Courage to Surrender

S. Steffey George

Description

Courage to Surrender is an engaging story of hope that will captivate anyone interested in finding a compassionate community of Jesuss disciples. It is a story of how nine American teenagers from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, came to discover how to be the church; not the church of twentieth century in America, but a hopeful future-resurrected church for the twenty-first century. It is a church fellowship where people love one another with the extravagant love and grace of God, one in which a love for those in need flows out of their relationships with one another. It is a story of transformation, not only of individuals, but of a diverse fellowship of believers. In it you will find pain and healing, questions and answers, struggles, masks removed, radically change lives, some humor, and a lot of hope. It is written for young adults seeking meaning and purpose in life and for mature Christians frustrated with the fragmentation of the church and its preoccupation with rules, programs, buildings, and control. Nearly every chapter has its surprises. On first reading, it is simply a fascinating tale but on another level, it addresses the disparities in the world and the search for significance within us all. Readers will be encouraged and challenged.

Informations

• Publié par: Inspiring Voices
• Date de parution: 15 février 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781462411764
• Langue: English

Extrait

COURAGE to SURRENDER
A Journey to Meaning and Hope
George S. Steffey

 
 
Copyright © 2016 George S. Steffey.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
 
Inspiring Voices
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Bloomington, IN 47403
www.inspiringvoices.com
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
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ISBN: 978-1-4624-1175-7 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4624-1176-4 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016901857
 
 
Inspiring Voices rev. date: 2/15/2016
Contents
Preface
 
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty One
Twenty Two
Twenty Three
Twenty Four
Twenty Five
Twenty Six
Twenty Seven
Twenty Eight
Twenty Nine
Thirty
Thirty One
Thirty Two
Thirty Three
Thirty Four
Thirty Five
Thirty Six
Thirty Seven
Thirty Eight
Thirty Nine
Forty
Forty One
 
