“I have good news and bad news. The bad news is we are lost; the good news is we’re making great time.” (The Circle Maker page 29). Is not much of life this way? We go-go-go through a moment, day, week and month. We feel like we make great time and accomplish a lot. Soon, it is almost Christmas! It is less than 50 days until Christmas by the way. When we get to the end of the year, or even to the end of our life, we aren’t always confident that what we have accomplished actually got us to where we wanted to go. Mostly because we didn’t know where we wanted to go in the first place.

Mark Batterson calls us to draw specific circles and sit. “God does not answer vague prayers.” (page 27). I think of the material possessions that fill my kid’s rooms. The girls have dolls and horses and barbies and legos and art supplies and dress up clothes and McDonald’s toys and books and… What does their stuff have to do with drawing spiritual circles? Some of what my girls have wanted for Christmas through the years was a whim. My Pretty Pony was a one hit wonder. They thought they wanted it but have never played with them. The art supplies are the same way. The legos, on the other hand, have been and always will be played with. The books are also always read. They have circles around those two areas of life. We as parents have come to know that if the girls ask for legos or books for a present that we can confidently get them more because it will be used over and over again. When a new item comes along, Erika and I have to ask questions. “Is this a fad?” “Is this a new stage in becoming a teenager?” “Will they even want this come 50 days from now at Christmas?” I think God is the same way with our prayers. He sees some of them as vague prayers that are impulsive and not thought through. Other prayers He knows we are passionate about and glad to quickly say ‘yes’ to because He has seen us use his previous answer all the time.
All of the gift ideas my girls have put on their list are circled. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t have made the list. Only a few of those items have they sat on though. What prayers are you sending to God? Are you sitting in them long term or are you sending them on a whim?
“Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.” Habakkuk 3:2. We as a family are entering a new season of life. This is a verse that God gave to me about 6 months ago. 6 weeks ago our church started to use it as well. I think this verse will last, so I am circling it in the context of reaching students in their school.

Peace,
Brad

You have heard the whisper: draw a circle around the school down the street and pray. I understand your first question, “What if nothing happens? And I do not hear anything? And I find no direction?” There is a lot of ‘logic’ that goes into the first moments of circle making prayer. That is why it is important to jump in with both feet. Be confident that God is behind the whisper you’ve heard.
Mark Batterson lists out five areas that he worked through in drawing his first circle.

1. promises in Scripture
2. impossible situations
3. impossible people
4. life goals
5. pieces of property

With First Priority, it is obvious that we circle property, not to own it, but for the sake of reaching the people who walk inside that circle everyday. The top four of Mark’s list can help direct your prayers for that circle. Maybe the principal has been stiff arming the church (historically) and will not willingly let you in the building. Maybe there has been a string of suicides by students in that school and you need to pray scripture over them. You know your area, the people who lead in the school system, and the whisper you heard when God told you to reach out to the school. It is now time to draw your circle around the school. Pray. Do not move. Listen. I feel the same way you do about this. Mark Batterson himself states it well, “Under-qualified and overwhelmed,” with the opportunity.

A few weeks ago First Priority held its National Fall Conference. Amber Johansen, Executive Director of First Priority Tampa Bay, made a statement in her talk. She said “Broken students don’t wake up and try to destroy our culture, they are just acting out what is inside.” Well said. I believe we have a whole generation of students that are hurting and hopeless. Some are angry, some are confused, some are just trying to fit in or be accepted by a certain group. We are all like the old song the Rolling Stones song that says we are “looking for satisfaction.” The very first commandment of the 10 given to Moses said, “Have no other gods before me”. The reason for this is because if anything could satisfy your desires more than God, we would have no need for God. He created us all to know Him. We all need Him, including those “damaged” kids that are acting out in anger, confusion and hurt.

2 Peter 3:9Common English Bible (CEB) 9 The Lord isn’t slow to keep his promise, as some think of slowness, but he is patient toward you, not wanting anyone to perish but all to change their hearts and lives.

