this past weekend i was able to be involved in something that changed me. it brought me back down to reality and showed me that what i do today has eternal significance. on saturday, april 25, 2009 thousands gathered in over 100 cities in North America, Europe, and Australia to raise awareness for the thousands in Uganda that are kidnapped and forced to fight in a war they do not believe in.
everyday in Uganda, children as young as 5 years old are abducted from their homes, taken to the Lord's Resistance Army camp and there the unspeakable happens. some are killed. others are forced to kill their friends, family or anyone the LRA so chooses, others are mutilated and left for dead. the unspeakable happens daily.
these children are forced to become the rebel army and now 90% of that army is below the age of 14. for over 20 years this war has been fought by children that are abducted and forced into slavery so that the bloodshed can continue.
children, the same age as your children or grandchildren are standing guard with AK-47's, ready to shoot at this very moment.
in three years, this is my son. i can't fathom.
children - fighting
killing
dying.
and for what?
this is why we gathered.
we gathered for peace.
we gathered to represent the thousands of children already abducted being forced to kill.
our plan was called 'The Rescue' because that is what must happen for these children to live to see tomorrow.
Invisible Children is a cause that is very dear to my heart. it is something that God has placed a heavy burden on my soul to pursue. these children who i may never meet are my passion.
i want to listen intently to what God is asking me to do and then follow Him.
once the divine tug has been pulled, i must follow. because if i don't follow, why am i even listening.
if i don't follow and become part of the solution, then i'm part of the problem.
for most of my life i didn't realize that if i see a need that i feel the Holy Spirit prompting me to reach out to help and i do nothing - i am part of the problem.
God isn't going to ask you to be a part of every humanitarian effort in the world, or give money to every homeless man you see on the street, but he does ask you to serve. Christ urges us to move, to lift up the oppressed, to raise the broken, and to help mend the deep wounds carved into the people around us.
we are all called to serve.
you might be called to serve the homeless. you might be called to move to South Africa. you could be called to adopt and give kids a home. you could be called to reach out to the depressed millionaire or to move to China and train pastors of the underground church.
i don't know who you are called to serve, i just know we are all called to serve someone. we are all called to listen for the cry of the oppressed and then find a way to build them up, to bring them out of oppression, but this can only be done when we are willing to give up ourselves to the cause.
over the course of the weekend i spent some time with a young man who teaches middle school in fort worth. now he doesn't look like your typical clean cut teacher. he had an arm full of tattoos on his left and a few more on his right, and he has had dreadlocks for the past year. not that his appearance means anything, but i thought it was interesting that a 20 something white guy who has dreadlocks and full of tattoos is able to lead our youth and i love the fact that the school district didn't let his appearance skew their judgement of the quality of his character.
as we talked, i found out that he and a group of young men just move to what he called, "the ghetto of fort worth" for the specific purpose of building up the community around them. they have converted their back yard into a community garden and have other projects in the works to lift up the poverty stricken. did i mention that previous to this, he spent two years teaching school in Uganda.
this is a man who is truly listening to what God is asking Him to do and then actually doing it.
after hearing his story i began to share with him a conversation i recently had with a young man about serving. during this conversation, a question kept popping up:
why do christians not serve more than we do?
is it a lack of concern?
is it a lack of time?
if there was a root to it all, what is at the root of us not serving the way the disciples of the first century served?
perhaps our current culture has gotten the best of us... we are a people, a country, driven by quick, easy remedies. we are men and women who thrive off of convenience. technology is outdated, the day after it is released because there is a new product coming out tomorrow that is faster, smaller, lighter, smarter, etc., etc., etc.
we are coaxed by media and advertising to think that these new products which are 'better' are exactly what we need - we can't live without them. and we buy into this lie.
we grab hold,
hook
line
sinker.
our lives today are driven by the convenience of the products we can buy.
think about it.
our phones, our cars, our homes, computers, what we eat, where we eat, television, ebooks, email, and more. they are constantly evolving into products of convenience.
