Revolutionaries are So Last Century

There was a time when we needed revolution.  We revolted from Great Briton, we had revolution with freedom and equality, we have needed revolution when it comes to rights and suffrage, and in the church, we needed revolution to restore Biblical truth and doctrine.  What we need right now is a little less revolution.  In our society, we have been rebelling against every set authority and principle and making up new rules as we go along.  Morality is out the window, discipleship and seeking truth has given way to experience and preference.  We don't want to find the truth, we just want to feel good right now.

What we need instead of  revolution is an inversion.  The Biblical word for this is repentance.  We need to turn from the path we are on that is headed for destruction and get on a path that brings life and hope and peace.  We need to put Biblical Truth in the center of our lives.  We need to return to the principles and the truths that we once had of compassion and community.  We need to put our trust in God and wish the best for our fellow human beings.

I want to invite you to become an Inversionary.  The focus is easy, love God, love people.  We will share, care and invest our lives in our neighborhoods, communities, work places and playgrounds.  We will share our lives, our faith, our stories and seek to make the place we are just a little better.  We want to stop the downward slide, bring glory to God and help others see His Majesty.  Will you join me?

The Path of Trayvon

If you don't know about the death of Trayvon Martin and the trial of George Zimmerman, you have been under a large rock.  There has been lots of talk and speculation in regards to race, but I want to set that aside.  The reality is that from what has been seen, reported and heard by the jurors, Trayvon had an attitude.  He allegedly assaulted a bus driver, got into a fight at school and was said to have attacked George Zimmerman.  It has nothing to do with the color of his skin, I see students from every ethic background and pigmentation there is have a bad attitude and act very disrspectful.

Kids today have a strange view of respect.  They expect to be respected before they will offer any respect.  They will disrespect you until you respect them, but if you disrespect them, they won't respect you.  As adults, we are suppose to give respect to disrespectful kids so they will respect us.  They are rude and arrogant in every culture, class and socioeconomic setting.  They have learned it, they are living it and for the most part, they are getting worse.

It's a shame that it escalated to the point of death for Trayvon, but don't assume for a minute it is because he is black.  It is because our society is failing our children.  We have continued down a path of arrogance and disrespect.  Everything has begun to focus on our pleasure and our happiness.  We no longer focus on what is good for the community, what is good for the family, what is good for the kids.  Do you know why divorce rate is so high?  Why so many kids don't have a father?  Why we are living in a society where the economy plummets and unemployment rises, yet same sex marriage is the biggest fight on everyone's mind?  It's because we are devoted to pleasure, getting what we want and what we think we deserve with no thought of the bigger picture.

The Revolution Inversion exists because we have pushed the lines of individual entitlement to a point of destruction.  It's a call back to community and faith and thinking about others.  It's a push to seek for justice and mercy and not fulfillment of self.  It's a call to return to the principles and values given by God and set down in His Word.  This is the only way to break from the path of Trayvon and George.  This is the only way out of the decline that will swallow us whole.  I hope you'll join me.

-Dan

New Book

Preparing a start a new writing project, a new book called "A Revolution worth Having".  There has been many movements and revolutions over the years, but are any of them worthless?  Are any of the social movements worth having?  Has there been any real or effective change since the 1960s and the Civil Rights Movement?  I think we can have a revolution worth having, we just have to begin that revolution.

The book will be partially biographical, but much of it will be dedicated to the RI Movement.  I'm excited about it.

Unless

I posted the statement at the end of The Lorax by Dr. Suess, unless someone like you cares on our Facebook page. It's the perfect concept of what RI Ministries is all about. It can no longer be the job of the clergy or the professional missionary to touch this nation with the Gospel. We are in a post-church, post-Christian nation. The core of the national identity is based on the theories of deconstructionism and social relativism.

The only hope left in this nation will not be found within the walls of the church. The only hope this nation has in the believers getting out of the walls of the church.  Believers must begin to take the message of Jesus to their communities and neighborhoods.  Christians must share the good news outside the church walls, because the world is not coming inside.

RI Ministries wants to walk beside you and work with you. The good news is that we as a community of believers are in this together to touch and change lives. A revolution moves through people and touches and changes lives. Let's begin a Revolution.

Real Life Bible Study-Family Devotions

Do you struggle with doing Bible study in your regular life, at work, at home and at play?  Recently our family took a camping trip and had every intention of doing a family Bible Study/ Devotion with the family.  It's hard to do.  What would it take for you to finally get down to a family Bible Study?  You probably just need a place to start.

Here at RI Ministries, we are dedicated to helping you do Bible Study where you are.  Please share with us your successes and your struggle as we develop resources to help you in your personal and family devotional life.

The Darkness Closing in.

Things are dark in places in this country.  People who stand up for what they believe are called hateful bigots, they are boycotted and slandered.  People are angry and they make videos bullying drive through clerks.  People are hopeless, they can't find work, they can't afford to pay for gas and food.  People are scared, shootings seem to happen randomly in schools, churches and other public places, no one is safe, it seems no where is safe.

Many of these things we know will happen as the end of the age approaches.  As things continue to get darker, we must shine all the brighter as Christians.  The time for Christians relying on the institutional church to just take care of reaching is over.  We are living in a post-Christian, post-Churched society.  We have to a light in the places we are.

It's time as Revolutionaries that we begin to shine the light in the darkness.  Sharing the gospel with basic Bible study is the best way to counteract the darkness.  RI Ministries exists to help you with this very thing, to start a Bible Study in your school, workplace, neighborhood, wherever you are.  Let us know how we can help.

Chicken Revolution

Standing up for traditional values is going to be hard.  That is why we have to be true revolutionaries.  We will come under attack.  Dan Cathy from Chick-fil-a said they support an organization that supports the traditional family (one man and one woman in marriage).  The backlash has been huge, simpy because Chick-fil-a is a company that follows Biblical ideals.

In a similar situation, the Sioux City Gospel Mission is under attack because it does not support same sex marriage, and asks people from refraining from sexual conduct of any type while in the mission.  This has sparked outrage and protest of the Gospel Mission, an organization that seeks to help people who are in need and operates from a faith-based position.

As revolutionaries, if you speak out, if you say you stand on Biblical ideas and do not support something in the culture, you will be attacked.  You will be slandered, people will hate you, but remember they hated Jesus first.  The first step to becoming a true revolutionary is to be able to stand up when everyone is telling you to sit down.  To trust the Bible, when everyone else is telling you it's wrong.  To push against the current of society when society tells you to abandon the things you believe.  It's won't be popular.  It won't be fun and sometimes you will be saddened when you stand on the opposite side from the people you love and care about.

Remember, in all things we are more than conquerors.  We are Revolutionaries!