Why We're taking our own kids to Young Life Camp Overseas

My youngest daughter, bottom right, is upset because she doesn't think her shirt matches her outfit!

In 2012, my wife and I went to Hawaii. 

In 2013, my wife and I went to Bermuda. 

In 2014, my wife and I are going to the Bahamas. With the kids. All five of them! 

Young Life Commonwealth Region asked me if I would go to the Bahamas this summer to work at a Young Life camp for the students on an island in the Bahamas. 

After praying for a month, my wife and I said yes ... if the kids can come, too!!! 

Here's why! 

1.  We want our kids to have a bigger view of education. Not all education occurs in the classroom, as so eloquently stated by Propaganda in the song Bored of Education. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our kids to get an experiential education on cuisine, culture, geography, ministry, travel and other things. 

2. We want our kids to have a bigger view of family. In the midst of my career switch to nTelos (on Twitter at @nTelosLass), my summer is much more structured. In bringing our kids along, I wanted them to see that family is so important that we would jump through all these extra financial and logistical hoops so that we can be together. 

3. We want our kids to have a bigger view of the world. I believe it was Mark Twain who once said, "I've never met a well-traveled racist." 

4. We want our kids to have a bigger view of service. With our Young Life kids at Lee, we always talk about servant leadership being described as "taking initiative for the benefit of others." Although this trip will likely have some vacation-like aspects for our kids, they will asked to serve, too! 

5. We want our kids to have a bigger view of the gospel. At the camp, I will have the privilege of sharing the greatest story ever told with the kids on the island. I want my kids to be part of seeing that story change lives just as it changed mine and prayerfully changes their own lives one day. 

So here is are two things you can do to help us. Share this blog by e-mail or by social media with friends. 

Help us raise the $7,000 it will take to get to the Bahamas. Young Life is picking up the expenses for Emily and me. We are picking up the expenses for our kids. The trip does cost some money, but we believe it's worth every penny. And, speaking of pennies, every one counts. We need donations great and small, and you can give a tax-deductible gift online by clicking here. 

Chris Lassiter is a Christ-follower, a husband to Emily (read her blog here), and dad to these five crazy kids we see pictured above. His first book You're Grounded was released by Moody Publications in July of 2013. You can read about it here. 

Placing Paperbacks in Prison Populations: Please Help Me!

Note: Please watch the 3-minute video before reading this blog.

My prayer is that two types of people would read this blog: 

• people who love someone who is incarcerated (juvenile or an adult correctional facility)
• people who would love to help someone (or the family of someone) who is incarcerated

If you fit in either category, keep reading! 

First, if you love someone currently incarcerated, I fall into that category, too.  Many times over. Whether it's being a friend, a family member or a mentor of young people, the sad reality is that many people I love are currently incarcerated. 

If that's your situation, there are two things I'd like you to do. 

1. Write down the name and current address of the person if you think they would like a copy of a book I wrote called, You're Grounded (you can learn more about the book with this video or this Web Site).  

Send me the address info by replying to this blog or by e-mail (lassiterfam7@gmail.com). You can google Virginia Inmate locator or Federal inmate locator if you need help finding the mailing information.  

2. Share this blog with friends you know who are in the same situation. 

If you clicked here because you wanted to help, here's what I'd ask you to do. For anyone individual, business, ministry, group, church, etc. that would be willing to help, contact me by responding to this blog or by e-mail (lassiterfam7@gmail.com) and I will pair you up with people who wrote in and requested a book for a loved one. The books have to come directly from the publishing company, and you can order directly from www.shopmoodypublishers.com 

So far, I've heard back from four of my friends who have read the book in a correctional facility. All of them seemed grateful for the book and also passed the book on to friends within the facility. I'd love to hear 400 stories like that, but I need your help to do it. 

Young Life, the Bahamas, my Family, and the Opportunity of a Lifetime

"The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized within the lifetime of the opportunity." 

In 2013, my wife Emily and I had the amazing opportunity to partner with Young Life in Bermuda. The whole week (as you can see from the picture above) was amazing. The only regret we had was the fact that we didn't get the chance to show these things to our five kids! 

This summer, our family has been presented an opportunity to partner with Young Life in the Bahamas. Only this summer, we're hoping to take all five kids with us. Our family has been praying about accepting this opportunity for a few months, and we have to give our friends in the Bahamas an answer this week. That answer will be based on our ability to fund-raise enough money to take the whole family. 

Now that I'm working at nTelos, my summers are more structured than they were in the past. I don't want to spend the only week of vacation I have separate from the family, but I would love for our entire family to have this experience. 

If you'd like to help, please let us know this week. My number is (540) 569-0270, and my e-mail is lassiterfam7@gmail.com 

Thanks! 

