Let's Be A Generation

For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to change the world. I wanted to change how people looked at the world and related to one another. I wanted people to understand what real unconditional love looks like lived out on a day to day basis. I want to change the trajectory of people's lives based on what I say or teach or how I live.

So today I wanted to issue a challenge to anyone who thinks they might be willing to take it on...Let's Be A Generation that lives out God's high calling for our lives.

How can we do that, well there are several ways. First, let's be a generation that is known for loving God and loving others. You hear it over and over again from people who do not go to church and want nothing to with Christianity because the people who call themselves "Christians" are the biggest hypocrites and judgmental people that they have ever met. So I want to challenge you to show the world that real Christians are known for how much they love God and because we believe what John 3:16 says then we really love other people, NO MATTER WHAT! I want to be known as someone who loves people because I truly believe God loves people unconditionally. I know this is hard because of sin but remember God's grace and patience towards you when you mess up and how He pursues you even when you feel like you are beyond His reach. Let's Be a Generation that is remember for how we lived our lives in such a way that it was evident to anyone who looked at our lives that we loved God and we loved others.

Second, Let's Be a Generation that brings glory to God in our marriages and how we do family. I do not believe in divorce and here is why. I believe I am suppose to represent God and His character in every way to my spouse. This means showing her grace, unconditional love, faithfulness, etc. So how can I trying to be like Christ ever walk away from her...the answer is I can't because God never walks away from us. So I believe this generation needs to live out the high calling of God for marriage. One thing that will be crucial to this is raising up a generation of men that are just that, men. Men that have character and work hard, who show up on time and stay late if need be. Men who make commitments and keep them. We need men pouring into younger men so that they will know how to be a husband and a father when their time comes. Finally, there is a new movement among evangelicals that I am super-excited about and that is adoption. We are hardly ever more like Christ than when we are giving a hope to the hopeless and being a father to the fatherless. I would like to see a generation that show the world God's love by loving children who have no one else to love them. David Platt's church in Birmingham, Alabama recently signed up to provide all the foster homes that the entire social services system needs in that town. Others are adopting kids from all over the world at a rapid pace and those who aren't adopting are still giving financially to the cause. I really hope in the next couple of years to adopt one or two children from around the world. Let's Be a Generation that brings glory to God in the way we do marriage and family.

Finally, Let's Be a Generation that spends our money, our time, and our talent to change this world. My grandpa would always give money to people when they asked, it was weird like someone you just knew was not going to use the money for food or whatever they said they wanted money for but he gave it to them anyways. And when we asked him why he did it, he always had two answers. One was "well, it won't be on my conscience" and the other was "you can't take it with you when you go." It is the second answer that has changed my perspective of money the most. You can't take it with you when you go so why in the world are you trying to get as much of it as you can and keep it in a bank account for yourself? I am not against saving money for an emergency or having a cushion for unforeseen circumstances but there comes a point when enough is enough and you are just hoarding what God has given to you so that you could bless others. Use your money to make a difference in someone else's life because you can't take it with you when you go. The same goes with other things in your life. God gave you talents and time and other things in order that you could bless others with what God has given to you. How selfish would it be if I just keep my knowledge of the Scriptures, my theological education, and the ability to teach (well, lack of fear of public speaking) to myself. It wouldn't do me or anybody else any good to never use those things which God has given to me. Let's Be a Generation that changes this world however we can because God has given each of us unique resources and the opportunities to use those resources to bless others that only we have.

Let's Be a Generation that brings glory to God because we live out what He has called us to do. Love God and love others, do marriage and family the right way, and to use our individual abilities and resources to change the lives of others. Let's Be that Generation.

Dream Big or Stay Home

I once heard that if your dreams make people laugh only then are your dreams big enough for God. Your dreams ought to make a logical, rationale person laugh when you tell them because you should dream so big that only the hand of blessing and the sovereign work of God could possibly make your dream a reality. When you look through the Bible, this is what you see. God told Abraham when he was already an old man that he would become a father of a great nation. Abraham simple response was guess what…..A LAUGH!!! Abraham laughed but God gave that old man and his wife a son. Then Abraham followed God obediently and eventually through the generations, God fulfilled His promise to Abraham. You see we serve a God who is sovereign and a God who is all-powerful. God does what He wants when He wants and not even unbelief or disobedience can stop Him. There are examples of this in Scripture too…..see Moses, Jonah, and Gideon but that is another topic for another day.

Another big dream was Nehemiah who is probably my favorite character in the Bible….other than Jesus of course!!! Nehemiah was the cup-bearer to the King Artaxerxes. God gave Nehemiah the dream or vision (I like this term better) to go and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Now Jerusalem had been destroyed by the previous king so why would the current king let his trusted cup-bearer go and rebuild the walls of something they had just destroyed. Nehemiah prayed about his vision and God brought it to pass. The king allowed Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem and even gave him the supplies he would need to do the job. Can you make any argument against that being an example of the sovereignty of God? Most people would have laughed at the vision of Nehemiah but instead of laughing, Nehemiah prayed and planned so he was ready when God brought it to pass. Nehemiah stood strong in the face of all kinds of problems and enemies when he got to Jerusalem. The vision that God gave Nehemiah influenced every decision he made. If it furthered the dream then Nehemiah said yes, but if it hindered or side-tracked the dream then Nehemiah said no! Nehemiah had a dream and then he trusted God to make his dream a reality.

So what does all this have to do with me? Well…the answer is I don’t know. The reason I don’t know is because God has given each and every one their own hopes and dreams. My vision from God for my life and ministry is very different from yours. J.D. Greear who pastors The Summit Church has the vision to plant 1000 churches in the next 40 years. That’s right I said ONE THOUSAND churches planted. That means brand new, didn’t previously exist churches across the United States and throughout the world. Where are they going to get the money and people to do it? Well, I don’t know but I tell you what if there are a 1000 churches 40 years from now with some kind of association to The Summit Church in Durham, NC then nobody will accuse them of having little faith. They have a dream so big only an act of God could make it a reality. Maybe today your dreams are for the salvation of family members or your marriage to become what God has called it to be. Maybe your dreams include your job and your finances, starting a new business or getting out of debt. Ask God to give a dream for your life and to make it so big that you have to trust in Him because there is no way that you can do it by yourself. Maybe today, God can’t give you a dream because there is no relationship between the two of you. Christ died to restore that relationship if you would turn from your sins and place your trust for salvation and eternal life in Him. God loves you, He has a plan for you and He wants to use you to accomplish something great for His kingdom and His glory. Would you practice more faith in God today? Would you practice trusting Him alittle more? Dream so big it makes people laugh and if you do, I don’t think you will end up disappointed.