I'll Fight!

I just returned from The Salvation Army's Western Youth Institute. This week long event is held at Camp Redwood Glenn in the Santa Cruz hills and features great speakers, workshops, worship and fun. The theme for this year was "I'll Fight!" which is taken from one of the last great sermons of our founder William Booth.

While women weep as they do now, I’ll fight; while little children go hungry as they do now, I’ll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I’ll fight; while there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl on the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I’ll fight—I’ll fight to the very end.

Lincoln Hawk wrote a great song for the weekend and it quickly became one of my all time favorites. This song is going to blow up in the near future and is destined to be an Army classic.

One of the cool things that happened at WYI was Extreme Outreach. Every day they would take a team of young people to do missions in the heart of San Francisco. There were prayer walks down sixth street, feedings in the Tenderloin district, canteen ministry, door to door visitation and open airs, among other things. Although we probably didn't change many people lives, those that participated were shaken and their eyes opened to the realities of the war. There is definitely a battle raging in San Francisco and Satan seems to be winning.

I was asked why I thought Christians should reach out to the poor and marginalized on our society. To be honest, I didn't know it was an option.

Matt 25:31-46

31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45 "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

The week ended with a ton of fired up soldiers ready to scrap. My prayer is that they go home and get into the fight. Actually, my prayer is that anyone who calls themselves a Christian gets into the fight. It's not an option!

There is a battle raging here in Hawaii and we are looking for warriors. If you are interested in fighting with us, we want to hear from you. info@revolutionhawaii.com