rebelling against low expectations
Yesterday morning, 17-year-old Zac Sunderland completed his historic journey — becoming the youngest person in history to sail solo around the world. Along the way Zac has taken opportunities to share his faith and challenge his generation. He even made the cover of ESPN Magazine last month with an article entitled, “Do Hard Things.” With family, friends, and supporters surrounding...
God used an amazing team of young people to pack out The Moody Church last Saturday with over 3,500 teens, parents, and youth workers. Ethan and Adam — two members of our incredible (and fun) local team. Go ahead and click on the “and fun” link. Seriously. Attendees hailed from as far away as Finland, Uzbekistan, Spain, North Africa, and Thailand. The globe-hoppers all received free t...
Alex and I have long admired William Wilberforce for his tireless dedication in pursuing his holy ambition. One year after coming to Christ, Wilberforce wrote in his diary, “God Almighty has placed before me two great Objects, the Suppression of the Slave Trade and the Reformation of Manners.” Over twenty years later, Wilberforce succeeded in abolishing the slave trade in the British...
Early this summer I was challenged and encouraged by the book, “David: Man of Prayer, Man of War” written by Walter Chantry. I stumbled back across the following excerpt (one of many) while reading through my journals from that period, and realized how helpful it could be to rebelutionaries. As we all attempt to serve God with our lives it is necessary to remind ourselves who is...
Our goal with every post is to encourage our readers in their pursuit of God, challenge them to greater impact for His glory, and inform them of opportunities and resources that might aid in these endeavors. I believed that Regina Spektor’s song contributed to that mission by allowing you to wrestle with truth about God — even truth hidden behind the meandering thoughts of a gifted, secular...
After reading my last post, my mother ran to grab “Deserted by God” by Sinclair Ferguson and read the following excerpt to me (pp. 14-17). I love his emphasis on all of us needing “long-term help”—not a quick-fix; the importance of God’s word in overcoming spiritual dryness; and the story he shares about Martin Luther’s wife (from which I drew the post title)...
I don’t know about you, but I sometimes find myself suffering from a sense of over-familiarity with God and the gospel. Reading my Bible doesn’t excite me. Listening to sermons becomes routine. Even worship feels common and mundane. At times like these I crave something new and compelling to jolt me out of my spiritual rut. I figure that if I only had a better devotional book, a more...
A powerful reminder that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. NOTE: Some readers have expressed concern with the fact that Matt Chandler says something about the church being an “enemy of conversion.” Outside the context of the complete message it could come across as if the Chandler (and subsequently, Alex and I) are promoting an anti-church perspective. That is absolutely...
Our last post focused on the distinction between busyness and fruitfulness — drawing on the writings of C.J. Mahaney. Today we’d like to expand on the topic of time-management — this time drawing on the writings of Jonathan Edwards. In an essay written in 1734, Edwards lays out four reasons to value our time, identifies three ways we can waste our time, shares four reasons for improving our...
Our recent post on a study linking teenage depression to bedtimes drew a healthy discussion in the comment section. One reader named Micaela asked a question about “busyness” — and we thought it was important enough to share with you. Micaela wrote: “I have question. The purpose of the rebelution is to encourage young people to “do hard things” and to “rebel against the low...
rebelling against low expectations
