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Send in the Boys! A Call to Our Youth!

I am soon to be traveling in youth conferences and youth camps around the country as spring approaches and summer ensues. I am carrying a burden that this will be the greatest time of revival among American teens and young adults that I have ever witnessed. Would you join me in prayer that I would preach God’s message and that God would open their hearts?

The youngest man ever to be elected Vice-President of the United States was on the horns of dilemma in May 1864, John C. Breckenridge, now Major General in the Confederate Army, had just issued a request for the Virginia Military Institute to meet him prepared for battle at New Market, Virginia. An urgent message from President Jefferson Davis said, “Do not, Sir, grind the seed corn of our country.” Davis was interested in saving the young men from the consequences of raw warfare that had already claimed the life of so many southern youth. V.M.I. consisted at this time of young men between the ages of 15 and 17; the 18 year olds and older had already been activated into the army. Some of the names betray the greatness of their not too distant past. Thomas Garrison Jefferson and Patrick Henry among others were grandsons and direct descendants of the founders of our country. The boys were soon to be joining in the ranks with Colonel George S. Patton, a graduate of V.M.I. and the grandfather of “Blood and Guts” George Patton of World I and more particularly of World War II fame. At the Battle of New Market on May 15, 1864 there was a microcosm of America’s great past and future. On this day, the “seed corn” was not ground, but rather planted in the heart of our history.

Breckenridge’s worn, ragged and tattered 4,000 infantry was statistically no match for General Franz Siegel’s 10,000 veteran men who boasted of the strongest artillery division in the war. General Grant was using Siegel to hopefully cripple the Confederacy. General Breckenridge, trying to protect the 257 V.M.I. Cadets who had marched 84 miles to be in the battle, had placed them in the third colonnade behind Patton. The first two colonnades had been devastated, now V.M.I. stood center in the field of honor. General Breckenridge hesitated, his major pleaded with him to send them in. History records that whenever the general ever mentioned this day until the time of his death, he did so with tears in his eyes. There was jeopardy now of losing the bread-basket of the Confederacy, the Shenandoah Valley which had kept General Robert E. Lee’s troops alive. If New Market fell, the Confederacy would starve to death. With tears coursing his cheeks, John C. Breckenridge commanded, “Send in the boys and may God forgive me for giving this command!” The valiant boys of V.M.I. ran at full speed with the rebel yell that reminisced of the victory cry of The Battle of Manassas (famed early win of the south).

What happened next was phenomenal! Siegel’s artillery attempted to cut the boys to shreds. Yet their speed and valor, even to leaving their shoes stuck in the mud of the rain-drenched ground was something Siegel had not counted on. The youngsters were not to be denied. Cadet O.P. Evans made it to the Union lines, mounted one of the cannon as though it were a stallion, and lifted the banner of V.M.I. into the air to signal to his comrades to advance. Ten thousand Union troops were in a state of shock and awe and began to run. The tide was turned; two hundred fifty-seven 15 to 17 year old boys saved the Confederacy for one more year. General Breckenridge rode his horse to congratulate V.M.I. and said, “Well done, Virginians; well done, men!” They went in as boys and came out as men. The Shenandoah was saved.

We are suffering from a dearth of young people, especially young men, coming into full time service for Christ. And when we say full time service we are not saying we are trying to recruit only preachers, future pastors, missionaries and evangelists. We are saying whether you are going to be President of the United States, a lawyer, a doctor, a realtor, a computer programmer, an airplane pilot or whatever God wants you to be, we are emphasizing all to be full-time Christians in their service to God, country and the world at large. It is not that God isn’t calling young men; it is simply many are not listening. "Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" (Isaiah 40:30,31). We want to seize the day! We want to say, “Send in the boys!” And God willing, we shall soon say, “Well done, men!” Hopefully young man and young ladies will be saying, what can I do?

1. We can think.

"My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned..." (Psalm 39:3). My burden intensified when I was recently in a men’s conference. It occurred to me that we as teachers, preachers and speakers were trying to help a lot of men who have “blown it” morally and spiritually to recover. We desperately need to keep this type of ministry going, but let us not leave the other undone. Think with me. Is it not better to mold a boy than to re-make the man? Our goal is to capture the hearts of the young men before they make the errors and sinful mistakes. "Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation" (Psalm 24:3-5). And while thinking we should ask God, “What can I do?”

2. We can pray!

“And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:22,23).

Everybody can pray! I would solicit our moms and dads, grandparents and loved ones to pray for youthful reinforcements to step in the ranks and fight the good fight of faith.

3. We can be consistent!

For forty-four years I have been preaching around the country to our American youth. I would love to see those whom God has given me the opportunity to influence one more generation for perhaps a final time of dedication and revival before our Lord returns. Margaret Thatcher told President George Hebert Walker Bush at the outset of Desert Storm, “This is no time to go wobbly!” Let us be faithful. Now more than ever, my generation and the one beneath me needs to set an example of Christ-likeness and example to the youth of our contry. “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful” (I Corinthians 4:2).