What do people want more than anything else? They want personal freedom, happiness, and the respect of their peers. Most people who responded to the survey said these were desires, but their responses made these hopes seem more like wishful thinking than very probable. They believe that what controls their personal freedom, happiness, and their peers’ respect is beyond their control. The truth, according to the Bible, is that our personal freedom is a result of our choices in life, that our happiness is a result of our personal choices in life, and that the respect we receive from the people in our lives is a result of our choices. It is easier to blame circumstances and others for our misery and failure than to own the responsibility, but that is what we have been doing since Adam. We choose how we think and talk about our circumstances. We can’t usually control circumstances, but we can control our response, and it is that response that determines most of what we really desire in life. Circumstances don’t determine my feelings; my response to my circumstances determines my emotions. 

All over the world, there is fighting. There are wars, boxing, martial arts, wrestling, and life. To live is to fight. God made it that way. I fight to accomplish my goals. I fight against my flesh, the devil, and the world. On our way back from Sierra Leone, we had a layover in Paris, so we added a day and toured Paris and Normandy. The Normandy tour was very moving, as we saw the story of D-Day and the casualties of war. I can’t imagine what it was like to be a soldier storming the enemy on Omaha Beach with all that gunfire happening all around you. But one thing I am sure of is that each of those soldiers was not complacent or apathetic about their role and responsibility. I sometimes get lazy, complacent, and apathetic in my responsibility as a Christian, given the responsibility to build God’s church. I want to be full of fire and passion to conquer the kingdom of darkness and to accomplish as much with my life as is possible before I die. 

There are two kinds of people in this world. The first looks at others who have accomplished significant things in their lives and thinks, “Why them?” Why not me? The other looks at those same people and thinks: If they can do it, why can’t I? He sees the success of others as an inspiration, not as intimidation. Which attitude will propel you onward and upward? Which will drive you to bitterness and despair?

I read a lot, and I like to read biographies of successful people. I especially enjoy reading about successful pastors and leaders. As I read about these people, I try to learn from their story and believe that I can be like them. One of my favorite biographies is “George Mueller of Bristol.” He accomplished an unbelievable amount simply by praying for it. All through the book, I am saying to myself, “I can do that, I can do that, and I will, help me, Lord. 

I picked this up from my mother. Whenever I would talk about someone’s great accomplishment, usually in sports, Mom would say to me, “You can do that if you try hard.” If you hear something often enough, you begin to believe it, and I did. Thank you, Mom. 

Proverbs 3:3-4 Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good repute

In the sight of God and man.

I think most people would like to have favor with God. Several people in the Bible enjoyed God’s favor. Mary, the mother of Jesus, Moses, Joseph, Daniel, and Joseph, Mary’s husband, to name a few. Proverbs 3:3-4 also mentions favor with people. We all tend to do things that make people like us, but to have favor with people is more about being admired than being liked, though I am sure we would like to be with and around those we admire. 

The main requirement for being highly favored by God and people is our kindness. A major emphasis in the Bible is that we are kind to people who are not easy to be kind to, the kind that very few other people are kind to. 

There is no immediate motivation to be kind to difficult people, but my main motivation is the desire to please God and be favored by Him. 

I just got back from a ten-day trip to Sierra Leone, West Africa. It has been about 7 years since I last went, and I used to go 2 or 3 times a year for 17 years. I stopped because of my health, but I did very well on this trip and plan to go back again in February to teach a seminar to the pastors on church growth, majoring on prayer, teaching leadership, and teaching personal evangelism to those in their churches. God has given me some new big goals in my life, and I am very excited to get after them. I have been having a very fulfilling and rewarding time preaching at Jefferson Evangelical Church over the last couple of years, and now, with this ministry added to my life, I feel like I could live to be 100. It is amazing the power that goals, dreams, and purpose have in our lives, giving us energy and passion, even for old guys like me. There are so many opportunities all around us to get involved in something that has purpose and blesses other people. 

I am in Sierra Leone, West Africa, this week. I came to Sierra Leone for the first time in 2002, right after the civil war was over, which resulted in many thousands of people being killed. I continued to come over several times a year for about 20 years. The country was very open to the gospel because of the poverty and turmoil caused by the war. I haven’t come over for over six years because of health issues. This trip has been very rewarding. We have started 43 churches since 2002, and most of them have a school ministry serving several hundred kids. Our ministry is actively training pastors through a Bible college and a seminary to equip new churches with quality leaders. We just finished building a facility for the Bible College and Seminary to meet in. It is a very nice building with plenty of room to teach many potential pastors. Because I was the pioneer of this ministry, I was honored that the building was named “Duke Hall.” It was a very nice honor, and all who were at the commissioning celebration were very honoring to me. Even though it was a very positive experience in my life, someday I will stand before Jesus at the Judgment seat of Christ, where I will be honored by Him for what I have done with my life for Him. That day will be wonderful if I have really served Christ well. 

