Take a Risk!
A monthly publication from Risk Takers for Christ
Volume 10, Issue 6 June 2019
moving believers from the sidelines to the frontlines
Special Vision Issue
Be Thou My Vision
by Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
Be Thou My Vision is a traditional Christian hymn whose words are based on a sixth-century Irish poem by Dallan Forgaill. The more common English version was translated by Eleanor Hull in 1912. Since 1919, it has been commonly sung to the Irish folk tune, Slane.
Now for the application...
When I launched Risk Takers for Christ in 2011, my goal was to “light a fire” under my fellow Christians. Having been a believer since 1977 and involved in prison ministry since 1987, I had witnessed first-hand a tendency amongst churchgoers to slip into a state of spiritual complacency. They had their “fire insurance” and were on their way to heaven, but it was all too easy to rest on those laurels.
Play it safe - avoid major sins - but don’t take any chances. Just get to the “finish line” with as few bumps and bruises as possible.
Well, that wasn’t good enough for me and I’m sure it’s not good enough for God. In fact, Jesus taught on that very subject in Matthew 25, the Parable of the Servants, in which He called one servant “wicked and lazy” for burying his Master’s talents.
And so, I embarked on a motivational ministry, doing as much speaking and writing on the subject as possible. However, over the past eight years, Risk Takers has evolved into more of an “action” ministry than a teaching one. Simply put, we have become best-known as a ministry to prisoners and at-risk youth, putting our faith into practice by ministering to the least, the lost and the lonely.
I am still more than glad to host one of our Dare 2B Daring men’s conferences, to preach at revival services, or to speak at a missions conference. However, it seems as if God has brought me back to my prison ministry roots, while adding a twist by including what I call “preventative ministry” to at-risk youth.
That being said, I have spent the past several months - actually the past several years - ask- ing God to help me set some goals for Risk Takers as we seek to please Him by maximiz- ing our ministry potential. What follows is my/our/His vision for the future of Risk Takers for Christ.
- To expand our Living H2O Initiative by recruiting and establishing additional volun- teer teams so that we are ministering to at-risk youth somewhere in Indian River County 5-7 days per week. Who knows, maybe God wants this ministry model to be copied in other parts of the country, too.
- To form additional prison ministry basketball, softball and soccer teams in order to better reach the 100,000 inmates in the Florida Department of Corrections.
- To conduct an annual prison ministry trip to Kenya, where we last ministered in 2014. We continue to receive invitations to return to that spiritually-hun- gry country on a regular basis.
- To exponentially grow the readership of our Dare 2B Daring daily devotionals and our monthly newsletter, Take a Risk.
I realize that’s a pretty full plate, but I’m not getting any younger, Jesus is coming back soon, and an estimated 80,000 souls enter a Christ-less eternity every day.
Will you help Risk Takers for Christ reach those goals by praying, giving and volunteering as you are able? I am asking God to touch the hearts of His people to see all of these things - and more - accomplished over the next 10 years.
May my vision be His, His vision be mine, and our vision be yours.
Be Thou My Vision (lyrics)
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art. Thou my best Thought, by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word; I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord; Thou my great Father, I Thy true son; Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight; Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight; Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tow’r: Raise Thou me heav’nward, O Pow’r of my pow’r.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise, Thou mine Inheritance, now and always: Thou and Thou only, first in my heart, High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
High King of Heaven, my victory won, May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heav’n’s Sun! Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
California Dreaming
by Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
Written by John and Michelle Phillips and recorded by the Mamas & the Papas in 1965, California Dreaming was ranked #89 by Rolling Stone on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Well, I promise I won’t sing, and this article has nothing to do with California, but I do have a dream that I’d like to share with you. It starts with a white Ford Econoline van...
Basically, my dream is to purchase a 12-seat van with adequate storage in the back. Not only would we use it to transport our sports teams to prisons throughout the State of Florida, but we would also use it as part of our Living H2O Initiative.
