Dusting Off The Blog

It was so nice of you to make this video and share what has been going on in your life, Brett. I spent my teen years visiting this blog and was always so encouraged by it. I also am married now- to a wonderful, Godly man- and have had to “move on” in priorities, so I can understand why the blog hasn’t been as busy (I am a blogger as well and I’ve had times where my blog has been a little neglected simply because of how my life is different than it was when I started blogging!). It is wonderful that you want to continue spreading this message and having other young people step up for this next generation of teens (a generation that includes several of my own siblings). May God continue to bless you, your family, and your ministry!

In Christ,
Rachel

I think having other people post would be great! As far as the video blog goes, I personally wouldn’t ever watch the videos, just because I often read during class when my students are working on assignments. At the same time, I love using technology…so I think it’s cool. I just don’t ever read my blog subscriptions at a time where I could have the audio to be able to hear the video.

I would be more than willing to write a guest post or two…or possibly to help screen others’ posts.

I certainly like the concept of video blogging. It could definitely be a way to bring a message in a different way – sometimes having an even greater effect than simply writing can! I really appreciate your sharing and being willing to be honest. And I totally understand the pursuit of Hard Things keeping you busy these past years.

As far as Alyssa’s idea, I think it’s great! As long as each submission was picked on a basis of Rebelutionary principles and biblical soundness, God could use the differing experiences and perceptions of others to bring the message of the Rebelution in a lot of different ways. I don’t know exactly what number of teens would be best for the aforementioned committee, but I would be more than willing to be a part of something like that! The Rebelution has been a huge blessing to me and I would love to see others come closer to Christ through it.

May Christ bless you in your pursuit of Him,

Nathan.

Eu gosto muito da ideia ! mas gostaria muito que tivesse legenda em português !

Translation: I really like the idea! But would love to have Portuguese subtitles!

Sorry – typo in my name above.

Hi Guys,
I really do like the video blogging. It is cool to hear stuff coming straight from you. Like you mentioned, I think that Alyssa’s idea of a committee and taking stuff from the blog followers is great. I would be happy to send stuff in on occasion, though I don’t come by a whole lot of that type of material. Congrats on Patrick Henry College, yes, I have heard that is a VERY academically intense school. I appreciate your practicing the message you teach, keep up the good work!

I like the idea of making videos, although I think there should be a balance between vlogging and blogging – although that’s your plan, anyway.

And like Ellen Joy said, you guys are the heart and soul of the Rebelution, so please don’t leave! I’m not a person who always likes change, but I would also hate for the Rebelution to die and there be no vibrant place for the next lot of teenagers – 13+, around my siblings’ ages – to be refreshed and inspired to do hard things. I think if you could build a community of like-hearted bloggers, godly young men and women who could continue to build the Rebelution with you two, that could work.

Thank you for explaining things for us, Brett. Everything sounds good to me. I’m excited for the changes to come.

PS: I completely understand and support you guys for living the message, too. I think that it’s great what you’ve done in the last four or so years, and it could have gone equally stale if you had stuck around talking about the same thing and not branch out into new things yourselves. After all (as someone else said the other day) the teen years are the launch pad of life – including your lives! So keep it up, and keep living the message.

I love the idea of video blogging. Like other people have said it’s nice to hear your thoughts straight from you. Sadly, most of the time I wouldn’t be able to view them. Long story short, our internet connection is horrible. The only reason I was able to view this one is because we had a burst of connection with the new month.

Anyway… I think Alyssa idea is a great way to dust off the cobwebs! I’m so excited to see the blog picking up! I would love to be involved.

Last, but certainly not least, thank you for sharing from your heart. I might have been a little more updated than others, simply because I’ve been looking into Patrick Henry College myself and seen a couple stories on both of you there. But it was still really nice to get the inbetween stories from you!

God Bless You!

Yay! I hope you can fix the DVD Conference page soon– We want to do that at my church but the link is broken! Hooray for dusters! Also, I think that text blogging is nicer than vlogging…I love reading….