Chris Lassiter is a Christ follower, a husband to Emily (read her wonderful blog here), and father to the five crazy kids I'm hoping to take the Bahamas. He has written for The News Leader, Young Life Relationships, Rapzilla.com, JamTheHype.com, HipHopDx.com, and many other publications.  In 2013, Moody Publishers released his first book, You're Grounded, which you can read about here. 

The Question Jay-Z never answered: What's the meaning of Life?

Note: Read this blog to the end. I'll treat you to a lunch or a cup of coffee if you take the challenge at the end! 

Hip-hop purists remember Jay-Z before he was a business mogul and pop culture icon. 

One of his first songs was called In My Lifetime, a song where Jay-Z raps about why he can't settle for a mediocre lifestyle. The underground hit also featured the In My Lifetime remix. In the remix, a female vocalist asks the same question repeatedly in the chorus. 

"What's the meaning? What's the meaning of life?" 

The curious thing about the song is that Jay-Z never attempts to answer the question during the song. However, it's hard to blame him. The meaning of life is a big question, and it's a question that's not easy to answer. 

In fact, ask yourself what you would say if someone were ask you what is the meaning of life. 

Follow up by completing this statement. I would be completely happy if ... 

The way you fill in that statement will show you exactly where your hope is in this life. 

I have a friend who wrote an amazing song about this. The lyrics to Phanatik's song Driven go something like this:

We long for timelessness, may if our accomplishments

ever delivered what they promised, if 

life's pleasures were everlasting then I'm additin' 

This might bring God some competition

But everything is short-lived; 

forget about the fortune, forgive the sportsmen and

the actor, slash rapper, entertainer

for making us think that money can sustain us

There are things in life that money can buy

For everything else, an empty shelf inside

Ask the rich man, "Which hand, right or left, 

with which hand do you carry your treasures to life after death?" 

There's a book in the Bible called Ecclesiastes. In this book, the writer goes on a search to see what in life has meaning apart from God. It's a fascinating study. Part of what makes the book so fascinating is the writer's unique qualifications to search out this question. Imagine a man that is:

• wealthy like Warren Buffet
• surrounded by more women than Hugh Heffner
• More wise than Socrates and the great philosophers

The search for meaning is the subject of  The "Meaningless" sermon series at Holy Cross PCA in Staunton. The series preached by my pastor and friend Rick Gilmartin is well the listen, and you can find the link here

In fact, I think the series could be so life changing for you that I'll issue you a challenge. If you choose one of the sermons and listen to it, I'll take you our for coffee or (a very cheap) lunch to discuss it. 

I write these blogs as conversation starters. I would love to hear how you define the meaning of life. 

Chris Lassiter is a Christ-follower, a husband to Emily (read her blog here), a father to five crazy kids and a freelance writer for HipHopDX.com, JamTheHype.com, Young Life Relationships and other publications. Moody Publishers released his first book in July of 2013. You can read about You're Grounded here.

Five Things I Would Tell Local Rappers

"I'm from a town that they fly through but never fly to/Just a plain little town, trying to be fly, too." - Swoope '

In the 1980s, hip-hop legends Mc Shan and KRS-One got in a heated rap battle over whether hip-hop originated in Queensbridge or the South Bronx. 

One thing we know for sure. Hip-hop didn't originate in Staunton, Va. Still, many of my friends in the 24401 have dreams about having a hip-hop career. As someone who grew up loving hip-hop and a person who uses words a lot, I have so much I want to talk to the young apsiring artists about in terms of pursuing a hip-hop career. 

I couldn't fit them all in a blog, so I chose these five: 

1. Pursue Your Dream!  Let's just be honest. Failure is both scary and painful. Rejection hurts.  To keep from experiencing those emotions, we tend to never really go all in on any of our dreams. If you really want to be a hip-hop artist, you have to realize that the road to that dream has many painful detours. If it's really your dream, go all in on your dream. When you experience setbacks or rejections, know that every artist who made it had those same setbacks along the way. 

2. Grind while you're dreaming.  It takes a while for music to become profitable, but a lot of the time bills can't wait. Imagine a job is like a boat and your dream career of being a hip-hop artist is like a raft. You have to be on the boat, but all your free time should be spent building your raft. You need a legit revenue stream until music pops off for you, but that doesn't mean you have to give up on your dream. So ... in the meantime,  get a job! 

