It’s over, but maybe its just beginning
No more annoying commericals about what this person did, or didn’t do, or who they hired, or who they fired, or how bad they are, or how great they are. Atleast for another 2 years that is.
We did see history last night. It is yet to be determined if that is positive or negative. What excites me most however, is not the change of leadership, the change in philosophy, or the end of the annoying campaign ads. What excites me most is our opportunity for the Church (with a big “C”) to stand up and be the church.
There are many excited about “the change” that will come. There will be change, but we must remember that our hope is ultimately with our heavenly Father, not the Oval Office. I think about when Jesus told his followers to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s. I know he was talking about taxes, but could we also apply that to our hope? Could that be a reminder that while positive change may come from the government or the new president, our hope ultimately rests with God?
So we have an opportunity before us. We can let “change” come from governement. We can let them tackle the issues of poverty, sickness and oppression. We can let them do the work. OR. Or we can go be the hands and feet of Jesus to a still hurting world. (notice that the people that were suffering yesterday are still suffering today?) We can go be the Church and bring the much needed change to our country and to our world.
Can government play a role? Of course. But they should not be the lead role. They should be the supporting cast.
One way to jump in is with the Free Chains campaign. Help us end child sex slavery.
I need your help!
For anyone interested in helping our Free Chains campaign, below is an invitation to add your voice to the conversation.
You have all joined because you want to stop child sex trafficking. So, I really want to hear from each of you about any ideas that you have that we could implement to raise more awareness and money to end child sex slavery. Anything from bake sales to car washes to selling junk on eBay.
Whatever your ideas are, throw them out there. You can either post them on our Facebook Cause page, or on my blog. Leave feed back on other ideas that could make them even better.
Together we will make a difference! Thank you for standing with us and declaring All Should Be Free!
All Should Be Free
This was the saying that I kept coming around to when we heard stories of children being sold into slavery. 10 year olds being used as prostitutes. These were children that no longer had a childhood. World wide there are an estimated 2.5 Million sex slaves. No longer are they learning to read and write. They are not going to birthday parties and the playground. No longer are they allowed to be children. They are not free.
BUT, they should be free. They should have the opportunity to grow up in safety. To learn to read, play, created, dream, smile, laugh, make friends, write music, play games, play sports, go to school, be loved, have fun and all the other things that children do. They should be free.
Under this theme we have been working with our first major project of World Causes. The project is Free Chains. It is a way to help those who are not free. It is a way to help those children to play again. To dream again. To be loved again. You can learn more at www.worldcauses.org. Free Chains is the featured cause.
Please help us out. Buy a shirt. Wear it with pride. Join us that ALL SHOULD BE FREE!!!!
Free Chains gets bigger in Texas
I just got home from a weeks worth of traveling. I spent three days in Atlanta at the Catlayst Conference. I haven’t even had time to digest three solid days of teaching, challenging, worship, meetings and praying. That might take a while, but I’ll get it on here some time.
Yesterday I got to spend the day with a friend in Dallas and their youth group. They are taking Free Chains, our project at World Causes, as their youth cause for the semester. What was so great about the experience was that the students are doing all the work. The youth ministers and parents are not leading it, the students are. When I got there to speak, the students told me when I’d go on, what the time limits were and they had set up a table to sell All Should Be Free t-shirts. They were talking about ways to get other youth groups involved, friends at school and family members. It was great to see a sense of ownership with the students.
I think we’ll be hearing great stories from this group. So far, close to 200 shirts have been sold, which will benefit our safe house in Nepal. We will be able to make a great impact because of their work and suppot. Thanks Bent Tree for having me and for doing a great job for the Kingdom.
The week ahead
There is a lot going on right now for us and World Causes. I want to give a brief update and some details.
1. Catalyst is this week. This is such a great time of learning, being challenged, and meeting great new people. Please pray that God would use this time to focus us on his vision, that we would make great new contacts for World Causes and that the greater impact of 11,000 leaders coming together would be heard around the world.
2. If you are going to be a Catalyst, join us on Friday for a Free Chains picture. We’re meeting after lunch on Friday for the shot. Be sure to wear your shirt, if you need one, click here, or look for me and I’ll have some in the trunk.
3. Clemson plays Wake Forrest Thursday night. This is a big game if we are to have any shot at the ACC. I hope they are prepared. It was a relief that we didn’t lose this past weekend.
4. I’m headed to speak at a church in Dallas at the end of the week. They are sponsoring Free Chains and want to make a huge impact to help those suffering from sex slavery. Please pray for effective communication and a passionate response.
