I can vividly remember hearing the news of the Columbine school massacre. On April 20, 1999, two twelfth grade students murdered thirteen students and one teacher at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado. One of the first students the gunmen encountered was Rachael Scott, a 17-year-old senior. She was shot four times with a final, fatal shot to her head. Rachael was known at the school for befriending students who were new at the school, outside the social circle, depressed, or lonely. She was outspoken about her devotion to Jesus, and many students testified to the difference Rachel had made in their lives.

Her family was devastated, as were the families of other victims and the entire community. Her father Darrell was a local pastor, and eventually founded Rachel’s Challenge, a national nonprofit organization. The stated aims are to advocate for a positive climate in schools with a campaign to quell school violence, bullying, discrimination, and homicidal and suicidal thoughts in students.

I have often had the privilege to join Darrell when he took Rachel’s testimony of acceptance and compassion into schools. At least 500 young people had reported planning to take their own lives until they heard Rachel’s story. Rachel’s Challenge answers a heart-cry for kids that had been oppressed by others. Her light continues to shine to millions.

            Having just passed the Easter season, I wanted us to remind ourselves of Father’s power to bring light out of our darkness and life out of death. This poem, written by Darrell, may encourage all of us with poetic perceptiveness to stay focused on Father’s eternal intentions.

THE THREE-D CLUB

Distressed, in debt and discontent

    A motley crew, but they were meant

To make up David’s mighty men

    They were the ones God chose to send.

So, if you feel unqualified

    And if your self-esteem has died

Then you’re the one that God will choose

    An earthen vessel He can use

It’s not by power nor by might

    For He has already won the fight

In weakness you will be made strong

    Through you the world will hear His Song!

         We are Father’s inheritance. The testimony of scripture is clear. Father has sovereignly purposed that the loss of our humanity to darkness and corruption will be defeated.

         I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of His calling—that is the wealth of God’s glorious inheritance that he finds in us, His holy ones (Eph. 1:18 TPT).

         We are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. The emphasis of the image is relational—Father desires sons and daughters. Ultimately, the earth will be filled with his glory, the same glory Jesus reflected, “full of grace and truth.”

Agape,

Bob Mumford