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Pursuing the Ultimate Goal - Part 3 of 6

HOLD ON
Philippians 3:15-16 - All of us who are mature should take such a view of things.  And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.  Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

Coach Wade Phillips was very involved in a ministry in Texas called One Heart.  Its focus was on reaching at-risk and incarcerated youth to help keep them out of trouble.  The idea for One Heart was inspired by a football game between Faith Christian School and Gainesville State School, a maximum security juvenile facility.  Faith Christian's coach's biggest concern was not that his team was competing against players serving time, but rather that Gainesville State had no fans.  So they divided up their parents, fans, and cheerleaders in half so each team would have the same support during the game.  This in itself had to be difficult for some moms since it meant they were now rooting for other boys to tackle their sons.  My mom would not have handled that well back then.  But by the end of the game that day, many hearts in the stadium had been changed.

Coach Phillips heard about what Faith Christian had done and wanted to help spread the impact of One Heart so he was scheduled to speak at a fundraising event for the ministry.  Well as it worked out, on the day of the fundraiser, and after a disappointing Cowboys' season, word came out that Coach Phillips had been fired.  No one at One Heart expected hi to show up for the fundraiser after receiving such devastating news.  And being good Christian people, they had already accepted and understood that.  But just about time for the fundraiser to begin, guess who comes walking in to the surprise of everyone, Coach Wade Phillips.  He believed in the ministry of One Heart and he believed in keeping his word.  Do we have commitments that we need to keep today at work, school, home, or church?  Even if we are having a bad day, keeping our commitment can speak volumes.

So how do we hold on to the salvation that we have through Jesus Christ?  We have to study God's Word.  Stability in our walk comes from daily bible reading and prayer.  We must have a hunger for the gospel.  How many people today are more in tune with who got voted off Dancing With the Stars, The Voice, The Bachelor(ette), or other shows that come on weekly than we are with the Bible which hasn't changed for thousands of years?  In one of my earlier points, I mentioned passionately pursuing perfect.  Are we really passionate about studying the bible, about going to church, about fellowshipping with other Christians, about prayer?  Or is it just something we do to check off our little list so we can be considered a good person?

Be a man or woman who keeps your word, and also be a man or woman who reads God's word.

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