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“BLAMELESS”

Frank Becker delivered this message on December 13th at Calvary Chapel of Brazos County, Texas.

He leads me beside still waters…

GREETINGS:

It’s difficult for an “over-the-hill” pastor like me to find a church that satisfies his ideals. Calvary Chapel of Brazos County, with Pastor Eddie, is the first church I’ve wholly embraced in over two decades and I am honored to have the privilege to share God’s Word.

INTRODUCTION:

On Friday evening, Joy and I sat at my computer and watched as one of our grandson’s received his diploma from a great Christian university. I’m always blessed by any ministry that stays true to our Lord. And through the years, I’ve been blessed to make friends of great men and women of God, to sit under anointed Bible teachers and preachers, to serve in local churches, to visit foreign mission fields, to co-host a Christian talk show, and to preach in numerous churches. BUT not all is sweetness and light. That’s why God has provided so many warnings and so much instruction in his Holy Word.

I began pastoring at a time of great spiritual excitement:

  • Christian evangelists were actually finding acceptance on TV.
  • Billy Graham was producing feature length movies like “The Hiding Place.”
  • The Charismatic movement was bringing attention and arousing great controversy.
  • The bus ministry brought multitudes to Sunday School.
  • The Christian School movement came out of nowhere to change the future of education.
  • Attendance at conservative Bible teaching churches and colleges peaked.
  • And many of the men whom God raised up to lead these ministries became respected figures.

But then something happened. The bubble burst.

That Crisis might have been avoided if the 20th Century Church had heeded Paul’s words to Timothy in the 1st Century. In 1st Timothy 3, Paul writes about the qualifications that should be required for bishops and deacons in the church at Ephesus.

1. It was a new church, a new religion; with undeveloped doctrine and little more than the Old Testament to guide believers.

2. There were doctrinal problems, and “wolves” had come in among the flock, exploiting it.

3. It was threatened by false teachers, and wolves like Hymenaeus and Alexander had already exploited the sheep.

Look at Chapter One:

  • Verse 3 – Some were teaching false doctrine.
  • Verse 4 – Some heeded fables and endless genealogies.
  • Verse 5 – Some weren’t practicing charity out of a pure heart.
  • Verses 6 and 7 – Some had swerved and “…turned aside unto vain jangling, desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.”
  • Pastor Timothy needed encouragement, guidance, and to get the big picture.
  • He needed guidelines by which to select and train godly men to serve as bishops, elders, pastors, and deacons. They needed to learn not just the word of God, but to understand the challenges and prepare.

The Solution that Paul prescribed is the biblical approach established in Acts 6:3,

“Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;”

Two of the original deacons selected by the Jerusalem church are outstanding examples of blameless men. Stephen – a deacon in the Jerusalem church – preached a marvelous sermon that led to his martyrdom, while Philip, the evangelist, led the Ethiopian Eunuch – who was the treasurer for the queen of Ethiopia – to the Lord.

I. What’s the Heart of 1st Timothy 3?

There are specific rules here, but that’s the big message? Look at the second verse of 1st Timothy 3:

This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of bishop, he desires a good work. A Christian then must be blameless….”

Oops! Did you catch my error? You need to continually check your Bible and be alert for error creeping in! Verse 2 actually reads, “A BISHOP then must be blameless.”

2. No church leader isperfect, but weare to be “Blameless.”

That means, “above reproach,” from the Greek, ἀνεπίλημπτον (anepilēmpton). Specifically, it means unimpeachable, spotless, unblemished, and polished. These arre the character of a righteous judge. Is there any question as to why Paul says the members of the church should not go to the public courts but solve their own disagreements.

That word, “blameless,” covers every character trait that Paul mentions in all his letters.

3. Both thebishop and deacon are to be blameless.

Yet, the Deacons appear to be allowed license that is denied to bishops. Paul seems to make it easier for the deacons. Yet both must be blameless. Verse 10 makes that clear: “But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless.”

4. Every Christian should be blameless, but that’s not always possible.

It takes time, and requires spiritual growth.

When Paul wrote Timothy, the church at Ephesus was suffering growing pains. Rapid growth brings major challenges. People of all ages and every level of spiritual maturity are continually added to the church.