God’s desire is for all to know Him, that means the most messed up, broken person you know God loves and wants to give them real life. There is HOPE. Christian students walk the halls of their schools with hundreds of these hurting and broken people. These hurting and broken people are looking for hope and peace. We have the answer and it has been working for thousands of years. We must reach them with this message of HOPE. Today it might not be a politicly correct answer, but the HOPE and change that needs to happen is found ONLY in Jesus!
Lets be politicly incorrect and proclaim the name of Jesus to the broken and the hurting. When we do, God WILL change the culture one damaged kid at a time. Will you reach outside of your comfortable, politically correct bubble and touch one of these kids. First Priority makes it possible!

Colossians 3 :12 “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness and long-suffering.”

It is interesting to note in our society the approval of the word “arrogant”. What once was a negative conetation is now considered the landmark of a strong leader. This is one more example of how Satan has so easily twisted the minds of our society. His goal is always to distort the truth. Arrogance and leadership being synonymous with one another is certainly a crude twisting of truth.

One of the greatest examples of leadership in the Bible is Moses. However, Numbers 12:3 states “he was meek”. In fact, so much so, that the Bible says he was the meekest person in all the world at the time. Take a quick assessment of your ministry right now, and compare it to the ministry of Moses. Do you really have any reason to be arrogant? Me neither.

So, how do we keep ourselves humble, but confident? Here are three simple assessments you can do daily to ensure your ministry is wrapped in meekness.

1. Don’t Forget
Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God;”. How easily we redeemed souls forget just where God brought us from, saved us from , and has protected us from. We walk in such mercy and grace daily, it is easy to forget the beautiful lives we are living and the great ministry we are blessed with is ONLY because HE saved us. Your life and my life would be in shambles RIGHT NOW if it weren’t for salvation and divine providence.

2. You’re Not In Ministry Alone
1 Corinthians 12:12, “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.” Achievements in ministry can make one believe the lie that somehow they were responsible for the victory. Satan is a liar. Achievements in ministry are as the result of many believers working together. You may not even realize someone is praying for your success. Your success is tied to their prayers. You may not realize someone has been tilling the hard ground for years that you come along and reap a harvest from. Your success is tied to their years of tilling. An arrogant body part believes they are the most important, necessary part of the body. However, the truth is, every part of the body is VITAL. We need each other. There is no place for arrogance in the body of Christ.

3. You Need a Savior
Isaiah 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The truth is, you may be walking in victory in today. But tomorrow, there is a chance you will fall. No one is immune from the sinful nature that permeates from within each of us. No one is immune from the attacks of the evil one. No one is immune from the hurts of being in the “Christian World”. Let the words you say today, be a soft landing spot for tomorrow should you fall.

Look at the words in the first scripture again…“Put on therefore, as the elect of God (God has CALLED you, He ELECTED YOU to hold the position in ministry you hold right now!) holy (means “different”, are you “different” from this world?) and beloved (when others speak of you, is it with affection?), bowels of mercies (this means you literally ache in your belly to give mercy to others), kindness, (do people say you are kind? Always?) humbleness of mind, (this means understanding the above mentioned three points) meekness (to be like Moses, a GREAT leader, yet understanding all accolades go the Father of Light) and long-suffering. (Are you willing to hang in there with others and grant them grace in their learning curve of life?)”

So…why don’t you make Satan angry today and become the meek leader has called you to be? Don’t allow arrogance in your ministry. Not even for one day.

Blessings to you!
Amy Hall

I will start off by saying that I own multiple guns, I don’t disagree with the direction of gun control conversations, but believe that any requirement imposed on guns owners will not be easy to come up with nor solve this problem. A law cannot take hatred out of a human heart. A law is not going to eliminate death at the end of a gun, violent acts involving guns, or from people getting up in arms (no pun intended) about the violent act of a person who used a gun after the new law is passed. It is not a peson’s competency with a gun that makes him/her the right person to have one, but the condition of their life and mentality about said life.

