Broken Pieces

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people." ~Genesis 50:20 (NLT)

This verse has been on my mind so strongly lately.  Recently, I have heard stories, over and over again, that reiterate the lesson found within this verse...

A minister falsely accused of a crime, didn't put all his energy into fighting the accusation, but rather accepted that God's will would be done.  Now, having been in prison for years, a church has been started behind those bars due to his not despairing and seeing God's hand, even in such a tragic situation.

A child away from God, wandered much too far, and, while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, accidentally killed someone. Now, both him and his nephew, also in prison, have come back to God and many others are coming to know God through them as well.  

These are both real stories that have been shared with me within the last couple of months. 

Granted, every story doesn't climax with someone in prison. (Thank God!) These just happen to be the two examples I felt to share. And every story doesn't  involve literal flesh and blood people causing the harm. Scripture says that, "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." ~Ephesians 6:12 

The scripture at the beginning of this blog is from the story of Joseph, and Joseph's story is just that...Joseph's story.  In Joseph's story his brothers are the ones who did him wrong.  God took that and used it.  He used it to the extent that he was able to use Joseph to save the lives of a multiplied number of people, his brothers’ included. 

Each one of us has our own story.  The negative part of the story is not what matters. What matters is what you are willing to let God make of it.  God can take anything and make something beautiful.  He can take a royal disaster and make it into a royal masterpiece. But you have to be willing to hand it over to him...broken piece by broken piece.

You see, the picture of your future you had formed in your mind?  It's nothing compared to what the master artist can design. As a matter of fact, you will probably not even recognize what he creates as you begin to hand over those pieces, one by one.  

Frustration..hand it over.
Hatred...give it to Him.
Jealousy...let go of it.
Judgement...it's the Lord's.
Discouragement...lay it down.

Piece by piece by piece, watch God make something beautiful. Something others can look at and learn from. Something that can transform other's lives as well. 

Piece by piece by piece.

While at LA Camp meeting recently I heard the song "Healing is Here" for the first time.  Two particular lines stood out to me above all the rest:

You are the God of all power,
And it is your will that my life is healed. 

Yes, it is God's will to allow us to go through tests and trials.  If we continue to persevere,  these will transform us into vessels more fit for his kingdom.  However, it is also His will for our lives to be healed.  It is especially His will that our lives are healed.  The entire point of the sickness, trial, or test  is for Him to receive glory through the healing. 

Whatever your circumstance, it IS God's will that your life is healed. It IS God's will that others benefit through your testimony. God is not blind to where you are or the circumstances that you face. He took Joseph from the pit to the palace, but He didn't do it overnight.... 

He did it piece by piece by piece. One act of obedience followed by another act of obedience.  Back stabbed? No problem, shake it off. Forgotten? It's ok, it's not God's timing yet anyway.

Piece by piece by piece. Trust God. Obey God. And Watch God do what only HE can do. 

Living Proof

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:19

I've heard it quoted many times, usually jokingly, but oh, how much truth is found within these few words: "Everybody wants to see a miracle, but nobody wants to be one."

According to Webster's Dictionary a miracle is: an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs; an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment.

From life and observation I have learned the following:
Everybody wants to see God move. Everybody wants to see God do awesome things that prove His glory, but nobody wants to actually have to endure any kind of hard situation, be it emotional, spiritual, physical, or financial, in order for that glory to be shown. Yes, everybody wants to see a miracle, but nobody wants to be one.

On the flipside, through personal and second hand experience I have also learned that:
Every missionary that chooses to embrace their calling and obey God is also, simultaneously, making an unspoken, yet understood, commitment to "being a miracle".  

Now, being a missionary myself, I would like to claim that we all make that second commitment with a skip in our step and an excitement and anticipation of the possibilities of all the amazing things God is going to do, because, well...He's just gotta!  He made the plan, so He's gonna back it up right?  YES!!!  Now we know it's time to watch Him show off. Sit back, grab the popcorn and Coke...it's SHOWTIME!!!! (Oh wait a minute..."faith without works is dead"...But that's a different blog for a different time....)

