Mark Robbins - First Priority Season of Thanksgivings

Season of Thanksgivings. Yes, it is not a typographical error; this is the Season of not one item of thanks but rather a Season of many thanks for me. For the past several years I have taken this time of the year to express the impact and thanks of my heart for individuals that made a difference and situations that cause my heart to give thanks. I love Thanksgiving and I have learned to put out of my mind the commercialized season that brings ring ring to the cash registers of retailers. I am not sure that the Christmas season begins sooner every year but I know that Thanksgiving is as fundamental to the Christian faith as Christmas even if retailers, families, individuals and churches quickly move through the Holiday. There are individuals in each of our lives that have brought about a positive impact. Some of these folks we maybe able to name personally, others are folks that because of what they did brought necessary change to our way of thinking or simply influenced a situation that made all the difference. Robert Frost talked about this in his poem, “The Road not Taken”. For Christians, we too make road choices that should bring a sense of peace to our lives even if no one travels that road with us.
The Tri-State and the Tri-County area of Southeastern Kentucky is blessed with the impact of vision, determination and leadership through the long time Executive Director of First Priority, Mark Robbins. Mark was the person tapped by the national leadership of First Priority to begin the movement and empowerment of young people to follow Christ and to exercise their constitutional right of assemble, prayer, praise and worship all in the name of Jesus to our middle schools and high schools. When First Priority began it was a simple call to action, where churches were encouraged to get behind young people with their financial resources, energy and volunteerism as students developed leadership skills and the practice of their faith and for thousands, those who came to believe in Jesus Christ because someone dared to tell the story of Jesus and His love.
Today, First Priority has grown in Southeastern Kentucky to two different areas of focus. At the inception it was a Claiborne County Tennessee, Bell, and Harlan County movement. Once that organization proved itself, and with the spreading of the word about the success students were having in schools and the difference churches were seeing because of the impact of First Priority on students, soon the network grew deeper into the State of Tennessee and neighboring counties and in Kentucky too. Knox, Whitley and Laurel Counties also heard of the results and impact and the network continued to expand reaching thousands of students every week, many of whom never walked through the doors of a church on regular bases or had never professed a belief in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. The amazing thing to me as a pastor about First Priority was that it sought the influence, support and connection of the local church too. Many organizations want to be stand alone but not First Priority. First Priority aggressively pursued the church as the real connection and began to build bridges to connect students with churches that believed Jesus was the answer.
Mark Robbins is an individual I admire and appreciate for taking this vision to heart and for committing himself to the cause of students and First Priority. Working with Mark to build the network and expand the impact of churches in the lives of students and our educational campuses has been and remains a top priority of my life and one of those rewarded blessings of God that has impacted and also changed my life.
Today, the Tri-State First Priority Network is lead by Junior Minton and the Tri-County First Priority Network is lead by Tim Bargo. I am most thankful for the leadership of these men in the lives of our students. Our communities are different because these guys lead the networks and our students in school are able to exercise their constitutional rights because of the due diligence of these men who work to secure volunteer leaders, raise funds and press toward the prize of God and His calling on their lives. As I begin my Season of Thankgivings, it begins with Mark Robbins and it is easy to see what happens when one person does what is right. Others follow. Thanks Junior and Tim for continuing to build a foundation that others can build upon.

Until then