I wrote a review about the book Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris.

Now, I will leave you with some commentary and notes from a Youth Pastor about the Do Hard Things Conference, we attended at Covenant Life Church.

My first impressions were that of amazement as we saw over 3200 youth, youth leaders, parents and volunteers crammed into the aisles of the Sanctuary of Covenant Life. It was a great sight to behold. The worship was lead by Joel Harris which he did an amazing job, he selected some great songs. I almost wish we could have spent more time in worship. Understandably, they were on a schedule and needed to get a lot accomplished in the time.

One of the parents of a couple of the teens in my group were so impressed with the quality of the messages and the quality of the event as a whole. He walked away with a lot of helpful information and enjoyed the conference immensely.

Here were some of my notes from the sessions. Session 2, Alex Harris shared how Do Hard Things came together. How we (teenagers) have been held captive by a lie. A few of the Scriptures shared were 1 Corinthians 14:12, 1 Corinthians 13:11, and 1 Timothy 4:12. God calls us to be exemplary. Don’t accept the standards of the culture. The teen years should be a launching pad to our lives. What a great place to start.

Session 3, Brett Harris shared about overcoming challenges. He posed the question, “What’s the difference between what you have already overcome?” Basically saying, each stage of life offers challenges that seem difficult however we get through them and they become easier as we grow older. The challenges have grown but their is no difference between then and now. We need to push ourselves outside of our comfort zone. Asking ourselves the question, Are you all God has made you to be? Our faith is tested through trials. Rediscover what has always been true. He closed with seven things that show a Do Hard Things mentality.

1. Fighting sin in your life. (Sin is easy, Fighting sin is hard)
2. Battling discouragement and complacency.
a. God doesn’t make things worthwhile easy.
b. Challenge yourself that excellence is saved for things that actually are.
The standard is to be a servant of God. Build mental and spiritual muscle
3. Do more than what is required.
a. Failure is due to a lack of exertion
b. Rebelling against low expectations
4. Getting over our fear of failure
5. Do Hard Things looks different for every person
6. Doing small things
7. Do Hard Things is your best life.

Challenging and practical words.

Session 4 by Greg Harris spoke to the youth and parents about our hearts.
Every command of God is giving you a benefit to your life.
It protects you. He read John 3, Ezekiel 36, (Romans 7:19-20)
He said, that only God can change your heart. Amen to that.
1 John 3:10 is a distinction of a child of God.

He wanted to know if we were a crab apple tree or a sweet apple tree? Were we a wolf or a lamb?
We need to practice righteousness, put to death the deeds of the body. Matthew 7:15.

He posed the question what is a nominal Christian?
1. Goes to church cause the family does
2. Prays when others do
3. Read when others are around but do not by themselves
4. Conscience won’t bother them.

He gave 2 Corinthians 13:5 – If you have a new Spirit, then this is your test.

At close he gave a few questions that the students/parents to answer.
How often do you pray?

How often do you read your Bible?

How often do you obey God just because you believe in Him?

Do you see enough evidence of God’s grace in your life to be confident that you have been born again?

If you answered no? Would you like to be?

The final session was given by each of them as an overview.
They stressed the importance of companionship
1. Not just alone – 2 Timothy 2:22, Ecclesiastes 4:12
2. Not just with peers – 1 Corinthians 15:33, Ephesians 6:13
3. Not just with people – Technological Overload, Watch the non-human companions.
Walk with the wise, choose carefully cause they are our friends.

Greg offered some words of wisdom to youth and parents.
1 Timothy 4:12, Proverbs 20:19
To youth: Stop living as orphans in your own home. Don’t live like a guest. It is a training ground to lead a household.

To parents: Teach your kids to be a part of the team. We can launch our children to do great things. Look at your child as a stewardship.

Brett closed with some practical applications
1. You must have a hero. (Collect heroes) (Preferrably dead spiritual heroes).
2. Read great books
3. Take advantage of the rebelution.
4. Find the secret rebelutionaries (by being one)
5. Seek and find godly individuals in your life, learn from others by asking older people, what do you wish you would have done at my age?
6. God is our ultimate companion
7. Change something in your life.

As you can see I personally and even the parents/youth of my group that attended were greatly blessed. One young person in our group was born again at this conference. What tremendous blessing it was to the the family. It was wonderful to see the amount of young people who have stood up to make this stand against teenage low expectations. It is important to raise the bar and challenge young people to do great things for the Kingdom of God. Not because they can say oh look at me, look at what I did but to reflect God’s glory in everything that God has called us to.

If you want to learn more and see photos of the conference, check out therebelution.com