I am in Sierra Leone, West Africa, this week. I came to Sierra Leone for the first time in 2002, right after the civil war was over, which resulted in many thousands of people being killed. I continued to come over several times a year for about 20 years. The country was very open to the gospel because of the poverty and turmoil caused by the war. I haven’t come over for over six years because of health issues. This trip has been very rewarding. We have started 43 churches since 2002, and most of them have a school ministry serving several hundred kids. Our ministry is actively training pastors through a Bible college and a seminary to equip new churches with quality leaders. We just finished building a facility for the Bible College and Seminary to meet in. It is a very nice building with plenty of room to teach many potential pastors. Because I was the pioneer of this ministry, I was honored that the building was named “Duke Hall.” It was a very nice honor, and all who were at the commissioning celebration were very honoring to me. Even though it was a very positive experience in my life, someday I will stand before Jesus at the Judgment seat of Christ, where I will be honored by Him for what I have done with my life for Him. That day will be wonderful if I have really served Christ well. 

Energy is an interesting thing to think about and ponder in my own life. There is physical energy, but the energy that seems to affect me most is emotional or inner energy. It might also be called willpower. I have a fairly long list of what I call daily disciplines: Bible reading, Bible memorization, prayer, reading in a good book, journaling, exercising, praying with Patty, and writing some notes to people. I usually do pretty well at getting them all done every day. Lately, many family members and close friends have gotten seriously sick, and some may not live much longer. There are always some, that is life, but of late it seems the number has increased substantially. The result is that I have gotten flat, developed an inner weariness, and really struggled to get my disciplines done. One of the things that has helped is my recent study for this Sunday’s sermon on self-control. Those with self-control are overcomers; they overcome the world and its attractiveness, they overcome their own flesh and the temptations that come from their sin nature, and they overcome the devil and all of his schemes and tricks to get them to turn away from God. Life is up and down, with its trials and tribulations; sometimes there are few, and then there are the seasons of plenty. Being faithful to the disciplines, my goals, and right living is relatively easy during the good times, but it takes endurance and self-control to keep running the race during the hard times. The key thing for me is to choose to rejoice and to pray a lot for God’s strength, peace, and joy despite life. A major object of rejoicing is eternity with Jesus with a glorified body. Every one of my friends and family who is sick loves Jesus and will be with Him if they die. I am looking forward very much to the day I depart this life for glory. My Mom and Dad are there, and an increasing number of family and friends.

I am looking forward to the big reunion with them all when I get there. 

Psalms 5:12 For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O Lord, You surround him with favor as with a shield.

James 1:25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

God blesses his people when they do his will. There are several conditions God sets for Him to pour out His blessings and favor on us. Wise people would work at discovering what those conditions are and pursue them. Life is so much better when we experience God’s favor and are blessed by Him. One of the major ways to be blessed by God is to bless His church. Ephesians says that God is working at making the church beautiful, without spot or blemish, and that the church will be the eternal companion of Jesus. God uses people to edify His church, and when we are a reason for our church becoming increasingly healthy, we become one of God’s favorites. One of the easiest and best ways to do that is to be involved in a ministry of some kind. It can be daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly, and it can be with kids, adults, or in a service ministry. For older people like me who can’t get out as much, praying faithfully through the weekly prayer letter is a great ministry, and attending prayer meetings is a great way to connect with others and build the church. 

Yesterday was the two-month anniversary of my right hip replacement. I am getting along pretty well with it and expect to be as good as new in another couple of weeks. With the normal wear and tear on my physical body as I get older, it is nice to have some new parts that work well. Some of my favorite verses at this stage of my life are 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

“Our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” That is the way it is supposed to be with each of us who are born-again believers; our inner person is becoming more mature, more like Jesus Christ, and our character is becoming more and more perfect. That is God’s will for us, to become like Him so that we can enjoy Him and He us when we get to heaven. The problem is that, as the Apostle Paul put it, many Christians have remained carnal, babies in character, immature. It isn’t supposed to be that way.