The Rebellion: Introduction

This is the first post of the first series that will ever be on this blog. I am very excited to get this going, so I believe the best way to get this started is to explain what all this is actually about. So, lets get the ball rolling!
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The Rebellion was formed out of a speech that I gave at my high school graduation. I wrote the speech as a final encouragement to my senior class before we went our separate ways. I was hoping that they would take atleast something away from what I said with them to the next part of their lives. However, that didn't really happen. I was hoping that we would be different. I had this idea that my speech would make a difference and that people wouldn't go to college and get caught up in what has become "the college experience." I knew that going to college for many would mean diminishing their faith, turning to things like drugs and alcohol, and blending into the "popular crowd." That is what happened to many people, and quite honestly, it broke my heart. That is why it is time to make a change.
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Rebel is a word that comes with a lot of negetive connotations. It is commonly associated with a violent person trying to violently take over a government, it used to be someone who was different from everybody else, and it is even negatively mentioned in THE BIBLE! That's right...THE BIBLE! However, the Bible also paints a pretty vivid picture of what THIS Rebellion is all about. In Romans 12:2 it says,"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will." That is pretty much exactly what this is about! Not conforming to the typical patterns of the modern day teen. It also mentions be transformed, so that you can test and approve God's GOOD will.
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Being a rebel. What does that even mean? Well, it means losing control, breaking the rules, and living a life of excess. Sound familiar? Sounds like the opposite of what you would expect. Inorder to make a change you have to break rules? Really? The answer to that is quite simply yes. What does losing control have to do with showing others Christ? Everything! Living a life of excess can in no way be an effective way to bring others to Christ and change lives, right? Actually, it does. See, while the things I mentioned do sound eerily similar to that of somebody who has gone down the wrong path...it is, in my opinion, the best way to change your life and the life of everybody around you.
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I think I'm going to start with losing control, because that is what you have to do first inorder for the others to take place. Losing control is a pretty scary proposition. The idea of not being able to control every little bit of your life is terrifying to most people. Once you get over that hump though, it is the best thing you will ever do. The reason I say that you have to lose control is because you have to lose control of your life and give it to God. In Jeremiah 29:11 it says, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" Then it continues to Jeremiah 29:12-13 where it says, "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." God has a plan for all of us, all we have to do is give him control of our lives by calling his name and giving Him all we have.
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Now, on to breaking the rules. Sounds completly ridiculous doesn't it? What I mean is that we have to break the rules of this thing called "religion." I don't believe in religion to be quite honest, nor do I have a "religion." I have a friendship with my Savior! I have made Christ my best friend and I hope that you do too, because that is an important step to making change. The rules of "religion" have always been out there. If you pray just ENOUGH, be good ENOUGH, worship just ENOUGH, love just ENOUGH, then you are just good ENOUGH. Well, I believe that we can be better than ENOUGH! We can be so much more than that. We have to break all these rules. Erwin McManus put it best in his book The Barbarian Way when he said, “It’s hard to imagine that Jesus would endure the agony of the Cross just to keep us in line.” Think about that for just a second. Jesus died for us. HE DIED! He gave his life so that we could live forever. So, the best we can give him is just enough? No! He has never and will ever deserve "just enough."
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If you are losing control and breaking the rules, then you will already be living a life of excess. When you give everything up to Christ, break the rules and go above and beyond, then Christ's love will be in so much excess that it is overflowing from you and into the lives of other people. This is where change finally comes. You are influencing your friends, because they see that something is different about you. You are changing your community, because you are out making a difference in the lives of others, And you are making the change that is neccesary to improve the world that you live in.
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For this to take place it is going to take a lot of us. A rebellion has never taken place with just one person. It takes an entire army. In Romans 8:31 the question is asked, "If God is for us, then who can be against us?" If we band together with a common goal that is focused on our savior, then...WHO CAN STOP US? The answer is nobody. I don't know about you...but I'm feeling a revolution!
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The Barbarian Way by Erwin Raphael McManus is available at any Christian Bookstore or on Amazon! Check it out! Also, be on the lookout for more blogs this week, and I wanted to give a shoutout to the ECOG youth! Thanks for having me, I'm excited to get the series underway!