Influential Success

I was pondering Alex and Brett's ministry and the extreme success they have seemed to have getting it started. At sixteen, desiring to do something greater with their teen years, the twins started their rebelution blog. It became the most popular web site for teens at the time, with millions of youth responding "This echoes the same cry of my own heart!" Through the "Do Hard Things" tour, they have been able to reach many young people and parents, and stir up this culture.

My first reaction was "Wow! These people are so successful! I wonder what it takes to become so influential? I wish I could be apart of a group like that." But as I thought more on what their mission is all about, I realized, this is just a group of Christian teens seeking to apply the gospel to their lives. What makes their ministry so effective is its purpose, not so much its numbers, or Alex and Brett. Living the gospel out in our daily lives, and having this good news be the central message we seek to proclaim yields wonderful fruit, no matter what curcemstances or people God has put us with.

Their numerical success has inspired me to see on an even deeper level my calling to walk in a manner worthy of the calling I have received, and to view my own circle of relations as capable of a similar rebelution mission. I have begun to see that my family, and my local church with its gospel-centered youth ministry is seeking to create this culture of godliness. I am so grateful to be apart of this great mission!

So to wrap up this post, may everyone, especially any of my own teenage friends reading this, be excited for what God has for you today, for the gospel we have been called to believe in holds a wonderful mission for all of us, whatever we may be doing right now!

On this Thanksgiving week, thank You God for Your gift of redemption, and for how You are using teenage children to advance it!

Looking forward to talking more "Do Hard Things" next Wednesday!

Introducing the "Do Hard Things" Series

Sorry everyone for abandoning my posting for a while! I am planning to get onto a more regular blogging schedule now, prioritizing it along with a number of other things!

I just finished reading Alex and Brett Harris's new book, Do Hard Things, and I will have to say that it has been one of the best books I have ever read. The Harris twins do such an outstanding job promoting God's intent for the teen years, and most importantly, the passion for the gospel that we are all commanded to have! I thought I would take a few weeks to do a series on my blog about how God has encouraged me in thinking about my youth years through reading this book. Please check here every Wednesday to see the new post from this series! For this post, I will just give a brief synopsis of this book, and next Wednesday I will start into the specific topics.

Do Hard Things, subtitled "A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations," is challenging teens about God's mission for their lives as teenagers. This book holds out that the world has low expectations for teens, but that God has a higher calling. Using I Tim. 4:12 "Let now one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity," Alex and Brett show us that God has a plan for us as teenagers. We don't have to wait until we are older for God's real plan to be revealed for our lives; He has a unique one for us now. They developed a movement to help youth apply this mentality, titled "The Rebelution." A mix of the words revolution and rebellion, the twins want teens to rise up and free themselves from the lies and low expectations of this world, and lead other teens to do likewise.

Check out www.therebelution.com, and come back next Wednesday for the next post in this series!