Yes, I would like to claim that's how it is and maybe it is that way for some. I know I personally have came a long way. However, when the next mountain looks higher than the last, by human nature it is easier to focus on that fact, rather than the fact that the mountain before that last one was smaller, and the mountain before that one was smaller, and yet God has always taken me over or through each them. And each time, my faith has grown. But, I will admit, I have never literally spoken the words, "God, I want to be a miracle!", that is, not until the stage was already set for me to need one, then it has been spoken more in the form of the words, "God, I NEED a miracle."

In the story of the feeding of the 5,000, the following conversation occurred between Jesus and His disciples:

When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. ~John 6:5-6

When God asks you to do something that seems impossible, He is proving you.  When you find yourself or a close relative with an incurable disease, He is proving you. When He asks you to give and you have no idea where it will come from, He is proving you. This list could go on for a while, but the point is: There IS a reason for your dilemma...and that reason is for His glory to be shown...through your proving. God wants to work; He has a plan in place. The provision is activated by your proving...when you prove He provides the proof!!!

According to Webster's to "prove" means: "to test the truth, validity, or genuineness of."

Want a financial miracle?

Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. ~Matthew 3:8-10

Want healing?

Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. ~James 5:14-15

Want  deliverance?

Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. ~James 5:13

No, I've never asked to be a miracle, yet, thankfully, I have been blessed to be one, many times.  Having made a commitment to God to minister in what is considered the most expensive city in world has not been an easy thing. My flesh wants to know the hows, yet my spirit has had to learn to trust Him, on a whole new level, to provide every need necessary. And miracle, after miracle, after miracle I have seen Him do so, in ways I never could have imagined. Before I began this journey my pastor encouraged me saying, "God's finger will never point where His hand won't provide."  That has been my motto for the last year and that is now becoming my testimony.

A week and a half ago, it appeared that within a few more minutes my Dad might no longer be with us. Yet, as I laid hands on him to pray and began interceding for him in tongues, my father, who couldn't even speak at the moment, and who could barely breath, also began speaking in tongues. At that moment I felt that peace that passes all understanding sweep over the room. (Phillippians 4:7) After receiving oxygen, all vitals showed normal, and later all tests came back normal.

The world jokes: Everybody wants to see a miracle, but nobody wants to be one. 

But God says: "Prove me."

 



Staging a Protest

“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am presently reading a book called “The Devil in Pew Number Seven” by Rebecca Nichols Alonzo.The writer’s very creative narrative of her own birth made quite an impression on me:

 

I yelled.

My eyes were pinched shut against a light as harsh as a solar flare. They stung as if sprayed with salt water. From head to toe, my skin tingled as if a blast of arctic air had swept over me. Chilled to the bone, I couldn’t explain the traumatic change in the temperature. My body shivered, trembling like a leaf in the wind.  And, although I was suddenly cold, my lungs burned with each breath.

In vain, I cried out.

My legs, kicking without regard for the hands that attempted to hold me down, were no match for the masked faces surrounding me. I could not make sense of their muffled voices. Out of control, powerless to hold my head up, I was carried away against my will. With fingers curled into a ball of fury, face as red as Mars, I howled so loudly the wail could be heard down the hall.

Like all humanity before me, I entered the world staging a protest.

My first thought when I read this was “..and so it is with us.”  How many times in life does our flesh protest something God wants us to do or perhaps just something he wills us to endure?  How many times does He move us forward, while our heels are still dug in the sand?  How many times has He asked us simply to remain standing, yet we proclaim a sit in and recruit friends to join us.  

A baby’s options are death or life, nothing else, and so it is with us. Stagnation is a spiritual killer, as is letting down your guard, forgetting or neglecting to keep your spiritual armor on. Recently, while driving through the state of Missouri, I read alarming statistics posted on an illuminated sign beside the interstate: “Number of Deaths this Year: 711; 64% Unbuckled”.  I personally have been in at least one accident, in which I have no doubt that I would have died, had I not been wearing a seat belt. Instead, due to this precaution, and, no doubt, greatly due to God’s protection, I walked out of the car, practically unscathed. At 70 mph, the car had rolled multiple times and finally landed upside down, with a caved in roof.  When I read that sign reporting the number of deaths I just kept thinking, how low would that first number have  been, had, by chance, that second number been lower? And how much is this like us in the spiritual realm? How many casualties could be prevented if we simply remembered to keep our spiritual armor on at all times? (Ephesians 6:10-18)

Whether God has told you to move or whether He’s told you to stand. Don’t doubt. Don’t question. If He has spoken, you can rest assured that the path you will trod will be the safest. Why?  Because He has promised to be with you.

