Session 2 - “Just Courage: Charging the Darkness” - Gary Haugen

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Spkr_gHaugen_sm Gary Haugen serves as president of International Justice Mission (IJM), an international agency that rescues victims of violence, sexual exploitation, slavery, and oppression worldwide. Haugen founded IJM in 1994 after working with the U.S. Department of Justice and the United Nations. He is the author of various articles on international law, foreign affairs, and human rights and has completed the much anticipated book, Just Courage. Haugen and the work of IJM have been featured on "Dateline NBC" and "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

Highlights:

  • Hardest thing for many people to believe because of their experience is that God is good.
  • What’s God’s plan to show that he his good: His people (and he has no other plan).
  • Injustice in the Bible - A particular kind of sin where someone abuses power by taking advantage of the weak.
  • If you want your leadership to matter, lead in the things that matter to God.
  • We don’t need leadership for cheerful and fun things.
  • If God is passionate about it, he’s ultimately responsible to get it done.
  • When Jesus fed the 5000, he only asked them to bring what they had. Give it to me. He didn’t ask what was needed, only what they had.
  • Save us from the mediocrity of safe bets.
  • Are we on a journey with Jesus but missing the adventure? God says to follow him beyond what we control and we will experience him.
  • Don’t ignore your strengths. Use your strengths to take a higher hill.
  • The first indicator that we’re on the adventure with God, the first indicator is a more active prayer life. Mother Teresa needed to stop to pray every half hour.
  • If you want to develop someone’s devotional life, lead them into a more demanding climb.
  • We have spiritualized mediocrity through a false trade-off of godliness for excellence.
  • Dallas Willard says the first sign of spiritual decline is loss of laughter. If God’s plan to use use you doesn’t make you laugh...
  • Jesus was accused of being a party guy. We’re so sour in our faith, no one would accuse us of that..and we think that’s good.

The most impacting things about Gary’s talk was his joy in face of despair and the three stories he told of the International Justice Mission helping liberate a boy rotting in prison for doing nothing, a family out of slavery and a girl out of forced prostitution.