"If with heart and soul you're doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you're still better off. Don't give the opposition a second thought."--1 Peter 3:13-14

GoFest 2008 is officially over. And for those of you who didn't make it, you missed a very powerful weekend. Our whole theme was "Go!" We wanted youth to realize that they are able to go and serve anyone, anywhere. Service is where you are.

I read this passage for this morning's gathering. Although I have read it before, I had never read it in this version. Usually when I put a Bible text up here I am using the New International Version, however, we were using The Message version for our Bible texts at GoFest.

When I read this text in The Message I was taken aback. I had never actually understood this part. Sure, I had read it, I had seen it, but I never really looked at it in this language. I want you to scroll up and read it again.

If with your heart and soul you are doing good, do you really think you can be stopped? I mean, really, do you think you could be stopped? I don't think you could. I truly believe that if with your heart and soul you are doing good, you can't be stopped. Nothing in the world will be able to keep you from doing that good thing that your heart and soul desired to do.

Take Zach Hunter for example. He wasn't able to make GoFest, however we had someone travel to Nashville, Tennessee to interview him. Zach is an abolitionist, and he is only fifteen years old. For those of you who are saying "Whoa, there's still slavery today," yes, there is still slavery today. Zach says on his myspace page, "Modern-day slavery may be people working in brick kilns, rice mills, fishing villages or brothels." There is still slavery today, and he is doing all that he can to end it.

Zach's heart and soul is in this good thing. Nothing in the world can stop him. He plans to do this until all slavery is abolished. So if with your heart and soul you are doing good, do you think you could be stopped?

Now is the time to act. Whether it be helping your neighbor with yardwork, guiding an elderly woman across the street, heading off to Africa to dig a well, or going to India to free prostitutes, now is the time to act. You can serve, and if with heart and soul you are doing it, you cannot be stopped.

God is with us, He wants us to serve His people. Now is the time. Let's be the people God wants us to be, let's be His hands, His feet. Go!