What Will Make You Quit?

One of my favorite quotes from Rev. Jerry Falwell is this: "You don't determine a man's greatness by his talents or wealth like the world does, but by what it takes to discourage him."

I pose this question: What does it take to make you throw in the towel and quit? Are you easily swayed by intimidation? Do you quickly retreat at the first sign of opposition? Are you soundly defeated when it appears you're outnumbered by the opposition? Do you quickly become silent and refuse to speak up when it becomes evident you are the minority amongst a vocal majority?

It has always been said that "The greatest way for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing." It is time for us, as Christians, to guard ourselves against cowering in fear and allowing the godless to run all over us. Of course we don't literally "fight back" or become rude, obnoxious, and hateful in actions or words. We always maintain our composure, our testimony, our godly example.

We must understand that fear is but the ammunition of the terrorist, the chord in which evil uses to choke our message and the noise Satan uses to drown out the truth. When you are tempted to succumb to the fear of threats, opposition, and intimidation of others, remember it is not your battle to fight! As 2 Chronicles 20:15 says, "This is what the Lord says to you, 'do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.'"

Give God room (and time) to deal with those who cause trouble in your life. As God commanded Joshua following the death of Moses in Joshua 1:9, "This is my command -- be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

We can stand our ground and make our point and even state our position, but we must do so with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15). We must stay grounded in the truth, know our Scriptures, and stay close to Jesus in a loving, personal and intimate relationship. And, as we do so, don't ever quit...never!! Now, take your towel, fold it, and put it back in the linen closet where it belongs!

Cross of St. Peter

One of the strongest defenses of investigating any situation is making sure that we gather as many facts, witnesses, and information on the subject at hand. We don’t want to jump to any rash decisions or conclusions and find out, later, that we were wrong. The Bible has a very strong passage to support taking the time to gather facts to make a truth-filled decision. Proverbs 18:15 , “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” We cannot afford to jump to conclusions on unfounded rumors or quickly repeated gossip. I have witnessed one incident of such false information that has spread like a raging forest fire due to individuals not doing their homework on the subject matter. I am talking about some recent “observances” during the funeral of Pope Francis. During his funeral, several individuals noticed that there were “upside-down crosses” displayed in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Many took to social media in a wild frenzy to associa...

Stay Focused!

Since the birth of social media and 24-hour news organizations, we have quickly seen that information (true or false) travels quickly. It reminds me of words from the infamous church camp song “Pass It On” which states “It only takes a spark to get a fire going.” We have seen how quickly sparks of information can set our emotions into flame with the recent deaths of Charlie Kirk and Melissa Hortman. Their senseless deaths set off a blaze of responses due to their murders being categorized as assassinations. Sadly, this isn’t anything new. Just hearing the word “assassination,” we think of people such as John and Robert Kennedy, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X. We can even go back in time to notable leaders as Abraham Lincoln and Julius Ceasar. Yes, it is true what Solomon remarked in Ecclesiastes 1:9 , “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Evil is doing what evil does. Therefore, since we (...

Following Orders

The current state of affairs around the world today is one of unprecedented rules, regulations and precautions. We are not only washing our hands, sanitizing and staying at home for weeks, but practicing the art of “social distancing.” What was once an absurd concept and not overly conceivable is now the norm of behaviors in our communities. However, despite the precautions needed to slow down the spread of the coronavirus and guidelines issued by various governing authorities, there are those vigilantes who continue to march by the beat of their own drum. Their actions are drawing unnecessary attention. In the realm of faith, there are those pastors who continue to open their church sanctuaries for regular services. Although the request has been to shelter in place, close services to large gatherings and not to meet in groups of more than ten, we still see those churches still gathering in large crowds on Sundays in defiance to not only rules set by governors, but the Pr...

Clever Free Methodist

Search This Blog