Epilogue
Appendix A   Church Life Traditions
Acknowledgements
Preface
C ourage to Surrender is a story of how nine American teenagers from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania come to discover how to be the church; not the church of the 20 th Century in America, but a hopeful future resurrected church for the 21 st Century. It is a church fellowship where people love one another with the extravagant love and grace of God. One in which a love for those in need flows out of their relationship with one another. The story begins in 1984 and plays out in the second half of 2007.
In 1984 those teens are:
Stan Beckley, a typical suburban white 16 year old who lives in a wealthy suburban community, loves computer games, plays soccer, and dabbles with alcohol and marijuana. His father is an executive at an investment company and his mother suffers from depression and alcoholism, but she and the family are in denial about her addiction. He has one older brother who was at the top of his high school graduation class and is on a soccer scholarship at a division one university. He also has a younger sister. In 2007 he has become the owner and CEO of a billion dollar internet marketing company.
Brandon Bryce, a middle class white 16 year old who attends a racially mixed suburban high school and is an outstanding student and quarterback on the football team and runs track. His father is a teacher at his high school, mother is a teacher in an elementary school in the same community. He is an only child. In 2007 he is a Christian missionary in the Sudan.
Mel Carr, a 15 years old, white, upper middle class young man who goes to private high school, is a good student and is on the debate team. His father is a computer company executive and an elder in a suburban evangelical church. His mother stays at home. He has two younger sisters and a younger brother. In 2007 he is the senior pastor of a popular mega church.
Jorge Cruz, a Hispanic/African American who is 16 years old and lives in a poor urban neighborhood. He attends a city high school, is an average student, plays football but is not very good, occasionally uses drugs, and attends a predominantly African American church. His father is from Cuba but he has never met him. His mother is African American and a single parent. He has one older sister who has a child, three younger brothers, and a younger sister. The older sister has a different father than he does. And his three younger brothers and younger sister are fathered by a third man who is in and out of the house. The family is on welfare. His mother works part-time under the table. Jorge often sleeps at friend’s homes. In 2007 he is a youth pastor at an urban African American church.
Misha Jenkins, a 16 year old African American who was a poor student when she was younger but in 1984 is an outstanding student attending a church run private alternative school. She used to dabble with drugs and was sexually active in her early teens. She is artistic. Her father is a minister. Her mother is a nurse and she has one younger sister. In 2007 she is married to Jorge Cruz and they are team youth pastors at her father’s church. The have twin boys.
Odell Ogden, a 16 year old African American who lives in the same community as Brandon. He is a poor student and is a wide receiver on the football team. He has drunk and used marijuana from the age of 12 and became an addicted at age 14. He used to sell drugs. In 1984 he has been in recovery for about a year. He does not know who his father is and has an older brother who is in jail. He lives with his mother, grandmother, younger brother, and younger sister. They are on welfare. They infrequently attend an evangelical Black church. In 2007 he is the Director of Addiction and AIDS Services for Henley Health Care Center. The story in this novel is told in the first person from his perspective.
James Smith, a 16 year old African American, lives in the academic and professional community of Oakland. He is a good student who loves acting and he plays basketball. He has a younger brother. His father is a professor at a university and his mother is a nurse. In 2007 none of the others know where he is.
Kara Stevens, a 15 year old white girl who lives in the suburbs and attends the same private school as Mel. She is an average student and a cheerleader. Her parents are both physicians. She has a younger brother. The family attends a one-fits-all downtown church. In 2007 none of the others know where she is.
Emily Stewire, an upper class, white 16 year old, who lives in a different wealthy suburban community than Stan. Academically she is at the top of her class and the class Vice President. She sings and acts and is an outstanding soccer player. In her childhood she suffered depression. Her parents are divorced and she lives with her mother who is an alcoholic. She has two younger sisters who live with them too. Her father is a millionaire bank president and lives nearby. In 2007 she is married to Brandon and with him serves as a missionary in the Sudan. They have two boys and a girl.
These teens, when they are juniors and seniors in high school, bond together on a trip to Kenya, Africa in 1985. After high school they go their separate ways and then when six of them are brought together twenty two years later, in 2007, their lives are turned up-side-down and a new journey begins.
Jesus is misunderstood today because Christianity gets mix in with so much other stuff. As a result the Church becomes a self-centered institution.
If you long to experience authentic biblical Christian discipleship or you are someone looking for meaning and purpose that you can get passionate about and that address problems in the world, then, this story may challenge you. My desire is that it will enjoy reading it, be encouraged as you read, and be left with a lot of hope.
One
My alarm clock unlocked a deep sleep interrupting a wonderful dream. I was surrounded by family, close friends that I had made throughout my life, and by many others who I felt knew me and whom were known by me. We were at a beach party, the sun was warm, the ocean breeze was cool, the food was good. It was in such a deep, peaceful, sleep. It was a dream that made me fight my return to reality. I didn’t want to wake up.
As I hit the off button, clock numbers glowed 4:30 a.m. I threw the covers off, swung my feet to the floor, and walked groggily into the bath room. Turning the light switch on was like the flash bulb from a studio photographers’ camera.
After putting on my running clothes I went out into the dark morning for my daily run. The air was fresh and the stars still sparkled.
Running for about ten minutes and going through my stretching routine finally woke up my body. I began to run again; settling into a nice pace that felt smooth and energizing. Reflecting on the new day made me feel fully alive. The birds also welcomed the new day with their singing. Then, strangely, I began thinking about my life journey.
I thought, I am thirty-eight years old and have been trying to follow Jesus for twenty years, yet I still feel I haven’t found a church where I feel safe and at home. Where are the people who love me like they love Jesus, who care more about those who suffer than they do about themselves? I reviewed the five or six churches where I’d been a member or a regular participant. There were even a couple of churches where I’d spent more time at meetings and programs than I did with my wife and kids. I’d never found a church that felt to me the way I thought it must have felt at the beginning of the church after Pentecost, or even two hundred years after Pentecost. I wondered again where to find the church I’d read about in the gospels and the rest of the New Testament. Every church I’d been involved with seemed hung up with traditions and the values of their culture. Most were self-absorbed. I was getting tired of trying one more