if at the core, our lives are driven by the convenience of it all, are we following the prompting of God and giving our life to the Kingdom or are we building up storehouses of worldly things so that our lives are easier?
which did the disciples live for? convenience or the Gospel?
am i saying that we shouldn't have cell phones, good cars, email or things that make our lives more convenient? No.
what i am suggesting is that if you are allowing convenience to be the deciding factor behind whether you are serving the poor and the oppressed, you may want to take a step back and examine the purpose of your life.
it is convenience that seems to be the deciding factor on whether we should serve or not. it is this lifestyle that has fooled us into thinking that we don't have the time to serve. the truth is, we all have the time to serve. the question is: what are you willing to give up in your schedule so you can serve.
we spend entirely too much time devoted to things that don't matter and to be honest, are for own selfish pleasure.
think about how much time you spend doing things that really could be taken out of your life, but you don't want to let them go. there are a million things we do that we could do without.
far too often i let the things of this world become my deciding factor on whether i should serve or not. i am urging you to not do what i frequently do - give my life to the american dream of convenience - instead give your life to the Gospel.
sacrifice your convenience so that you might build up the oppressed,
speak for the voiceless
give hope to the hopeless
love the unloved
wash the feet of the dirty
feed the hungry
clothe the naked
give up your life today.
in the book of acts we read of the disciples leaving their homes to go where God was asking them to go. they left all that was convenient to them to share their lives with those who needed the hope of Jesus Christ.
was their life less complicated than yours? no. some of these men and women of the early church had families and children, but they left anyway because they were convinced that following God was better than floating through life as a half hearted believer.
are you in the neighborhood you're in because that's where God wanted you or because of convenience?
or are you like my friend called to the ghetto to build up the poverty stricken?
the ever pressing question i think of following Christ isn't if you hear where He is asking you to go, but rather are you willing to go where he is asking you to go.
today, it's up to you to ask God to search your heart and show you if you are a person driven by convenience or a person living to serve.
may you consider others better than yourselves.
may you realize that all of the things that make life 'easier' aren't what you need.
may scripture infiltrate your soul and consume you.
may serving the oppressed, the orphan, the poor and the widow be how people know you.
it's time to lay down a life of convenience, dust off your feet and start walking.
peace be with you.
everyday in Uganda, children as young as 5 years old are abducted from their homes, taken to the Lord's Resistance Army camp and there the unspeakable happens. some are killed. others are forced to kill their friends, family or anyone the LRA so chooses, others are mutilated and left for dead. the unspeakable happens daily.
these children are forced to become the rebel army and now 90% of that army is below the age of 14. for over 20 years this war has been fought by children that are abducted and forced into slavery so that the bloodshed can continue.
children, the same age as your children or grandchildren are standing guard with AK-47's, ready to shoot at this very moment.
in three years, this is my son. i can't fathom.
children - fighting
killing
dying.
and for what?
this is why we gathered.
we gathered for peace.
we gathered to represent the thousands of children already abducted being forced to kill.
our plan was called 'The Rescue' because that is what must happen for these children to live to see tomorrow.
Invisible Children is a cause that is very dear to my heart. it is something that God has placed a heavy burden on my soul to pursue. these children who i may never meet are my passion.
i want to listen intently to what God is asking me to do and then follow Him.
once the divine tug has been pulled, i must follow. because if i don't follow, why am i even listening.
if i don't follow and become part of the solution, then i'm part of the problem.
for most of my life i didn't realize that if i see a need that i feel the Holy Spirit prompting me to reach out to help and i do nothing - i am part of the problem.
