katie0128
Silver Member
- 3,510
This is an excerpt from a weekly email sent from the senior minister at our church. Read it... I hope you get the biggest goose bumps of your life like I did. May your "banner be clear" as well!
"This week too, (as you've no doubt heard) Rev. Jerry Falwell, the pastor of a large church in the area in Virginia where I spent my high school days (and my wife Donna grew up) passed away. He was many things to many people and a giant influence in that area and beyond. No matter what people may say about him, he was a paragon of persistence. I close this week by including a piece I saw years ago that describes the passionate persistence required to follow Christ for the long haul. The title is The Fellowship of the Unashamed. As I read it again today, I thought of Jerry. It could have been his life mantra. Perhaps it could be yours too..."
The Fellowship of the Unashamed...
I am part of a fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of Jesus, and I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still. My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure. I'm finished and done with smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame divisions, mundane talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals, I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotion, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on his presence, walk by patience, live by prayer and labor by power. My faith is set. My gait is fast. My goal is heaven. My road is narrow. My way is rough. My companions are few. But my God is reliable and my mission dear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, shut up or let up till I've stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up and preached up for the cause of Christ. I'm a disciple of Jesus. I must go till he comes, give till I drop, preach till all know and work till he stops me. And when he comes for his own, he will have no problem recognizing me, because my banner will be clear."
"This week too, (as you've no doubt heard) Rev. Jerry Falwell, the pastor of a large church in the area in Virginia where I spent my high school days (and my wife Donna grew up) passed away. He was many things to many people and a giant influence in that area and beyond. No matter what people may say about him, he was a paragon of persistence. I close this week by including a piece I saw years ago that describes the passionate persistence required to follow Christ for the long haul. The title is The Fellowship of the Unashamed. As I read it again today, I thought of Jerry. It could have been his life mantra. Perhaps it could be yours too..."
The Fellowship of the Unashamed...
I am part of a fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of Jesus, and I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still. My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure. I'm finished and done with smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame divisions, mundane talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals, I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotion, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on his presence, walk by patience, live by prayer and labor by power. My faith is set. My gait is fast. My goal is heaven. My road is narrow. My way is rough. My companions are few. But my God is reliable and my mission dear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, shut up or let up till I've stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up and preached up for the cause of Christ. I'm a disciple of Jesus. I must go till he comes, give till I drop, preach till all know and work till he stops me. And when he comes for his own, he will have no problem recognizing me, because my banner will be clear."
