James 24:7

I started preaching 34 years ago just down the road from where I currently preach.   However, between the time I started and now, Gwinnett County, Georgia has changed.... Wait that should be  chaaaaannnnggged.

My agent, Irv, sent me this article.   I love the last line...

"America is changing...get used to it!"

This ain't your grandma's church.

Rick Warren and a host of other religious writers have been thrown out of prison...well, at least their books have been.

Read this bit of ridiculousness here...

And here is where you can go to do something about it...

One of the young ladies in my church came in a few weeks ago sporting an abolitionist t-shirt she had gotten at school and talking excitedly about a boy in her school who spoke in assembly about slavery and human trafficking.  She talked about how much money this kid had raised and how all that money had gone to help eradicate slavery.

At the time I had just been boning up on the topic of human trafficking and slavery myself.  I was interested in what she was saying but hadn't made the connection about who it was she was talking about.

I have since learned that she was talking about Zach Hunter, a young abolitionist who began his own campaign a few years ago when he was uh...12.....yep....12. 

Zach's in the 9th grade now, is the youth spokesman for The Amazing Change Campaign, and founder of "Loose Change 2 Loosen Chains," an organization that enlists kids to raise money to help eradicate slavery and human trafficking.  

Only a few years ago, Zach struggled with anxiety attacks.  Now he travels around in his "spare time" speaking to thousands of young people about the issue of slavery. 

He's also a published author.   I read his book, Be the Change, tonight.  The book is an inspiring collection of stories about people who have made a difference in the world. It includes thought provoking questions designed to get people, young and old, thinking about how they might make a difference in the world.  As I read the book I kept thinking about how when I was 15 (oh about 41 years ago) I was trying to figure out how I could get into the Beatles...not the music- the band!

This kid is a marvel.  When I get really sick of being an adult (and believe me I'm pretty close!) I want to be just like him!  (You know us adults...we're smart enough to know that people can't do what this kid is doing.  "In the adult's mind, there are few possibilities but in a kid's mind there are many.")

If you'd like to see Zach's interview on Good Morning America...(yeah, he's done that too!) just go here and be inspired.

I recommend that all parents get Zach's book, read it with your kids and resolve to "be the change" together as a family.

Just for good measure, here's an interview with Zach from Christianity Today.

This coming Sunday (2/18/07) Christians from around the world will join together to sing the hymn Amazing Grace as a way to commemorate the work of William Wilberforce, the British parliamentarian credited with introducing and driving through the first anti-slavery laws in the British Empire in 1807.

So what's the connection between Wilberforce and Amazing Grace?  Amazing Grace was written by John Newton, a slave trader turned pastor, in 1752.  Several years later, Newton became Wilberforce's mentor and told him that God had raised him up for the good of the nation and of the church.  The work of Wilberforce and Newton had a profound influence upon the  abolition of slavery in the America.

The relationship between Newton and Wilberforce and their work toward the abolition of slavery is being featured in a new film that is set to be released on Friday, February 23rd. 

Many of us believe that slavery ended with the American Civil War.  However, some estimate is that slavery produces something like $30 billion in revenue every year.  Some people estimate that as many as 27 million people live as slaves.  Many of those slaves are children who are sold to work as laborers and prostitutes.

I am posting related links below.   My hope is we will all support this film, sing Amazing Grace, pray for those who are bound in the shackles of slavery and do what we can to join with Christ in setting the captives free.

For infomation on the film Amazing Grace, go here.

For information on William Wilberforce, go here.

For information on John Newton, go here.

For information on the hymn Amazing Grace, go here.

For information on the global slave trade, go here.

For an incredible slide show regarding one Missouri mother's quest to rescue one child slave in Ghana, go here.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has annointed me

to bring good news to the poor. 

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives,

And recovery of sight to the blind,

To let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

                     -Jesus' Ministry Platform

                      Luke 4: 18-19