As the song goes…

“Many things about tomorrow

I don’t seem to understand,

But I know who holds tomorrow

And I know He hold my hand.”

So stand up, put down those protest signs, and get those heels out of the sand. God is FOR you. (Psalm 56:9)

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. ~Jeremiah 29:11

In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day

A few days ago, while in the tunnel to board the last flight on my way back to Latvia, traffic got backed up, and I found myself at a stand still, staring out the window. To be more specific, I found myself staring at the pilot, a man probably in his late 50s, most likely of Russian decent, who had a stern look on his face, and a serious unibrow. In all actuality the man reminded me of someone who may have played one of the bad guys in one of those old black and white war movies. While looking at him and thinking about this my next thought was, "By walking onto this plane I am making the choice to put my life in this man's hands." About that time my eyesight shifted and I realized the co-pilot was observing me, observing the pilot. My next thought was "I'm putting my life in his hands too." About that time traffic started moving and I shortly found myself on the plane, sitting in my assigned seat, staring out the window at the wing my seat overlooked. I then began to think about all the individuals that were involved in making and servicing this plane and how there were no doubt hundreds of people that I was choosing to "trust" just by the simple acts of purchasing my tickets and getting on the plane. In a little over one month I had made this choice to board a plane built, serviced, and flown by people I know absolutely nothing about 8 different times. And strangely enough, this thought did not have me sweating bullets, or even really disturb me even the slightest bit.

But it did get me thinking about a relationship with someone I do personally know, my Heavenly Father. I am presently reading for the second time what I would consider one of my top five favorite books "Ïn a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day" by Mark Batterson. The back cover of the books says, "What if the life you really want and the future God wants for you is hiding right now in your biggest problem, your worst failure...your greatest fear? The book is basically about saying goodbye to fear and hello to faith in God, not just faith that there is a God, but that the steps of good men truly are ordered by Him.

How is it that it can be so easy to nonchalantly entrust one's safety to an airline, etc, but when in the path of life one come to a crossroads, brickwall, he can find himself spiritually hyperventilating? I have no doubt God has came through for both me and for you many more times than any airline has, so why do we ever even question what the future may hold? There is a reason why I have decided to read this book at this certain time...because I know it would remind me of some things that I already know, but just could use hearing again. Thought I would share a few of the passages with you as well, you know, in case you too are at or approaching a crossroads, brick wall, or cliff and might find some of these words beneficial.

"Whenever I counsel someone who is wrestling with discerning the will of God, I remind them of this simple truth: God wants you to get where God wants you to go more than you want to get where God wants you to go....If you keep in step with the Spirit, God is going to make sure you get where He wants you to go. He is always working behind the scenes, engineering our circumstance and setting us up for success.....Now here's the catch: Sometimes His itinerary entails coming face to face with a lion in a pit on a snowy day. But when you find yourself in those challenging circumstances, you need to know that God is ordering your footsteps. You can have a sense of destiny because you know that God has considered every contingency in your life, and He always has your best interest at heart. And that sense of destiny, rooted in the sovereignty of God, helps you pray the unthinkable and attempt the impossible.

This book is based on the scriptures in 2 Samuel that talk about a man named Benaiah who went down into a pit on a snowy day to kill a lion. The writer is making the point that we are to face fears & challenges, rather than run from them. Those who do so are referred to as "lion chasers".