If all believers were blameless, there would be no need for a selection process, but we’d still have to watch for wolves coming in among the flock. At the same time, the pool from which we draw bishops and deacons may be a bit stagnant. Why? Because the spiritual level of the community may be dismal, but even if that were not so, all of us have a long way to go to be anything like Jesus and all of us must undergo progressive sanctification.

So we must maintain a minimum standard for leaders.

Think about it. How would locate a blameless man on the Isle of Crete? In his letter to Titus, Paul wrote, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” It’s obvious that Paul had to allow a little slack to get the job done.

But, be careful! I am not suggesting that we provide a license to sin or that we recruit sinful people. We must not wrest the scriptures to our own destruction. The closer you come to blameless, the more effective and blessed you will be.

Later in this same book, Paul warns, Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure (5:22). When the apostles consecrated bishops and deacons for service, they laid hands on them and prayed over them.

1. Growing churches face growing challenges

As long as we keep bringing in new converts, we will always have immature people in the church.

That means coffee stains on the carpets, bubble gum on the pews, and, God forbid, adultery in the attic. And every one must be edified, disciplined, and loved! And that requires adding bishops and deacons.

2. The church is like a teenage boy, continually outgrowing his clothes.

  • We need to edify every individual, no matter their age or level of maturity.
  • We need to train additional leaders to meet the continual growth.
  • Therefore, we will have to continually judge who is at an acceptable level of spiritual maturity.

We do this by measuring against the standards listed in Chapter 3 and elsewhere in God’s word.

You may think that being a bishop or deacon in a relatively small church is no big deal, but the truth is that they all have to have prayerfully handle the same problems. Whether we are witnessing to the lost, praying for the sick, turning an erring brother back to Christ, feeding the orphans and widows, or preaching a sermon. Yet, regardless of the size of the fellowship, there is no greater work.

II. Regrettably, many Church Leaders Today Are Not Blameless

  • Attendance has been falling for decades, and less than half of all Americans now identify with any church.
  • Thirty-five percent of Generation Z, those born since 1996, do not believe in God, and 44% do not consider themselves to be Catholics or protestants, and their politics reflect their secularism.
  • The Bible is no longer the rule for faith and life, and society, and much of the Church, has no fixed criteria for making decisions about things like abortion and same-sex marriage.
  • Over the past twenty years, ten churches have closed every week.
  • Offerings are down, few Christians tithe, and giving to missions is just one third what it was when I wrote “The Depression Proof Church.”
  • The Church is short of leadership. Pastors have been dropping out, and young men turn away from what they consider painful and unrewarding work.
  • Because there is no one to fill their pulpits, weary pastors are laboring into their 70s.
  • Many Bible colleges and seminaries have been forced to close, and others have become liberal hotbeds.
  • Many state and federal bureaucracies seek to restrict religious freedoms.
  • Radical groups hound the Church, physically attacking both structures and people.
  • Our public schools teach that there is no God, that Christianity is corrupt, and even that children should change their sexes. (Home school, anyone?)
  • Unhindered by a Church unified in spirit, the left seeks to control every person’s existence, from womb to grave.
  • If they are unable to abort the unborn, they teach the survivors a confusion of depraved doctrines. in the doctor’s office, in pre-school, in our libraries, on social media, and via TV and the movies.

Never, in the history of the world has such perversity threatened the race, much less the Church. But instead of influencing the world for good, the Church is mocked for its hypocrisy and the sin of its leaders.

Illustration: The high fashion brand Balenciaga recently released a shocking ad campaign featuring toddlers holding stuffed animals dressed in BDSM (bondage, discipline, sadism, and masochism) gear like harnesses and nets. There was even a court document about child pornography partially hidden in one image.

Too many of our leaders look at statistics and merely say, “We have to find a way to counter this decline.” Their first thoughts are for the security of their own ministries, and they fail to take into consideration the impact on God’s work around the world. This problem isn’t new.

The Prophet Jeremiah wrote this:

“For the shepherds have become stupid and have not sought the LORD. Therefore they have not prospered, And all their flock is scattered” (Jeremiah 10:21).

