My previous post probably left most of you wondering what the point was.
Simply put I was indirectly stating my “Hard Thing”.
My family recently joined a baptist church and upon doing that, I was thrown out of my comfort zone. Affiliating ourselves with the church is not in and of itself hard. The ramifications of that decision, however, is what has turned into my seemingly impossible “hard thing”.
For the first time four weeks ago, I found myself doing something I had been told would never happen. I was in a classroom with about one hundred youths ages 12 to 18. each week, chatter about their latest boyfriend, and last night's football game escalates to an almost intolerable level. I had been told to be there to give a different view and in a sense regenerate the culture. I wasn't ready, but I went anyway.
“But I listened when You said to go
And I set out in spite of my fears
About truth mixed with my imperfection
And the question of what to say when I got here... What should I tell them when
They're thirsty Lord
My cup is empty Lord
Come and lead me here in this place
Cuz I'm honest, yeah, but I'm unprepared
And I'm just plain afraid ”(emphasis mine)
Those verses from “What Should I Tell Them” sums up what I've been facing. The difference is they're not thirsty and my cup isn't quite empty.
The discussions held in the small groups are mere milk, yet no one yearns for more.
I offer meat as often as possible, yet my voice is constantly drowned out – often times glossed over or laughed at. My attempts at trying to show a different angle are blocked at every turn, I seemingly fail each time.
Failure – the thing that scares me more than apathy, a democrat controlled congress, and “normal” guys combined; The one thing that can make me cry every time it strikes. Yet, I seem to repeat it every Sunday morning when my attempts to speak are blocked.
Out side the small group I am drowned out by the chatter and cliques that have been formed. There's no way to jump into a conversation, they seem to speak in Greek.
My Hard thing is two-fold: 1. the constant reminder of blocked attempts and 2. trying to get through the barrier.
My hard thing cannot and will not overcome me, I need to overcome it. My hard thing cannot remain impossible, at some point a hole will be made in it's impervious structure, and it shall be overcome.
As Americans we have a lot to be thankful for. Some people forget the meaning of thanksgiving, and overlook the things they're thankful for. Sometimes the simplest things in life are the most overlooked, yet are the most important. So here is the list of what I'm thankful for:
Christ, for without Him, I wouldn't be here.
My Family – They have had to put up with more of my antics than anyone and love me anyway.
My friends – few and far between, most times out of State. They'll fight for me or die trying. I appreciate and thank God for each and every one of them!
The United States military and the price they have paid to give us the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave!
May we never forget this precious gift.
These are a few of the things I'm thankful for. The question is: what are YOU thankful for?
 | Ben Cardin | Democrat | 540,676 (53%) |  |
| Michael Steele | Republican | 473,048 (46%) | ||
| Kevin Zeese | Green | 16,021 (2%) | ||
| Click Here for Race Analysis and Latest Polls | ||||
| No | - | 98,182 (55%) | |
| Yes | - | 79,444 (45%) |
| Jon Kyl (i) | Republican | 402,955 (52%) | |
| Jim Pederson | Democrat | 351,190 (45%) | ||
| Richard Mack | Libertarian | 25,547 (3%) |
| Jon Kyl (i) | Republican | 359,692 (53%) | |
| Jim Pederson | Democrat | 293,783 (43%) | ||
| Richard Mack | Libertarian | 22,068 (3%) |
| Michael Steele | Republican | 348,232 (50%) | | |
| Ben Cardin | Democrat | 331,924 (48%) | |
| Kevin Zeese | Green | 11,242 (2%) |
| Yes | - | 94,643 (55%) | | |
| No | - | 77,961 (45%) |
| No | - | 29,543 (55%) | ||
| Yes | - | 24,657 (45%) |
| Michael Steele | Republican | 28,880 (53%) | ||
| Ben Cardin | Democrat | 24,240 (45%) | |
| Kevin Zeese | Green | 944 (2%) | ||
| Click Here for Race Analysis and Latest Polls | ||||
| Olympia Snowe (i) | Republican | 17,041 (59%) | |
| Jean Hay Bright | Democrat | 8,904 (31%) | ||
| William Slavick | Unenrolled | 2,874 (10%) | ||
| Click Here for Race Analysis and Latest Polls | ||||
| Bob Casey | Democrat | 311,819 (63%) | |
| Rick Santorum (i) | Republican | 184,660 (37%) | ||
| Click Here for Race Analysis and Latest Polls | ||||
| Bob Corker | Republican | 478,888 (51%) | | |
| Harold Ford | Democrat | 448,219 (48%) |
| George Allen (i) | Republican | 938,633 (50%) | | |
| Jim Webb | Democrat | 908,054 (49%) | ||
| Glenda Parker | Independent Grassroots | 20,580 (1%) | ||
| Click Here for Race Analysis and Latest Polls | ||||
| No | - | 545 (57%) | ||
| Yes | - | 410 (43%) |
| George Allen (i) | Republican | 717,626 (50%) | ||
| Jim Webb | Democrat | 703,570 (49%) | ||
| Glenda Parker | Independent Grassroots | 15,925 (1%) |
| Bob Corker | Republican | 133,878 (56%) | ||
| Harold Ford | Democrat | 103,035 (43%) |
| Bob Casey | Democrat | 7,009 (61%) | |
| Rick Santorum (i) | Republican | 4,413 (39%) |
Pray for America!
