The Revolution Brigade

“Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. And as Christ’s soldier, do not let yourself become tied up in the affairs of this life, for then you cannot satisfy the one who has enlisted you in his army.” (2 Timothy 2:3-4)

There’s so much junk in the way of doing what God has called us to do. As an adult, it’s a little easier. I don’t have to worry about popularity, school, peer pressure, or any of that stuff. Still, I’ve been in your shoes. I know what things conflict you, and what challenges you have to face in order to fulfill your calling.

A “brigade” is a large group of soldiers. Our intention here is to raise up an army of young believers who will be sold out for the cause: to advance the Kingdom and glorify Christ. We chose the military theme on purpose because we recognize that in order to achieve the goals that we’ve set out to accomplish, we have to discipline ourselves and become mentally tough and fully devoted, much like soldiers preparing for war.

When the verse from 2 Timothy above talks about “enduring suffering,” that’s exactly what it means: there is a price to be paid if we are to reach our objective. In a physical war, every inch of ground is bought with the blood of the soldiers who are attempting to advance against the enemy. In our spiritual war, every square inch of ground that we conquer has been purchased by the blood of Jesus, along with our sweat and tears.

I’ve been a real soldier in a real war. I can testify that, while you are fighting, nothing else matters. You can’t worry about what your family is doing back home. You can’t worry about your mom and dad, your girlfriend, or your bank account. The only thing that matters is accomplishing the mission and staying alive. Anything that doesn’t accomplish one of those goals is a distraction, and should be treated as such.

God tells us in the scripture above that, if we hope to accomplish the goals that He has for us, then we need to have a similar devotion to the cause. It also tells us that the only way to please your commanding officer (Jesus) is to set aside every other concern in life and fight the war.

We’ll talk more about this in youth group. Get ready. There’s going to be a battle, and we’re all going to be involved.

For now, if you want to get a head start, you can dive into our basic training posts and start learning the skills of a spiritual warrior

Basic Training: Faith

Basic Training: Grace 

Basic Training: Justification

Basic Training: Sanctification

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