GYC 2009: unASHAMED

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Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

GYC 2009 Plenary Sessions

Justin McNeilus

GYC 2009 Keynote Address: Unashamed

Our precious and most gracious Heavenly Father.

We've come here prepared to learn from you, and we ask now, Lord, humbly, that you would reveal yourself to us this conference.

Tonight during our presentation, Lord, we just ask that the Spirit would fill this auditorium, that you would speak through me.

You know the messenger, you know my weaknesses.

I pray that all that would be placed to the side, and that tonight we would receive a message from the throne of God.

We pray all these things in your precious name.

Not long ago my wife and I were on a trip.

We got to go to London and do a little bit of traveling, a little bit of sightseeing.

We got to London and we got on 1 of those double-decker buses.

We got up on the top, it was a little bit cold, we were a little bit jet-lagged, but we wanted to see London.

It was 1 of those buses where you could get on and off the bus and you could see different parts of the city.

So there we were kind of cruising around London and we got to this stop at Westminster Abbey.

Now Westminster Abbey is a particularly interesting place.

I guess at its basic, most basic point, it's nothing more than a graveyard, but it's interesting because there's a lot of famous people buried there.

You've got kings and queens, you've got princes and princesses, you've got Shakespeare, even Darwin are all laid to rest in its crypt.

And we're nearing the end of our self-guided tour when we came across a person that deserved a little bit of pause.

We came to this person and I looked at it, I started reading the inscription, and I thought to myself, I couldn't help but wonder, what was it like to walk a day in the shoes of this guy?

What was it like to take adversity head-on?

What was it like to try to complete the impossible?

What was it like to walk a day in the shoes of William Wilberforce?

See, William had quite an interesting upbringing.

And at a very early age, his father died.

And as he started getting into his college years, he really gave well to worldly influences.

He was a frequenter of parties and gambling, things of that, and he really had no time for God.

In fact, William was so frustrated with people that considered themselves Christians that he would just blast them right out loud.

He went to college, he met his best friend William Pitt, and the 2 of them began to talk a little bit about politics.

They struck an interest in politics, and William Wilberforce, actually at the age of 21, was voted into the parliament over in London.

William was taking a country to into the, excuse me, a trip into the countryside of Britain and there it's reported that he began to read his Bible in the morning and evening.

He engrossed himself in the scripture and at the end of that trip he was a born again Christian.

He got to the end of the trip and the political realm was ready to start up again and he thought to himself, you know, God really can't use a politician.

There's no point of me going back to the political realm.

I've got to maybe be a pastor or full-time ministry, something like that.

But William Pitt, his best friend, stepped in for a little bit of counseling.

And the 2 of them began to think and strategize and dream.

They thought to themselves, wouldn't it be incredible, wouldn't it be neat if we could eliminate slavery?

See the 2, these 2 young college-age students could see something that nobody else could.

These 2 young people could envision a Britain and her colonies without slavery.

William Wilberforce then unleashed himself onto the world.

And I would submit to you this, the day that William became unashamed about his relationship with Christ was the day William was unleashed for the cause of Christ.

The day that William was unashamed about his relationship with Christ was the day he was unleashed for the cause of Christ.

The 2 of them thought, strategized, dreamed, got ready to rid Britain of slavery.

So they started telling their inner circle about it and what do you think happened?

He went on with his life, committed to eliminating slavery at all costs.

Sickness struck William many times but it didn't stop him.

Family tragedies plagued him but it didn't stop him.

Many even threatened his own life but it didn't stop him.

Now along the way I'll note that William won quite a few battles.

He won small wars if you will along the way.

He ran a program for sending missionaries to India.

He fed the hungry and he put in some legislation to rid the world of animal cruelty, but he never lost track, never lost sight of his true purpose to eliminate slavery from the world of Britain.

At the age of 73, stricken with the flu, William spoke at a town hall meeting.

His life was wrapping up, but he still wanted to eliminate slavery.

He was still preaching, still teaching, still telling others.

And then in 1833, the Slavery Abolition Act was passed abolishing slavery in most of the British empires.

So I paused just a moment longer in front of his tomb.

There, etched on his gravesite for all the world to see, for the rest of time, were these words.

His name will ever be specially identified with those exertions which, by the blessing of God, removed from England the guilt of African slave trade and prepared the way for abolition of slavery in every colony of the empire.

In the persecution of these objects, he relied not in vain, but on God.

In the progress, he was called to endure great obloquy and great opposition, but he, however, outlived it all.

What laid the foundation for the success of William Wilberforce?

You see, the day William became unashamed about his relationship with Christ was the day he was unleashed for the cause of Christ.

The day William became unashamed about Christ was the day he was unleashed for the cause of Christ.

He is calling for a generation, a church, a you, to become so consumed with 1 single purpose.

A generation which will unashamedly in their love for Christ be unleashed for the cause of Christ.

A generation which will not just unashamedly proclaim the truths of Revelation 14 messages, but live them.