First off, this is my first comment on the blog in a couple of years… it’s strange to be back. I’m older, hopefully wiser, and still bursting with passion to continue to Do Hard Things for Christ throughout my life, even though I’m not a teen anymore.

Secondly, I love the idea of video blogging. I believe that it one step in the direction of “de-cobwebbing” the blog. (It certainly got my attention when I saw the email that said you were trying a video post!) Video blogging can reach a much wider audience than just text on a page, as long as the video doesn’t descend into pointless, unorganized rambling. Not that I’m afraid that will happen!

Third, Alyssa has a fantastic idea, and I’d love to see it carried out. Giving young bloggers a chance to share their perspectives on the Rebelution movement would almost certainly provide a renewed energy around here. And it would also give more teens an opportunity to do their own hard things by writing and submitting articles (or reviewing them as a part of a selection team).

Finally, I want to second what Ellen Joy said. I think you guys both have a lot left to say, and I don’t think you should stop blogging just because you’re “older” than the original audience. I think you still have a lot of valuable insight about the younger generations and the culture as a whole. Besides, a lot of us “older” Rebelutionaries still want to keep on living and doing hard things, and we’d love to hear your perspectives on rebelling against low expectations in college and beyond.

No matter what happens with the blog, I’m certain that there are others around the world who are just as eager as I am to see what God will do through the movement that began here.

God bless!

After study just a few of the blog posts on your web site now, and I really like your method of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website listing and will probably be checking again soon. Pls try my web site as nicely and let me know what you think.

First of all Brett, I want to thank you for your humility in all of this. I think the idea of getting other bloggers on is excellent. It would be awesome to get more effective voices onto one site. I’m no longer a teen myself, and although I heard the Rebelution message at 16, I think I only started putting it into practice when I was 20. I wrote about this journey on my blog in September. I have added the link in hopes that it may be an encouragement to someone who feels the same way I did. http://histhrone.blogspot.ca/2012/09/over-aged-rebelutionary.html

Katherine, I was able to watch on Firefox, are you running the most current version? I sometimes can’t watch things if I let Firefox get out of date. Or maybe it’s because my computer already has Adobe Flash Player. But I haven’t updated that in a while…

I heartily agree with all who have said you guys are the heart and soul of the Rebelution. They’re right! God planted the vision and the revival in your hearts. I hope you guys will always be involved and leading us.

I’m listening!

so when i heard that you guys were restarting, i was pretty stoked! i’m a 17 yr oldfreshman in college now, but i was very much inspired, and helped by reading and following you all in highschool. i may not have understood before that you had obligations that you needed to fufill, but i deff do now!i can relate to the busy college student, and i don’t think any of us would pass judgement. just excited to see u back!!!!!

Hey Brett,

Thanks for taking the time to make the video. I am so happy to hear about what God is doing in your life. As a blogger I understand how blogging tends to take a backseat when you get busy actually living.

You guys have really inspired and encouraged me in the last few years. At a time in my life when I did not have, but one or two likeminded friends you guys were very encouraging. Since I first read Do Hard Things in 2011 I have started helping out with Bloom! the online magazine, graduated homeschool early at the age of 16, started a small photography business, started training my first horse, and now at 17 work as a paralegal at a small town law office. I give all glory to God, because without Him I could not have done any of it. To be truthful when I think about the Christians giving everything they have for the Kingdom of Christ, I am ashamed of the little that I have done and the fact that most of what I may call a “service” is really for me in some way. Glory to God and may I serve Him more!

I love all the new ideas and I hope there will be more video posts! I would be honored to help in any way possible…photography, graphic design, editing articles, spreading the word, really anything!

Praying for all you Rebelutionaries,
Emily

Thank you for posting the video! I think it will be a fun way for the world to communicate with you guys! I like the video blog idea. it makes things so much more personal! I LOVE the rebleution!!

I am new to this blog( about a month ) and I myself was thinking this website needed a bit of clean-up. It is extremely evident by the events of the world that the end of times is close at hand. And the only ones who will have the strength and energy to carry on the message will be the young people. I am willing to help with anything that you guys need.

