Fumbling At the One

It’s a heartbreaking scene.

The running back, his legs churning, slants across the tackle, dives between a thousand pounds of flesh and stretches out for the goal. Suddenly, somebody takes a swipe at the unprotected football and knocks it loose. A sickening feeling knots up in his stomach as he realizes that his chance for a score, and his team’s chance for a win vanishes—-gone forever. He fumbled at the one-yard line.

Ninety-nine yards of a classic drive go up in smoke when you fumble at the one. Brilliant plays, great coaching and flawless execution all become meaningless statistics when you fumble at the one. The throaty cheers of a home crowd at a thrilling pass or the delirious screams brought on by a breakaway run quickly turn to boos and hisses when you fumble at the one. Once ready to crown you as a hero, the press brands you as a goat when you fumble at the one.

Pardon me for this sports world reference (the Apostle Paul talked of foot racing and boxing), but I see a heavy bit of spiritual principle at work here on several counts.

We are at the one yard line . Bible prophecy lands us squarely in the end of the church age. We should not take it lightly that the technology now exists for the mark of the beast to be applied. Neither should we dismiss the fact that the trend toward a cashless society and the mindset for population control now gathers increasing momentum. Factor in all the other earmarks of the last days and you know that we are at the one-yard line in God’s chronology.

We carry a precious commodity . Only one pigskin football on the field counts. Players may run, dodge and go into motion, but only the man carrying the football has the chance to score. This Apostolic truth still signifies the singular saving message that the church was commissioned to preach. We don’t dare treat it carelessly at the one-yard line.

We’ve got to hang on. A football team consists of eleven men on the field, and many others on the sidelines all of whom anxiously await the successful play of the teammates in the game. In life, how many people look at you for guidance, direction and inspiration? You may not have played a perfect game, but mistakes can be overcome if you just don’t fumble. Tackles for losses, dropped passes, and broken plays can be overcome if you just don’t fumble. Don’t fumble at the one.

We’ve come too far to fumble. A job aborted before completion may as well never been started. The official scorer gives no credit for almost making a touchdown. We run the first yard because we anticipate running the last yard.

Saint of God, you’ve invested too much into your relationship with God to get distracted at this juncture. The present hour demands more intensity than ever. Step up instead of slacking off. Don’t loosen up—-tighten up. Just as the play at the one-yard line gets fiercely competitive, so the days before the rapture will escalate into an all-out spiritual war. But remember, greater is he that is within you than he that is in the world.

All coaches give special advice to their running backs and pass receivers: Take the hand-off or make the catch, hang on tightly, anticipate the hits, and—-above all else—-protect the football. Don’t fly across the goal-line empty-handed. Don’t fumble at the one.

Incidents and Attitudes

Many of us have threatened to write a book about all the things we’ve seen in church. Shocking testimonies, embarrassing statements, scriptural blunders and incredible incidents have happened…like the preacher who got a little too rambunctious in his sermon and threw his leg up on the pulpit. Unfortunately, he got it stuck and had to have help to get it down. (There is a difference between anointing and enthusiasm.) Some happenings are comical, others are tragic.

The average church regularly suffers disheartening, disruptive incidents. Somewhere, on any given Sunday, the power goes out, the organ develops a horrific buzz, some little old lady passes out in the middle of the service and you have to call 911, the furnace blows up when it’s five degrees below zero, the A/C goes on the blink when its 95 degrees outside, you come in on Sunday morning thirty minutes before starting time and find that the church is flooded (that happened to us a year ago), some kid spills a liter of soda pop on the carpet in front of the main sanctuary doors, the volunteer janitor forgot to tell you that he was going camping over the weekend, and the same legion of devils that killed all the pigs in the Bible shows up in your sound system.

Those are the easy incidents. A little more difficult to take are the ones that hurt…like a caustic letter slipped under the office door from a disgruntled member who delivers a two-barreled literary shotgun blast on his way out the door…or a devastating moral failure by someone who was deeply involved in church operations…or the revelation that someone has been sowing discord among the flock. These are the things no one can write about in a book. In the same league are the notices from the division of taxation that you owe thousands of dollars in back property taxes, the church van that breaks down with fifteen young people twelve hundred miles from home, and the guest speaker invited for the twenty-fifth anniversary banquet at the most expensive hotel ballroom in town has a conflict in his schedule and calls twenty-four hours before the starting time and is so sorry that he won’t be able to make it and he knows you will understand.

