding Fathers Part 2 | The New Young Christian Manifesto

We are writing a manifest calling The New Young Christians to rise up and join our tribe.  Here is the beginning of our Manifesto here.

A revolution conceives an idea and births a message but a message dies if it’s not nurtured…if it’s not fathered.  The hills are taken.  The territory is secure. The leadership mobilized…because father’s are found.  The fragile beginning of a revolution needs founding fathers to inspire the masses, share the convictions and secure the future.  These leaders aren’t just visionaries and generals but founding fathers.  If you haven't read part 1 of our Founding Fathers piece you can read it here and the rest of our Founding Fathers portion continues below...

Just like the founding fathers of the revolution, Paul chose to revolt against the status quo.  Paul also saw the need to be a founding father against the backdrop of religion, it’s tyrannical rule and it's forceful superiority.  Paul chose to battle the idoloatry of his day by declaring that an unknown God can be known.  Paul chose to take territory that were once hubs of demonic activity and make them into hubs of dramatic conversions (Acts 16:16-18). Paul chose to establish a freedom to the masses that was a message to the world that Christ sets you free so stop living under the bondage of sin and dogma (Galations 5:1).   What the celebrities, politicians and religious leaders of the day were declaring was information.  It was cultural rhetoric looking to persuade the masses to align to it's void principles and empty passions.  We are bombarded by information in this day and age.  We have access like never before to unlimited information about our own cultural issues and religious beliefs and celebrity lifestyles.  Paul wasn’t interested in just spreading information but was asking for imitation. 

Imitation is different than information.  Information is words and imitation is actions.  Information is everywhere but imitation is unique.  Information may educate but imitation inspires.  This is where fathering becomes necessary for imitation.  Fathers help passionate believers move from being a messenger to an imitator; from a vent to a distinct voice; from a shout in the crowd to wisdom as a child.  Paul knew that for faith to flourish, he didn’t spread information but sustained imitation.   God endorses this in Hebrews,  7Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.  Hebrews 13:6-8

Fathers know their role that ownership of faith is the greatest force to advance faith.  Faith lives on and flourishes when we own our faith, own our battles and own our choices.  No one can worship God like you or for you.  It’s all you.  Spiritual fathers and mothers are living examples in front of you to inspire you and live out the example of what it means to follow God.  Founding fathers aren’t perfect but they are authentic, enthusiastic and ardent.  The greatest lessons you will teach and pass on will be your life lessons.  So be authentic, share your weaknesses and your struggles.  Talk about when you overcame and how you didn’t.  Share the ups and downs of your spiritual journey.  Passion is contagious so the more you reveal your enthusiasm about faith, social issues, spiritual concerns, others will line up behind you and say, “that’s me, too.”  When you own your faith and choose to live a confident life of imitation, you release a spiritual potency that is rare in most discipleship.  

Imitation is good but it doesn't stop there.  Founding fathers and mothers know that true sonship and devoted daughters of our spiritual family need one more crucial experience in their spiritual formation:  impartation.  The New Young Christian believes it’ s not only important to live by example in front of others but to live by empowering others or in other words, to put "in power" into others.  The latin meaning of impartation means "to give a part of you away to someone else." Paul had the desire for impartation in him as he was discipling others,  "I long to be with you so I can impart something into you.” (Romans 1:11-12) Paul's passion wasn't just to pass on information and live out imitation but to give impartation.  Impartation's purpose is to inspire spiritual gifts, express encouragement and the strengthening the faith of the one being imparted into.  Impartation goes beyond just mentorship. Mentorship is gaining experience but impartation is learning obedience. 

Spiritual sons and daugthers learn  impartation by becoming teachable so they can become who they were meant to be so they can do what they were meant to do and go where they need to go.  Impartation helps us to learn responsibility to go into places we couldn't go before.  Impartation helps us to learn authority to give us power to do what we couldn't do before.  Fathers don’t see themselves as achieving something but advancing someone.  Fathers care less about what you achieve and more about how you arrive.  Impartation advances you into your future.  The wisdom we gain from the experiences of others is valuable.   Discipleship is unique to Christianity because it recognizes those in need with a simple starting point of “you need a family.”  The New Young Chrsitian sees the necessity of "founding fathers" in a revolution to decree that everyone belongs to someone.  All have a home in this new normal so sons and daughters can grow and mature.  

