JUSTIN GOODSON

Accelerate is a six-week program designed to raise up a group of radical disciples of Jesus Christ and to launch them back into their schools, homes, and communities with a desire to advance the Kingdom of God.  Accelerate is all about Jesus, growth, knowledge, power, character, prayer, leadership, and being a witness.  We challenge you to take the summer and devote 6 weeks of it to accelerating your walk with Jesus Christ!  

Reasons why you should be a summer intern:

#1 It’ll change your life

Sounds cliché, but it’s true.  When you take extra time and devote it to God, things change. You change.  No matter where you’re at with your walk with God, these 6 weeks have the potential to change everything!

#2 It’s only $40

That’s right, $40.  You’ll get all the class materials, some sweet Awaken gear and a lot of invaluable knowledge for a really affordable price. 

#3 You’ll be challenged and pushed to do more for God than you ever thought possible.

Many times we don’t know what we’re capable of until someone challenges us to do more.  Accelerate is designed to do just that, PUSH you to do more.

#4 You’ll learn how to defend your faith

Have you ever been sitting in biology or science class wishing you could defend your beliefs about Jesus and creation?  Well, we’ll talk about this at Accelerate and equip you to think critically about these topics, as well as give you some good answers to tough questions.

#5 What else are you gonna do?

Let’s be honest for a second here… summer is usually about staying up late, sleeping in, goofing off, etc…right?  We challenge you to make this summer about getting closer to God.  Don’t worry— accelerate starts at 12:30pm so you’ll still get to sleep in.

#6 You’ll be able to effectively share your faith with others

Many of us would love to be able to share our faith with others, but for one reason or another many of us never do.  In order to overcome this, we’ll equip you with some basic tools that will help you become confident in sharing your faith.

#7 You’ll learn to pray and pray effectively

The best way you can learn to pray is to pray.  Each day during Accelerate, we’ll pray for at least an hour.  You’ll be surprised how the time flies when you’re praying with other passionate Christians.

#8 Get to know other students who are passionate about Jesus

There is nothing more valuable than a good friend.  You’ll have a lot of fun making friends who are serious about accelerating their walks with God, too. 

In many circles of Christianity, religion is a bad word.  When a Christian is labeled “religious” by someone, they feel insulted.  For someone to call you religious equates to them telling you that you’re a self-righteous Pharisee who is blinded by pride.  But is this at all Biblical?  Let’s look at what the Bible says about religion and ask the question, “What’s wrong with religion?”

“But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” -James 1:25-27

This sounds to me like religion is a good thing!  James actually defines what good religion looks like and how we, as Christians, should act.  The Greek word that is used for religion here is “threskeia”, and it simply means “religious worship or religious discipline”.  James explains that religious worship and religious discipline begin by being doers of the Word— those who act on what they hear.  He then lists a few things for us to do and not just hear: bridle our tongues, visit orphans & widows and keep ourselves unstained from the world.

A Bridled Tongue

Not everything that pops in our heads needs to be said.  Just because you think something doesn’t mean that it should be spoken.  I used to be close to people who were consistently saying every little thing that they thought and many times, I would do the same.  We would cut people with our words and tear people down regularly.  Over the years, though, I’ve learned to use a “filter” that keeps my thoughts in my head and made it my goal to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15), as well as to impart GRACE to people when I speak (Eph. 4:29).  We need discernment on when to speak up and when to shut up.  It takes time to grow in grace, love, and discernment.  Let’s be people who pursue a bridled tongue, not saying something simply because we thought it.

Visiting Orphans and Widows

This passage is to be taken literally; you and I need to visit both orphans and widows.  We should look for people who are hurting and left alone and be there for them.  Furthermore, I see a principle here:  Pure religion is loving and reaching people who have no way of repaying you.  For the ministers reading this: When you disciple someone, are you working with them simply because you love them?  Or do you only work with people who can one day benefit your ministry? If the person you’re discipling never becomes a “leader”, will you still love them?  We are called to love the unlovely and work with people out of the pure motive of actually helping them, expecting nothing in return.

Unstained by the World

If you look up the Greek words for the portion of this passage, it’s basically saying that while we are in this world, we are not to let the crap of this world stain us.  Can you walk in a filthy world and not be stained or tarnished by it?  Jesus was incredible at this!  He was the friend of tax collectors and sinners, yet their sinful habits and lifestyles never stained Him.  He was able to reach out and speak the truth to sinful people in love.  Unlike Jesus, though, many of us get stained by this world.  Has the pursuit of the American Dream made you selfish? Are you unfazed by the overtly sexual images spewed by media? Does it bother you when people blaspheme the name of Jesus? Pure and undefiled religion is marked by living in the world, around worldly people, and yet not being desensitized to God’s Word and heart. 

