Calling a Generation in the Right Direction

These days everyone is calling this generation to something, both inside the church and outside the church. Whether it is a style, brand, environmental or compassion initiative, music, or church program, this generation is pulled at all sides. Has it ever been easier for a teenager to find a 'bigger picture' to commit themselves to? In such a fast paced technological revolution, how do we navigate the many voices calling to our teenagers?

It is very easy in all of these things to forget what matters most, and this is a mark that our youth are missing. Amidst countless compassion initiatives around the world, secular motivators are seeking to define "justice" around humanistic unity. We often forget that true justice is oriented by the truth of scripture, and where there is no truth of scripture, there is no justice.

In Matthew 22, Jesus sets the record straight about what each generation is called to give themselves to:

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

These two commandments are so easily mixed up that it happens all the time, but the effects of missing this order are detrimental to a generation. If you fulfill the second commandment without the first commandment, you will only love someone to hell. There is no salvation apart from intimacy with Jesus. Jesus is God. Jesus defines truth, justice and righteousness, and apart from Him we will be destroyed.

Every call to this generation is for nothing unless we get this right. Every intent of our heart is wicked apart from Jesus. So my plea is that we call a generation into what really brings everlasting life. No amount of helping the poor will pay for your sins. Each time we focus on the second commandment without the first, we are preparing to receive the Antichrist, because this will be the movement on which he will capitalizes. There is no good apart from Jesus (Psalm 16:2).

We must be a generation that pursues the first commandment, that we would love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind! Imagine how that would effect our lives, our music, our ministries. Even in the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10), Martha is working to serve, and yet Jesus says that Mary chose the 'one thing that is needed,' to sit at his feet. She chose intimacy over service. We must have intimacy with Jesus, especially for the days ahead.

One of my favorite teachers on the earth said, "If you don't enjoy Jesus, what makes you think you'll enjoy heaven?" We've got to call our generation to the first commandment, and the second commandment will come naturally. Get intimacy with Jesus, like oil in your lamp.

Samuel's First Week

Well, Samuel is now 1 week old!!! He is asleep next to me after a feeding (yes, at 2:30 AM), and I thought I'd share some thoughts! So far, Samuel has been such an amazing baby, and Molly has been such an amazing mother!

Both Molly and I are realizing more and more that Samuel really is an amazing child. We've prayed for him throughout the entire pregnancy, and now that he is here it is cool to see some of the answers to our prayers. Samuel is perfectly healthy, but more than that he is pure, innocent, and very well tempered. Samuel carries no curse from his parents. The greatest interactions of his life have been between him and his Creator.

As we look back on the pregnancy, particularly Molly's 3 hospital visits, culminating in the 4 night stay for salmonella poisoning, we're reminded of a few similar stories. I've seen for many years the stories of history where Satan would rage against a generation in order to wipe out the deliverer about to be born. Moses is a prime example. Every Israelite child was being killed as 'population control,' but truly Satan knew the hour and raged against the generation to try and catch Moses, but God was faithful and rescued Moses. Jesus was another deliverer born under the rage of Satan, where an entire generation was being wiped out in an attempt by Herod to catch Jesus as a child. This generation, too, is begin born under the rage of abortion, again because Satan knows the hour and we're raising the generation that will experience the return of Jesus.

As for Samuel, Molly became deathly ill in her 39th week of pregnancy. She was ill for a full 5 days without recovery, spiking a 103 degree fever at a heart rate will into the 140's. We feared for Molly's life as her dehydration approached a fatal limit. Her entire internal system shut down where she could not eat or drink or take any medication but through an injection. Had Molly died, Samuel's life, although likely saved, would have been changed forever (not to mention mine). I remember pacing in her hospital room for hours crying out to God, "Let me have my wife!" I think I rebuked every evil spirit I had ever heard of, and probably a few I made up.

Yet, Molly lived! She is so strong! She received antibiotics once the diagnosis was made and she began to recover only 3 days from her due date! There was still a chance that Samuel could have been infected but Molly's recovery was quick and she was soon well enough to deliver by the time Samuel actually arrived.

Looking back on the story, I am reminded of this verse: "By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict" (Hebrews 11:23). Moses' parents recognized something in their child, not fully, but at least in part, and they parented according to the call of God on his life. Imagine Zachariah in Luke 1, told by an angel of his son's birth and destiny (John the Baptist), and think about how that effected his parenting. So much so that it's written in the Bible! The faith of Moses' parents actually contributed to his destiny, and gets included in the story of our 'heroes of faith' in Hebrews 11!

I want to be that kind of parent. I do not know the full purposes of God for my son, but the fact that Satan raged against his birth is evidence of the call of God over Samuel's (and Molly's) life! So here we are, one week into it. Molly is still recovering from the weakness she sustained from her illness, and from delivery, but she gets better each day. Samuel is healthy as could be, and I am ever more aware of something stirring in my spirit over his life. I pray each day for the full purposes of God to come to pass in his life, and I am ever thankful to have him and Molly in my life!

Samuel Is Here!

Our little baby Samuel was born on August 8th at 4:27 PM! 7 pounds, 5 ounces, 20.5 inches long! He is soooo wonderful! Molly is recovering well and is no longer suffering from any symptoms of her food poising (which she had at 39 weeks).

We are about to launch our new online newsletter where we will get to post videos and picture slideshows and all kinds of new interactive content! We are so excited to make this new newsletter available to anyone who is interested in keeping up with our ministry and family. You can sign up online easily to receive a link to our monthly newsletter to your email here:

Sign up for our monthly online newsletter!