How important is impartation as a young believer or as someone leading young believers? 

Founding Fathers Part 1 | The Manifesto continued...

We are writing a manifest calling The New Young Christians to rise up and join our tribe.  Here is the beginning of our Manifesto here and it continues below...

A revolution conceives an idea and births a message but a message dies if it’s not nurtured…if it’s not fathered.  The hills are taken.  The territory is secure. The leadership mobilized…because father’s are found.  The fragile beginning of a revolution needs founding fathers to inspire the masses, share the convictions and secure the future.  These leaders aren’t just visionaries and generals but founding fathers.

The term "founding fathers” refers to those who contributed to the development of independence and nationhood.   These men came together with a drive and a directive to unleash the power to the people.  There is something about putting power in the hands of the people that these passionate leaders understood and that God desired.  Jesus was clear when He said,  “I must go so that I can send power to you so that not only will you not be orphans but you will have power” (John 14:16-18).    Jesus is raising up spiritual fathers and mothers to nurture and empower a generation to live dependant on God and determined to love others.

Leadership you can trust is hard to find.  We live in a culture where we view those in charge through the eyes of skepticism.  From presidents to pastors, those that culture has deemed as trustworthy cannot be trusted.  From athletes to apostles, those that are given authority and value by those around us have platforms made of glass.  These fragile podiums can shatter with the smallest of blows.  To trust and believe in someone is hard for these young believers.  To open up to someone is difficult when you have been told to trust, believe and support those whose voices have value only to see their value drop when their issues rise.  No one is perfect but no one should be pretending and that’s the problem.  So we choose to distance ourselves from significant voices because we fear they will let us down again.  So we conclude, “it’s better to be around those I can see with my own eyes and hear with my own ears because that’s what’s believable to me.”  So unless I’m up close and personal…I’m distant and critical.  Unless those in our circles have experience, authenticity and trust…we chose to live abandoned and left to fend for ourselves creating a need for deep spiritual relationships.  This relationship void is ready for spiritual fathers and mothers to jump in and lead these young believers back towards belonging.

A lack of fathers and mothers leads to an abundance of orphans.  We live in an orphaned culture.  When the divorce rate rises then the potential for fatherlessness rises.  When unwanted pregnancies increase then the abandoned increase.  In an orphan culture the abandoned live by their own rules making the necessity of a mother or father not just obsolete but a joke.  The voices coming from the fatherless sound like this, “We’ve made it this far without them…why should we start now?”

God knows the need for not just fatherhood but spiritual fatherhood.  God raised up Paul became a father in the faith…a founding father that crafted a message of depending on Christ for salvation and spiritual formation.  Paul would have seen the abandonment of children in his Roman culture due to their physical imperfections when juxtaposed against the high prevalence of perfectionism in Roman culture.  Yet the message of family and belonging that has always been present from the beginning and throughout Christianity was compelling to those who called themselves Christians.  Many Christians would adopt the discarded around them and make them sons and daughters of their own. 

The 7th Hill: Find and Follow Your Family

We are revealing our Manifesto of who we are as The New Young Christian.  If you haven't read part 1 of our passion piece read it here.  

We are called to a revolution.  Not a revolution from something but for something.  This revolution demands us to charge the hills, stake our flag in the ground and never give it up.  No matter what is charging at us or trying to overtake us, this is the ground we battle for that we don’t relinquish easily.  There will be a societal clash of arms on these hills because these are not just good ideas but solid ground to defend from the intimidation around us.  When we take the hill, we keep the hill because there is no going back to normal once we do.  The taking and keeping of these hills secures the spiritual future of you and those around you us fight and never give them up. 

These are the hills The New Young Christians will take or die trying. 

Hill #7:  Find and Follow Your Family 

The New Young Christian knows who you spend the most time with is who you will be most like.  You were never meant to live life alone.  Find your family in the faith.  Biological or spiritual...it doesn’t matter.  Fathers are needed.  Mothers are necessary.  Brotherhood essential.  Sisterhood critical.  We believe family models the spiritual relationships God knows you need to survive and to grow.  We start this world being sons and daughters first and then most of us grow up to be fathers and mothers.  We lack spiritual fathers because we never learned how to be a sons and daughters.  So we pursue sonship.  We devote ourselves to become daughters.  Family started with God and is God’s idea.  God modeled the ideal relationship of Father and Son with Jesus.  That’s our standard.  It’s how we choose to relate and love each other in the Kingdom. We are not an organization or an institution but a family.  God calls his sons and daughters and we respond by calling Him Father. 