Lionchasers challenge the status quo....they don't need to know what is coming next because they know that God knows. They don't need explanations for every disappointment because they know God has a plan.....The longer I live, the more I think spiritual maturity is less about figuring out the future and more about a moment-by-moment sensitivity to the Spirit of God. I'm not saying we shouldn't make plans. But you might want to use a pencil with an eraser and have a shredder handy...I believe in planning. I believe in goal setting. But there are some things in life you can't plan or predict. And that drives the obsessive compulsive part of us crazy. We want control, but the decision to follow Christ is a relinquishment of control. Following Christ is letting Jesus take the wheel. [and not acting like backseat drivers or asking "Are we there yet?"]

I am glad to say that at this moment in my life I am not standing at a crossroad, a brick wall, or a cliff. However, it is likely that, in the not so far future, I will be. (Hopefully just the crossroad :-) That said, much like the author, I too am very goal oriented, so when I don't have a plan, and God remains mum, that obsessive compulsive side starts to get a little stir crazy. I have also learned that absolutely nothing can be done to get God to speak any sooner. He is always on time, but, in my personal experience, rarely early. Therefore I have sufficed it to remind myself that on God's time clock for my own life it is only about 8 or 9 oclock and he usually announces the plan around 11..though He has full authority to wait until that absolute last minute. He does, however, always come, always speak, always provide, always open that right door, always provide that special need. He always has and He always will. And it has always been better than I could have even expected.

Before leaving a ministry conference I attended in Louisiana last week, I was riding with a friend to the airport, telling her about how I fly standby and how I had been so thankful to get a window seat with no one next to me on the international flight to the states. I had been the last person to board the plane, and even in the past when I have bought a pre-purchased ticket early, I have still always got that terrible seat in the middle of the middle row, sitting next to two strangers. I then prayed out loud, somewhat jokingly, that I would get the same kind of seat on that international flight back..window with empty seat next to me. I then told my friend she was my witness, for when it happened. Well, I didn't just get my wish for that for the international flight, but on all three flights I had to fly on the way home, two of which I flew standby. There were also many little needs and just plain "wants" that I prayed for before my visit home and to that conference, such as clothing for the cold weather here, certain restaurants I hoped to get to eat at,etc. Some things were very important and some were just desires. God came through for every single one. And believe me, there were quite a few.

If God cares about the little insignificant things, how much more does He care about us surviving those moments in our lives when we face lions in pits on snowy days? The author of this book makes the point that had Benaiah not went through those many heart pounding situations, he would have never had the exceptional resume that most likely opened the door for him to be put in charge of the king's bodyguard, making him one of the most respected people in the kingdom.

So, put on that lion slaying attire and remember that God does all things well, has your best interest at heart (if you have HIS best interest at heart), and is ALWAYS on time!

My Kind of Heroes

Began this post a year ago...came across it & felt to finish it up & post it...

"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." ~Psalm 71:18

"One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts." ~Psalm 145:4

Hero - a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities

Recently I attended a conference for ministers in Alexandria, Louisiana called Because of the Times. The church the Pentecostals of Alexandria hosts this meeting each year and it is a HUGE blessing to ministers throughout the UPCI organization and beyond.

During the conference this year there was one major thing on my mind. Sacrifice. I am presently planning to go overseas to do mission work for the longest amount of time, by far, I have ever gone, and I already know...this isn't just a trip, but a beginning. A beginning to a future with extremely heavy reliance on faith & trust in God, and his leading, and guiding, and provision....It's a future that is very much based on God leading one step at a time, and trusting that every step will be secure. I am already quite familiar with this type of reliance, but know deep down I have really only touched the tip of the iceburg.

During BOTT the Stewarts, missionaries to Liberia, were asked to share their testimony. I had already had the privilege of meeting this wonderful couple the summer before at Louisiana camp meeting, but little did I know what all they had been through for the sake of Christ...There were many things they shared that day, but what stood out to me the most was that they had stayed in their country through many civil wars, even when our U.S. marines were evacuated...they still stayed. At one point the gunfire was very extreme near their home for a long period of time. During this time they ran out of food and water and drunk the water from their water bed for over a week, I believe,just to survive.