The only way these three things are possible is if we are people who “walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16).  Walking in the Spirit means that throughout your day, you talk to the Holy Spirit and listen to what He has to say.  From a place of constant communion, we can fulfill the desires of God’s heart and not our fleshly desires.  This takes time. It is a process, but start NOW!  Bridle your tongue, visit and love those who can’t repay you and don’t let this world’s garbage stain you.  In doing this, you’re redeeming religion and walking rightly before the Lord.

This is not mine, I did not write it. It was recently posted on www.randygoudeau.me and I wanted to pass it along.  David Ravenhill wrote a book, ‘Surviving the Anointing’ and included this in there. The message below is so timely for today. I fully believe there are true ‘Spiritual fathers’ today. And there are some pharaohs as well. I pray this blesses you as it does me.

Pharaohs vs Fathers, the Use and Misuse of Spiritual Authority by David Ravenhill

Pharaohs have slaves; Fathers have sons

Pharaohs command; Fathers counsel

Pharaohs dominate; Fathers liberate

Pharaohs dictate; Fathers communicate

Pharaohs destroy and demean; Fathers discipline

Pharaohs remove; Fathers restore

Pharaohs restrain; Fathers release

Pharaohs manipulate; Fathers motivate

Pharaohs emasculate; Fathers propagate

Pharaohs whip; Fathers weep

Pharaohs want results; Fathers want relationship

Pharaohs build cities; Fathers build great sons

Pharaohs are hardhearted; Fathers are tenderhearted

Pharaohs fear success; Fathers foster success

Pharaohs want servants; Fathers are servants

Pharaohs prey on slaves; Fathers pray for sons

Slaves die for Pharaohs; Fathers die for sons

Slaves work out of duty; Sons work out of faith

Slaves remain slaves; Sons develop into fathers

Slaves loathe Pharaohs; Sons love fathers

Slaves are discouraged; Sons are encouraged

Slaves receive reproval; Sons receive approval

Slaves grow to hate & hurt; Sons grow to heal & help

Slaves have numbers; Sons have names

Slaves escape; Sons return

Slaves sigh, Sons sing

The more I read the news, the more disgusted and alarmed I am at the current state of our nation.  Whether it’s pro LGTB (Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, Bisexual) legislation like SB-48 in California, or the law passed in New York that won’t allow churches to use school buildings as meeting places, our county is headed in a very bad direction. 

What’s the cure for this though?  What can we do?  It’s simple… The answer for America is people accepting Jesus as Savior, then making Christianity the glasses in which they view the world through.  The answer will not come from a politician or political office.  While I agree we should vote according to our Christian conviction, that’s simply not the answer.  The answer is the “foolish” preaching of the Gospel (1 Cor. 1:23). The more we share our faith, the more people will respond and accept Jesus.  The more people who accept Jesus, the more righteousness will prevail in our society. 

Let’s take some time here, though, and pause.  I think it’s important for Christians to rise and begin to make our voices heard.  It’s time that we stand for righteousness.  It’s time to unite behind Godly morals and not just political candidates. Notice the word ‘unite’ there.  If Christians are divided, we stand no chance of turning America back to God.  It’s time we let our doctrinal differences fall to the side and take up a banner more important than our ecclesial and eschatological views.  It’s time we raise the banner of Jesus Christ and stand for righteousness!  We need to know what sin is, what salvation looks like, pursue intimacy with our Creator and let the world know He lives!

It’s vitally important to make a stand against sin and stand for righteousness, but unless we are on our knees weeping with compassion and love for those dying around us, we stand no chance against the tidal wave of sin that is sweeping over our nation.  Not only must we preach Jesus and stand for truth, we MUST pray.  If all we do is preach and vote for “moral” candidates, we’ll never change anything.  Consider this thought:  Until you’ve fallen to your knees in prayer over an issue, can you stand and speak about it?  Many times we take the lower road and update our FaceBooks and Twitters instead of closing our doors and praying to our Father who sees in secret (Matt 6:6).Yes we must speak up and speak out, but more than that, we must pray.  I firmly believe until you’ve prayed about it, you lack the compassion necessary to speak about it. 

Let’s first fall to our knees in compassion and then rise with the boldness of Jesus to see this nation turned back to God.  America is not beyond a sweeping revival of repentance.  God has done it before and He can do it again (Heb. 13:8).  First we have to kneel and then we need to take a stand!