It is evident that God DOES hear our prayers. He also says “You have not because you ask not”. Prayer is our best weapon, so why don't we pray for America and the up coming elections? Mr. Steven Givler had a great idea about prayer and fasting for the elections on his blog. I'm planning on setting aside Monday as well. Even if the results aren't as we hoped, God does have a plan. He even tells us He will heal our land! However, we can't just say “Okay Lord, heal America”, we have to do as 2 Chronicles 7:14 says “If my people will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land”.
I think it's time we put America back in God's hands!
Prayer Works
Lessons Learned On The Trail
From the aspect of a Teenage campaigner
Part II
Ronald Reagan once said “If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, we will be one nation gone under”. That doesn't only apply to the Nation as a whole, it applies to all Americans and in this case, even campaigns.
Affecting our every day life.
For a Christian, prayer is probably one of the most important things in our walk with God. It is also our most powerful weapon. There are many times when people have been directly affected by prayer.
Last year, a friend of mine had a brain hemorrhage, the word traveled throughout the blogsphere and emails were passed along to pray for him. He had an entire nation, and possibly people all over the world constantly praying for his health and safety. Our prayers were answered and he was healed and able to continue leading Operation Completion.
There was also a time when a missionary was about to be robbed. He had spent a night alone, out in the open after doing some work in a nearby village. The next morning, the people intending to rob him came up and told him their intent, and that the only reason they didn't follow through was because he had 26 guards surrounding him that night. When the missionary came back to the states he found out that at the time he was going to be robbed, 26 men in the church came together and prayed for him.
On The Trail
Prayer is important in every situation. Sometimes people don't think to pray for campaigns, candidates, volunteers, or leaders. These people need a lot of prayers, especially while they're on the campaign trail. The most valuable thing in a campaign, is knowing people are praying for you. Without prayers, it is very hard to keep pressing on.
Candidates need prayers for wisdom and energy. Campaigning is exhausting and there are so many ways to make mistakes. If you ask a (republican) candidate what you can do for them, most should say you can do three things: pray, donate, and volunteer. It is vital in the middle of a race to be praying for the candidates, and their team.
Every good candidate has a dedicated team and volunteers behind him. Often times, the people behind the candidate get neglected prayer-wise as well. As a volunteer on many campaigns this year, I can honestly say the only thing that has gotten me through has been prayer. The candidate has a crazy schedule and is out most of the time, while his team and volunteers are working constantly. The work never stops on a trail and the closer to election day, the longer the hours are. It is very easy to get burned out during this time, and there is no worse time to burn out than right before elections.
In Florida during a campaign for a state representative's race, I was suffering from a head cold the whole time. Working 16 hour days in the Florida heat and having a head-cold don't mix well. I sent out an email to my parents and a few friends of mine asking for prayer for energy and my health. The rest of the week was a complete “God thing”. He granted me, and the rest of the staff the energy to make it through each day.
Prayers do matter!
We learned the hard way this year, to be careful what you pray for. You might just get it.
Throughout this year, we've been praying for God's will to be done. When we pray for that, we can't be too upset when we don't get the results we hoped for. If there is one thing that can be learned about prayer it is that God hears it, but doesn't necessarily answer the way we hoped. We are still praying for God's will to be done, I believe it is, even if we don't like the results.
The campaign trail isn't the safest place to be, but God is sovereign. On the way back up from Florida, we had a lot of people praying for safety. That sounds typical, however, on the way off of an exit one of our vehicles was sideswiped by a semi. The people in the car came out without a scratch, when they should have been injured. The prayers that we prayed and that many others prayed without our knowing it were answered and we all made it back safely.
Pray for America!
It is evident that God DOES hear our prayers. He also says “You have not because you ask not”. Prayer is our best weapon, so why don't we pray for America and the up coming elections? Mr. Steven Givler had a great idea about prayer and fasting for the elections on his blog. I'm planning on setting aside Monday as well. Even if the results aren't as we hoped, God does have a plan. He even tells us He will heal our land! However, we can't just say “Okay Lord, heal America”, we have to do as 2 Chronicles 7:14 says “If my people will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land”.
I think it's time we put America back in God's hands!
Update: Thanks to everyone for the great response! The deadline for those who haven’t applied yet is 12:00pm EST, on October 27th. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!
for those of you who keep tabs on ROC and would like to help out, you have a chance :)
Regenerate Our Culture is looking for young adults (teens) who have a passion for the written word, desire to help change the culture, and can commit time to proofreading a few articles each issue. You’ll get to read articles ahead of everyone else, gain experience in editing, and be part of the magazine team! If your interested, just email applications@regenerateourculture.com, tell us a little about yourself, and mention the errors you found in this post.
The spots tend to fill up quickly, so be sure to get your application in soon!