In the case of the Harrisburg High school shooting this week, 3 things. First, they don’t know where he got the gun. He and the family didn’t own one. No law, class or test would have stopped this. To use an example, It was like someone who wanted to drive a car at 70mph going out and stealing one without a license and hitting an innocent pedestrian. More car laws would not have stopped that either. Second, if he was more competent with the gun, the principal may have been dead rather than shot in the arm and the vice-principal probably wouldn’t have been able to tackle him so easily. Third, I am following the story because I spent ten years there and my son would have been in that school that day if we hadn’t moved. In all that I am reading about the story, it is over and over again stated that ‘the dad hadn’t seen him in months because he was living with mom’. Today I read that the family didn’t even show up to his first court appearance! I think we are to the root of the Harrisburg shooting. We have a rogue 16 year old kid with no guidance in life who just crossed an unacceptable line in our society. Maybe in a way he was trying to get someone to give him guidance, but didn’t know how to ask. Anybody thought of that? Anybody see someone ask that question on social media? Anyone concerned for these 2 young men?

Our system is now going to (probably) throw a 16 year old kid into prison for 50 years (mandated for his charges). I don’t think that is right either. It is safe and America likes feeling safe. Get the gun handler off the street. I think not! How about we engage this kid with adults with solid heads on their shoulders and teach him how to be a man? To life with character and integrity? To win over the heart of a woman? To enjoy work and recreation? Let’s spend our time helping young people whether 16 (in S.D.) or 20 (in Oregon) develop a fulfilling and happy life they were created for rather than spending our time debating more laws so the next abandoned 16 year old who reaches out for attention in the wrong way goes to jail for longer.

Most you know my heart and that this is what I’ve given my life to. My challenge to you is to head down to the closest public school to where you are and see how you can help influence a student in the right direction in life. I did say that last sentence singular student and not students. Everyone wants to do something big. But if every single student in the U.S. would have a single caring adult come alongside them outside of family, I believe school shootings would stop today. Want to create a law? How about getting a tax break for those involved in any way, shape, or form in the life of a teenager? Soccer coach. Big Brother/Big Sister. Church youth group volunteer. Class assistant at the high school. Mentor at Juvie. Get involved, get a tax break, and simultaneiously end gun violence at the heart rather than the court.

First Priority of America is a nationwide organization that establishes student led Christian outreach clubs in schools. This organization has given me a way to make an impact in my high school. Some would call my connection with First Priority a coincidence; in hindsight, I call it a God thing.

Throughout my progression in my faith, people have warned me not to ask God to use me, saying, “He might actually do it”. This is one of those sayings I always classified as a Christian cliché and wrote off. However, in the middle of my junior year, it became a reality. I had been praying consistently for God to use me, asking to be his vessel in the sea of the world. He did just that. A friend of mine asked me to tag along to a launch meeting for a new club at Ravenwood called First Priority.
Henry Blackaby, the author of “Experiencing God”, advises his readers to find God where He is already at work. In this meeting, I saw God starting something and I knew this was where God needed me to be. From that moment on, I poured everything I had into this club. At first, the original leaders were doing well, but they soon lost steam, especially as graduation neared. I, in turn, took up the slack and devoted my passion to spreading the hope of Christ to my school. For example, I planned events, scheduled speakers, and advertised the club to the student body. This responsibility taught me how to deal with other people depending on me, always expecting me to have answers and a plan. I did my best to keep the club running, always praying and working for its growth.
My devotion did not go unnoticed. As the school year came to a close, a leader in the First Priority organization approached me and invited me to look into a program called Student Leadership University. After I expressed interest, he informed me that the organization wanted to give me a full grant to represent First Priority at the conference. That experience is a whole other essay in itself.
In the end, as senior year began, I reignited First Priority with a vision to start a revival for Christ in my school. I am now the president of First Priority, still consistently praying and working toward my vision. It is not easy, but I know that my purpose is the Lord’s and everything is in His hands. He gives me opportunities like these to grow, and grow I have as I learn to delegate and trust others, but also to monitor quality and completion. I am figuring out how to use the obvious to accomplish the complicated. Most importantly, through First Priority, I have learned that I am never alone in my responsibility; a helping hand is always waiting. It all depends on me to have the humility to take it. Through this experience, I have kindled a fire in myself to be that helping hand for others in need and point the way to the ultimate helping hand.

