As a young Christian business professional I know that sometimes it can be hard to connect with others who share your faith and desire to grow closer to God. That's why I'm especially inviting you to attend the CBMC Atlanta Marketplace Ambassador Gathering on Monday, April 18th from 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM. The MARKETPLACE AMBASSADOR INITIATIVE is a movement to …
You are significant to God's plan to transform the world through the marketplace. It's time to step up and take you place.
You can go farther in your career than you have ever imagined if you allow God to direct your paths and order your steps and use your profession as a pulpit.
“To live outside of God’s will puts us in danger; to live in His will makes us dangerous.” ~ Erwin McManus from An Unstoppable Force Typically when someone is considered dangerous, it means they are likely to cause damage or danger to someone or something. In essence they are a threat to safety, order, and peace. As I think about it, I want to be an intentional threat, but not to safety, order, and peace. I want to be a threat to things that injure, defeat, oppress, and negatively impact lives, especially young people.
The world is full of people who play it safe. I don’t want to be one of them. I want to live my life on the edge. However, I’m not necessarily talking about “death-defying” activities, such as bungee jumping, skydiving, or wrestling wild animals (that’s for a different post). I’m talking about maximizing my full potential by utilizing my God-given abilities, talents, gifts, and resources to be a catalyst for life transformation. I have learned over time that being a life transformation catalyst means that I must be willing to smash the status quo, i.e. standards that people and society have accepted that shouldn’t be. I can’t strive for a life of ease and comfort. I have to take risks, stretch my faith, strategically apply my giftedness, and reach out to people that others have rejected. By living dangerously, I want to smash the status quo for youth and young adults in the areas of:
Why We Must Inspire Youth to Dream Again What if while you were growing up no one ever encouraged you to be someone great? What if you didn't have anyone close to you say that you could do something special? What if there was never anyone around to say that you could accomplish your dreams? If that were your experience it would probably be a pretty safe bet that you wouldn't expect much for yourself or your future. In fact, you might not even think that you have a future at all. Unfortunately, many youth feel like their lives are a lost cause and not even worth living or planning for. Why? One major reason is their hope has been lost. Hope is a very powerful concept. With a lot of it, we feel like we can conquer the world. Without it, we feel like that world has conquered us. That's why Solomon writes in Proverbs 13:12, "HOPE deferred makes the heart sick, but a DREAM fulfilled is a tree of life." Having hope is a really big deal. It's not just a good feeling. It's an essential element connected to the dreams God places in the hearts of every human being in our childhood. But if those dreams are not recognized or nurtured, people end up living out what Solomon expressed in Proverbs 29:18, "Where there is no prophetic VISION the people cast off restraint…" Much of what I see from our young people today is connected to the fact that they are hopeless, which causes them to reject and disregard moral boundaries. Many of them have experienced so much in such a short time of life, including violence, poverty, sexual abuse, bullying, exploitation, and so on. Without divine intervention their lives will either be cut short through self-destructive activities, or they will live long lives of repeated regrets, failures, and ultimately unfulfilled potential. A Powerful Alternative to Hopelessness That's why we're so excited about launching Club D.A.R.E., which stands for “Dreams Are Realized Everyday.” This is a youth development movement on a mission to inspire 1 million teens to “dream B.I.G. dreams and do B.I.G. things.” We expect these B.I.G. dreams to impact their families, friends, communities, and potentially the world. To make this happen, a core part of our strategy includes the development of:
As great as this sounds, we can't do it alone. We need your help to turn the dreams of 1 million teens into reality. You can give your tax-deductible donation at this link, which will help to fund these resources that will be launched very soon. We are in real danger of having a lost generation of young people who have given up on life. We can't let that happen. OUR future depends on their dreams.
Please partner with us today to impact our youth. To learn more about Club D.A.R.E. go to www.clubdare.org. I dare you. I double dare you. I triple dog dare you!
I dare you to look beyond your problems to see your potential. I dare you to look beyond your obstacles to see your opportunities. I dare you to look beyond your frustrations to see your future. I dare you to look beyond your drama to see your dreams. I dare you to look beyond your guilt to see your giftedness. I dare you to look beyond your bruises to see your blessings. I dare you to look beyond your burdens to see your brilliance. I dare you to look beyond your losses to see His love. I dare you to go where no one has gone before! I dare you to grow when others are groaning! I dare you to conquer when others are cowering! I dare you to comfort when others are complicit! I dare you to be positive when others are pessimistic! I dare you to be fearless when others are failing! I dare you to be faithful when others are fading! I dare you to love the unlovely! I DARE YOU to DREAM BIG!
The 4th of July is a time when Americans celebrate our independence from an oppressive government more than 200 years ago. What's really interesting about the time we live in now is that millions of Americans are still fighting for their independence. However, in this case it's not from an oppressive government. They are actually fighting for their independence from the loving God. Watch the video to learn more…
What are your thoughts?
This article is from a guest blog post I wrote for Gospel Today Magazine... We all have dreams. I’m not talking about the dreams that you have at night. I’m talking about the thoughts and desires that are so much a part of you, you seemingly can’t get away from them. It’s that hunger and drive inside of you to be something more than what you are right now; to do something far beyond what you have accomplished at this point in your life. It’s the thing that you love to talk about more than anything else. Even if you don’t talk about it much, it’s still got a hold of you more than you have a hold of it. While our life’s dreams should inspire us to be and do more, they often lead to frustration when we don’t know how to transform them into reality. One of the key reasons is that God is often left out of that process. We hear people tell us to “dream big,” but if your big dream is not connected to God plans for your life, your efforts will be futile. Finish reading this article at: http://www.gospeltoday.com/blog/2015/02/15/b-i-g-dreams-require-b-i-g-prayers/#sthash.aJpZlxD3.dpuf It's amazing how many Christian entrepreneurs glory in their grind more than relying upon the grace of God. On this week's prayer call the focus was on the choices that we make to either work based on our own strength or work resting in the strength of God. And according to Mark 4:1-20, our choice and the corresponding harvest (or lack thereof) is based on the condition of our hearts. You will definitely be blessed and challenged by this call (I know because I was challenged as I was in teaching it). Click below to listen to the call and download the teaching notes. You can also access the previous call and notes if you haven't done so already. Also, don't forget to mark your calendar for the continuation of this series, #YourDreamMatters: From Dreaming to Thriving, this Sunday at 8:30 PM This past Sunday on the Dream Catalyst Prayer was the first in the six-week teaching series #YourDreamMatters: From Dreaming to Thriving. Each week will have a different theme and the one for this week was The Dream Giver, which of course is God. You can listen to the playback of the call as well as download the teaching notes to help you in your personal study. I am committed to helping you connect the dots and close the gaps between what you see in your mind and what is produced in your life as it relates to your dream. These resources will be a great benefit to you. Excellent Resources to Help You Fulfill Your Dreams...During this week's prayer call devotional I shared how God, like he did with Joseph, will take you through a process of maturation where you go from dreaming to interpreting dreams to managing dreams. The place where God has called you to manage dreams - industry, region, community, etc. - is the place of your designated dominion. This means your God-driven dream is the platform for your influence and authority in the earth. Enjoy the audio recording below and I look forward to you being on the Dream Catalyst Prayer Call call this Sunday! Please leave your comments below... |
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