The worst incidents, though, are the tragedies that take away precious people from the congregation…like the pillar in the church who suddenly loses his life to a heart attack…or the young man who went into eternity from the handlebars of a motorcycle…or the announcement that a saintly young mother in the church has been diagnosed with a terminal disease. These are the times and events that blow us away and we think we can’t recover.

But, PRAISE GOD, the church can survive incidents! Disruptive, costly, hurtful or crushing though they may be, we were built to last. The early church saw their leaders beheaded, imprisoned, thrown in jail or thrown into the fire. They were lied on, persecuted, plotted against and banished to the catacombs. They endured bouts of false doctrine, rancorous debate, divisive politics and preacher failure. They were run out of places to worship and out of town, but they survived every crisis. Through it all, they literally pulsated with revival and expansive growth. Paul cites a litany of occurrences that threatened to silence him or kill him. “None of these things move me,” he said. He demonstrated a resiliency in the face of adversity that proves the power of the triumphant Christ over every foe.

Incidents we can survive. Attitudes, however, are a different story. When an incident occurs that rocks us to the foundation, our biggest challenge is to keep it from infecting our attitudes. I have witnessed sad cases where people who have been maligned or wronged by others who should have known better, came down with terminal attitudes. Others felt that God disappointed them and became bitter, even hateful, toward God himself. Still others demanded perfection in everyone around them (excepting themselves, of course) and when it didn’t happen, rotten and rebellious attitudes took over.

Incidents, for the most part, are out of our control. We never know what that temperamental A/C unit is going to do. We can’t guarantee that no one will misbehave in church on any given Sunday. Or, what the mailman will put in the mailbox. Incidents come and go. Expect them. Meet them. Beat them. Don’t let your attitudes grow out of them. By the same token, I can control what the A/C troubles do to my attitude. I can make sure that misbehaving people do not kill a revival spirit. By God’s help, I can bounce back from every incident with a surviving attitude! “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Yes, all things!

Some Very Practical Stuff

“…follow not that which is evil, but that which is good…” III John 1:11

(In the course of human events in the church, it becomes necessary to dispense with the vague and flowery talk and hit problems head on. These are practical words that get straight to the point.)

There are many things that we believe, teach and practice that come directly from the Word of God. Murder, adultery, stealing and other sins are clearly forbidden in scripture. There are other things, however, that are found in principle, even though they are not mentioned directly. Smoking, gambling, body piercing, worldly dancing are a few examples of a variety of activities that can be judged as sinful because they violate principles of godliness. Whenever we are unsure of something, we simply have to look at where a certain practice will lead us, even though it does not seem wrong at the time, i.e. questionable music, clothing styles, etc. This is why the Apostle John said “…follow not that which is evil…” Anyone who follows evil, even if at a great distance, will end up in something he or she never anticipated. Therefore, we must make a practice of following the right leader!

“Follow…that which is good.” Even as there is implied evil to avoid, there is unspoken good to practice. While the Bible is filled with righteous principles, there are some areas that require the insight of a spiritual leader. If this were not true, the ministry of the pastor would be largely unnecessary. Sometimes we must preach and teach in a practical way, using a down-to-earth vocabulary, because we want people to go to heaven and we want the church to fulfill its mission on earth. Here are a few practical things that I am convinced are vital to be a good saint and to have a good church.

Attend church regularly . Pastors pray, meditate and study for their messages with the saints of the church in mind. Anyone who misses church cannot get the necessary spiritual food. Media evangelists, books by the most popular Christian authors, tapes from campmeeting or preaching conference, or spiritual magazines do not compensate for coming to church.