I have been reading a book by Tom Doyle called “Killing Christians”. The only word that comes to mind is “WOW”. As I have been reading the stories of people coming to Christ and thereby threatened of physical death, it has made me really look at my relationship with Jesus. The stories of the people in the book, I realize, are experiencing a relationship with Jesus that is so much more real than mine. I know Jesus lives in me and I know that if I were to die I would be with Him, I just don’t depend on Him for everything. I live in a bubble, I really don’t need to rely on Jesus to meet my needs, I live in America. Our poor are not poor compared to the world, we all are rich.

Jesus said in, Matthew19:24 “I’ll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”  The eye of the needle was a gate entering into the city. It was a people gate and not that big. A camel could go through, but it would have to get on its knees and then crawl through. Rich people CAN buy their way out of discomfort. We CAN make our lives comfortable and miss depending on God. I mean most of us as Americans still think our food comes from groceries stores. We are blessed beyond measure and I sometimes think the blessings of God have become our biggest curse. We rob ourselves of intimacy with God because of His blessings on our country. I want to be dependent, I want to have no fear, I want to experience what so many people around the world are experiencing with Jesus. Would I die for Jesus? I hope I would, I hope it does not come down to that in America. I would love to see an awakening happen in our country and for us to be a shinning city on a hill. I hope I don’t have to die for Jesus anytime soon, but I do want to live for Him now!

I want to encourage you.

Mark Roberts

“Let’s go across to the outpost of those pagans,” Jonathan said to his armor bearer. “Perhaps the Lord will help us, for nothing can hinder the Lord. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!” 1 Samuel 14:6 (NLV)

This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. I encourage you to go read the whole story for yourself. To give you a little back ground; Jonathan is with his dad Saul, the first King of Israel and 600 hundred solders. Saul is sitting under the shade of a tree and Jonathan is ready to go pick a fight. The word Jonathan used here is very important. “Perhaps the Lord will help us” which could be saying, maybe…..it might be…I hope so…Ok, you get the picture. Jonathan knew the Lord could do anything He wants. He could most certainly win a battle for them. What is awesome is that Jonathan was willing to charge up the hill and give it a shot. Why are most American Christians are bored? It is because we are comfortable sitting under the shade of a tree, listening to our Christian music, going on our Christian cruises, and trying to find a date on “Christian Mingle”! I am preaching to myself as well, so don’t be too offended. I DO want to be like Jonathan. I want to live in that place that I am nervous, but perhaps God will work through me. Wouldn’t you rather try to influence the school? Wouldn’t it be better to influence your friends with the gospel than just live your life under the shade of a tree? I hear adults talk about their regrets of not taking a stand for their faith. I hear things like “I wish I would have done more for the Lord, or witness to my friend.” I met a leader of First Priority name Victoria that prayed for God to use her to leave a legacy at her high school. He did. She was given the opportunity to stand in front of over 100 of her peers and tell her God story. Victoria was used by God, because she charged up the hill.

As we see in the end of Nehemiah, there is a time of celebration (see Nehemiah 12). It was such a great time of celebration. In the midst of that, Nehemiah remembered something critical: he remembered who got him started in the first place and went back to visit. He went back to Artaxerxes, King of Babylon. Scripture does not share the details, so we can only assume that he went back to say, ‘Thank you” and to share stories of success, God’s provision and protection, and the unity that was happening in Jerusalem. As we often say in Nashville, “Remember the little people.” Okay, maybe only I say that to people who are getting good at playing the guitar. Nehemiah remembered where he came from and was thankful.
We all start small. We all start with convincing one person that our idea is worth putting effort into. When we see victory, we can go back and share the stories of success with those that helped us get there.
Note that I said ‘when we see victory’ rather than ‘when all the difficulties were over’. I say that because while the celebration in chapter 12 already happened and Nehemiah was visiting the little people, he still dealt with conflict until the end. Three times while visiting the king, Nehemiah used the words, “Remember me for this, O my God” in reference for the integrity he kept in dealing with conflict and problems.
Leadership will never be over. We will have seasons of celebration. We will always be dealing with conflict, even in the midst of celebrating. It is worth it. It is worth the time, stress, and endurance that it takes to see the hope of Christ in every student by uniting the local body of Christ with a plan of action to influence the schools with the gospel.

Peace,
Brad