God isn't going to ask you to be a part of every humanitarian effort in the world, or give money to every homeless man you see on the street, but he does ask you to serve. Christ urges us to move, to lift up the oppressed, to raise the broken, and to help mend the deep wounds carved into the people around us.
we are all called to serve.
you might be called to serve the homeless. you might be called to move to South Africa. you could be called to adopt and give kids a home. you could be called to reach out to the depressed millionaire or to move to China and train pastors of the underground church.
i don't know who you are called to serve, i just know we are all called to serve someone. we are all called to listen for the cry of the oppressed and then find a way to build them up, to bring them out of oppression, but this can only be done when we are willing to give up ourselves to the cause.
over the course of the weekend i spent some time with a young man who teaches middle school in fort worth. now he doesn't look like your typical clean cut teacher. he had an arm full of tattoos on his left and a few more on his right, and he has had dreadlocks for the past year. not that his appearance means anything, but i thought it was interesting that a 20 something white guy who has dreadlocks and full of tattoos is able to lead our youth and i love the fact that the school district didn't let his appearance skew their judgement of the quality of his character.
as we talked, i found out that he and a group of young men just move to what he called, "the ghetto of fort worth" for the specific purpose of building up the community around them. they have converted their back yard into a community garden and have other projects in the works to lift up the poverty stricken. did i mention that previous to this, he spent two years teaching school in Uganda.
this is a man who is truly listening to what God is asking Him to do and then actually doing it.
after hearing his story i began to share with him a conversation i recently had with a young man about serving. during this conversation, a question kept popping up:
why do christians not serve more than we do?
is it a lack of concern?
is it a lack of time?
if there was a root to it all, what is at the root of us not serving the way the disciples of the first century served?
perhaps our current culture has gotten the best of us... we are a people, a country, driven by quick, easy remedies. we are men and women who thrive off of convenience. technology is outdated, the day after it is released because there is a new product coming out tomorrow that is faster, smaller, lighter, smarter, etc., etc., etc.
we are coaxed by media and advertising to think that these new products which are 'better' are exactly what we need - we can't live without them. and we buy into this lie.
we grab hold,
hook
line
sinker.
our lives today are driven by the convenience of the products we can buy.
think about it.
our phones, our cars, our homes, computers, what we eat, where we eat, television, ebooks, email, and more. they are constantly evolving into products of convenience.
if at the core, our lives are driven by the convenience of it all, are we following the prompting of God and giving our life to the Kingdom or are we building up storehouses of worldly things so that our lives are easier?
which did the disciples live for? convenience or the Gospel?
am i saying that we shouldn't have cell phones, good cars, email or things that make our lives more convenient? No.
what i am suggesting is that if you are allowing convenience to be the deciding factor behind whether you are serving the poor and the oppressed, you may want to take a step back and examine the purpose of your life.
it is convenience that seems to be the deciding factor on whether we should serve or not. it is this lifestyle that has fooled us into thinking that we don't have the time to serve. the truth is, we all have the time to serve. the question is: what are you willing to give up in your schedule so you can serve.
we spend entirely too much time devoted to things that don't matter and to be honest, are for own selfish pleasure.
think about how much time you spend doing things that really could be taken out of your life, but you don't want to let them go. there are a million things we do that we could do without.
far too often i let the things of this world become my deciding factor on whether i should serve or not. i am urging you to not do what i frequently do - give my life to the american dream of convenience - instead give your life to the Gospel.
sacrifice your convenience so that you might build up the oppressed,
speak for the voiceless
give hope to the hopeless
love the unloved
wash the feet of the dirty
feed the hungry
clothe the naked
give up your life today.
in the book of acts we read of the disciples leaving their homes to go where God was asking them to go. they left all that was convenient to them to share their lives with those who needed the hope of Jesus Christ.
was their life less complicated than yours? no. some of these men and women of the early church had families and children, but they left anyway because they were convinced that following God was better than floating through life as a half hearted believer.
are you in the neighborhood you're in because that's where God wanted you or because of convenience?
or are you like my friend called to the ghetto to build up the poverty stricken?
the ever pressing question i think of following Christ isn't if you hear where He is asking you to go, but rather are you willing to go where he is asking you to go.
today, it's up to you to ask God to search your heart and show you if you are a person driven by convenience or a person living to serve.
may you consider others better than yourselves.
may you realize that all of the things that make life 'easier' aren't what you need.
may scripture infiltrate your soul and consume you.
may serving the oppressed, the orphan, the poor and the widow be how people know you.
it's time to lay down a life of convenience, dust off your feet and start walking.
peace be with you.
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