Thanks for this video and on personally sharing your reasons with us. Having that video made me feel like you’re talking to me in person–I love this idea, especially to tackle things like this, issues about getting stuff done and bouncing off ideas from everyone.

I say Alyssa’s suggestion is a great one; almost everyone who commented on your last post said the same thing! I did, too. And it’s true that living the message is the most vital thing if you’re a Rebelutionist. We could only truly sustain the life and spirit of the Rebelution by living it and letting other people know about it through what they see in us! And now that we (as in the new Rebelutionists who’ve seen and read little about ‘current’ Rebelutionaries) are living it, it’d be a great tool for us to hear/read other’s stories–something to inspire us, ignite us and maybe interact with some people who prays to go along towards a same goal or vision for the purpose of beating the low expectations even though we’re from the different corners of the Earth. It is true, as you pointed out, this shouldn’t be our focus: blogging and keeping other people updated about what you’re doing/what you’ve done isn’t as important as doing those very things you’re advocating, BUT it’d be a great driving force to gather more people to join in with our personal stories, encourage one another, and brick by brick start a new era of the Rebelution.

I’m from the Philippines and personally, I haven’t personally met a Rebelutionist; I met some on-line and it seems that we are all idle. I know there are many out there, but since we don’t have a medium or connection to formulate plans or share our stories, or a place to ask for other’s help if we’re thinking of a big project (example is the Modesty Survey you’ve done years ago), we tend to shut those ideas and just start with things that we could do ‘individually’. If you’d let other people to contribute on your blog, I personally would be one of the first ones to send some stories and articles. And I’ll be constantly checking back for my fellow Rebelutionaries’ stories. I’d really love to collaborate an article or a project with you guys—to finally be surrounded AND work with my fellow Rebelutionaries!

So excited! Oh my gosh! So our school is making us Freshman do History Fair and the topic is a Turning Point in History. I trully believe God has called me to share what He has called you guys to do through this. The Rebelution is my Turning Point in History! Yay! Haha! I’m gonna tell ALL my friends to check out the blog once ya’ll get it back up and running! You guys are great role models and I think that idea about getting younger bloggers to help out is great! Good luck!

I love Alyssa’s idea of letting rebelutionaries from around the world all contribute to the blog! I’d also appreciate transcripts on the videos…thanks again for your humility, Brett!

Also, I think it would be a great thing if you and Alex could think about doing another conference some time in the future. I was barely 12 when the last one ended, and had no idea that this existed; now that I’m older, I really wish I could go to one. A few of my friends are starting to be interested in the Rebelution, as in they picked up the book and started reading the first few pages and said it sounded interesting.

I think Alyssa’s idea is awesome! I also think the ideas of video blogs is awesome!
I’m so excited the blog is restarting.
The Rebelution has challenged me so much and changed the last 5 years of my teenage life for the better! There are so many things I wouldn’t have pushed myself to do if it wasn’t for the Rebelution and it’s message!

The video blogging is great! It helps the blogging become more personal, and is a great way to communicate ideas. Written blogging is great too, though, and as others have stated, incorporating both would be a good compromise.

I agree that Alyssa’s idea is great. It would help incorporate teens who are also living out the message of the Rebelution. Teens who can share how God is working in their life in order to encourage others. This would also help the blog become more interactive to people who visit the site with amazing stories of their own. They can then submit a story to share, and with a committee to sort through submissions, it wouldn’t result in an overload of work for you and Alex.

As the two of you get older, and the world is continually changing, it is important that the Rebelution continues to be influenced by the teens themselves. The amazing thing about the book Do Hard Things was that it was written for teens, by teens. With Alyssa’s idea, that concept and the relatablilty can still be retained. As you said, the two of you aree getting older, and though you still have the same great ideas, and have only changed for the better, it is important that the Rebelution stays fresh.

God bless the two of you and your ministry!

Good point Jocelyn! Criteria would defineitly be needed…I hope I can help with something!

Thanks for the transcript-it’s a lot faster (4 me, anyway) to read it than listen to a whole video, most of the time.

Thanks the video blog is a really cool idea. I think I’ll be sending in something. It’s a great idea. I really want to become part of this more.