Have a great week everyone
Expectations
In reading through 1 Timothy today, I came to the popular verse targeted towards young people. I’ll be teaching on this in a few weeks for some youth, so I thought it would be good to share here as well. I was thinking about why Paul would even bring this up to Timothy. He said, “do not let anyone look down on you…”
I think that assumes that people were looking down on others maybe similar in age or demographic to Timothy. It assumes that a precedent had been set from someone else and Paul was instructing Timothy not to fall into that mold. Young people have a stereotype set on them by the greater culture and many do not fail to live up (or down) to this standard. Past experiences or memories come to the forefront in looking at those younger.
That can all be different though. God is raising up young people all across our country that are breaking the mold set by the millions of others before us. Changing a stereotype is hard. But you are seeing it. Next week I will join 12,000 other young leaders at the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta. This is a time of breaking stereotypes as 12,000 passionate change makers converge in one location. Stories of amazing impact are heard from participants for the rest of the year. The same is true of people that have gotten on board with World Causes and Free Chains. People want to make a difference and shatter the stereotype that young people can not make a difference. If you want to help, visit these sites and if you’re in Atlanta next week, stop by for an incredible 3 days!!
Economic or leadership Bailout?
It’s been pretty intense over the past few weeks watching the economy, the forecast, the campaigning, and the promises. I just don’t see how any one could be shocked at what is happening right now. We are a greedy people. How else can you explain the outcomes we are seeing? We spend more than we make. As a nation, we no longer save. We spend on credit. We balance books in the gray areas. We don’t question questionable business decisions. The bottom line is the only line. AND then we wonder how we got into this mess.
I think this provides a perfect opportunity to be salt and light. Light is used to expose darkness. We can bring biblical truth into a dark economy right now. Think of the biblical wisdom written about making wise decisions, being prudent, seeking knowledge and wisdom over gold. We can be salt also. We can help preserve the culture just like salt preserved food 2000 years ago. We can run our businesses with integrity. We can do what is right, even if its hard. What a perfect opportunity we have to share the gospel.
And on a last note, we need real leadership in this country. And real leadership is not being liked. Someone needs to step up and make the tough decisions because they are right, not because they are liked! That is the true definition of a leader. Do you think Lincoln was liked when he made the tough decisions? Not by half of the country….But he made the tough decision and a nation was saved. It wasn’t easy. There were scars and casualties, but it was saved. Who will that be in 2008? Are they even running for office?
Progress
If you have not read The Faith, by Chuck Colson, you need to. This is a great work that is refreshing to read. The premise of the book is learning the foundational truths about Christianity and why knowing them is important. C.S. Lewis called this “mere Christianity” and historically it has been called “orthodoxy.”
If you find history, or church fathers, or teachings from those in the past boring or overrated, listen to this quote as it has challenged me greatly:
“It may seem odd to rely on the ancient roots of Chritianity at a time when progress is so exalted. But progress does not always mean discovering something new. Sometimes is means rediscovering wisdom that is ancint and eternal.”
I’ve got to chew on that some more, but I think there’s a lot there.
Are you free?
I’m reading The Good Life, by Chuck Colson right now. Just getting started, but if its like any of his other books, then it will be thought provoking, challenging, encouraging and a good read. Here is a quote that I’ve been thinking through all morning…
Most of us think of freedom as the absence of restraint or the elimination of responsibility. But that’s not it at all. Each of us is called to some work, and our ultimate joy and fulfillment–yes, freedom–will come in our obedience to that mission.
Freedom is the product of surrendering to the call that God gives us. Trying to fulfill that mission brings freedom. Why then do I get bogged down? Why do I feel like there are 30,000 things to do on my list? Why do more why’s continue to come?
Some of this I think is personality. I like vision and ideas. New things excite me. It is easy for me to add things to my list, but hard to get them off.
Some of this comes down to execution. Knowing a mission and fulfilling a mission are two completely different things. Learning how to execute might be one of the best assets a leader forms.
What are you called to? What is your mission? What is your work?
end note: great callings don’t have to be starting large organizations or making the olympics. There are many “Free” teachers, moms, youth ministers, and many more people out there embracing and running after their mission.
Law 4: The Law of Navigation
Law 4: The Law of Navigation.
Summary:
A leader must see the big picture of where they are going and all the trip will entail
Thoughts:
-A leader needs to see the big picutre
-You must see the obstacles before you hit them-AND be prepared
-Learn (and plan!) from your mistakes
-Leaders must balance optimism and realism, intuition and planning, faith and fact
-You must plan and prepare if you are to lead
-When you prepare well, you convey confidence and trust to your people
Take-Aways:
I must place a higher priority on planning
I need to put stuff in writing
I need to develop and implement a planning system that looks at the entire pciture and process
About Me
Greg is a social entrepreneur and founder of the non profit, World Causes. World Causes seeks to engage people in all sectors of society to fight the issues of Poverty, Injustice and Epidemic Diseases, by providing creative ways for involvement. Greg has led all the creative initiatives of World Causes, including the Free Chains campaign to end child sex trafficking. He is married to Betsey, a beautiful first grade teacher. They live in Greenville, SC.
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