“We lack spiritual fathers because we never learned how to be a sons and daughters. ”

Sons are meant to be home.  Daughters are meant to be cherished.  “Home” is whenever and wherever we come together as lovers of God.  We don’t run from home as prodigals but we run to the arms of God’s love and acceptance of us despite what we’ve done or where we’ve been.  Success in life is not what you do in life but who you do life with.  Successors are the fruit of your success.  What you pass on to those coming behind you is the true measure of greatness.  If Jesus says greater things you will do when I go, then our heart is for those coming after us to do greater things than us because leaving a legacy is our destiny.  Find family and you find faith.  You’re more than the sum of your parts.  We can accomplish more when we partner together.  We become more when we become family.

7Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.  Hebrews 13:6-8

The Sixth Hill: Live Flawed And Move Forward

We are revealing our Manifesto of who we are as The New Young Christian.  If you haven't read part 1 of our passion piece read it here.  

We are called to a revolution.  Not a revolution from something but for something.  This revolution demands us to charge the hills, stake our flag in the ground and never give it up.  No matter what is charging at us or trying to overtake us, this is the ground we battle for that we don’t relinquish easily.  There will be a societal clash of arms on these hills because these are not just good ideas but solid ground to defend from the intimidation around us.  When we take the hill, we keep the hill because there is no going back to normal once we do.  The taking and keeping of these hills secures the spiritual future of you and those around you us fight and never give them up. 

These are the hills The New Young Christians will take or die trying. 

Hill #6:  Live Flawed and Move Forward

The New Young Christian believes you have the right to be in process.  A transparent life before God leads to a transformed life before you and others.  We believe in creating a culture where you don’t have to have it all figured out but a willingness to trust in the midst of doubts.  We choose to live with imperfection than with indecision. Decide today to have forward motion while in the midst of imperfections and implications.    If you’re overwhelmed then you are in the right place with God.  If you’re not up to the task, then you’re the right person for the job.  No perfect people allowed makes you the perfect person God wants to use.

“You just can’t forget that in your weakest moment God is still the strongestest”

It’s a lot easier to agree with the promise God gave you than it is to agree with the process God is giving you.  So we choose to embrace the process. The struggle is real and so is Jesus. You just cannot forget that in your weakest moment God is always the strongest.  Stop trusting casually and start trusting radically. God is not an ideology or a just a theology but a personality.  A person that beckons us to  trust-fall into His arms than crash onto a slab of rigid concepts, weak ideas, or sharp religion. 

“It’s a lot easier to agree with the promise God gave you than it is to agree with the process God is giving you”

 We remind ourselves constantly:  God is faithful, God is good, God is true, God is miraculous, God is loving and God is evermore. We may not always believe in ourselves but rest assured God believes in us.  So we fight to discover and hold onto the value in God’s love for us than in our love for God.  Making God’s love for us not only our source but making us complete for our future. 

Be yourself #instagramspiration

The Fifth Hill: Find Common Ground For Common Good

We are revealing our Manifesto of who we are as The New Young Christian.  If you haven't read part 1 of our passion piece read it here.  

We are called to a revolution.  Not a revolution from something but for something.  This revolution demands us to charge the hills, stake our flag in the ground and never give it up.  No matter what is charging at us or trying to overtake us, this is the ground we battle for that we don’t relinquish easily.  There will be a societal clash of arms on these hills because these are not just good ideas but solid ground to defend from the intimidation around us.  When we take the hill, we keep the hill because there is no going back to normal once we do.  The taking and keeping of these hills secures the spiritual future of you and those around you us fight and never give them up. 

These are the hills The New Young Christians will take or die trying. 

