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My Dear Friend, I need to come clean with you about the frustration and pain I am experiencing after three teenagers killed themselves and two fifteen year old girls committed a brutal murder right here in Fayette County, Georgia in just the past two months. I pain over their deaths and I take blame for not doing enough to reach these kids. Most important, I am angry when I talk to other Christian leaders and they tell me that things are not as bad as I believe and that they are making a difference. It really hurts to know that despite all the ministries, including Coming Clean, and churches in our local community, more than 70 percent of our kids are still on drugs, and more than 80 percent of our youth is un-churched. It hurts because we do not feel any conviction over our failure to reach these kids. Trust me when I tell you that when I ran the Medellín Drug Cartel, if people did not buy our cocaine or if all our associates were being arrested, we would have made drastic changes and not sat back and watch it happen. When my wife and I started our company, if we did not grow and provide for our family we would either change what we were doing or go bankrupt. Yet ministries keep doing the same thing over and over again, even when things are not improving, because somehow they believe that God is happy if they are mediocre and less than excellent. I am tired of watching our kids continue to die at an alarming rate. In a recent Christianity Today article, John Eldredge said, “Too many Christians are weak, and churches are often insipid.” Please do not get me wrong. I know that there are many amazing churches, and I definitely believe that most people in ministry have a sincere heart about their calling. But when it does not work, it does not work! When our kids die in our own neighborhood we MUST take responsibility and accept the fact that we did not do enough. It is very sad when our newspaper writes, “Carl and Sarah Collier lost a daughter to drugs and crime. They apparently died trying to save their granddaughter from the same fate.” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 4, 2004) When a fifteen year old girl brutally stabs her grandparents more than 15 times each, we have to realize that we have a problem and need to ask ourselves, “Are we doing enough?” There were many signs that things were radically wrong, yet no one did anything about it. These two grandparents attended our local church and were amazing people of faith, and we rest in the fact that they went from this earth straight into the hands of Jesus. We also need to acknowledge that when God created this little girl, He looked at her and said “It is good.” Holly Ann Harvey was created perfect in God’s image. Sin has made her a heinous criminal, yet that precious blood shed at Calvary has the power to make her perfect again. I wish I had a chance to reach her with God’s love. It is my prayer that we wake up as the body of Christ and take back what the enemy is stealing by force. It is my prayer that we love the “Hell” out of people! God bless, Jorge Founder and Speaker P.S. Alert Prayer Warriors! I have just accepted an invitation to participate in a nationally televised debate regarding the legalization of drugs on Faith Under Fire, a new talk/debate show debuting on PAX TV this fall. The host, Lee Strobel, is a best selling author and former award-winning Chicago Tribune legal editor.
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