Prayer Retreat

Tonight we're going up to Teen Missions for the prayer retreat, a youth event Tony and I launched in '92.

While we're not leading it this year, the new generation of youth leaders Matt, Jodi and Josh from Freedom are in charge, we're going along to recount the history and raise expectations.

These kids have a great foundation of youth who've gone before, seeking God. They are walking on ground others have plowed for them. They can access the blessing while breaking up fallow ground for the ones to follow.

It's an honor to be around and able to instill in the new leaders and youth our history. Think of Adam and Eve. They lived 800 or 900 years. Think of all the generations they saw. Grandkids upon grandkids.

Can you imagine being able to walk up to your Great, great (times 10) Grandpa Adam and ask him about walking in the garden with God? Incredible.

Or, what if we could talk to our Great Uncle Benjamin Franklin about the foundations of our country. It'd be wonderful to be able to talk to our founding fathers right now.

Go back 800 years an it's the 1200s. It's incredible to think we could talk to Sancho IV (Sancho the Brave) (b. 1257, Toledo, d. 1295, Toledo, Castile), king of Castile and Leon from 1284 to 1295, about keeping Spain free from another Muslim invasion from Morocco.

History is important, though not foretelling. We need to know where we came from to know where we are going, learn from our forefathers and mothers mistakes and triumphs. Yet, not lock ourselves into the notion if it happened to my "Dad" it'll happen to me.

Spiritually speaking, learning family history can help us clean house, break curses and step away from darkness while clinging to the new life we have in Jesus. In my case, where my parents created a good spiritual heritage, I take what they did and run with it, hoping to forge ahead for my nieces and nephews to gain new ground in Christ, pressing on to the upward calling of God.

Blessings.