Passion

In 2017 the world witnessed one of the greatest collapses in sports history- midway through the 3rd Quarter the Atlanta Falcons led by QB Matt Ryan led Tom’s Brady’s NE Patriots by a score of 28-3. It looked like victory was inevitable for the Falcons until NE caught fire and scored 31 unanswered points to win in Overtime 34-28 and shock the entire football world.

Moral of the story- you can lead all the way; but you gotta finish.

Unfortunately the world loves the stories of Christians who have failed. Usually when a Christian makes the news it is not a story about their faithful ministry of 50 years or telling how they have helped the poor and homeless; most of the news stories about Christians are about the pastor of 30 years who cheated on his wife; or the treasurer who embezzled thousands of dollars-

The easiest way to make Christians famous is not to talk about their faithfulness but their failure.

We must recognize that these things happen and they are true- every day someone walks away from their faith or fails the cause of Christ.

I have fought the good fight

This is why Paul says that he has fought the good fight- and I believe those words were 100% intentional. Like a gladiator after battle Paul had done all he could do to stand for Jesus; and make no mistake the Devil had gotten some pretty good shots in trying to knock him off.

2 Corinthians 11:22–29 “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?”

Paul had literally give all he had- are we willing to do the same? How many times is our faith merely inconvenient and we compromise? We back down? We shy away?

Friends, when our faith is hard we should not be surprised, not one bit. The Bible tells us this is going to happen in Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Paul tells us that we wrestle against powers and principalities. Wrestle or the Greek Paylay which was a battle between 2 men; the winner was declared when he was able to force his opponent to the ground and hold him down completely still by choking his opponent into submission with his hand or forearm.

The enemy does not want to trip you up- he wants to choke you out!

1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

The enemy is looking to devour you- think about that. He is out for destruction.

I have Kept the Faith

Paul’s greatest accomplishment? He kept the faith- not that he planted so many churches or shared the Gospel to so many- can we say the same? When your life is over what do you want people to say about you?That you were a good dad; that you were a hard worker; or a selfless neighbor? None of those things are bad or wrong; but the most important thing that someone can say about us is that we kept the faith; we stayed with Jesus. Through it all, we are still his.

So We Need a Cadence

Friends, this is why having a Cadence is so important; because we are in for the long haul. Life is a roller coaster; full of ups and downs, twists and turns, and even a couple flips; it is fast and slow, highs and lows, and everything in between. And what is it that keeps a roller coaster car from crashing? The wheels locked into the track.

This is why we need a Cadence, to keep us locked into Jesus even when things are crazy or do not feel good.

So many Christians fall because their Cadence never grows past convenience. Ill go to church when it works for my schedule; ill read my Bible when I remember; I’ll pray when I need something; the thing is that if your walk with Christ is merely based on convenience it is not equipped for the long haul.

There are certain phrases that Christians adopt that sound good, but in reality they are not really helpful for faith; and one of those is the phrase made popular in last 5-10 years “I have a relationship, not religion” Relationship not religion is way too shallow....