Hill 5:  Find Common Ground For Common Good

The New young Christian believes that when good abounds for the benefit of others society flourishes for the benefit of us all.  The spreading of common good that is rooted in selflessness and sacrifice so that when it appears it’s bright for everyone to see and it’s source undeniable (Matthew 5:16). All actions of The new Young Christian are tied to a thread that is all connected to one another for all things to work together (Romans 8:28) for good. We align ourselves with our creator to remind us of who we are and the value of those around us. We don’t have confrontations but conversations.  We are here to win hearts not arguments.  We choose to be an inviting person more than a convincing person. We understand how you communicate is just as important as what you communicate.  So we’ve chosen to suffocate the desire to be right and breathe life into the areas of life where we can right wrongs. 

“We choose to not see barriers but opportunities for us to rally around the themes that can do the most good: love, honor, peace, humility, kindness, forgiveness an hope. ”

We believe graciousness overrules tolerance at the end of the day.  Tolerance says "you be you and I’ll be me" but graciousness says "a better me is a better we."  We position ourselves to have a forgiving attitude and compassionate posture while walking in wisdom with those who’s attitudes’ and beliefs differ from ours because it’s just the right thing to do. That’s why forgiving quickly is one of the most potent ways to share your faith and show other Christianity really works.  We understand we may not always agree but we choose to not see lines drawn in the sand but we see a hands full of sand poised to work together to sculpt and create something never been made before. We choose to not see barriers but opportunities for us to rally around the themes that can do the most good:  love, honor, peace, humility, kindness, forgiveness an hope.  

“We don’t have confrontations but conversations.”

True joy is not found in pursuing our own desires but pouring ourselves out to fulfill the desires of others.  We choose to keep our lives open because being good neighbors is our desire and creating a better community through radical hospitality makes our homes one of the most sacred places in our neighborhoods to experience Jesus.  We choose to be collaborate with mission and business to see the marketplace become a source of spreading ideas to change for the world.  Acceptance is more paletable to culture than resistance so we choose to accept people where they are and influence people to where they could be in Jesus.  So we choose to resist a culture of self-indulgence so we can live in self-denial modeling revealing the very essence of Christ who perfectly modeled this for us.  Morality is cultural but Godliness is eternal.  We believe finding common ground for common good causes society to flourish and hope to abound. 

“Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.”  Hebrews 10:24 

The Fourth Hill: Be Storymakers and Storytellers

We are revealing our Manifesto of who we are as The New Young Christian.  If you haven't read part 1 of our passion piece read it here.  

We are called to a revolution.  Not a revolution from something but for something.  This revolution demands us to charge the hills, stake our flag in the ground and never give it up.  No matter what is charging at us or trying to overtake us, this is the ground we battle for that we don’t relinquish easily.  There will be a societal clash of arms on these hills because these are not just good ideas but solid ground to defend from the intimidation around us.  When we take the hill, we keep the hill because there is no going back to normal once we do.  The taking and keeping of these hills secures the spiritual future of you and those around you us fight and never give them up. 

These are the hills The New Young Christians will take or die trying: 

Hill 4:  Be Storytellers and Storymakers

The New Young Christian understands that your story, their story and God’s story must be told.  Every name has a story & your story matters. 

We believe the greatest story to be told is the Good News to a generation that is surrounded by corrosive words and erosive ideology.  Jesus has come to bring life to the fullest to a generation that knows a pseudo life that is masquerading itself as a  grafted life only in the end to be a disappointing life.   

“We refuse to claim our biography’s but choose to declare our testimony’s. ”

We overcome our life trials by the truth of the story of Jesus and the script from our lives that declares this story true.  So we refuse to claim our biography’s but we choose to declare our testimony’s.  When we choose to live out a better and greater story, its undeniable potency of our authentic chapters of life grips the hearts and minds of our communities to reveal to others God is not only real but the author, perfector and finisher of these novels.

“We suddenly find ourselves moving from storytellers to storymakers.”

As they encounter our lives, as they read our hearts they discover the author, Himself.  He takes the pages of their lives and begins to script a different story.  We suddenly find ourselves moving from storytellers to storymakers.  Dreaming big for the what could be for you, your community and our God.  These stories may not be perfect but are happy in ending.  Hero’s are made.  Evil is conquered.  Love is found.  A “the end” with a disclaimer that says it’s only the beginning. 

The Third Hill: Love Recklessly

We are revealing our Manifesto of who we are as The New Young Christian.  If you haven't read part 1 of our passion piece read it here.  