THIS is what REAL heroes look like:


And then, there was this man. I don't remember his name and had never seen him before. I probably wouldn't recognize him again if I saw him, but he made a huge lasting impression on me....You see, they were having drawings for door prizes, cds or something like that, and when each person's name was announced, so was their ministry...foreign missionary, home missionary, evangelist, pastor,etc. This man's name was announced, followed by "home missionary", as the man walked by me conviction seized my heart. He was well in his 70s at least and how was he spending the golden years of his life? Still working hard for the Kingdom. My hero.

And then there's another hero I want to talk about...Sis. Kristi Landaw. Her & her husband are missionaries to Trinidad & Tobago and also some Spanish speaking countries in the Caribbean. The first mission trip I ever took, right out of high school, was a YOM to Trinidad, so I, of course, got to know them quite well then, and later ended up attending Bible college with their children in Indianapolis. So, all that said, while I wouldn't consider myself close to them at this time, they still hold a dear place in my heart. Therefore, from the time I heard Sis. Landaw had cancer, I prayed for her often. A lot of missionaries going through what she went through could have thrown in the towel, and nobody would have probably thought it wrong at all, but they didn't. They fought. They prayed. And they won. They are back on the field & God is still doing a great work in Trinidad!

While writing the last part of this (now in 2012), I glanced at Sis. Landaw's FB page, and saw the lyrics to this song she had posted...believe it is very appropriate for what I am writing about:

Too many miles behind me too many trials are through
Too many tears help me to remember but there's too much to gain to lose
Too many sunsets lie behind the mountains
Too many rivers my feet have walked through
Too many treasures awaiting over yonder there's too much to gain to lose

"Too much to gain to lose"...That's a hero's mindset.

My heroes are not all missionaries, nor are they all full time ministers. But they are all people who no one need ask, for it is obvious, that they walk with God daily, for His beauty is reflected through their countenance & his power is displayed through their courage.

When I look at the type of people I have written about above, as part of the generation following them, I am encouraged that I too can do whatever God asks of me, no matter what may come my way, no matter how difficult or scary the task. Through people like this God's strength has been shown to this generation and His works have been praised. Their commitment itself shows that His acts are indeed mighty and well worth the sacrifice.

Never Never NEVER Give Up

"Never, never, NEVER give up." ~ Winston Churchhill

The blog below (posted by another one of my close friends) tells the testimony of a dear friend of mine, a friend I just met this last summer, but that I now feel like I've known forever. One day this last July her and another friend and I went to a restaurant for lunch on a Sunday afternoon. I had heard she had an amazing testimony and asked her to please tell me it. Two hours later this girl I had just met that morning had me in tears right there in that restaurant as she shared her testimony with me. The tears came because God in a strong way began to speak to me to never give up on anyone. To ALWAYS keep reaching and to NEVER place judgement. Isn't that exactly what Jesus would do?

I hope this short version of her testimony ministers to you as it did to me.


Fancy~Shmancy: A letter from Angel: "In late September, I met a young lady with a big smile and lots of spunk. Her and her friend Linda were introduced to me and my friends thro..."

They Which Do Hunger & Thirst

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Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. ~Matthew 5:6

Lately I have been thinking a lot about men & women of God such as J.T. Pugh, Nona Freeman, T.F.Tenney, Joy Haney, etc. Pretty much since the time I started keeping this blog I have been reading anything and everything I can get my hand on that's written by people of this caliber. I have developed an unquenchable thirst to understand how their walks with God became such as they were/are.

Often I have heard people refer back to certain bygone days as "back in the tent revival days", as if the miracles & revivals seen then are exclusive to that time. And I have heard references to the revivals in Africa, as if they're exclusive to that continent and not to be expected to occur elsewhere...

This is wrong. This is shallow. And I refuse to believe it or to accept it.

These amazing stories are not selective to a certain time or place. They are merely a result of God's children being willing to sacrifice, caring more about seeing God move than about anything else on this earth.

One day this week, in the Bible class I've been teaching to Jr. High students, I taught on miracles. Having read a great article from the UPCI World Network of Prayer Website by Sis. Lisa Marshall, I felt inspired to share it with them. She had written about how the saints of God used to gather for a "season of prayer", an indefinite amount of time in which they would pray until something happened, then they started meeting for a "time of prayer",a set amount of time, such as 5-8 pm, and "if God was going to move, it best happen during that time."..we started giving God time limits. Now we have reached a time where sometimes in services we simply pause for "a moment of prayer". This is very sad and I am convinced this has been reflected in the gradual lessening of miracles and healings that we have been seeing through the years. This must change and it must change now.

