“History Makers are note takers”

-M. Hamon

“…and risk takers”

-Me

The Law of Risk: The more you’re willing to risk, the more God can use you. And if you’re willing to risk everything, then there is nothing God can’t do in you and through you.

I figure I spend about about 15 hrs. a week reading the bible, reading daily plans, reading books, preparing topic talks, managing the armor group’s training and managing the phoenix now charity’s needs. I wish I had the ability to do that full time, but that is for a future yet to come. It will though.

It all began with taking a risk.

When I read books like Mark Batterson’s “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day” I am humbled by the risk that guys like Mark took to follow their calling. He gave up a full basketball scholarship at the #3 business school in the nation to attend an unaccredited 2 year bible college because he had the courage to follow his calling of preaching. His friends and family thought he was crazy to do that. But Mark was strong enough in faith, however, to believe that God’s calling for him was not crazy. Not at all.

In context, my risks seem so small in comparison. I know I’m not supposed to compare myself to others, but its only natural to do so. I am human. In my world, the risk was “What if people don’t like this new program?”, “What if people no longer like me” (a lot don’t and I’m ok with that), “What if this isn’t real?”, “What if I lose all my money in the charity?”, “What if giving up my former life turns out to be the worst decision of my life?“.

We hear all the time about minimizing risk in life, about risk management, etc. It is society’s goal to make you not take that risk. That is not by accident, either.

One of the things that makes taking risk so difficult is that in not doing so, nothing is gained and nothing is lost. Not taking risks in life is playing it safe. But is it really?

That’s a really important concept that sums up why taking risk is so hard. Its far safer not to do so. I have a fairly high tolerance for risk, but even so it was the most difficult and scary thing I’ve ever done in my life. To walk away from almost everything I was took A LOT. I guess that’s where my risk moment was, the ‘tipping point’ having heard God’s calling and accepting and answering that call. It meant no longer focusing on me, on worldly possessions, on frivolous partying, living only for the moment, etc.

Taking risks to me is synonymous with having faith. You have got to have faith in order to take risks. And in taking risks your are practicing your faith. I believe this is what God intended of us, to use our faith to take risks in life to accomplish his purpose.

I am happy to say that taking that risk through faith was the best decision of my life, and now that I am able to come out of the pain & uncertainty I went through I don’t regret a single moment of it.

There’s so much waiting to be accomplished because I took that risk.

I am going to grow the armor-UP program through the church to reach as many people as possible, I continue to get better at preaching (aka topic talks). I am slowly building the charity’s investment portfolio and its distributions (the first one goes out Sept. 3rd!). I am working on the foundation for my men’s group – God’s Lions: Blueprints for Leadership, and will have it up and running before the end of the year. I also have been called to create a faith based social media app, which I have no idea how I will get there but I know I will. And I continue to hope and to pray that my life will affect change in others to see the light within themselves, and start asking their own questions, like “What has God called me to do?”