3. Create your own media outlets. Despite being a small town, there are lots of hip-hop artists and lots of hip-hop fans. If all the area rappers came together once a month for a 16-bar challenge and charged audience members $3 to come, you have created your own revenue stream with your own talent. Plus, you would get the practice you need competing and performing.  Making something out of relatively nothing has always been the hip-hop way. You (area rappers collectively) could be combining your talents and resources and making revenue now.  If there's no radio that will play local rap music, someone could easily create a local hip-hop blog and podcast that interviews the local artists and features their music. Put together a one-day hip-hop conference that teaches how to write lyrics, make beats, etc. It is true that it's not the easiest place to be a hip-hop artist, but you should still exhaust all the resources you have available to you. Bottom line. Take your talent and create your own revenue streams. 

4. Keep it 100. You can't say you're a serious rapper if you write songs once in a blue moon and you never work at getting better. If it is really your dream, you need to learn the business side of the industry. And if you're in school, you need to be in the choral classes, drama department and the band. All things that relate to your career. How could you want to make rap videos and not take the classes that will help you be a better actor? You have to always get better. Have you learned how to change your voice to reflect the mood of a song? Have you learned to get your cadence to match the drum patterns? Raw talent isn't enough. Keep improving as an artist! 

5. Make responsible art. Music has staying power. If I were to say, "In West Philadelphia born and raised," you would know exactly how to respond. Those words are likely lodged in your head for the rest of your life. In a sense, the rapper is like the pied piper to a community. I don't mind rappers rapping about real life and real circumstances, but if you are glorifying the demeaning of women, the selling of drugs and the hypermasculine, gun-toting, super-rich thug guy, you are making art that is potentially destroying its listeners. Take your responsibility as an artist seriously. Make music that inspires and uplifts broken communities. 

The video below is by a dude named Spec. I love it, because it just lays out the ups and downs in his journey into the music industry. Hopefully, it will be inspirational for some of y'all. 



I write these blogs as conversation-starters.  I would love to hear your thoughts on this blog post or other insight you may have for aspiring artists. 
Chris Lassiter is a Christ-follower, a husband to Emily (read her blog here), a father to five crazy kids, a freelance writer, and a Young Life leader in his hometown of Staunton, VA. Moody Publications published his first book, You're Grounded, in 2013. You can read about it here. 

A Cry for Help: Why the Church Can't Ignore The Hood

"I've seen a lot, except for the face of my father!"

These words, "I've seen a lot except for the face of my  father," haunt me . This song (watch the powerful video above) is from a New Jersey teen named Ahsan. In song form, he pours out his fears about the possibility of becoming the next violent crime statistic.

Pay close attention to the chorus!

"Don't the let the City get me. Don't let the bullets hit me. Don't let the dealers trick me. don't Let the streets win me  ... Don't the corner hold me. Don't let the mother mourn me. Don't let the hood take me down. Don't let me this hood take me under."

As someone who has spent a decade as an urban youth worker, I've watched this scenario play out in the lives of so many kids. As a Christian, I'm praying that this would become an issue that grips all Christ-followers.

Sadly, Ahsan's song was written nearly 20 years after another another New Jersey native penned a similar account. Ironically, the song was entitled, Everything is Gonna Be Alright. (Note: Even the edited video below is graphic. And you can read lyrics here.)



In the song, Naughty by Nature's Treach made it clear that everything would not be all right. The most gripping lyric is when he asks a question and then answers it himself.

"How will I make it? I won't that's how!"  How can that not grip you?

If Jesus is the answer, who is going to tell the people in the hood that He's the answer? How does the church respond to what we see happening in America's inner cities?  If we learn anything from the book of Jonah, the answer is not with apathy.

Most people think Jonah is a book about a whale. The fish is actually a sidebar. The book is actually about a reluctant prophet who didn't share God's compassion for a particular city. Here are four things we learn from the book of Jonah.

1. God has compassion on a "Godless" city. Jonah has one of the strangest endings in the Bible. It closes with God asking Jonah a question.  "And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?” Despite the city's wickedness, God's heart was to still see Nineveh repent.  As Christians, are we hard-hearted or full of compassion for the cities in America?

2. God rebukes Jonah for loving a plant more than the people of Nineveh. Jonah has a lot of passion. He gets angry a lot in this book. He gets angry when the people of Nineveh repent. He gets mad for God showing kindness to the people of Nineveh. And Jonah is furious when God provides for him a plant for shade and then takes the plant away. God's question to Jonah is "Why do you care more about the plant than the people?" It's not a stretch that God would ask the American evangelical church, "Why do you care more about (fill in the blank) than the people in the city dying without the gospel?"

3. God sends someone to preach God's word to the people of Nineveh. This is why the fish is only a sidebar. Jonah decides he doesn't want to be God's spokesperson in Nineveh, so He runs. The point is that God ordained that His word would be the cure for the problems in Nineveh. And I believe that same Gospel - lived and proclaimed in word, truth and deed - can change our cities, too. Please pray, support, and when appropriate link arms with churches and ministries taking the gospel to the cities.  (Listen here to LeCrae's song "Beautiful Feet" about going to the city with the gospel.)

4. Jesus succeeds where Jonah fails. Jonah ran from God's mission. Jesus ran to it, even when it landed him on a cross. Jonah had no compassion for the people. Jesus cried for the people who where like sheep without a shepherd. Jonah disobeyed God. Jesus never disobeyed God. He lived perfectly. Yet, he substituted Himself on a cross for us, paying for our sins, because He had no sins of His own to pay for. That's the good news that I need, you need, and the hood needs.  Whether you are from the hood, suburbs, or a trailer park, we can all be reconciled to God now.

I write these blogs as conversation starters. I would love to hear your thoughts on how you wrestle through apathy or engaging the plight of the inner-city.

Chris Lassiter is a Christ-follower, a husband to Emily (read her blog here), and a father to five crazy kids. Chris has written for The News Leader, VIBE, Rapzilla.com, JamTheHype.com and other publications.  Recently, Moody Published released his first book, entitled You're Grounded, which you can read about here.

The Cross Promotion blog gets updated twice a week. Please consider following the blog by e-mail or by clicking the Join This Site tab at the bottom of the blog.

Michael Sam, Macklemore, My Gay Friends and the Gospel

What if Michael Sam and I were teammates? 

Michael Sam, an all-American college football player at Mizzou, became the first NFL prospect to announce that he was gay over the weekend. The 2013 SEC defensive player of the year, Sam is sure to be drafted at the upcoming NFL Draft, which will make him the first openly gay player to be on a current professional football team.

That brings me to my question. What if me, a Christian man, and Michael Sam, a gay man, were teammates? 

As evidenced by Macklemore's hit song "Same Love,"  many would suggest that my Christianity and Sam's lifestyle would put us at odds as friends or even teammates. In fact, the opening verses of the song states:

"The right wing conservatives think it's a decision
And you can be cured with some treatment and religion
Man-made rewiring of a predisposition
Playing God, aw nah here we go
America the brave still fears what we don't know
And God loves all his children, is somehow forgotten
But we paraphrase a book written thirty-five-hundred years ago
I don't know."

I have also seen Christians take a wide variety of approaches on engaging the gay community. Some of those approaches have been based on the gospel. Other approaches have been based on fear and hatred.

So imagine we were teammates. What would a conversation sound like between a Christian athlete with a gay teammate and friend? I would hope I could communicate the following two things:

1.  I would hope we could both embrace each other as friends. I sincerely hope that our different beliefs would not stop us from being friends. I don't need a person to believe exactly what I believe to value their worth as a person or their friendship. I'd hope I wouldn't make assumptions about him as a gay man, and I would hope that he wouldn't make assumptions about me as a Christian.

2. I'd focus more on the gospel than on sexuality. It would be crazy to have a conversation about the Bible with sexual ethics as the starting place. In fact, my conversation with my gay friends would probably sound the same as my discussions with: 

• a friend from another faith background
• a friend who goes to church out of duty but doesn't love Jesus 
• an agnostic friend who isn't sure we can know what is true
•  a friend too busy partying to care who believes what.

That conversation would be this: The grand narrative of the Bible is that Jesus didn't come to make "bad" people "good." He came to make "dead people" alive. 

The grand narrative of the Bible is that all men and women - both heterosexual and homosexual - have chosen to be god of their own lives instead of trusting the God who created them. 

However, God conceived a way to mend the relationship that we broke. All of the Biblical ethics  - which are important - are secondary to any person's understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ. 

Bryan Loritts is one of my favorite communicators of the gospel. You can read a powerful blog he wrote about the gospel and the gay community called "Tom" right here. 
 
Also, Fellowship Memphis Church where Loritts serves as a teaching pastor is currently doing a four-part series on the gospel and the gay community. You can hear the first of those four messages here. 

I write these blogs as conversation starters. I would love to hear your thoughts on the Michael Sam story, the Macklemore "Same Love" song, the Bryan Loritts sermon and the relationship between the evangelical Christian community and the gay community. 

Chris Lassiter is a Christ-follower, a husband to Emily (read her blog here), and a father to five crazy kids. He leads Young Life at his former high school, Robert E. Lee in Staunton, VA, and he has written for The News Leader, VIBE, HipHopDx.com, Rapzilla.com, JamTheHype.com and other sites. 

Moody Publications recently published his first book, You're Grounded, which you can pick up here.   The Cross Promotion Blog gets updated twice a week.  Please consider subscribing by e-mail or clicking the "Join This Site" button at the bottom of this page.