francis chan bringin' it!

we were @ BigStuf 2 weeks ago in Daytona Beach, FL... I posted about it the whole week we were there (here, here, etc...) & I promised to share some takeaways from the week here on renown. I thought the best talk of the week was by Francis Chan on Thursday morning. He straight up knocked it out of the park. I don't know why no one ever did a talk on this when I was in high school. If you've never read Matthew 25:31-46 PLEASE go read it now.

below are just my thoughts & what jumped out at me from what Francis said...

- Please don't let these stats get old!!! = 29,000 kids under the age of 5 DIE every day in Africa from preventable diseases!!!!!!!

That's insane & I hope that it stirs something in your heart when you hear that. my heart is beating at an unhealthy rate right now just thinking about it & my throat is too choked up to even talk... But, some peeps would hear that stat & be arrogant & ignorant (those 2 seem to be brothers) enough to say to God, "That's not fair." (& here's what Francis said that I love) = "God didn't create us to judge HIM! He created us to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!

- Great Question = "Do you think you are MORE valuable to God than those kids?" Then why do you spend tons of $ on YOUR comfort, retirement, savings, life insurance, cars, clothes, etc...?You spend $ on all this stuff to pad your future, but they are dying NOW! (Francis & his friend had a cool idea to go along with this = they gave all their shirts to the poor and only kept 7!!! just 1 shirt per day. never buy any more... just give the $ to the poor.)

- Here's what I haven't been able to get over for like the last 2 years... if you REALLY believe Matthew 25 then all those poor people are really JESUS! so, I think we should be saying more often "I don't need this, I don't need that... Jesus is over there dying right now!" Seriously, if that's Jesus (the little kid dying without clean water in Kenya) then how can I buy this car?

- over 1/2 the world lives on less than $2 a day. just an interesting thought next time we feel like complaining about our salary.

- Francis made a great analogy to what the church does when people talk about helping Jesus/the poor = "We act like a football team who went to the huddle & then the break and everyone cheers & then they run to the bench and sit down. What a sucky football team." - but that's us. we say the right stuff, but do nothing!

- I love so much that Francis challenged these high schoolers to do more & he painted a great picture for them of what it's like to help the poor. He said this - "Do you know what it's like to hand a bowl of rice to someone who would NOT normally eat? Do you know what it's like to put a pair of shoes on an orphans' feet? IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE! way better. Doing that is WAY better than any car you could ever buy!!! I PROMISE." Thanks Francis for stepping up and showing the next generation that. someone needs to be telling it.

- The problem is that most peep hear this stuff and think "You're asking me to sacrifice my dreams and my future!" Francis responded by saying "I'm not saying to kill your dream [the American Dream, really], I'm just saying THERE'S A BETTER DREAM!" now that is off the hook & so true!!! most peeps are chasing the wrong dream.

- this cracks me up. you might ask the Q "What if I give away too much & have no retirement left, or no house, or even DIE from starvation because I was saving the lives of those kids in Africa?" haha - Francis: "It probably won't be all that bad to stand in front of God after starving to death and say 'OOOPS, I guess I gave away too much.' I PROMISE, IT'S A BETTER WAY TO LIVE." I like that promise, Francis... and I'm gonna do everything I can to live that better way & persuade others to join the movement & FEED JESUS!

what about you?