Stay Strong. Finish Strong.

One of the greatest pleasures that I have in the ministry is to glean from the wisdom of those who have been “at” it longer than I have. The wisdom of those who were saved as children or teens then spent the rest of their lives serving the Lord is simply priceless.

Recently, one of those seasoned saints passed away. I did not have the pleasure of meeting or knowing him, but my twenty-one year old son did. As I listened to Nathan tell me about this man of God and his impact on Nathan’s life, I could not help but cry tears of gratitude. What a blessing to have such an impact on his young life! The man was known as a prayer warrior. Nathan had told him about our ministry. “Mom, I didn’t tell you and Dad about that, but for the last year he’s been praying for you both and the ministry.” “When you look at him you can almost see the presence of God around him.” “He’s the type of Christian you’d call a ‘faithful servant’.” What a testimony that was noticed by a young person!

This man finished strong.

Even though I’ve never met him, he has influenced my life. I want to live my life in such a way that I finish strong. I want to have the impact in my old age on young people that this man had. I don’t want to “retire” from ministry or service to my Lord.

Psalm 71:9, Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.

All too often though many seasoned saints “retire” from Sunday school teaching or singing in the choir or helping around the church or any number of other ministry areas. Yes, strength and stamina wane as we age, but that is when we need to work smarter, not harder. Find someone younger who has the energy then train and direct that energy. Eventually you will have trained your replacement, allowing you to move on to train someone else.

Job 12:12, With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.

Psalm 71:18, Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.

Mentoring the next generation is a great need today. I’m not just talking about children and teens. Many couples and families are struggling today. The world philosophy has so inundated their thought processes that they have difficulty rightly discerning truth from God’s Word. Sometimes it helps if someone who has walked in their shoes offers to help them through their journey; to show them that following Biblical principles really does work; that God will be there for them even in what seems like their darkest hour. No, not everyone is going to want you interfering in his or her lives. However, if the Lord opens the door for you to encourage a couple or family, take the opportunity.

Psalm 92:13-15 ¹³ Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. ¹⁴ They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; ¹⁵ To shew that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Have you ever wondered why some older people are “crotchety” and some are simply sweet? It all depends where they are planted. Some of the sweetest people I know are those who have spent their lives serving the Lord… and continue to do so even in their old age. As long as there is breath, you can still bring forth fruit to the Lord.

Isaiah 46:4 And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.

What an encouragement that the Lord will continue to deliver us in our old age. Remember, God never changes. He is there for us in our old age as He was in our younger years. And, oh, what a thought that when we think (and maybe feel) that we can go on no longer, He carries us.

We have no excuse or reason for “retiring” from the service of the Lord. Right now, I am thinking of an older pastor whose body simply is failing. He is in and out of the hospital practically weekly. Although he acknowledges discouragement for his physical condition, he looks for those "divine appointments" of ministry wherever he is - hospital, dialysis, doctor's office waiting rooms. He knows that God has placed him in this task to reach those who may not be reached any other way. It is for us to be faithful to His work until He comes again or calls us home… regardless of our age or our physical condition.

2 Timothy 4:6-7 ⁶ For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.⁷ I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

As Nathan talked to me about the last few days of this man’s life, Nathan said it was if the man knew his time on earth was done. He went into surgery knowing it was risky, but content that either way the surgery went, he was going to be fine. He awoke in Glory! Oh, to fight a good fight and finish what the Lord would have me to do. To hear the words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” 

Stay strong. Finish strong.

Love Can Build A Bridge......

Not too long ago Dan and I were watching a World War II classic, “The Bridge on the River Kwai.” I have seen the movie a couple of times but there was something in the movie that I had not paid attention to before.  As the British colonel Nicholson and his men inspect what the Japanese had completed, one of the men states that the bridge is going to have to be moved down river where there is bedrock.  The Japanese had built the pillars of the bridge on sandy ground; the bridge would fall with the first heavy load.  That got me thinking.

