Edit

Ok I'm changing point no. 11 of the Resolution entry to read as follows:

11. I will influence and impact their lives, using myself as a steward of whichever of God's attributes He chooses to demonstrate through me.

Beginnings

I'm beginning to be of the opinion that the success of an organization or group (or perhaps even a person) depends on the circumstances out of which it was birthed. Ones formed out of love for particular groups of people seem to me to be doing pretty well. Examples? The ACS family of schools is one...started by an American missionary to educate a small group of 13 students. The Boys' Brigade is another, formed to keep young men off the streets and in the church. Today, it has grown to be a worldwide organization, not to mention the other uniformed youth organizations that are said to have sprung from it.

On the other hand, organisations formed out of distress or dispute with another party don't quite seem to be doing as well, even though it may have seemed the right decision at the time. I won't go into concrete examples, even though I have some in mind, coz it's not very nice. But this is just my theory. And it's not absolute, simply because success is not dependent absolutely on circumstances. It's largely dependent on our human reaction to those circumstances. We can choose to come out from trials with our own selfish ideas and implement them, or we can choose to learn from our errors,with humility have faith in God, trust Him, His wisdom and His Word, and we then have every potential for this trial to turn into a successful situation.

Find Us Faithful

It occured to me today as I was taking a run outside camp, that the Christian race is unlike any other race we know. It is a race not against time, or each other - for what does it profit a man that he should arrive at any point ahead of another, except to encourage those coming behind to persevere?

"...let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood." (Heb 12:1-4)

No, the race is not against time, nor each other, but it is a race for distance. Yet, it is also a race unlike any other, because it is not a competition. It is a race in which the sole purpose of being ahead of the man beside you is to encourage him to keep the faith, to "press on toward the goal to win the prize (the prize to which we who are sons of God are all entitled for we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ) for which God has called me (us) heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Phi 3:14). We have not yet resisted to the point of shedding our blood, but Christ has gone the distance. John 15:13 says "No greater love has a man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." Jesus Christ laid down His life for us, whom He calls His friends if we obey His command. And this is His command, that we love each other.

Jesus Christ was the first to run that race - in fact, in Heb 6:20, He is called the Forerunner - the prodromos or the one who runs ahead. He is the ultimate leader - He knows the way, goes the way and shows the way. Heck, in John 14:6 He even says "...I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life..." He has finished that race, and He is there at the finish line and at every step of the way, reminding us of His love for us, and we love both God and our brothers because He first loved us.

It would be ideal if this race were smooth-sailling. But we know that as men, we are inherently prone to failure. It is then, when we stumble and fall, that God intervenes - sometimes through man, sometimes by His own works alone - to lift us back on our feet, put back the fallen-off pieces of the armour of God and have us continue on our journey. Let us not be angered when we see others stumble - especially so if he is one who had earlier picked us up when we stumbled. Instead, let us be filled with God's love for every one of us, and in that we can find strength to carry on in our encouragement of each other.

Find Us Faithful
We're pilgrims on a journey of a narrow road
And those who've gone before us line the way
Cheering on the faithful
Encouraging the weary
Their lives a stirring testament to God's sustaining grace.

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses
Let us run the race not only for the prize
But as those who've gone before us,
Let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives

(chorus)
Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful

After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone
And our children sift through all we've left behind
May the clues that they discover
And the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find

Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful