Hope is a vital Christian character trait, one of the greatest Christian virtues (1 Cor. 13:13).
We all need hope.
Let me tell you about Myron Pierce. He epitomizes hope.
He was a drug dealer who turned into a hope dealer for the inner city. His vision now is to provide the hope of Jesus for every inner city in the United States. But that came after his conversion in prison.
At age 18, he stood before a judge facing a possible 200 years in prison due to his life of gang violence, drugs and crime. Facing a life sentence, one thing changed—his heart.
He finally surrendered his soul to the Lord Jesus. While leaving the courtroom with a 16-to-33-year sentence, Myron heard a whisper. “I’m going to get you out of prison to plant churches.”
Through a series of miracles, the prison doors opened for him after just eight years. Myron went on to receive bachelor’s degrees in biblical studies and business leadership at Grace University, and he is now working on a master’s degree.
More importantly, though, he is a successful church planter. He wakes up every day looking for ways to inspire the hope of Jesus in everyone he meets through discipling relationships.
Here is how he describes his mission:
I look to raise up (aka “disciple”) people to plant churches in inner cities all across the world. This is the vision of Every Inner City, a network of inner-city churches across the world. But planting an inner-city church has a set of unique challenges—and because of this I’ve worked with a number of amazing people to develop tools, including Side Hustle Pastor, to help inner city churches and their leaders flourish.
Myron’s life as a husband, father, author, speaker and pastor at Mission Church in Omaha, Nebraska, is a megaphone for the hope of Jesus.
Last year Myron wrote a blog post describing 37 things he learned in his first 37 years. See if you can detect the hope in what he learned.
- God understands.
- Laugh a lot.
- Embrace the moment.
- Enjoy life.
- Say sorry.
- Exercise often.
- Do the impossible.
- Ignore the cynics.
- Deal with shame.
- Run your race.
- Reduce worrying.
- Trust God.
- Write a book about your story.
- Give yourself a break.
- Forgive yourself.
- Forgive others.
- Don’t just talk about it; be about it.
- Take more risks.
- Do your best.
- Read the Bible.
- Listen to God.
- Lay hold of opportunities.
- Prepare for the best.
- Maximize your gifts.
- Dream big.
- Fall forward.
- Invest in your kids’ future.
- Date your spouse.
- Pain is a good teacher.
- Sacrifice.
- See a counselor.
- Rest.
- Try new things.
- Keep a journal.
- Give back.
- Invest in your community.
- Be a hope dealer.
I like number 37 on the list best. It describes Myron’s disciple-making mission.
You can watch a 7-minute recap of Myron’s story on youtube.com.
Myron will be one of the main stage speakers at the upcoming National Disciple Making Forum, November 4–5. Click here for more information.
Blog used with permission.