And I firmly believe, as this generation does, as we do, by the grace of God we can see Jesus come again in our generation.

A life so consumed with a purpose from the master no matter what your vocation is?

A life so consumed with 1 purpose for the master, no matter your occupation?

People come to GYC, they get inspired, they partake in the seminars, they get trained, they get all ready, all juiced up, ready to conquer the world, but then they leave with this sense of insecurity.

You know, it's nice that you've come to our conference and participated, but if you're not in full-time ministry, you're out of the herd.

So our team deduced we need a theme that tackles this head-on.

It's not at all the reality that God uses only those in full-time ministry for his work.

Sebastien Braxton

But Now

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this opportunity.

We thank you for waking us up this morning.

I ask that you will please bless those who are traveling in today.

Thank you so much that we are here at GYC and we can receive a blessing.

I ask that you please empty us of ourselves and fill us with your Holy Spirit.

I pray especially that you'll be with Sebastian this morning.

Anoint his lips and help him to speak your word.

Let him be a vessel for you Thank you so much for loving us and dying on the cross for us and we can't wait for that great GYC Reunion in heaven in your precious name.

Amen Oh GYC do you love Jesus are you sure you love Jesus?

That's the reason we all are to love Him.

How many of you, that's what made you get up at 6 in the morning because you love Jesus, right?

Amen This morning I'm going to share a message with you entitled but now But now Before we jump into the message and while the rest of the latecomers are strolling in, I'm assuming with their Bibles, I just want to ask you guys 4 favors.

And this is going to be something that will help set the tone for our meetings throughout the mornings.

My first request from USGYC this morning is to pray and to be intentional about this not being a regular meeting.

As GYC has been in existence for about 8 years.

As an organization, we exist to help ourselves not exist.

It is a movement and GYC as a movement therefore means it is not an event.

It is not something that happens for 5 days at a convention center while we stay in nice hotels eating food that needs a lot of prayer But I believe that we can give them a chance this morning we'll see what they have for us, amen?

And what that means is we must always be moving towards our goal, which is to finish God's work in this generation.

If that is the goal, and if GYC is a movement, then you are GYC.

As long as the feet of young people are fast about their father's business then GYC is a movement.

GYC dies when your feet as young people stop moving about your father's business.

Thus, I need 2 requests as my second favor.

There are those who have come to GYC for the first time.

And for you, my challenge is you came as you are, we welcome you as you are, but our prayer is that you would not stay as you are.

We must always be seeking higher ground and as a result of that if this is your first GYC, pray in your heart and be intentional in your mind that this will not be a regular weekend.

I'm not going to go back to do more of the same.

This is actually the bottom of the mountain.

It's when you leave GYC that you understand spiritual mountain climbing to the true mountaintop.

For those of you who have come to GYC before, I know that for many of us who've attended for many years you can become disillusioned.

How many more great speakers can we come up with?

How many more great and powerful seminars do we need to continue to go through for every generation.

We must be improving as a movement and that means for those of you who've attended for years, we need your presence as well because God does not just use speakers, he also uses attendees.

And there are young people here in this place for the next 5 days, 4 days, who may not make it to morning or evening devotions for whatever reason, but you will see them in the hallway.

They may be living in your room next to you and therefore God needs you to be an agent of change.

And so with the theme unashamed, we have to leave behind all the political correctness that keeps us bound from being true to the calling that God has upon our lives.

If we are truly that generation then that means we must be with no other generation was.

So my challenge is if you see a brother or sister doing something that does not represent the Spirit of Christ, tap them on the shoulder and call them out.

If you see a young sister a little too close to a young brother, tap them on the shoulder.

My third request and favor is I hope that you guys bring a pen and paper when you come to listen to the Word of God.

We have this mindset I've heard everything that's ever been preached.

We have this mindset that what else could come from this book.

But the truth of the matter is lives are continually changed by the power of the Word of God.

And that means for us to think arrogantly that we can get nothing from when the Bible is being opened.

This is in actuality the thoughts of God being expressed to humanity.

So, as my recommendation always is, you take out a piece of paper, pen or pencil, You ask yourself 3 questions about every sermon.

Because some sermons are hard to listen to.

Maybe you guys don't know what I'm talking about.

Maybe your pastor is just the most dynamic speaker in North America.

Number 1, what is it that I heard in this sermon that I've never heard before?

You're always going to learn something new.

Second question, where was my mind when the word of God was being preached?

Now you know sometimes you're listening to the Bible being preached and your mind starts wondering, yes?

You don't know why, maybe you ate that pizza too late, or you were hanging out with your friends a little strong last night, but your mind starts wandering, and that's not a negative thing.

You need to write that down because even though the preacher may be talking about, but now, the Holy Spirit is trying to talk to you about your relationship.

Because where 2 or 3 are gathered, there He is in the midst of them.

And God has a message for every single person seated here.

Where was your mind when the Word of God was being preached?

And lastly, what am I going to do now that I've heard this message?

