Hi. My name is Dan O'Leary
and I am the Lead Pastor of a church plant on Long Island, NY named Arise
Community Church. I felt it was necessary to open this blog with an explanation
of our basic message and our basic call to the community. It is our motto in a
way, and it is "Live Brave" (actually inspired by an episode of Eli Stone).
There
are so many cheats, cowards, and worse yet, apathetic people living in our
world. One of the greatest evils is the indifference of good men. Another one
of the greatest evils is the pride of the church and the judgment it leaves
with people. To stand up and say to the world that grace, honor, and love are
true tenets of the church, and to reject the pride of the current trend in
Christianity without becoming judgmental ourselves, is to live brave. To extend
grace to the worst of sinners, even the ones who attend church every day (because they can be the meanest), is a
brave thing to do. To hold people accountable for their actions, and to state
the truth, especially when the truth is the very thing people do not want to
hear, is a way of living brave. Basically, it is showing honor, courage,
loyalty, right conduct, and love in our every day lives, instead of merely
talking about it.
I
wrote an answer to the question, "What does it mean to live brave?"
for our church plant proposal. I would like to share it with you.
"Living Brave is about actually living an inspired life instead of just waiting to die. It’s about not being ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s about having honor, faith, hope, and most of all, love. It’s about not backing down when times get rough. It’s about doing the right thing – especially when the right thing is the hardest thing. Living Brave is a call from God to His people to stand for Him, help others, and give Him glory. To live brave is to be transformed by God’s grace, being free from the chains of sin, supporting His amazing story."
When I asked my good friend Jason Poblete to describe in his terms what living a brave life for God looked like, he responded with this:
“A life lived
bravely and courageously is a sign of selling out for Love. The concept of
living a brave life is more than facing certain situations with strength and a
confidence. To live brave is to live for Christ in every aspect of life. It
requires us to step out of our comfort zone and purposely seek the unfamiliar,
the uncomfortable and the fears that keep human beings in our ‘comfort bubbles.’
“When we declare a brave life, it is the first step in striving fervently for Christ. To live anything but a brave life is to be lukewarm in a relationship with Him. He doesn’t want the lukewarm. He wants the brave. He wants those that are on fire for Him and are stepping out of their comfortable, safe, and routine world and jumping into a life-long pursuit of the Lord.”
We are actually writing a book together entitled “A Brave Life”, and this is most likely the rough draft of the prologue or introduction. Jason is a student at Penn State University, and this book is a written attempt for both of us to describe and be held accountable for the life we so desperately want to live for God.
Living brave is an every day battle. It is the refusal of mediocrity, selfishness, poor choices unchecked, and pretending to be God. It is the acceptance of the call that God laid upon Joshua and the entire nation of Israel, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).
Thanks for reading, and I look forward to doing this more often. Be blessed and strive to live a brave life.
--
With Honor,
Dan
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