Just a little background on the passage first.  Nehemiah had just returned to Jerusalem for the second time and upon returning, he found the wall standing as strong as ever, but the people in moral, social, and spiritual ruin.

So he took action. Extreme action.

He describes his response in Nehemiah 13, but two particular sentences especially stand out to me. Check this out: “I rebuked them and called curses down on them.  I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair.” Nehemiah 13:25 (NIV) 

I’d say someone was passionate about God, wouldn’t you?

I’m assuming you understand why Nehemiah reminds me of Jack Bauer now.

I mean, isn’t that the kind of move we would expect Jack Bauer to make if he happened to be the guy in charge at this time in history? Doesn’t that have his name written all over it? 

I’m not sure I’m recommending that anybody go out and apply this to their current context, but I do think a case can be made that the church needs more leaders who are passionate about God’s vision and bold enough to take action to protect it and advance it. 

Francis Chan is the Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Community Church in Simi Valley, Callifornina.  He is an amazing communicator and passionate about calling the next generation to have a deeper love for Jesus.   

Here are some of the nuggets from his teaching today:

• Sometimes as a church we try to slow down or calm down people who are fired up and institutionalize their faith.
• I don’t like the Book of Acts because I never read it and say, “Wow, that’s just like us!”
• We have the power of the Holy Spirit yet we lack boldness to walk across the street and share Christ with our neighbors.
• Let’s not stifle and compartmentalize fired up people any more than we already do.
• People say you’re a radical and then you read the Word and you realize you’re not even close.
• It seems like we’re talking people out of living the kind of life Jesus calls us to live.
• What I’m doing is so stupid if there’s no Heaven.
• We never look more like Christ than when we’re rescuing!
• We’ve got to start praying for more boldness.  Aren’t there things God has called you to do and you’ve just been scared?

Reggie Joiner is the founder and CEO of The reThink Group.  We use their curriculum in our preschool and children’s environments every week.  He is also the genius behind the “Orange” philosophy of ministry which says that two combined influences (the church and the family) are better than just one. You can check out the Rethink and Orange Conference sites here and here. 

Reggie opened up The Orange Conference with a great message.  Here are some of the highlights:

• A lot of times we try to get families to conform to our image of what family should be.
• The church needs to meet families where they are and not where we want them to be.
• God is interested in using broken people to tell His story…just read the Bible and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
• Never buy into the myth that you have to be a perfect parent before God can use you to impact your children.
• A little change (in a parent’s life) can make a big difference.
• Our unrealistic portraits of the perfect family might just paralyze a generation of families.
• If you want your children to have a personal faith, it has to be in you first, and it has to be a faith that is happening every day.
• It’s not about how great you are as parents, but it’s about God showing up in your family and doing what only God can do.

So, I thought this morning that I would give you just a handful of bullet points that I shared throughout the series. This isn’t comprehensive by any means, but just a sample platter of sorts. Hope they make you think! 

• When there’s not enough margin in your life, the urgent squeezes out the important.  
• If you’re too busy for God and you’re too busy for people, then you’re too busy!
• Jesus had margin.  He took naps.  He set aside time for little children.  He was never in a hurry.  He made alone time with His Father a priority.
• Run your own race at your own pace.  Don’t run someone else’s race and don’t run at someone else’s pace.
• God is not pro-exhaustion.  He calls us to live sustainable lives. 

• I’m recently finished “The Principle of the Path” by Andy Stanley and encourage you to navigate through this resource sometime in the not to distant future.  Over and over again, Andy reminds the reader that “your direction, not your intention, determines your destination”…good stuff!
• Church softball is in high gear!  I haven’t been to any games yet this year, but if you’re looking for something to do on a weeknight, I encourage you to get a schedule, find out where a Southside team is playing, and hang out at the ballpark with some of your brothers and sisters.
• The Men’s Golf Tournament scheduled this weekend is completely packed out!  We have over 100 golfers scheduled to play and there’s a waiting list!  I’m not going to play this year so someone else’s team  will get to be in last place this year.