Imagine, if you will, our van pulling up at a neighborhood park with our Risk Takers for Christ logo emblazoned on the side. Out pours a team of volunteers ready to engage local youth in a friendly game of basketball, and to share the gospel - and God’s love - with them.
First, they hand out sports-themed gospel literature. Then, they distribute free bottles of ice-cold water. And then they open the back of the van and hand out free sneakers and basketballs that have been donated by area sporting goods stores and/or purchased at steep discounts.
Just a dream? Maybe. I guess it all depends on whether I’m the only one seeing it in my sleep or if you - and others - are having the same dream, too.
If you would like to help make my dream a reality, please email me at dale@risktakersforchrist.org or simply make a donation to our new Van Fund. You can donate online at www.risktakersforchrist.org or by mail- ing a check to PO Box 651421, Vero Beach FL 32965
Upcoming Risk Takers Events:
June 8: Basketball at Lake CI, Clermont FL
July 13: Basketball at Sumter CI, Bushnell FL
August 10: Basketball at Marion CI, Lowell FL
September 14: Basketball at Avon Park CI,Avon Park FL
Quips & Quotes About Vision
“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight and no vision.” - Helen Keller
“The person who sees the difficulties so clearly that he does not discern the possibilities cannot inspire a vision in others.” - J. Oswald Sanders
“Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground.” - Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt
“You can't stop dreaming, just because the night never seems to end.” - Curtis Tyrone Jones
“It is the size of my vision and not the size of the chal- lenges that will dictate the size of my accomplishments.”
- Craig D. Lounsbrough
“The future belongs to the dreamers, not to the critics. The future belongs to the people who follow their heart no matter what the critics say, because they truly believe in their vision.” - Pres. Donald Trump
"The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious." - John Sculley
"Vision is the art of seeing the invisible." - Jonathan Swift
“If the dream is not bigger than me, I have mistaken an idea for a dream.” - Craig D. Lounsbrough
"Vision without execution is hallucination.” - Thomas Edison
“Vision is not enough. It must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps, we must step up the stairs.” - Vaclav Havel
"If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"In order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles." - David Ben-Gurion
"The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it." - Michelangelo
Seeing The Big Picture
by Os Hillman, TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1
"Everything is against me!" (Genesis 42:36
Eventually, Benjamin along with Jacob's other sons learned that their brother Joseph was second in com- mand in Egypt. Joseph revealed his identity, and Jacob was reunited with his son whom he had not seen for more than 13 years. He had thought Joseph to be dead.
So often we believe our dreams are dead. There seems to be nothing left in our world to live for. Everything appears to be against us. During these times, God is doing His deepest behind-the-scenes work. During these times, God is performing a deeper work in each of us - a work that cannot be seen.
When clients began leaving my ad agency and it dried up for no apparent reason, it appeared "everything was against me." I could not see that God was orchestrating a whole new calling on my life. At the moment, it seemed like the worst thing in the world. It seemed that I had been a failure. But God said, "No." All the years before had been preparation for what God's ultimate calling would be. One of God's methods for directing His chil- dren's steps is through drying up resources: a job loss, a career change, or a disaster. In these times we are willing to listen more intently, and to seek God in ways we would not normally do. C.S. Lewis once wrote, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our con- science, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." [C.S.Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1962 , 93.]
Reprinted by permission from the author. Os Hillman is an interna- tional speaker and author of 5 books on workplace calling. To learn more, visit http:www.MarketplaceLeaders.org"//
Our Staff & Board Members
Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
Rev. Larry “Chap” Lilly, Vice President
Christopher Glading, Director of Programs and Publicity
Rebekah Bailey, Director of Communications
Trustees: Rev. Thomas Griffin, Michael Kelley, Steve Navarro, Dr. Matt Parris, Rev. Greg Sempsrott Advisory Council: Robert Bartosz, Steve Schoch
Take a Risk! is a publication of Risk Takers for Christ, PO Box 651421, Vero Beach FL 32965-1421. Excerpts may be published or reproduced providing proper attribution is given.