David Donnan

I hate to blog too much about myself but I have a great example for an illustration. This past weekend I went on the North Georgia Canopy Zip-line tour (which I recommend). The tour was a great experience that helped me stretch my fear of heights to new levels.

My favorite part was at the end when you have to rappel down off of a stand at the end of the course. I was a little… well very worried about if I would be able to do this. As I made my approach up to the edge I was getting ready to talk myself into it, but before I could start I was already rappelling.

See our guide knew I was scared and before I got to decision time she gently pushed me out. I was able to go where I wanted because someone pushed me through the hard part. Now to tie this into our relationship with God, we always want to go deeper but it’s hard sometimes. That’s why it’s important to be in a church. We can have those small group leaders or pastors that help push us past the hard parts so we can rappel deeper into our relationship with Jesus.

Our current series for youth is called the Battle With In. Over the past two weeks and for the next two weeks we will be focusing on temptation. The big idea is that when we are tempted there is always more at stake then we realize. Sunday Night Surge is on Sunday from 5p.m. – 7p.m. Element 1 is Wednesday from 6:15p.m. – 7:30p.m.

A myth about leadership is that you need to be in a position of leadership to influence others. The thought is that I can’t possible change anyone’s life, I’m just a ______ . We end up limiting ourselves based on where we are in life.

One man who influenced me the most was an offensive line coach I had named Gene Harpe. Before I met him I was an overwhelmed, unconfident, freshmen offensive lineman. One day, after an especially horrible practice, he wrote me a letter saying he believed in me and thought I had the potential to play like a junior that season. Some of the smallest things can have the hugest impact. I consider myself to be a confident person now because he believed in me and later on I understood how God believes in me.

The truth is that we have been uniquely placed where we are. Sometimes it’s not the head coach or the pastor but the position coach or small group leader that can help facilitate life change. My question is what are you doing with your influence?