Well, that was fast! 2018 was here and gone overnight it seemed. The church, and its pastor, is another year older and a year closer to home. I don’t know that I have gained any wisdom like that of Solomon, but I have garnered some of the same attitudes and cynicism.  Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 1:9 that “History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.” Yes old king…there really is “nothing new under the sun!”

After nearly 30 years a part of this fellowship, I have noticed that time so often has a way of repeating itself. I often remark from the pulpit that life is so very fast and fleeting…that we all get but “one pass” through it…and we need to make our time count, with zeal and thankfulness. What I usually get back is “blank stares” of seeming “blank understanding.” You know that body pain you felt this year that you never felt before? That’s what I’m talking about.  Ahhh, “tick-tock, tick-tock….”

As Paul sat chained in a Roman prison, waiting for his imminent execution, he wrote to Timothy saying “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:6–8)

Paul was confident as he neared the end of his life that he had finished well. Sadly, however, just a few sentences later he had to write concerning one of his coworkers saying “Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica” (2 Timothy 4:10).

So two men who had ministered together — Paul and Demas — mentor and mentoree, both finishing very different than the other.  One endured and finished the race and looked forward to the crown of righteousness. The other man peeled off, deserted his mentor, and was never heard from again. Demas was apparently a promising young man with a promising future, yet as far as we know he did not make it to the end. May we note that the stumbling point was that Demas “was in love with this present world.” Yes…that’s the killer punch…that’s the toxic poison that gets us every time.

I do not pretend to have some magic answer on this issue. But I do know that our walk in Christ cannot ever be static… cannot ever be “level.” Unless we are growing, maturing and advancing today in our discipleship and faithfulness, we are most assuredly slipping backward! We are fighting or we are retreating. We must be more and more in love with Jesus, or we will fall more and more in love with this world.

And so very many folks have ignored those warnings until it was too late and are now essentially wandering around Menomonie like spiritual derelicts… no place to go, no place to call home, and nothing to do accept clutch white-knuckled to their pride. It’s a sad thing to watch as their lives melt away and all that is left is a memory of what used to be! But I do not speak of such with any kind of elitist attitude or an incredulous spirit, but rather with a personal “fear and trembling,” as I know I too must continue to “work out my own salvation.” (Philippians 2:12)

What will 2019 hold for you personally? Will you broaden your world? Reaching out beyond your comfort zone and take on new challenges and therefore new blessings? Pastor John Piper says that he has come to the conclusion that there are four fundamental actions that a person can take to help them finish well. They are:

1. daily time of focused personal communion with God
2. daily appropriation of the gospel
3. daily commitment to God as a living sacrifice
4. daily firm belief in the sovereignty and love of God

Note that the key word here is “daily.” That’s appropriate, because whenever we speak of time, there is no tomorrow, just “today.” 

My desire for JFB as well as all the souls who make up its community is that we boldly step into the next year… excited and zealous to live large for Christ, and always packed and ready to catch that final flight home…

Php 3:13  “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead…”

Pastor Tim