We are called to a revolution.  Not a revolution from something but for something.  This revolution demands us to charge the hills, stake our flag in the ground and never give it up.  No matter what is charging at us or trying to overtake us, this is the ground we battle for that we don’t relinquish easily.  There will be a societal clash of arms on these hills because these are not just good ideas but solid ground to defend from the intimidation around us.  When we take the hill, we keep the hill because there is no going back to normal once we do.  The taking and keeping of these hills secures the spiritual future of you and those around you us fight and never give them up. 

These are the hills The New Young Christians will take or die trying: 

Hill 3: Love Recklessly

The New Young Christian believes to never withhold love from someone who believes differently than you.  No matter who you are, what you’ve done or where you’re from, every human being is invited to experience the love of Christ. If you don't have love you are nothing and your efforts do not matter because no matter how hard we try accumulate ...it still adds up to zero.  But with love we conquer all.  Not just any love but a love that unconditional and supernatural in nature .  We love with no strrings attached to show the world we won't be held back.   Love cannot be contained, muffled or stifled.  Love has no boundaries to hold it back from moving forward.  So we advance, we move forward because if love can't be stopped then we can't either.  What you don't love you have no authority over it to change it but when you choose to love you are given the highest authority.  Because God is love and we believe God is all-powerful making our action to love others the strongest gesture we can show others around us. Love is our marching orders so we will be the first to go in because Christ loved first so we love before they do despite how unreachable, unforgiven, unwanted and unlovable others appear to be.  Jesus welcomes your past.  Jesus welcomes your doubts.  Jesus welcomes your fears.  Jesus welcomes your gender. Jesus welcomes your addiction.  Jesus welcomes your dysfunction. Jesus welcomes you always. 

“No matter who you are, what you’ve done or where you’re from, every human being is invited to experience the love of Christ.”

We love recklessly because we’ve been forgiven unreasonably so we act responsibily.  To love God and love your neighbor as yourself is the maxim we speak.  Because it is our God’s highest most passionate command then it’s ours too.  To be forgiven much is to love much.  So let’s have an audacious attitude to love as we are unconcerned about the consequences and oblivious to the opinions of others but sensitive to the heart of God for others.  

I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. Luke 7:47

The Second Hill: God's Presence Is Never Boring

We are revealing the Manifesto of who we are as The New Young Christians.  If you haven't read the beginning or the first Hill you can check it out here...

The New Young Christian has a mandate that is “we won’t go unless you go with us, God.” God’s presence is our preference.  It’s in the presence of God that miracles are found, miracles abound, wisdom accrues, forgiveness flourishes, battles are won and purpose is found.  It’s exhilarating when the lost are found.  It’s invigorating when the broken are whole.   It’s intoxicating when God speaks your name.  Because when you truly experience the presence of God you won’t want to be anywhere else or with anyone else.  One day with God is better than a 1000 other days doing a 1000 other things with a 1000 other people. But a chosen generation chooses Jesus.  God’s presence is our preference.  Jesus is our greatest need and our greatest fulfillment.  Our surroundings get us busy and our commitments get us working but when we focus on the one thing that we can do, which is to sit at the feet of the one who called us, then everything we were doing doesn’t matter because the one who puts the planets into orbit stops our movement for his enjoyment.  

“Because when you truly experience the presence of God you won’t want to be anywhere else or with anyone else.”

When we sit at the feet of Jesus we can stand against the opposition.  Because we are a praying generation.  Our prayers are not a saturated list of” what I want to God to do for me” but a single line of “what can I do for God.”   Because when it seems good to us and the Holy Spirit then our significance is never more real and our understanding never more known.  When we seek God opportunities seek us, our striving to please others ceases and our sensitivity to God increases. Be present in the presence. 

Then Moses said, “If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place. " 

Exodus 33:15

The First Hill: Permission To Be Yourself

We are revealing our Manifesto of who we are as The New Young Christian.  If you haven't read part 1 of our passion piece read it here.  