Pay your tithes . Tithing is not optional or payable only at our convenience. Believers who have a positive income have a responsibility to pay a tenth to God. We cannot enjoy God’s blessings unless we also honor God’s Word in tithing. (And please do not write checks on overdrawn accounts just to feel like you have paid your tithes. Returned checks cost your church money.) Also, when you make a pledge, pay it…on time!

Be faithful in ministry . If you are going to sing or play an instrument, don’t be a “hit-and-miss” kind of person. When God gives you a ministry, you ought to take it seriously. Teaching in the Sunday School, ushering, greeting, driving vans and doing custodial work require faithful commitment as well. Pastors cannot operate a quality organization without everybody being on the job, doing their job faithfully. When you volunteer for something, show up! Anything you do for God ought to be done with excellence.

Don’t gossip . Some people get a perverse pleasure out of tale bearing … until they become the object of the gossip. Idle talk is destructive, it damages reputations and undermines the general morale of people. And don’t be roped into feuds. What seems like somebody’s worthy cause will end up splattering mud on you. Also, the flip side of the gossiping tongue is the listening ear. The best way to frustrate an old gossiper is to refuse to listen!

Learn how to behave in church . We Pentecostals encourage demonstrative worship, but not unspiritual movement. Constant moving around, running in and out and other distractions make a church service chaotic. The church is not a sports arena, a cinema or a gymnasium. Unless you have a health problem, sit still. Also, we want our children to pray. When children come to the altars, however, it should be to pray, or at least be respectful. The altars are not to be turned into romper rooms. And may God deliver us from the gum-chewers, cookie-crumblers, picture-passers, nail-clipperers, hymnal-destroyers, paper-rattlers, conversation-holders, cat-nappers, checkbook-balancers and baby-entertainers!

I’m not just venting. I strongly believe that standards for excellence in the church must be established and rigorously followed. The more seriously you make your spiritual life and the more scriptural order you build into the church, the greater the results will be. The practical stuff paves the way for the spiritually powerful events to happen.

New Dimensions

“What’s heaven really going to be like?” Streets of gold? Gates of pearl? Glorified bodies? Travel at the speed of thought? People often ask me these questions and invariably they stimulate my thought processes. Was John using figures of speech or describing literal objects? Many interesting conversations have spun off of these scriptures. For me, heaven includes these literal images, but it is even more. It exists as a separate reality, a dimension beyond our capabilities to know today.

But even though we can’t comprehend heaven, we do understand new dimensions. Paul said, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” I Corinthians 13:11. For a child, walking, talking, and thinking depend upon maturation or development. In fact, despite of any amount of practice, it is impossible to teach a child anything for which his or her stage of development has not been reached. A six-month-old baby cannot catch a football. Neither can a four-year-old child grasp abstract truths. At maturity, however, things that made no sense before begin to come together. He enters into a new dimension.

Spiritually speaking, there are moments in time when we begin to think and act differently. We shed old concepts. We outgrow babyish feelings. We catch the view over the crest of the mountain. In fact, growth inevitably leads to new dimensions. Look at the new dimensions into which the Apostle Paul grew after his Damascus road experience:

• From Jehovah to Jesus; from darkness to light.
• From driving hatred to compelling love.
• From tradition to revelation.
• From leadership to servanthood, which became greater leadership.
• From Judaistic prejudice to Gentile inclusiveness.
• From intellectual control to spiritual guidance.

We could go on and on detailing benchmark experiences that thrust Paul into one new dimension after another in his transformed life. Each time, he had to be willing to let something go and take hold of something new. Each time, his heart grew, his mind expanded and his awareness of greater things eclipsed his older, immature understanding. Notice his language: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” Romans 11:33. And again, “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.” Ephesians 3:19. The landscape of his life was changing.

I believe God intends for every church, every minister and every saint to move into a new dimension of Christianity. Dynamic services, powerful worship, potent ministry, serious prayer, commitment to the Word, outreach action, spiritual empowerment, lay leadership and sacrifice speak of a new dimension. But change often produces fear before it yields results. Perhaps that’s why God says “Fear not” in the Bible sixty-three times. We must stay the course. New dimensions happen at definite junctures. They occur …

• When we realize the inadequacy of the old ways.
• When we get frustrated with the limitations of immaturity.
• When we begin to grasp that there is a higher order of divine power.
• When we cast aside our fears and try our new wings.
• When we put on the mind of Christ and think His thoughts.