You know, when you look at creation, which is in question right now, We say that God created the world by his word.

That means that the word of God always produces action.

So that means we live in a world right now that when God spoke to a whale, it will swallow a man and not digest him.

When God speaks to a donkey, it will open its mouth.

When God tells the sun to stop while Joshua is fighting, the sun will stop.

But there's 1 part of creation that is, keeps the power that is within the Word of God captive.

God can speak to us and we will do nothing.

Simply because he's bound by the will, we must choose to surrender to the Word of God.

Everything that is in opposition to the Word of God.

So your third question is, what am I going to do now that I've heard this message?

My last request is about a 4 letter word.

Deniza Hush

Atheism, Mysticism, New Age, Occultism, or Christianity?

It is such a privilege to be part of GYC, isn't it?

I had to fly all over from England to United States and it was a very long and turbulent journey.

And as we fly we experienced, that was at least for the first time in my life, some very, very shocking turbulent winds.

And as I was sitting next to my husband, I started, I'm not a panicky person.

You will learn more about me in a minute, but I'm not a panicky person at all.

But as I was sitting thinking about the height, the altitude at which we were flying and feeling the shaking of the airplane I started being very very claustrophobic and the panic was taking over me and I said Lord I don't know how this flight is going to end up, but if you want me to speak to people at GYC, you have to get me there safely.

And also I said, Lord, if you want me to talk about the miracles that you've performed in my life, I need a miracle today.

Jesus is so gracious, and the turbulent winds just stopped suddenly, and we could fly safely, and I was calm and happy.

I was preparing for a youth congress, much smaller than this 1 here.

I was just a newly baptized Seventh-day Adventist person, and I got up very early.

I already went through my Sabbath school lesson.

I sung a few hymns very quietly in my bedroom, and just thinking about the times to be on time for the train and meeting with some friends.

We were traveling together to another little town in Croatia.

That day I was supposed to give a testimony, a testimony about how God worked in my life, how God converted a Muslim youth that was struggling with atheism, mysticism, New Age, and occultism.

And as I was getting ready, suddenly I heard a little tap at the door, and my father peeped in.

As he walked in the room, he noticed that I had my Bible, my lesson book, my hymn book open at the table.

I was ready to leave, but he didn't like what he saw.

He grabbed my hymn book and tore it into pieces.

He insisted that this was the time and this was the moment when I was supposed to declare myself.

I was supposed to declare whether I believed that the Bible was the ultimate revelation of God.

I was shaking with fear, not because I was so frightened of my dad's stature and strength.

At the time I was an undefeated karate champion from Croatia.

I was preparing for competitions, world champions, just as much as European.

I was not frightened of my father's fists.

But that day I decided that I will surrender my pride, my strength, my ability to defend myself and declare that Jesus was indeed my God and my Savior.

Trembling and crying, I made the decision I would not fight my dad or defend myself in any way.

And besides, it was His job to protect me as His child.

With a silent, quiet voice, I said, yes, dad, I believe Jesus is God.

Suddenly, with streams of curses, he stepped backward, and I saw that he was just trying to gain further leverage for what was about to come to happen.

The next thing I saw was his fist flying towards my face.

I anticipated a full blow, but it never reached me.

His fist flying through the mid-air just stopped, and as he struggled to push further towards me, He couldn't move.

Then he stepped back and tried again, and his fist wouldn't go any further.

In his confusion, he tried again to punch me, but the same happened again.

Not because he was sorry for me, but because his fist was stopped by an unseen hand.

While this was happening, I recalled Psalm 37, 4, promising protection of God's angels to those who fear God.

I heard a voice saying to me, there are 3 lines of angels standing around you, encamping around you, and your Father will not harm you." Diabolically angry, my dad started spitting at me as he couldn't reach me, And while he was shouting, the whole house got up, my 3, my 2, 3 sisters, 2 brothers, my mother came in.

I was just praying, shaking, this time not in fear, but praying for my family.

I was frightened that the Lord will bring the ceiling down and that they will just perish like those in a Philistines' temple with Samson.

I had to pray for them, And the Lord was merciful.

The last words that I heard that day was shouting of my father saying that I should never again come back to, that I should never again come back home and be part of the family.

I was born into a Muslim family, into a liberal Muslim family, as a second of 6 children in liberal in Croatia, in Zagreb.

My parents were very hard-working parents, very loving, and very sacrificial.

I was brought up in a socialistic country where religion, any religion, was ridiculed.

But my father took time to instruct us as children to be proud of our Islamic origin, to be proud of our lifestyle and our religion.

As a child in elementary school, I used every opportunity to witness to my schoolmates and my teachers, and although no 1 could understand what I was on about, I felt very, very special.

It was only later when, as a teenager, my father started being more strict on us.

He wouldn't like us mixing with so-called Christian youth, although very few people in Croatia at the time were truly Christian.

And he imposed lots of rules on us, what I didn't like as a person.

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