Never give up, says author

Referenced from speech by: Rev. James Moore

“Never give up on your commitment to Christ.” the Rev. James Moore advised men attending the national gathering.

“Have you ever been tempted to throw in the towel on life?” the Abingdon Press author asked.

He told the story of Denise who saw a young woman sitting in a car slumped over the steering wheel.  Alarmed by her posture, Denise opened the car door and asked if anything was wrong. “I’ve been shot in the neck, "said the woman.

Denise looked at the woman and found a Pillsbury dough biscuit stuck to her neck and saw an exploded biscuit  can in the back seat.

“A lot of people are like that,” said Moore.  They walk around but they aren’t really living.  They need someone to take the biscuit dough off the back of their neck.”

The pastor of the 7,500-member St. Luke’s UMC in Houston told of 8-year-old Jimmy who promised his coach he would be at practice on Tuesday at 4 pm.  In spite of a torrential rainstorm, Jimmy road his bike to the practice field and the coach looked out his window at the boy standing in the muddy field. “I promised I’d be here,” explained the boy.

You and I made a promise to serve God with our prayers, our presence, our gifts and our service,” said Moore. “Will we live up to that? What will we do if it rains?”

Underscoring the importance of love, the pastor told about an experience he had while serving as a student chaplain at a hospital near his Ohio seminary.  He was told that Mrs. Davis in Room 828 had given up on life, was facing a major surgery and couldn’t speak. “I was so nervous, I did everything wrong,” said Moore. “I kicked the bed, messed up the prayer, and generally botched the visit.”

A week later he returned to find a cheerful Mrs. Davis who enthusiastically grabbed his hand and thanked him for his visit.  “I don’t understand,” he said. “I messed up the visit.”

You’re right ,” she said. “You were pitiful and I felt sorry for you.  All I felt before your visit was self pity, but you made all the difference.”

The visit convinced Moore that he didn’t have to be good.  All he had to be was faithful. “Love is the most powerful thing on earth,” he said. We can never give up on love and we can never give up on Jesus.

Rob