The Forces of this World Have Been Upset ...

Our church sent out 80 servants of Jesus in the last month across the region from New Orleans to Austin and Juarez, Mexico. Most of them were teens, who happen to be some of our most active disciples of Jesus. They're the ones quick to invite their friends to come to worship. They're the ones quick to come to the next Bible Study. They're the ones who sacrificed a week of their summers to bond with friends, get away from parents, and, oh yeah, make a difference in our world for God's kingdom. And people say, "They're the future of the church." News flash *** they're not. They're the church right now!

We really messed with the kingdom of this world this last month. You see, the kingdom of the world has this project to conform all of its citizens into a strict mold that rules out sacrificial love and unabridged compassion. And we seriously messed with 80 of its citizens.

Who knows what kind of impact their week of service will have on their lives today and into the future.... And who knows how their service will impact those whom they served this week and into their futures. We might have set off a revolution that will gain its momentum beyond our watch. We just don't know. God only knows. And this month, God threw another knuckleball to the project of this world that wants nothing to do with a God that loves it. Steee-rike!

Those folks could have been out at the mall buying something they don't need. But they were instead praying with children in apartment complexes who hadn't heard the word of God before. Those folks could have been at another fast food restaurant putting on more calories they don't need. Instead, they were laying cinderblock for an orphanage in one of the poorest communities in the West. Those folks could have been relaxing by the pool, but instead they were burning brush for a camp that gives inner city kids the opportunity to get out in nature and away from the gunshots, the sirens, and the drugs.

We really messed with the world. And I'm happy and scared at the same time. The world doesn't like to be messed with. Look at what they did with Jesus. It doesn't like people who offer another alternative beyond the world's agenda. So, we need those prayer warriors out there to unite over these 80 servants to pray off the attack that the world will launch at them now that they're home and back in their comfort zones. Seven days of intentional Christian community will be the focus of this attack. The world will woo them with temptations to take up the consumptive lifestyle again, with temptations to take a sluggish approach to the faith, and with temptations to 'unholy living' where they can degrade each other with their judgments and their speech.

I pray over them that God's kingdom will embed in their hearts and minds. I pray that their eyes that saw Jesus this week will be the eyes that they use at school and at home and at the playground (which means soccer fields, gyms, and hockey rinks since our kids don't really go to playgrounds anymore). Won't you join me in this prayer?

Peace out!