By: Lou Engle (www.livethecall.com)

They say it's always darkest right before the dawn. And in this night, the dawn is about to break. In the midst of an unparalleled assault on this generation, God is recruiting an army of recklessly abandoned youth, completely devoted to Himself. They know what it is to love much because they have been forgiven much. Though still young, many of them have already faced serious life traumas. Those that have escaped the seductions of this world and the defilement of this age, have reached a point of no return and have flung themselves into seeking the kingdom of Heaven. There are kids today on forty day fasts. Young men and women who are praying three hours a day. The cute little programs of yesterday don't cut it for a generation threatened in the womb, molested in childhood and desperately crying out for a reason not to die. This is the hour for the young. There are more people under the age of eighteen alive today than at any other time in history and God has a breathtaking purpose for them.

Like dawn spreading across the mountains, a large and mighty army comes such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come. ..The Lord thunders at the head of His army, His forces are beyond number and mighty are those who obey His command. (Joel 2:2, 2:11)

A mighty youth army is gathering spontaneously, apparently out of nowhere. In the dark hours before the dawn, dew starts to collect on the ground that was dry the night before. It's an enemy's worst nightmare: to wake up and be suddenly surrounded by an army that appeared out of thin air! What had been an empty field the night before, is now filled with soldiers whose weapons and armor glint like dew in the sunrise. Overnight, an army of consecrated young people are going to emerge out of this present darkness. Though presently unseen, this vast youth army is already mobilizing. Invisible now, invincible later. This is an army like no other - ever. The millennium awaits them.

Your people will volunteer freely in the day of your power, from the womb of the dawn, in the beauty of holiness, your youth shall gather to you like the dew. (Psalm 110:3)

The Hinge of History

Revolutionaries live with blazing passion for their vision. They have no side issues. They influence society more than society influences them. God also has His revolutionaries who turn nations upside down. The Old Testament tells us about holy counter-culturals called Nazirites who did not cut their hair, drink wine or defile themselves in anyway. They could never be near a corpse - not even to attend the funeral of their own family members. John the Baptist, Samson and Samuel were all called to be lifelong Nazirites. Nazarites are God's answer to a nation in crisis, morally decayed and spiritually bankrupt. Nazirite consecration was extreme - but it was never legalistic. Nazirites were not to go near a dead body and I believe this represents staying away from "dead works" born of legalism and not love.

Giving everything you have to the poor but having no love means nothing. Dying a martyr's death without love is just an empty gesture.

A Vow to Purity

In Old Testament times, uncut hair of a Nazirite symbolized his consecration to the Lord. Nazirites today may not bear this mark of consecration, but they are still called to live with a purpose and purity that cannot be mistaken. They are to be totally set apart for the Lord's holy purpose. Wine was an acceptable beverage in the days of Samson and Samuel-although drunkenness was not! Still, Nazirites voluntarily gave up wine. This standard of purity is needed today in America. It is a purity that freely chooses to abstain from what is acceptable, for the purpose of gaining what is otherwise unobtainable. Many forms of entertainment are
acceptable today. There is no end to the books, television shows, computer games, videos, and movies that fill our minds with filth. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that media has no effect on you.

Phenomenal Influence

God is looking for wild men and women who will live with a fearless devotion to Him. John the Baptist lived in obscurity on the fringe of society. Yet his few short years of ministry and his controversial message shook the Jewish nation. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us that
king Herod actually feared John because of his tremendous social and spiritual influence. John was not preaching in an air-conditioned auditorium or the palaces of his day, yet some estimate that 750,000 people went out to the desert to hear John during the 18 months of his preaching. That's 40,000 to 50,000 people a month! Nazirites refuse to live by society's quirks and demands. Exert peer pressure instead of responding to it. Then may influence like that of John the Baptist be yours, turning our world to God.

A Nazirite and a Pharisee had much in common: both were zealous for God. Both fasted frequently. Both lived in separation and purity. Yet John, the greatest Nazirite of all, did not commend the Pharisees for their piety. He fiercely rebuked them. Why? They were filled with self-righteousness. We are often no different today. We appear to be spiritual, but we are only religious. We honor our traditions and miss God. As a young man I missed the Jesus Movement because I was religious. Signs and wonders were taking place all around me, and people were getting saved. But like the Pharisees who missed God when Jesus was right in front of their eyes, I missed God when the Jesus Movement swept through California. In fact, I
left one Jesus People meeting in an angry mood, cursing God for what was happening there. I was the leader of my youth group, but I had no spiritual desire. I was not hungry for God.

Nazi or Nazarites?

Consecrated: to separate from the common to a sacred use; to be officially declared holy; to be devoted irrevocably to the worship of God.

There is a counterfeit of holy consecration and its ugly, twisted face is appearing in our high schools. In many cities of America, there are crews of "straight edge" kids who are obsessed with "purity." They will not smoke, drink, or do drugs, not even take aspirin. Most do not eat meat and some even abstain from sex. Yet their hearts are filled with anger and hatred and they go on violent rampages, destroying property and attacking people. This extremism is hijacking the calling of this generation which is to say, "Yes, we will do the extreme thing for God. We will pay the price. We will live holy, counter-culture lives."

The prophet Amos condemns the society of his day for refusing to honor the holy calling of some young extremists. He rebuked the parents for not allowing the prophetic gift to explode in them. "I also raised up prophets from among your sons and Nazirites from among your young men...But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy. Now I will crush you as a cart crushes, when loaded with grain." (Amos 2:12-13) There is a curse that comes upon a nation when its young Nazirites are not allowed to fulfil their calling. To forbid holy extremism is to foster demonic extremism.

The rise of neo Nazism in this nation, should greatly concern us. This deceptive ideology of hatred has already gained a foothold in our high schools. What God has done once, He will do again. Even as John called his generation to prepare for the physical coming of Jesus, so God is raising up young people who will prepare the earth for the Second Coming of our Lord.

You live in a season of history that your forefathers would have longed to see. Find out what God is doing in your generation and give yourself to it. David did this: "For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep." (Acts 13:36) So must you, for in every generation and dispensation, there is something that God wants to do. To miss it, is to miss the purpose of God for your life! God is again looking for Nazirites who will open the door for the next move of God. This responsibility may rest on one man or woman, or there may be many. Whether one or many, this generation is to be the hinge upon which all history hangs.