When Christians begin in the flesh, the results they achieve are predictable and pathetic. For, as Jesus said, “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Consider the mega-churches which are the Amazons and Walmarts of Christendom. They offer every sort of ministry for every age, but because of their size they lack the heart and soul of smaller fellowships with their their close friendships and intense individual involvement. So participants have started showing their dissatisfaction. For while non-profits in general enjoyed a revenue increase of over 6% in 2021, our largest churches saw a decline of 4% in offerings.

In 1971, I wrote a lengthy paper entitled, “The Multi-Staff Church Ministry.” Our college president sent to his denominational headquarters because he thought it a brilliant approach to church planting. As I look back, I am grateful that it did not find traction with the denomination’s leaders, and that my name was never connected with the birth of the McDonald’s approach to church growth.

Most churches today do not adhere to Paul’s process for selecting leaders. Most select the most influential, wealthiest, and even loudest mouth men and women in their churches to serve as board members, and these people dictate everything. So much for having a man of God hearing God’s voice and providing leadership.

God is doing his part. The real question is, “Are we doing our parts?”

Phil Cooke, a Church commentator, recently listed his “Top Six Risky Habits of Pastors.” (June 3, 2022).

Keep in mind that Mr. Cooke calls these HABITS, not occasional experiences.

  1. Abusing Alcohol and/or Sleeping Pills – Especially if you’re a pastor,
  2. Crude or Sexualized Joking with Staff Members
  3. Spending Too Much Time Away From a Spouse
  4. A Fascination with Pornography
  5. Really Stupid Decisions – Who thought it was a good idea for a nationally known Christian evangelist and apologist to own a chain of massage parlors?
  6. No One Can Question the Boss’s Decisions. (In other words, the pastor is a dictator and wants to be surrounded by “yes men.”)

Wow! There was a time when any one of these practices would have immediately disqualified a man from any ministry and seen him removed in disgrace. Now these “habits” are widespread but merely considered possible trouble signs in any pastors life.

It appears that we’ve departed so far from the Word of God that anything goes, and that the church has become so tolerant of sin that we are blinded to it. Many who call themselves Christians can no longer identify sin. Like Abraham’s nephew, Lot, they’ve become so inured to evil that they are happy to live in a Sodom or Gomorrah.

It’s frightening that the majority of pastors polled admit practicing some of these.

The state of our nation is evidence of a failing Church. Up to half the people champion the abortion of babies, the legalizing of dangerous drugs, de-funding the police, seizing all firearms, taxing those who labor in order to enrich the indolent, mocking the ideas and institutions that made our country great, denying the concept of absolute good and evil, and rejecting God.

1. Christian “Leaders” Failed God and His Church.

Many became incredibly successful pastors and evangelists, but were ultimately exalted unto their own destruction. These were the rock stars of Christianity. Many of these men were elevated by God to lead enormous ministries, with millions of dollars in income each month, but they ultimately failed because they were not blameless.

2. They failed to heed Christ’s warnings?

“… if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness” (Matthew 6: 22).

King David wrote, “I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me” (Psalm 101:3). Yet he looked twice at the naked Bathsheba, and that was all it took!

As James wrote, “..each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (James 1:15).

To cover up his sin, David even had Bathsheba’s husband killed.

III. Consider a fewChristian Leaders who Went from Blameless to Blamed

These were the most successful and highly respected leaders of the 1970s and 80s. Until they weren’t. Paul would describe them as “good for nothings” and “Scribes and Pharisees.” They were the idols many Christians elevated above Jesus Christ

1. My contemporaries who fell

  • Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.
  • Jimmy Swaggart.
  • Pastor Jack Hyles?
  • Bill Gothard.
  • Dr. Donald R. Howard. Ill dwell on him because I knew him personally.

2. My immediate associates who fell

  • Ralph – Pastor of my home church.
  • David – Fellow student.
  • Another David, a pastor in Schenectady, NY.

There are many reasons:

1.They allowed themselves to be drawn away. John wrote: “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world” (1 John 2:16).

Paul sorrowfully affirmed this when he later wrote Timothy from prison, “Be diligent to come to me quickly; for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world” ( 2 Timothy 4:9).

2. Then there’s the matter of personal devotions: Fifty years ago, John Kenzy, President of the Teen Challenge Bible school, told me that he could always tell when one of his students was about to quit because they began avoiding personal Bible study and prayer. Too many leaders neglect their personal devotions in order to use their time to build their empires. Preparing a sermon or Sunday School lesson for others does not constitute personal devotions.

3. Most of these leaders left the wives of their youth and sought strange flesh. Some were even in their 50s and 60s, but age didn’t lessen the lust fomented by their minds, “for it’s the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.” And what about the women with whom they committed adultery? Perhaps they were attracted by the man’s obvious gifts, power, wealth, or influence. Some may simply have wanted to count another conquest.

What we forget is that Christ is the vine, and we are the branches. Few of us realize is that our power comes when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, there was the sound of a mighty rushing wind. The Greek word used there is pneuma, for breath or spirit. These men were ostensibly filled with the Spirit. But when they men united themselves in these adulterous affairs, it was as though Delilah had shaved Samson’s head, or someone stuck a pin in them and the pneuma escaped, for without the Holy Spirit, they were just full of hot air!

4. Many of these men sneaked pornography into his homes. Jack Hyles son, the Reverend David Hyles, even videotaped his affairs, producing his own pornography. Perhaps these men thought it would bring excitement to their marriages, but instead:

  • It made their wives feel they weren’t respected, desired or loved.
  • It made their wives feel like prostitutes, and see their husbands as pimps.
  • It became a growing addiction. As with any drug, to get the same illicit thrill, they required more and more of the evil stimulus.
  • It desensitized both the husband and wife, defiled the marriage bed, and damaged their children.
  • It ultimately crushed their souls, destroyed their marriages and broke their homes.

Compare their behavior with Paul’s instructions:

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-27).

Yet, like Adam and Eve, these gifted pastors and deacons dressed themselves in verbal fig leaves that they mistakenly thought would cover their sins. They denied any guilt and fought to hold onto their ministries as long as possible.

The corruption of America’s morals has been high on the “To Do” list of international Communism because it’s one of Satan’s most effective tools for destroying entire nations. It’s no accident that Internet pornography is illegal in Russia, yet much of the pornographic material viewed in America is produced there. These demonic schemes seem to take on a life of their own because they are not born of flesh and blood, but by principalities and powers, by the rulers of darkness in high places.

  • Their shame and disgrace brought disillusionment and heartbreak to millions, leaving them confused, disillusioned, back-slidden, and rebellious.
  • Their formerly starry-eyed followers – men and women, boys and girls – might never again trust a Christian leader
  • Those who were embittered passed their anger onto their children and they in turn to Generation Z.
  • They undermined confidence in the Bible.
  • They implicitly gave their followers license to commit similar sins, for after all, if their esteemed leaders sinned, why shouldn’t they?
  • They left behind empty churches and bankrupted ministries.
  • They destroyed the careers of idealistic professionals who abandoned high-paying jobs, and worked for a pittance, to support their ministries.
  • Countless people gave up. Many continued attending church, but their hearts were not in it.
  • Fewer young men and women entered the ministry.
  • Bible colleges and seminaries closed or became liberal.
  • Pulpits and mission fields lay deserted and forgotten.
  • God’s word appeared to have failed, so Bible interpretation became a matter of personal preference.
  • Contempt for the gospel message became contempt for the Gospel messenger.

Why should anyone expect a politician in Washington, or London, Beijing, or Moscow to have more character than the leaders of their church?

These men had once been blameless. They had breathed the air of exultation. They were blessed with awesome ministries. But they behaved deceitfully. Ultimately they suffered, for while they may have once preached the living word, they foolishly ignored this one truth: “… be sure your sin will find you out!” (Numbers 32:23). As a result:

  • They were met with notoriety, scandal and shame.
  • In most cases, they lost their ministries and their families.
  • Some paid huge fines and spent time in prison.
  • A few, who had even counseled and prayed with presidents, were ostracized by society.
  • My home pastor became a used car salesman. What a fall from being looked upon as the spiritual leader of his city!
  • They stumbled multitudes of “little ones,” not just children, but those who were little in spiritual maturity. Jesus warned us:

“It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones” (Luke 17:1-2).

