Rebelution Conference-Final Session

Last Session-Collaboration, Alex, Brett and Gregg Harris

Alex started out the last session with three simple things we should be.

• Not Just Alone-He told us how one horse can pull 2,500 pounds, but two horses could pull a grand total of 12,500 pounds together! We need to work with other people and our efforts will be magnified. "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
• Not Just With Peers-Just young people doing things together can be disastrous without some mature adult influence. "He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm."
  
• Not Just With People-Companions can be movies, books, websites or magazines. Alex said that in 1998 the average person spent 9.5 hours a day consuming media. That is far more time than we usually spend with human companions. Media is very effective in shaping the culture because most people don't think of them as companions. We need to realize how it influences us and evaluate whether it is positive or not.

Mr. Gregg Harris then came out and said a couple things to the parents. He suggested that families "protect" their evening time as family time and do some family devotional things such as reading the Bible, singing worship songs and praying. He strongly encouraged the families to work together and not be so individualistic. Also, as much as parents need teens to be on their team, teens need parents to have a team for them to be on.

Then Brett took over, giving us list of practical things that we should do.

1. Have a Hero: He said that a hero is a human shaped target, someone whose character you want to emulate. It is important, though, to have heroes in different areas of life (e.g. spiritual hero, scholastic hero.) We need people to look at that inspire us to be godly.
2. Make Friends With Dead People: No, this doesn't mean to go hang out at the graveyard. It means to read great books by deceased authors, who lived in different times and cultures and will have different insights into life.
3. Take Advantage Of The Movement: http://www.therebelution.com/about/
4. Find The Secret Rebelutionaries: There are sure to be some people that have some qualities of a Rebelutionary that have never heard of the Rebelution. You just have to recruit them!
5. Walk With The Wise To Become Wise: Brett encouraged us here, to ask a godly older person what they wish they had known and done when they were our age.
6. Make God Your Ultimate Companion: We cannot feel victimized by the lack of a good family life or a supportive church if we don't have them, because God is always there for us.
   

All three guys closed out by giving us some final application. We need to throw off weight that's holding us back, stuff in our lives that isn't necessarily sin, but isn't helping us. "You already have a life, but is it the life you want? Are you willing to change something to give you the life you want?" Alex asked. "It may surprise you, but you need to change something in order to change." They gave a 30 Day Challenge to us all. The idea is that you give up something for thirty days, such as watching TV, IMing or some other activity and then add something better to your schedule such as reading inspiring books, or studying the Bible. I'd encourage you to do try it!