Dear Friend,
Last night I
attended a Fellowship of Christian Athlete’s annual fund-raising dinner as I
have done for the last decade or so. I invited a couple of friends to join me
as I am always interested in introducing others to the ministry of the
Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
The evening
always brings back a lot of memories as 59 years ago, almost to the very day,
this young sophomore football player from the Virginia Military Institute found
himself numbered among 500 other young men in Lake Geneva, Wisc, for my
first ever Summer F.C.A. Conference.
I still
remember some of the speakers. Bart Star, Jessie Owens, Bob Feller were among
some of those who would be speaking. I was there because of the influence
of a good friend, and fellow football player, Chuck Beale, whose life had been
changed at a similar conference a few years before, and he was eager to share
his experienced and his newfound faith with anyone who would listen.
As I sat
there last night at the dinner, my mind wandered back to that first F.C.A.
Conference in Lake Geneva. It was after hearing Jessie Owens share his
spiritual testimony and his challenge to those present to yield their
lives to Jesus that I quietly walked back to my cabin and knelt down beside my
cabin cot and gave my life to Jesus.
Little did I
know at the time how my life would change because of that decision. This
morning I found myself quietly and gratefully reflecting on those 59 years
since that Lake Geneva experience. I thought of the 7 wonderful churches I have
served, and the young men I have coached and taught as a teacher and as an
athletic director, and the many friends I have made throughout my years of
ministry. I thought of how blessed I am to have such a wonderful wife and 4
incredible children, who like their dad, are all teachers. And at my
age, how lucky I am to find myself still ministering in a wonderful church,
serving alongside two young and gifted pastors.
And as I
reflected on these things, it dawned on me that the day before was D-Day, June
6th, when our troops first set foot on the beaches of Normandy in
1941, and how similar that D-Day was to my Spiritual D-Day when I knelt
beside my cabin cot on that Lake Geneva summer evening of 1962.
In both
cases, the first stage of ultimate victory had been achieved, but there would
still be a lot more territory to be conquered. The enemy would still need
to be displaced. Satan’s occupying forces would still need to be destroyed.
The goal of
every invasion is to defeat the enemy and that requires discipline, devotion,
and an unwavering determination to accomplish the mission, and that is why we
as believers continue to wage war against the unseen enemy of our souls. The
battle rages on for the victory of Christ in the hearts of His people.
Jesus says,
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may
have and have it to the full (John 10:10)
There is
still work to do, battles to be fought, before the victory flag can be planted
in the ground. While Christ’s army awaits that final promised victory and
the sound of the trumpet call of God that marks the enemy’s final demise,
we labor on for the victory that is assured even though it has not
yet finally been accomplished.
And so, we
take the Good News with us as did those D-Day soldiers as we travel from
village to village, town to town and nation to nation. Our foe is crafty and
his power is real, and he wages an unrelenting battle to protect his territory,
but D-Day has been achieved and V-Day is just around the corner, and we
can confidently proclaim, “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory” (1
Corinthians 15:57).
I hope you, too, are enjoying
D-Day as you await that final V Day victory when Christ shall come and take us
home to be with Him forever.
Yours in
faith and friendship,
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