Most of my contemporaries have passed on, but their betrayal is still having a negative impact. And many others have since fallen and continue to fall. As to what price they will pay at the Judgment seat, we must leave that to God.

But now, over forty years later, a few of these men are back on television, even as I speak. They argue that they’ve gained forgiveness and that they are anointed to preach. And perhaps they have. God is their judge.

And what’s the world’s response? “That the Church is not only filled with hypocrites, but it’s led by them. Their conclusion? “Christianity is a failed religion.”

1. Two men in whom I found no fault, but appear to have been demonized by the “cancel culture:”

  • Jerry Falwell – I interviewed him twice, one-on-one: He founded a megachurch, Liberty University, and a political action group called the Moral Majority. Vicious rumors may have been the cause of the heart attack that killed him.
  • Paige Patterson – The former president of the Southern Baptist Convention and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary endorsed a book I wrote. He was removed from office because he may have given bad advice to a student who claimed to be assaulted over twenty years ago.

2. Three of my long time contemporaries who remain blameless.

These men began their training as laymen in my little church, and have since faithfully served God for over 40 years.

  • Stanley “Smuel” Birnbaum – A complete Jew, rose from street worker to be my associate pastor and Christian school principal. He has spent last 30 years in ministry in Israel.
  • Kevin N. Nicholas – African American, also my associate pastor, Graduated from RPI in computer science, but has spent the last 30 years with Wycliffe Bible Translators in the Philippines and Papua New Guinea.
  • Joseph Flynn – One of my deacons, who wound up pastoring the church I founded, as well as leading a soup kitchen for over 25 years.

They have done what they could to change our world, just as you, and Calvary Chapel of Brazos County, are changing our world.

V. Are You Blamed or Blameless?

1. You have no ambition to be blameless.

2. You don’t consider yourself bishop or deacon material

3. You don’t want more responsibilities.

4. You don’t want to change your “life style.”

Look around you. There’s no more “business as usual.” You may think that you can sidle up to sin, and somehow avoid God’s wrath, but he is at work in your life, and everything around us is changing. The world’s like a seething volcano rumbling beneath our feet.

1. First, You Risk Standing Alone at the Future Judgment

As Paul warned:

“But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who “will render to each one according to his deeds” (Romans 2:5-6).

2. Second, YouRisk Standing Alone Against the Dangers of the Here and Now!

Do you think that your family can survive the coming years without a godly father and the family of God? Check the news! Bryan could become another Portland or Austin, or even the Ukraine and Afghanistan, with people barely surviving. We have already seen businesses pillaged and burned, the police defunded and rendered impotent, with multitudes living on sidewalks in our major cities.

Is it possible that your loved ones could wake up one morning to discover that they had no shelter, water, food, heat, or light. And with hundreds of thousands of impoverished illegal aliens and potential terrorists crossing our borders, what will you do if you are not surrounded by godly people who shield and shelter one another? America is changing!

Look back! That Germany to whom Martin Luther brought the Bible, public schools, and the Protestant Revolution, later became the Nazi Germany that massacred millions of innocent people and brought horror to the nations of the world. And the Russian people, who once worshiped God, were overcome by the godless Red Menace that still threatens our world!

Scare tactics? Well, if it weren’t for Jesus, I’d be terrified.

Even as I’m speaking, the devil may be tempting you with visions of sin! As David confessed, “I was almost in all sin in the midst of the great congregation.”

What will you do if the Spirit of God convicts you today? Will you get right with God, or will you try to hide.

In Acts, we’re told that many of the people of Ephesus:

“… who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver (Acts 19:19).

That wasn’t book burning, as when the Nazis, Soviets, and radical Muslims ripped sacred Jewish scrolls or Christian Bibles from the hands of the faithful, and burned them. This was a voluntary act by those who wished to rid themselves of their own possessions – books that had a demonic hold on their minds and lives. This was their repudiation of sin, a corporate acts of repentance.