Hills to Die On

You are called to a revolution.  Not a revolution from something but for something.  This revolution demands us to charge the hills, stake your flag in the ground and never give it up.  No matter what is charging at you or trying to overtake you, this is the ground you battle for that you don’t relinquish easily.  There will be a societal clash of arms on these hills because these are not just good ideas but solid ground to defend from the intimidation around you.  When you take the hill, keep the hill because there is no going back to normal once you do.  The taking and keeping of these hills secures the spiritual future of you and those around you so fight and never give them up.  These are the hills The New Young Christians will take or die trying:

HILL 1:  Permission To Be Yourself

The New Young Christian believes you to be God’s authentication not someone else’s imitation.   Be “you-nique.”  You are made in God’s image and God cannot be contained.  That’s why there will never be an exact copy of you because that means that God is starting over.  To make a copy is to stop creating...and God never stops creating.  At the intersection of what you love and what you need is who you are made to be and what you are made to do.  It’s not who you are when you grow up but who you are underneath when you go deeper because "the true you" has always been there and always will be. 

“True confidence is not what you do with God but what God does with you. ”

Before the foundation of the world God created who you were meant to be as your foundation.  Discovering your calling is not about working harder or going farther but digging deeper to discover who you are meant to be. So be your original and not someone else’s ideal. That takes confidence but true confidence is not what you do with God but what God does with you.  Be true and authentic to God so you can find your true and authentic self.  Being the most authentic you is what God is looking for and what the world is waiting for. Authenticity is powerful. Authenticity dismantle who others want you to be and enhances who you’re supposed to be.  Authenticity paves the way to having a sincere faith. When you discover who you are meant to be, you won’t want to be anyone else. 

For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well."  2 Timothy 1:5

What are your thoughts about being yourself that is difficult where you are at?

For Hill 2 click here...

The New Young Christian Manifesto Part 1

We all love a good origin story.  Typically the character’s in these stories don’t think they are much or have much but they do know they are made for more.  When we read the stories of these heroes…they didn’t know they were heroes at the time. As a matter of fact they seemed to have felt like misfits more than heroes.  If they could have looked ahead and saw what they would be, then maybe they would have said or thought differently.  Wouldn’t it be great to see into the future of what we could become?  Presently we can’t look ahead but we can pick up clues as to who we could be.  Origin stories of heroes in the making include language that sound like this: 

“I don’t fit in.”

“I’m kind of the outcast.”

“Everyone says I’m different.”

“I know I’m made for more but I don’t know what.”

 

Maybe that’s why we need those “Tony Stark” moments.  Tony, also known as Ironman, shows up at our house before we get home to push his way into our lives and tell us there is a hero inside of us and a mission before us that can’t be done without us.  This momentary clarity occurs  when someone else can see beyond your present into your “what could be”. These people push us towards "who I'm meant to be" and away from "how I'll always will be."  

This manifesto is your clarity piece.  These pages are here to unveil that you are part of a greater story.  The origin that you are searching for started long before you.  It started thousands of years before you:

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you” –Jeremiah 1:5

“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us” -  Ephesians 1:4

You saw me before I was born.  Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. – Psalm 139:16

This manifesto is revealing that you are necessary.  That you are needed.  You’re a hero but you just don’t know it yet.  Life’s too short and you’re too gifted.  Heroes don’t know they are being called to something beyond them but they do know they can't just silently stand by and watch things happen around them. They are compelled to right the wrongs.  Warriors don’t understand their need to fight but they do understand they fight for their families and beliefs at any cost.  Revolutionaries don’t realize they are about to make history but they do realize they need to stand up for what they believe in.

 All heroes, warriors and revolutionists have an origin. 

You and I have one too.   

It is in the origin that questions are answered:  Who am I?  Why am I here?  Where do I belong?  What am I supposed to do?   We unearth, excavate, and dig to find these answers.  When we do, we find we have power.  We have a code.  We have strength.  Leading us to right wrongs and battle for the common good of all.  We discover that we aren’t weird after all.  We are not misfits but we do belong.  We are necessary.   Not to be like everyone else, but to make a difference for everyone else.  When I discover what I’m living for I know what I’m fighting for.   My search for answers has led me to understand who I am matters, why the battle makes sense and how the journey has significance. 

This search for answers naturally moves us to questions.  Culture is asking the questions about life, significance and purpose. Christianity has the answers.  But Christianity is very skilled at answering the questions culture isn’t asking.   When well-meaning outsiders of faith ask questions like "why am I here?" and well-meaning Christians answer with spiritual responses as "for God's glory" or "to be redeemed" although true is not the clarity that person may be needing.  

