ELLICEPARK

"safety first” is not the motto fo a risk taker. it may work in a factory, but it doesn’t work on the field of faith. it has never been the motto of the courageous. c.s. lewis said, ‘the safest road to hell is the gradual one.’ people of courage make a way where there is no way. instead of cowering to the pressures of this culture, christians need to become a force for positive peer pressure. we need to break out of the box and drop the baggage. boxes are designed for storage and shoes, not saints.
it’s time to put on the shoes of faith and take an incredible journey with God. the founder of ford motor company, henry ford, said, ‘i am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can’t be done.’ God is looking for men and women who believe that with Christ nothing is impossible.
we’ve been lulled into settling for average so long that average seems acceptable. but i believe a desire burns within the heart of each person to make a difference, to leave a mark. unfortunately we’ve been average for so long that when people are above average, we tend to think they are eccentric.
some of the most courageous people in history were people who could have easily ended up on the shelf o f mediocrity. abraham lincoln was a failure most of this life until he became president. stonewall jackson was failing as a teacher at virginity military institute, yet in the crisis of battle he blossomed. d.l. moody, an uneducated shoe salesman, ended up being one of the most famous evangelists of the nineteenth century. he also established ministries and institutions that are vibrant in the 21st c. the army says, ‘be all that you can be.’ it’s time for men and women to be all God saved them to be. don’t settle; soar!
my daughter hayley remembers going to youth camps and hearing speakers tell campers they should give their lives totally to christ without fear or hesitation. they would say, ‘God probably won’t make you go live in a mud hut in africa, so don’t be afraid of God’s will.’ hayley told me, ‘looking back, i was always terrified he would send me to africa. now i wonder why in the world i had been taught to fear that. now i would go in a heartbeat.’ in 2010 she spent two weeks working in an orphanage and on a safe-water project in uganda. as she said, ‘i need africa more than africa needs me.’
an old adage says, ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained.’ no venture, no vision, no legacy. i’m praying for God to raise up a generation who will venture out and discvoer the view is worth the climb. God longs to find a man or woman He can trust with a great opportunity."