I do not speak of moving from doctrinal truths and scriptural standards. I speak of personal revival, vision for growth, higher levels of prayer, more effective evangelism, and of development of ministry. I speak of maturity beyond petty feelings, sensual living and self-centered concerns. I speak of unity of mission and giving of ourselves. John’s heaven, Ezekiel’s river and Peter’s Pentecost beckon us onward. May each of us burst into a new dimension in our relationship with God!

Because We Love

“For the love of Christ constraineth us.” II Corinthians 5:14

The United Pentecostal Church International continues to hold a high standard of conduct and dress, despite the challenges we often encounter in so doing. Critics assail this standard as unnecessary, and some even scorn it altogether. Yet, we do not change. Why? Is our motive “spiritual pride?” Are we in bondage? Are we out of touch?

The real answer is, and must always be, love. It is love that compels us. We are constrained, or obliged, by love to do better, to do more, to aspire to a higher level, to protect our reputation and image for the cause of Christ than others around us. Love prevents us from rationalizing our high standards away. “Everybody’s doing it” only applies to those who think they are “everybody.” We are not. We are a “chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people.”

Here are a few good reasons why we promote such high standards:

• We want to obey scripture as closely as possible. I Samuel 15:22.
• We want to be a living sacrifice unto God. Romans 12:1-2.
• We want to maintain a separate lifestyle. II Corinthians 6:14-18.
• In righteousness, we would rather err on the side of caution than risk. Philemon 1:21.
• We make the most of scripture, not the least. II Samuel 23:14-17.
• We must be at tension with worldly culture. I John 2:15; II Timothy 4:10.
• We recognize that there is a spirit of worldliness attached to current fashions and practices of the world and we reject it. II Timothy 2:1-7; 11-12; 15-21.
• Dangers of worldliness go unseen until it is too late. Hebrews 13:17.
• Israel suffered persecution for their differences. Daniel 1:8.
• With the fashions of the world, where are men “lifting up holy hands”? Where is “shamefacedness and sobriety”? Where are “women professing godliness, and modesty”? I Timothy 2:8.

When the Bible whispers, we hear a shout. When the Bible hints, we read it in bold type. When God frowns, we see a stop sign. Where the Bible is silent, we search our heart before proceeding. When no overt message exists, we look for the implied message. In the absence of a command, we stand on the principle.

As in the bonds of marriage, we submit to Christ and obey His commands on the basis of love. Where logic fails, love supplies the reason. Where material gain falls short, love pays off. Where fear no longer impels us to continue, love proves itself a sufficient reason. We are constrained by love.

The Job Nobody Can Quit

People, by the thousands, walk off jobs every day. They cite overwork, underpayment, intolerable conditions, unbearable supervisors, impossible tasks, and a host of other reasons. Quitting poses no special difficulty. You just say, “I’m outta here! I’m history! See you later”, and walk out the door. Contract or courtesy may demand a weeks notice, but that’s all. No one can be held in a job against his or her will.

People quit lots of things. Some quit being a husband, wife or parent. Some quit school, diets, health clubs and political parties. Some quit churches, choirs, Sunday schools, and deacon boards. Pastors quit their ministry, doctors and lawyers quit their practices, coaches quit their teams and donors quit giving. It’s easy. You simply stop.

One job, however, refuses to let you quit. It’s called being an example.

Call it unfair if you want to. Call it oppressive, burdensome, cruel or unjust if you like. Get mad, rant, rave and stomp. Spit, hit, kick and scream. Write letters, lead protests and conduct crusades against it. Make a law forbidding it or pass an amendment to outlaw it. No matter. You are an example to someone, somewhere whether you like it or not. You can never, never, never stop. You may only determine what kind of an example you will be.

