“Beyond The Revolution”
By Dwayne Foster
My church is having a regional Youth Rally March 26th. We are calling it Beyond the Revolution. Revolution is about change, motion, the change that is constant in our lives. We want to change for the good and help make more people aware of God and how we can communicate God to even more people.
The movie that was released this past winter called “To Save a Life” is now one of my top ten favorite movies. It was true to life and inspiring, very inspiring. It helped me to look out for those who are neglected and hurting even more, and those who are simply lost in the maze of life.
God can take any person in any condition and make a new person out of them, or a better person. God is not limited! We often limit ourselves or others. Maybe we allow others to limit us. Sadly we often limit God!
As Christians we should look for the supernatural work of God to change a person from being oppressed to being a great beacon for Christ. It hurts me badly when we Christians will label someone as broken and not able to be used because they do not fit the stereotype or prejudged notions that we may have. I think that we are the messengers, He (God) is the message and he can use who he wants if we like it, or even if we don’t like it.
As the Associate Pastor over youth I get the opportunity to talk with my youth, their friends, and kids from various walks. I hear the stories of anger, abuse, neglect, pregnancy, love, and so on. I see the kids that are mentally challenged, physically challenged, those who have more and those who have less, and yes even those who are in harm’s way.
I see kids who are running from God and who seek to be loaners. Blaming people for their lives and the mess they are in. They often see themselves as trapped in a big dark hole with no way out. Sometimes for them it seems to be true and often we the church offer little help for them to escape.
I find it hard to reach the lost if I stay in my protected circle. I have to (go out); I have to (reach out). Please join me in praying for our teens this month and beyond. We have so many kids in homes that are damaging them, they are afraid to tell anyone what their lives are like, in fear it may get worse. We must be the light!
The number one thing that we have been called to do is to spread the word of God, tell others about Jesus. Most of our churches spend more on toilet paper a year than they do on (true) local community outreach/evangelism and then we wonder why we are not reaching people. Why are they not coming to (our) church? Why do we have so many empty seats?
Lastly, the un-churched kids and adults see us (the church) as foreign. What do I mean? We are not like anything else they have ever seen. We sing songs and use music that the un-churched generation is not familiar with, like our favorite hymns from the 1940’s.
We expect them to be excited about who God is when often we ourselves are not passionate about our God. We use terminology that is very confusing and foreign to them, and then offer little breakdown or explanation of words we use, words that we take for granted. We want them to adjust to us, not us to them. Who is trying to reach who?
Then we seldom make it easy for the visitor in seating. We sit in the back and make the guest have to set up front or in the middle, thus almost assuring that many will never return more than a couple of times. We make it uncomfortable for them. Are we telling them our comfort is more important than their salvation?
Take a look at the churches that are reaching the lost and look at the ones that are not. I am talking about true conversions, not just saying the words and going through the motions.
We should all look at our own lives, our own church body and see if we are doing our will, or God’s will. And is His will ours? Go Beyond the Revolution! Make a Difference!
Dwayne Foster is the Marketing Director for Stinson Press, Inc. in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. He has been with the company since 2004. He is also the (Associate Pastor – Youth) at South Poplar Bluff General Baptist Church. He is married to Belinda (Wheeler) Foster. Dwayne has a 19 year old daughter attending college in Arkansas. Dwayne & Belinda both grew up in Northeast Arkansas. Foster is a former pro-wrestler and currently sits on several advisory boards across the U.S.
