Giving It All We’ve Got!

I have a number of favorite quotes displayed around my office. A particular one relates well to birthdays, and since I had one last week, I re-read the quote. No one really knows who originally said or wrote it. The most oft quoted version was made by Hunter S. Thompson in his book “Hell’s Angels” written in 1966, but versions of the quote have been attributed to a Maxine cartoon, to Novelist and screenwriter, Mike Frost, and to multiple bloggers with various adjustments to the original. The quote on in my office says, “Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming–Wow! What a ride!” Maybe the origin of the quote, or at least the idea for the quote goes back to the Apostle Paul, who, toward the end of his life wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7) or better yet, the paraphrase from “The Message,” I’ve run hard right to the finish, believed all the way. All that’s left now is the shouting—God’s applause!” When the end is nearer than the beginning, one thinks of these things. As the new year begins, let’s give it all we’ve got, full speed ahead! OK?

Join me in praying for the following global concerns:
• Pray for the ministry of the Hope Clinic in Macau. Three ladies became believers following the Christmas day lunch program.
• Pray for Danilo, as ministry to a new people group opens up in Columbia.
• Pray for the 272,842 Armenians in Azerbaijan. Access to the gospel is very limited, and the region is prone to strife between Armenians and the host culture.
• Pray for the Coaching One Day training this Thursday at Gateway Baptist Church in Vancouver, Canada.