Peter said, “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.” I Peter 2:21. Jesus never forgot this awesome task. He carefully pointed out to his disciples that every action, every decision, every commitment he made had to be copied in their lives, either spiritually or literally. When he was hated, he reminded us that we would be hated too. When he was compelled to carry the cross, he told us we also had a cross. When he did mighty works, he said “These works shall ye do, and greater…” Although we cannot duplicate Calvary , in discipleship Jesus taught, “Follow me”, because we must replicate his example. “For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.” John 13:15.

If I were to follow you, where would you lead me? If I copied your example, would I be more Christ like or more like the world? You may say, “Don’t watch me,” but I will anyway. You will either teach me how or how not to live.

If you are a good example for others, they will praise you.
If you are a bad example, they will blame you.

Popular philosophy rejects this burden. The modern mind thinks that nothing should dictate to a person his choices, his lifestyles and the fulfillment of his desires. Everyone ought to be free—-free from the imposition of traditional roles by his parents’ generation, free from the immature expectations of his children and free from the confining demands of his friends’ value systems. “I am free to be me”, goes the mantra. Today, no one wants to be shackled with the role of being someone’s example. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way.

By being irresponsible, you model irresponsibility.
By being a rebel, you model rebellion.
By being materialistic, you model materialism.

Sodom and Gomorrah will forever serve as an example of sin. “Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Jude 1:7. Disobedient Israel suffered the same fate. “Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.” I Corinthians 10:6.

Take responsibility for others, as well as yourself.

By being faithful, you model faithfulness.
By being righteousness, you model righteousness.
By being honest, you model honesty.
By being a true disciple, you model discipleship.

It is inescapable. It is one job you cannot quit.

The Awesome Responsibility of Answered Prayer

A number of years ago, someone took a survey among churchgoers to find out what subject they most wanted to hear their pastors preach. Prayer emerged as the number one response. My guess is that little has changed. Deep within the heart of every child of God, a voice still cries out to learn more about prayer. “Teach us to pray,” the disciples asked. Now, a spate of books, pamphlets, Bible studies and sermons seek to satisfy that desire. Churches have more prayer meetings and prayer programs than ever. Prayer chains, prayer seminars, prayer partners, prayer journals and prayer journeys grow in popularity. Our World Network of Prayer can mobilize thousands of prayer warriors within minutes.

Isn’t it ironic that, with all our teaching on prayer, one of our greatest concerns continues to be why God doesn’t answer some of our prayers? We wonder if it is because of sin or disobedience in our lives. We often agonize over our seeming lack of faith. I am convinced, however, that God answers far more of our prayers than we realize He does. We tend to forget the vast numbers of prayers we have prayed for health, strength, safety, blessing and guidance. Who knows what untold tragedies have unwittingly slipped past us, simply because we prayed. Moreover, all of us have encountered major needs—-disease, injury, marital problems, financial disasters, Satanic attacks—-and have witnessed God’s power coming through for us when we needed it the most.

Yes, God answers prayer. But the significant truth to observe is this: When God answers prayer, He places on us an awesome responsibility! In effect, He says to us, “Now that I have answered your prayer, what difference will this make in your life and your relationship to me?”

Answered prayer asks us for reciprocating sacrifice. Look at the example of Hannah. “For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him: Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD.” I Samuel 1:26-28. Hannah wanted a son, but God wanted a prophet. Samuel’s tremendous influence on the history of Israel hinged on two things: God answered prayer and Hannah responded.

Answered prayer demands that we follow through with the will of God. Elijah prayed a simple, powerful prayer when He challenged the prophets of Baal. The fire fell and consumed the bullock, the altar and the water. But the answer was not for a show. It demanded a response. “And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God. And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.” I Kings 18:39 -40. Difficult though it may have been, Elijah made the Israelites slay the prophets of Baal after the fire fell on the sacrifice.

Answered prayer calls upon us for greater faith and trust in God. Gideon’s fleece was not a set-up for God, but for Gideon. The first time Gideon prayed, the fleece was wet with dew but the ground was dry. Nervous about the answer, Gideon prayed again. “And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.” Judges 6:38-40. The next verse finds Gideon rising up early to fight against the Midianites. He knew that when the answer came through, it was time to move.

