Commissioned to Love

Chapter 1

(excerpt)

Jesus Is the Way

IN THIS BOOK, WE SHARE a lot of thoughts about how we should be living. But before we start sharing ideas and concepts, we want to clearly state that Jesus is the way! There are no methods, processes, or operations that lead to salvation other than believing in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. These pages will share our insights, passions, and beliefs, but they mean nothing without the power of Christ behind them. Whether we are ministering to those in the streets or preaching in the church, Jesus is the only way to eternal life. He is Lord!

We share for, in honor of, and because of our belief in Jesus Christ. He told us in John 12:32. “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Jesus, We Lift You Up!

A New Age of Leadership:

Leading, Living, Loving, and Learning
There is a question being asked all over this country, whether in the classrooms, at kitchen tables on Main Street, in boardrooms of corporate America, or in pulpits of the Church. The discussion is framed as succession planning or transition in leadership, and it simply asks, “Where are the next generation of leaders coming from?”

While we (John and Anthony) represent the next generation, we do not feel that we should be held as the “gold standard” models for the next generation. Instead, our goal is to discuss and share what God has put in our hearts about leadership and especially the need in these days for the church to thoughtfully engage issues such as justice, inequality, and diversity.

We are the children of the promise. We are old enough to lead, yet young enough to learn. We are more the beneficiaries of the greatness of our teachers, yet now we are called to help heal the physical, spiritual, financial, and social ills of our time. We are two young men of God, striving to live out the call of God on our lives; we are upholding the legacies of our family while charting a new course in these last days.

Leadership, The Next Generation

We both have observed leaders all our lives. With great leaders in our families, communities, and churches, we could not help but be shaped by their words, wisdom, and actions. Similar to the pull of God that has motivated and moved our forebearers, we are drawn to the crisis of our time and its void in leadership.

The world needs leadership from the next generation. Our generation has not directly suffered the depths of the Great Depression, experienced the collaborative force of a Civil Rights Movement, or the victories of women’s rights like leadership of previous generations did. Ours is the generation that has been scarred by the drug epidemic in America. We have devastatingly lost loved ones and friends to AIDS and cancer. Voices are silent in the boardroom, and hands are missing in the marketplace because they are behind prison bars—caught in the prison industrial complex.