It’s a pity that Christians today don’t drop their illicit books and films in a chopper, and rid themselves, once and for all of the demonic devices that control their thoughts and actions! Most of us would be afraid to breathe a word of our sins to another, but the people in Ephesus confessed their faults one to another and made themselves public spectacles! It was repentance, and it represented a glorious submission and testimony to Christ.

How do we expect to build the house of God if we are feeding our own families with the putrid worms of deceit and evil?

Remember the warning that Pastor Eddie shared with us from 1st John: “These things have I written concerning them that seduce you” (I John 2:26).

Let me add this: “It is time that the judgment of God begin at the house of God.”

Our pastor had been discussing this subject for weeks. You can find forgiveness and cleansing through confession and repentance. That work isn’t done en masse, but in the heart of one person at a time. Each of us needs to:

“… lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:21-22).

1. You think it’s too late?

Perhaps you’ve already received one of those phishing emails from an unknown black hat hacker accusing you of vile sin and threatening to expose you unless you submit to their extortion, and you feel trapped.

You are unable to strike back at these hackers who hide in the dark web behind firewalls somewhere in the world, and who are growing rich off the guilt of men who are afraid that their sin will be exposed.

And you’re shamed by those words, “The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion” (Proverbs 28:1)

So, you sinned? What else is new? Except this time, unless you send money, some computer hacker in some third world country is threatening to expose you – to destroy your business, or cost you your job, ruin your marriage, alienate your children, have you ostracized by your church, disgrace you publicly, and basically ruin your life – after which he will demand more and more money.

These hackers are Antichrists, servants of Satan, perhaps even demon-possessed. How should you respond?

You hate this blackmailer, and want to kill him. And, just momentarily, I’d like to kill such people. But God reminds me that “We are more than conquerors through Christ who loves us, and gave himself for us,” so we don’t try to kill our enemies or make them into our slaves, but we help them find Christ as Savior. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds…” (2 Cor 10:4). If they are converted, then they become allies against the forces of evil. When we reduce the army of the enemy by one, we also increase the family of God by one.

2. No more cover ups!

If you feel guilty and trapped, you should thank God for convicting you, because that means he hasn’t given up on you and given you a reprobate mind. Now is the time to test God at his word. “Confess your faults one to another….” “Rebuke the devil and he will flee from you.”

If you had been reading ahead in Pastor Eddie’s sermon series on I John, you’d know that,

“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (4:4).

Don’t yield! Are you willing to ignore this agent of the devil and be willing to let him do his worst. Ask God for mercy, and prayerfully accept whatever correction the Lord permits, and go on with your head held high.

Don’t give up your birthright for a mess of pottage! Again, remember what Pastor Eddie has already taught us from I John.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9).

You are as important to God as any of those fallen leaders ever were, and the Lord has work for you to do. They too were relatively obscure and unnoticed until God exalted them, just as he may exalt you.

3. Don’t say, “I’m old, or poor, or ill.

Hey! I’m almost 83, and the doctors say that I have cancer, but I’m still trying to make a difference. There is someone out there you can help. You can do it because:

Conclusion

We have a wonderful fellowship here at Calvary, alive with vitality and love. This church will continue to grow. It will take on many new challenges, but may sadly lose much of the close fellowship that we are enjoying now. That’s largely up to you!

This dark hour in which we are privileged to live is perhaps the most challenging, yet promising period, in world history for the servants of God. The world is becoming so evil that it’s impossible to imagine that Christ won’t return soon. In the meantime, we have an opportunity to snatch souls out of the grip of the devil. Think of it! Your flame will shine like a star in the growing darkness.

It doesn’t matter that you’ve tried repeatedly, and failed, because God will always give you another chance! He loves the meek and the weak in spirit.

Closing Prayer

Will you bow your head and heart before the cross of Jesus right now and get right with God? Will you surrender what you consider your “rights?” If He’s not Lord of your life, he’s not Savior of your life.

This minute, you are free to shake off the burden of sin that is crushing you!

Come up to the front, and Pastor Eddie and I will pray with you.

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith. (I John 5:4).