For the last several years, we have dealt with individuals who have left fundamentalism citing that it is “too harsh”, “too hateful”, “too….”.  To be honest, I really can’t argue with them.  I, too, have been victim of the “do as I say, not as I do” crowd; those Christians who are more focused on the do’s and don’ts, than they are on the people they are dealing with. These Christians are more focused on how they look on the outside rather than the on the relationship they have with Christ on the inside.  I have seen on more than one occasion a woman treated with disdain because she came to church in a pant suit, a teen ostracized because they were dressed in goth attire, or a man ignored because he was disheveled and smelled. These that have left their “roots” have gravitated to the complete opposite.  After all, if what they grew up with was “wrong”, then the complete opposite must be “right.” Now they propagate the philosophy of “love.”  When you try to talk to them about standards, Bible versions or doctrine you hear in return something to the effect, “We don’t worry about those things now; those are non-issues for us. We interpret those things differently than you. We just need to love people to Jesus.” In other words, “Love can build a bridge… to Jesus.”

While that sounds nice and sweet…. and loving, these believers are just as wrong in their “enlightenment” as their brothers and sisters in Christ who major on the minors. In order to be in either of the groups the individual is ignoring the WHOLE counsel of God in the Bible.  There is BALANCE in all Scripture.  There must be discipline and doctrine in the Christian walk just as much as there needs to be love.

But the whole “come as you are,” mega-church movement, which first championed the “love” philosophy that so many fundamentalists are now adopting, is a failure. Why? Just like that bridge in the movie, it was built and created on a weak foundation. Several years ago, following the release of the results of a multi-year study on the effectiveness of their programs and philosophy of ministry at Willow Creek, the founder of this movement, Bill Hybels, stated, “We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.” 

So, what is proposed to correct this? Greg Hawkins, co-author of the book, Reveal: Where Are You?, gave this summary, “Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do church. That we take out a clean sheet of paper and we rethink all of our old assumptions. Replace it with new insights. Insights that are informed by research and rooted in Scripture. Our dream is really to discover what God is doing and how he’s asking us to transform this planet.”

While it is admirable that they want to change, and I believe there are just as many fundamental churches that need to change, the “rethink,” “informed by research” and “rooted in Scripture” aspects of the statement bothers me. The plan for the “dream to really discover what God is doing and how he’s asking us to transform this planet” is already written.  It is already planned. We don’t need to “rethink” or “research” anything.  We need to LEARN it.

I have been reading through the New Testament and came to 2 Peter 1 when something struck me that I believe goes along with the above. (Bold and underlined added for emphasis.)

2 Peter 1:4-10: ⁴Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

⁵And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; ⁶And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; ⁷And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.


⁸For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  ⁹But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.  ¹⁰Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

Isn’t it interesting the order in which these things are placed?  I believe that the Lord had a reason for ordering them in this way. To our faith we are to add virtue; to do that which is right while avoiding that which is wrong. To virtue we are to add knowledge. Knowledge is the condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association (2) : acquaintance with or understanding of a science, art, or technique. (MerriamWebster.com) In this case, it would be to increase our knowledge of God’s Word. To knowledge we are to add temperance. This is simply moderation or restraint.  Isn’t it interesting that first we must have faith, and then we are to begin to do right things as opposed to wrong things led by our new understanding through the Holy Spirit even before we have knowledge of God’s Word? This could be as simple as being kind or turning away from a vice. We are also to study God’s Word so that more can be revealed to us because this will also bring moderation and restraint in how we live our lives.


But there is even more.  To temperance we are to add patience. We are to handle trials calmly, without complaint; we are to manifest forbearance, or tolerance, when under stress or strain. To patience we are to add godliness. According to Webster-dictionary.net, this is defined as careful observance of, or conformity to, the laws of God; the state or quality of being godly. Then, we are to add brotherly kindness. The Greek word for “brotherly kindness” is transliterated “philadelphia”. It describes that we are to have love toward our fellow Christians. Finally, we are to add to brotherly kindness charity. Charity is defined as a benevolence or goodwill toward humanity, a generosity toward those who are poor or in need.


Hmmm. To faith we are to add doing right and not doing wrong.  We are to increase our knowledge of the Bible. We are to live our lives with moderation and restraint.  We are to calmly handle our trials and show tolerance for others. THEN, we are to show love toward our fellow Christian and love to those who are in need.


It seems to me that there are many of us who have our “religion” all wrong.  Some have stopped on the front end of the list and only focus on the do’s and don’ts – virtue. Others have skipped to the end of the list and only focus on love – charity.  Both are wrong.


Where are knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness and brotherly kindness? Since when is it okay to pick and choose what it is that we will or will not do according to God’s Word? We cannot continue to cling to our pet passages.


It is time to get back to the Bible so that we can hold fast to the truth of the whole counsel of God’s Word. Make sure your foundation.