Trip Lee - Rise: Get Up and Live in Gods Great Story

PRAISE FOR RISE

Trips written a book that I think every young person needs to read. His passion for Jesus and this generation comes through loud and clear on every page. I cant wait to see the impact this message has on a generation thats hungry for purpose.

Lecrae, Grammy awarding-winning artist @lecrae

Rise is a phenomenal book that captures the heart of our culture. As soon as I picked it up I couldnt put it down. Trip challenges you to be REAL, and shows you how to live your life as a young adult in the world today. Great read.

Sam Acho, NFL linebacker, humanitarian @thesamacho

Trip has written a book I wish I wouldve read when I was younger. His passion, wisdom, and desire to challenge the younger generation is a testament to the work Gods doing through Trip and the work he can do through us all.

Kirk Franklin, Grammy award-winning and multi-platinum recording artist @kirkfranklin

I loved reading Rise. Many times in this book I found myself meditating over pages after I read them. I was encouraged, inspired, and challenged all the way through. The culture expects us to waste time but God wants us to use our time for impact no matter our age. This is an amazing read for those who want to use their time wisely and make a difference for the Kingdom.

Justin Forsett, NFL running back @JForsett

So often we talk about wanting to make a difference, but we dont actually get up and do anything. My buddy, Trip Lee, has written a book that will light a fire under a generation thats taught to take the easy way out. Hes challenged us to rise and live in the story that Gods created for us. I know Ill be recommending this book to everyone I know.

Stephen Curry, NBA player @stephencurry30

2015 by William Lee Barefield, III

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from THE ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION. 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

ISBN 978-0-529-12109-7 (eBook)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Trip Lee, 1987

Rise : get up and live in Gods great story / Trip Lee.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-529-12099-1

1. Trip Lee, 1987 2. Christian biography. 3. Christian life. I. Title.

BR1725.T675A3 2015

277.3'083092dc23

[B]

2014023687

15 16 17 18 19 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Q and Selah
Im praying God will raise you up for His glory at a young age.

CONTENTS

John Piper

O ne of the main things I like about Trip Lee and his book, Rise, is the interplay of reverence and relevance.

The aim at relevance in American culture is common. Cool is ubiquitous. As Mack Stiles says, Most Christians in the world must fear the raised fist; Americans fear the raised eyebrow. It means we are not cool. Not relevant.

But the aim at reverence is rare. Reverence feels old. It feels unexciting. Its not cool. But everybody knows, deep down, that when reverence goes, all of human life becomes a variety show. Thin. Glib. Shallow. Plastic. Empty. In the end, meaningless.

We were made for more. Cool is fickle, and we cant live for itthe words of Trip Lee. Exactly. Trying to live just to be cool, just to be relevant, is low. And Trip Lees voice cries out, Rise!

There is so much more to see, to know, to love, to enjoy. There are realities that are so great they cant be reduced to fun. The words fun blast ball party sound silly in the presence of the greatest and most awesome realities. Our vocabulary of joy has been reduced to fun because our taste buds for true majesty have died.

Trip says, When it comes to morality, all of us have bad taste. Yes. And when it comes to God we have no taste. As Trip says, Its common for eyes to light up when we talk about pop culture, but glaze over when we talk about Christ. The hills of culture are fun. The Himalayas of Christ are faint.

Trip Lee wants you to know: There is more than hills. Even for young adults there is more. This book is written for those who are young. It is written to give hope to those who feel they have little to contribute. It is written with the conviction that when a young person sees the glory of God everything changes. They Rise!

But the book is mature. It values the mature. It respects age. Trip is wise beyond his years. He sees already what years teach. Every breath is a gift. Every moment a trust. Wasting time is insanity. Its like burning money. The only difference is you can make more money, but you can never make more time.

I call this a reverence for what counts. Life is precious. And short. Trip is calling you to live for what counts. To live passionately, joyfully. Beyond silly. Beyond cool and clever.

If we are to rise on the Himalayan paths into the glory of God, we must know the way and not slip. Shallow roots lead to shaky footing, so if we want to stand firm we have to go deep. Trip is leading you there. Go deep with him in order to go high. Rise.

D ear reader,

Thanks for picking up this book. I appreciate you taking some time to hear what I have to say. Before you start, let me tell you a little bit about myself. I grew up in Dallas, Texas, where God saved me from my sins as a teenager. As my life changed and I began to grow, He gave me a deep passion to share His truth with others. Since then Ive been trying to share it in as many ways as I can.

One of the major ways Ive done that is through my music. Music was my first love, and Ive had the chance to put out several albums over the years. My desire to tell others about God is what led me to write. Im also one of the pastors at my church, where I help teach, counsel, and coordinate ministry to the youth. Im the founder of BRAG, a ministry dedicated to connecting a diverse young crowd with biblically solid content, and I blog regularly at BuiltToBrag.com. As I write this book, Im in my midtwenties, Ive been married for five years, and I have two young kids.

I want you to know who I am because I write from a very personal perspective. Ive tried to write each chapter in a conversational way so the book would be easy and natural to read. I want to focus on Gods Word and point you to it, but I dont want the book to feel like a really long sermonwhich is definitely hard because Im 95 percent preacher and 5 percent everything else.