This past Sunday, Shannon Bunger gave me a book that I found hard to put down. “A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations: Do Hard Things.” written by Alex and Brett Harris. I felt as though I should blog on this book and also ask you to take a look at it yourself. The funny part is it is forewarded by the master himself Chuck Norris. Even the dark is afraid of Chuck Norris! This book I believe will challenge the way our culture has said teenagers are supposed to live and be. The two young men, Alex and Brett Harris didnt go after changing the world they found that they were doing it by pursuing God and using the talents that God gave them. Here are a few things I got from the first two chapters. Feel free to answer the quetions:
From Chapter 1: Most People Don’t…
“This book invites you to explore some radical questions:
- Is it possible that even though teens today have more freedom than any other generation in history, we’re actually missing out on some of the best years of our lives?
- Is it possible that what our culture says about the purpose and potential of the teen years is a lie and that we are its victims?
- Is it possible that our teen years give us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for huge accomplishments – as individuals and as a generation?
- And finally, what would our lives look like if we set out on a different path entirely – a path that required more effort but promised a lot more reward?”
Chapter 2: The Birth of a Big Idea
Key word that started the efforts of two young men sharing there ideas through a blog page.
“rebelution: a teenage rebellion against low expectations.”
I have learned a lot about expectations by playing sports while I was growing up. I never had a coach who expected the minimal out of me he always expected my great efforts in practice and on the field. I used to tell soccer team I coached that the way you practice is the way you play. I expected my players to give as much efforts in conditioning and in skills as I did when they got on the field at game time. Why did I do this? I am convinced that practice is preparation. If you prepare weak you play weak. I expect my guys to give everything on the field so that when they were done they had nothing else to give. It wasnt about whether we won the game or not it was about whether or not we gave everything.
I find that at times in our spiritual walk that we only give our minimal effort expecting huge results. The incredible part about God is that He even moves in our minimal effort. What I ask myself is how much more is He allowed to move when I give my greatest effort. We always run into walls spiritually in life. Its like the last part of that run that coach sent you on. Its a little farther than last time but you know that if you can do it you will be better conditioned. You push past that wall of your body and mind telling you that you can’t do it. Why should we not condition ourselves more and more with Christ and allow Him to carry us past the wall. How can we allow Him to give us dreams and visions and awaken the passions of our hearts to come to life? If we say we have a hard time hearing Him how much more will we pursue Him until we hear Him speak? If we see injustice in our schools, lives, or nation what will we do to push past the expectation that we can only do minimal to move into the fact that your youth and passion can change the course of a nation, school, community, home situation.
Just some thoughts. I want you to remember this: It’s not about your strength that makes these things happen… its about God’s strength in our weakness that allows up to be used.
