Luke Parrott

The Rescue (in Denver)

Over 1500 people (mostly high school students) made a statement in Denver this past Saturday.  It was THE RESCUE.  Thanks to Joe Miller for making this video.  Another example of this young generation's concern for Global Justice!

Generation NEXT

Here's a look at what some other guys are doing next week.

So my question is, What will become of this generation?  What will this generation achieve on a global scale?  Will their optimism be wiped out by some future event?  Will this generation really be the change to which they aspire? 

It's a joy to serve alongside these students.  They have an admirable zeal for life.  Life in the physical and spiritual sense.

"I came that they may have life and have it more abundantly"

Poverty According to Teens

Social Justice is a Cry for His Kingdom to Come

I posted this video a few weeks ago and since then it has become a prayer of mine almost every day.

Sometimes I don't think we, as Jesus followers, communicate enough to the world around us about the big picture of what we are really about.  We follow a man who came to this earth to restore the world to it's original intent.  We recognize the world is not as it should be.  We see all the injustice around us and within us.  And the answer we have found to heal this world is in the person of Jesus. 

In a culture where social injustice is popularized, I think we need to speak more loudly about how the Christian understands and addresses these concerns.  Unbelievers are crying out for His Kingdom and they don't even know it!

Our cultures optimism about eradicating the evils of terrorism, poverty, genocide, and on and on, will simply lead our neighbors around us to mounting levels of frustration and ultimately to a loss of hope if they believe that we can eradicate evil without a remedy of renewal coming from our original Creator.  He is the one who restores all things.  He is the one who can ultimately eradicate poverty.  He alone can rid this world of terrorists, oppressive governments, and hatred between races.  But he desires to use his people to jump start this process.

How much of this Kingdom work he intends to do before he returns....none of us know.  So we labor hard and toil to see "his kingdom come, his will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  Sometimes I wonder if it will only be small victories of his kingdom in little pockets of the world that go largely unseen as new evil powers raise their voice and flaunt themselves. 

Will we endlessly go on from genocide to genocide, even though we saw it happen in Rwanda, said "never again", and now we are trying to address it 10 years later in Darfur?

Will we see the day when everyone in all the world lives off of more than $2/day?  Where no one is stuck in extreme poverty?  Where no human is sold into slavery?  Where there are no orphans to be found?

I don't think we can answer that question.  We know that his kingdom has come in the person of Jesus.  And we know he is working today in ways that right the wrongs in this world.  We also know that evil will persist until it is finally destroyed. 

But what I can do is continue to pray the prayer of Jesus.  And continue to utilize my passions in this world for his purpose.  You are called to do the same.

Let us begin to communicate to our friends how Jesus weaves into the very fabric of their longing for things to be made right.

"Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

The Kingdom of God Described

What is the Kingdom of God?

I like the way Jesus describes it.

"Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

It's that simple. God's will. The way God purposed things to be.

That's what His kingdom looks like. It's God taking back his people, his creation, his world. A world that we tarnished because we thought we'd be better off without Him.

Thankfully our arrogance did not leave us abandoned. God desires us to be included despite our wanderings.

Or, if you prefer an academic explanation check out this quote:

"The kingdom sums up God's plan to create a new human life by making possible a new kind of community among people, families and groups. [It combines] the possibility of a personal relationship to Jesus with man's responsibility to manage wisely the whole of nature; the expectation that real change is possible here and now; a realistic assessment of the strength of opposition to God's intentions; the creation of new human relationships and the eventual liberation by God of the whole of nature from corruption."
A. Kirk. The Good News of the Kingdom Coming, p 47.

Charity: Water

This organization is doing it right. A real way to meet a real need. They provide clean water to villages around the world. And they do a great job of getting you and I involved. Spend 10 minutes on their website...it will be worth your while.

Kids Across Africa - Rwanda

i have a buddy who is on the team to make this dream come alive. Love ya Mike and Hannah!