Its like this:  When my son asks me what color a frog is and I say “4”,  he only gets more confused.  He wanted to know about frogs but I wanted him to learn math because I think math is more important than frogs.  That wasn’t the answer he needed because that wasn’t the question he was asking.  I think Christians have this same problem at times:  we are answering questions the culture isn’t asking. 

Sometimes we know the correct answer to the questions culture is asking but we don’t speak up.  I wasn’t the smartest kid in class.  But there were times when I knew the answer but I didn’t want to be the kid that “new it all.”  I missed a moment to answer with the truth by choosing to “fly under the radar” in some “cool kid” kind of way.

I knew the answer.

I didn’t speak up.

Culture is asking questions that Christianity knows the answer to but is afraid to speak up because religion will ridicule it and culture will resist it.   Because of that, culture chooses to search for the answer itself. 

Answering the questions culture isn’t asking is confusing. 

Avoiding the answers culture is needing is cowardice.

So culture attempts to answer the questions for themselves.  Christianity seems to have ceased being the answer to the world and now becomes irrelevant to the world.

We know that’s not true. But this is what many young outsiders think about faith.  Christianity has set itself up for culture to be the ridiculer of her and to challenge Christian faith’s  authenticity and validity.  When instead Christianity, who has the answers, should be the one’s pressing into culture and being the answer.

Throughout the years I have been asked questions by culture about faith.  These authentic questions were connected to past disappointments, present despairs and future concerns.  These are just a few of the questions that are being asked:

Can I believe in evolution and still believe that God is the author of creation?

Can you hate the stars of Hollywood and love Jesus at the same time?

Can I be gay and be a Christian?

Can I make music to influence the secular music world and still be a Chrsitian?

Can I be addicted to porn and fully in love with Jesus as the same time? 

Why doesn’t the church address the issue of abortion?

Can I be a Christian and tolerant?

Why is it I’ve never been more connected to others but yet never felt more alone?

These are but some of the questions we're hearing but what are the answers we're getting?  The New Young Christian isn’t satisfied with the trite answers, canned answers.  “Hate the sin but love the sinner” is not an answer that is received well by unbelievers.  “What man meant for evil God means for good” is not the answer that outsiders of faith understand.  “It was Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve” is not the answer to anyone.  Although probably well intentioned, it’s usually the wrong responses at the wrong time and in the wrong context that frustrates this next generation of both believer and unbeliever . 

The New Young Christian doesn’t want clichés but passionate, sincere and vulnerable encounters with Christ.  Jesus is the answer.  He is our origin.

For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  Colossians 1:16-17

Jesus made you.  He knows you.  He created you.  He put passions, desires, convictions and dreams inside of you.  If you want questions to how did I get here, why am I here and what do I do then look to Jesus:  how He lived, what He said, how He responded, when He responded and where He spoke up all lead to answers to the questions we are asking.  And an encounter with our creator leads us to discover who we are and what we are meant for. 

Stop searching in the wrong areas. 

Stop looking to religion.

Stop looking to media.

Stop looking to celebrities

Stop looking to relationships.

Stop looking to pleasure.

Stop looking to pain. 

Stop looking to politics.

Stop looking to fame.

Stop looking careers.

Stop looking to money. 

Start looking to faith in Christ.

When we stop looking to Christ…we stop looking to Christianity.

When we stop looking for answers we start settling for existing conditions. 

Accepting the present state of affairs is what we call "the status quo."  The Status quo is a dictatorship demanding its rules be followed and its responses be appropriate. The Status quo is ruthless in forcing it’s followers to be submissive.  The Status quo is iron handed in making sure people believe in their surroundings and accept their surroundings. The status quo molds others into mediocrity.  

The status quo is tyrannical. 

Dogmatic.

Imperious. 

You are meant for upheaval. 

Mutiny.

Revolution.  

Not a revolution FROM something but FOR something. 