What prayers have God answered for you lately? Have you been granted salvation, a reunited marriage, a restored family, a miraculous healing, financial blessing or an anointed ministry? Have you seen impossible situations work out? Have you seen revival and the fruit of your labors? Whatever God has done for you, mark it down—-He has done it for a reason. The tandem of answered prayer and a right response fulfills the purposes of God. Once the answer to our prayer comes through, the responsibility shifts over to our shoulders. Let us carry it well.

Connect the Dots

Nothing surpasses a fixed, precise destination in guiding a ship across the open seas. The target point dictates the ships heading, maneuverings, and minute calculations. Pilots process hundreds of critical factors along the way, but their purposeful move toward the destination firmly governs every decision.

In order to arrive at the right destination, sea captains pinpoint locations on navigational maps as they chart their courses. They measure ocean depths, current strength, wind velocity, speed and many other factors. With data from soundings, compasses and electronic devices, they connect the dots to plot safe passageways. But, even the most sophisticated equipment will yield meaningless results unless the pilot keeps his focus on his destination. If he forgets where he is going, all incoming facts become trivial.

Nothing guides the church more surely than a sense of divine purpose as it negotiates the open seas of cultural and spiritual turmoil. Whether it’s the soft winds of prosperity that gently push the church off course, or the swift undercurrent of devilish doctrines that tries to pull it out to sea, the purposeful focus on the ultimate goal soon restores its bearing. Purpose, visible only by faithfully navigating through the dots on the map, guarantees the success of the journey.

It is no wonder, therefore, that a satanically controlled society seeks to obliterate the church’s overarching sense of purpose. Without purpose to guide it, the church may not discern between critical data and meaningless facts. Today, in fact, rules and laws have been reduced to insignificance. Neither the sacred nor the profane, the good nor the bad, the beautiful nor the ugly, the right nor the wrong matters anymore.

Nihilism rules. Nihilism stands for the total rejection of social mores, especially of morality and religion; the belief that nothing is worthwhile: that life is pointless and human values are worthless; d isbelief in objective truth ; and the belief in destruction of authority: that all established authority is corrupt and must be destroyed in order to rebuild a just society. (Encarta.) The bywords of this philosophy are, “Who cares?” and “it doesn’t make any difference.” Its effective tools are music, art, television and education. Lest the unsuspecting think it’s “just music”, or only “harmless fun”, go ahead and connect the dots.

The MTV generation pulsates with nihilistic lyrics and music. Its rock and screen stars, writers and producers viciously attack traditional values by exalting sex, crime, demon possession and drugs to the point of worship. Writer Jon Podhoretz, says “The 1968 Broadway musical ‘Hair’ was an important turning point in American culture in very interesting and unexpected ways…“’Hair’ was originally billed as the ‘tribal love-rock musical’…The fact that ‘Hair’ had no plot and was merely a series of vignettes and drug-induced hallucinations experienced by sketchy characters who are all members of a hippie clique living in the East Village was seen as a great leap forward.” (National Review Online, 5-4-01 .) One of Hip Hop music’s big names, Puff Daddy, (now P. Diddy) screams lyrics that cannot be quoted in a decent magazine. A Puff Daddy hit, “Angels With Dirty Faces”, suggests enough filth by its title alone, without revealing the actual words to the song. The entertainment rationale for their agenda, if it ever existed, fell by the wayside long ago. It now intends to trash every boundary, every tenet of faith, every sacred icon and every time-honored virtue. The point is now is not even to shock or insult, but to destroy society as we know it and replace it with one of absolute fleshly freedom and affirmation of everything. If you wonder how we, as a society, got to where we are now, connect the dots on the devil’s navigational map. For this world, the purpose of God has been usurped by the politics of societal destruction.

Bizarre events and sick characters dot the cultural landscape today. We often survey the passing scene, amused and nonplussed, but lacking genuine concern. When we begin to connect the dots, however, the true picture takes shape. As the church, however, our job is to establish strong and emphatic points from scripture that will lead us to our destination. “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.” II Peter 1:5-7. An unaltered course, based on uncompromised truths, guided by an unchanging sense of purpose will take us to our final destination. Connect the dots.