I then went on to read to the students random miracles Sis. Nona Freeman had written about in her book "Everything's Gonna to Be Alright!" By the time I was done, many of them were in awe & a few actually wanted me to keep reading.

The next day I taught on prayer, referring to & expounding on another article Sis. Marshall had written on hinderances to prayer. (VERY good article) And then talked to them about if we want to see miracles like "that lady" did,then we have to pray like "that lady" did. (Many of these kids hadn't heard of her until I told them these stories since many of them haven't been raised in an Apostolic church...or oftentimes any church at all.)

You see, through reading these books I have realized (well I already figured, but just needed to be reassured :-)that these people weren't born "super spiritual" with their own personal, way quicker & clearer than everyone else's, ultra-special, direct line to God....at least not more so than anyone else who's ever been born. They too had to grown in their walks with God & in their faith. They too had moments of frustration & moments of weakness in faith. However, each time things seemed hopeless and they saw God work, their faith grew and their faith strengthened.

I've came to the conclusion that each & every one of us can be used by God as much and to whatever extent that we desire to be. The only questions are: how bad do we want it & what are we willing to do about it?

I don't know about you, but I hunger. I hunger to dig deeper into God's word. I thirst. I thirst to glean from the numerous men & women of God who know much more than I do & have experienced much more than I have. I hunger. I hunger for longer conversations with God filled more with Him speaking & me listening, versus me speaking & Him listening. I thirst. I thirst to go wherever He wants me to go and do whatever He wants me to do.

However...
I may be hungry & I may be thirsty...but there's a world that's starving. It's starving spiritually. They're eating whatever they can get their hands on, yet every morning they still wake up with the same sick, empty filling, deciding "Tomorrow I'm going to try something else." And often, they do...and yet still wake up to that same feeling. Why not offer Christ and let Him be the next thing they try?

I hunger & I thirst to assist God in feeding this starving world.

So what about you?...What are YOU hungry & thirsty for?

And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. ~Deuteronomy 8:3

And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them. ~Nehemiah 9:15

Luke 6:21
Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.

Runner, Run On!

This blog is simply notes from a message one of my teachers spoke on when I attended IBC. Lately I have been starting to go through my old textbook and class notes and am using them some to study for the Bible class I teach at TCA. I also recently came across all the sermon notes I’d kept and have been reading through them some in my devotional time. (When attending there I attended 3 services a week & 2 chapels (heard 2 messages, usually by students in each chapel)…you can just imagine how many notes I have!)

I am very much enjoying reading through them though…it’s like having a collection of devotionals written mostly by people I know. :o) Anyway, the following is something Bro. Brown spoke on in chapel in November of ’01. I found it very encouraging and really like the approach he took. This is straight out of my notes; nothing changed or edited…just thought I’d share some food for thought.



1 Cor. 9:24

People often begin something but never see it to completion—making up an excuse to justify their failure.

Get in the race & run!!!

Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to just begin a race.
---Every race has a starting point.

Acts 9:5 – This is where Paul’s race began.

The race is not easy.
You will get tired, weary, & uneasy.

Sometimes training for a race is long, difficult, & inconvenient.

Training takes time, “eating” only certain things.

Athletes spend tons of time training for a one time event.
The training is actually part of the race.---We need to be prepared.

A runner needs to be careful not to carry excess weight.
We must have the right equipment & none of what we don’t need.
---Does a runner wear a weight?

II Timothy 2:15

Training is necessary.

Your heart must be set for the long haul.

Many times the person who wins the race is the one that just keeps putting one foot in front of the other.

(Poem “Don’t You Quit”)

Every Christian is Involved in 2 Races: 1) The Race for Salvation
2) The Race of Your Ministry

Don’t base your calling on other people’s responses to your calling!

Persistence is the key to ministry.