A revolution FOR celebrating the presence of God and the relationship of God that is forever

A revolution FOR honoring the legacy of those who have gone before us and blessing the destiny of  those coming behind us

A revolution FOR loving our neighbors recklessly and living out hospitality radically

A revolution FOR chasing a calling instead of chasing a career

A revolution FOR dreaming about what could be because of our God of impossibility

A revolution FOR fathering and mothering an orphaned culture to experience the essence of true family

A revolution FOR sharing the stories of those who have encountered the life-changing power of Jesus

A revolution FOR creating organizations and businesses that strategize and build for the common good of everyone with the message of "good news" for everyone

I love the spirit and tenacity of our founding fathers in the Amercian Revolution.  This group of brave men rejected an authority that was not just “taxing” but was controlling and imposing outdated laws and governance that was disconnected from the heart of the people.  The pivotal event of “The Boston Tea Party” reflected a desire of these communities to resist because they were asked to adhere to rules, submit to representation that wasn't a true representation of it's governance.  This sparked a passionate revolt of irrelevance and start a revolution.  To overthrow an outdated belief and usher in a movement with the mantra:  all men are created equal. 

These revolutionists caught a glimpse of a future that was theirs for the taking.  A future that compelled them to live out their passions, to right wrongs, to live differently that what they were used to.  This same future is ours.  Today.

It is a future that says you’re contribution matters.  It’s not obligatory, mandatory but necessary.  You are beneficial for a tomorrow that isn’t even created yet but won’t exist without you. 

It’s a future that spreads ideas instead of division.  One that unites others together to form a fabric of community that doesn’t tear upon pressure but has a durable and reliable tenacity to endure. 

It is a future that doesn’t defend mediocrity but releases individuality.  That no one can worship God like you or for you with a radical permission to be yourself.  God’ destiny for you isn’t to be someone else’s imitation but for you to be God’s authentication. 

It’s a future that doesn’t give you a job opportunity but just responsibility.  An answerable accountability to those in your community to be better than you were yesterday to seek, to grow and to build.

It's a future when conversations not confrontations become the norm when engaging with others who believe differently than you.  

It’s a future where goodness and kindness aren’t just personality traits but a way of life.  A social code that goes beyond just words but to a life of action that is not just optional but inoculable.   This future doesn’t just happen. 

It comes from having the heart of a revolutionary.

The Spirit of a frontiersman. 

The determination of a forger. 

This is our future.  A future waiting to be forged.  Preparing the way for others to follow.  This future is not bleak but bright..  It needs to be shaped by those who have the tools and the tenacity.   The New Young Christian isn’t just believing for a future but it is committed to creating it.  This cannot be done by just dreaming about it but by drawing others to it.  Summoning the ‘smiths…the forgers of futures. 

Fromthe old French word, forgiers, this word means “to shape, create and make.”  From the latin word, fabricari  meaning “to frame, to construct and to build.”  From the notion of steady hammering from a term in the 1600’s that many referred to as forging.  Forging wasn’t something that didn’t happen in the context entertainment or regalement but int eh context of heat, hard work and fire.  If you are forger, you are hammering, sweating, bleeding and working.  But it’s not from loathing but from signfiicane and satisifcation.  Because you know the war you have in front of you.  You know the battles are were, are and are to come.  You know that what happens in the fire now determines what happens in the fight later. 

So you grip.

And you grin.

Because you know you don’t forge for victory but from victory because you don’t fight for victory but from victory.  The battle is won.  Christ reigns supreme.  Our fight is good.  Our faith is strong.  Our future is secure. 

The weapons we have are not sticks that look like swords.

 The artillery we have is not plastic with an appearance of power. 

No. 

Our arsenal  is mighty for the tearing down strongholds and declaring a siege on the things that shame, that wound and that destroy.  (2 Corinthians 10:1-2; John 10:10).   The time is now forrevolution.  The time is now to take the hill…at all cost.  To charge into battle and take territory that belongs to us.  TO plant a flag on the hilltop of belief that says we are not giving this up again.  We have laid siege to the landscape of corruption and have overrun the outposts of rebellion.  We plant a flag on these hills.  We are willing to die on these hills.  Because this is a revolution that calls a generation to die for what it believes in.  To lose it’s life to gain true life.  It demands a sacrifice with this outcome:  deny yourself, take up your cross and follow.  No matter what.  In a revolt against the tyrrancial, the oppressors will stop at nothing.  So what’s our response:  we will give everything.  To die….so we can live. 

Part 2:  The Hills To Die On...