Let Us Not Lose Heart!

Fortitudine Vincimus (Latin for, "By endurance, we conquer"): this was Antarctic explorer, Sir Earnest Shackleton's lifetime motto. In his book called, "Endurance", you can read about his amazing survival story that started in 1915 and lasted for nearly two year. There were 27 other men in his crew who floated around on ice flows in the Weddell Ocean of Antarctica. Shackleton and his crew were stranded with very little hope of survival, but Shackleton refused to give up hope that he could save his 27 beloved friends from certain death. True to his motto, he conquered (saved ALL of his men) because he endured with hope and found a way (by the grace of God) to rescue his men.

Dear Fellow Evangelist, we must not give up or shrink back from our ministry to evangelise the lost during these difficult last days. The stakes are very high for our rescue mission. Souls are lost and hanging in the balance without Jesus Christ. As an evangelist, you have a call to "follow the Lamb wherever He goes" (Revelation 14:4). The Pastor's call is to keep feeding the sheep they are given to shepherd. As an evangelist, your call is to keep going to the lost WHEREVER the Lord sends you and to keep faithfully telling the "old, old story of the cross".

PICTURED ABOVE ARE MY BELOVED "EVERLASTING" SHOES! These shoes served me faithfully in "active combat" from 1997 until June 6, 2006. On 6-6-06, under blue skies in Utah, I buried my beloved shoes "at sea" (well, our trash can is ocean blue, so use your imagination). I took the above picture just moments before the burial ceremony. During the ceremony, my kids told me that I should have had them dipped in copper like parents used to do with their kid's baby shoes so that I could memorialize these heroic shoes. These incredible shoes lasted an amazing nine years without falling apart! That's right! Nine years! Can you believe that! (My everyday shoes normally only last me one year). I bought these Nike low cut hiking shoes back in 1996 and stored them in a barrel in Chad, Africa until the fullness of time arrived for their active duty to begin. I wore them from 1997 (starting in Africa) through 2006 (ending in Utah). These unbelievable shoes were worn all over the bush of Chad, Africa as I evangelized the Arab and Fulani nomads of Chad. I wore these shoes on my dirt bike nearly every day from 1997 to 2000 as I pursued the nomads deep into the bush. I wore them in mud, dirt, dust, and rain. I played basketball with the kids in this shoes. Then for the next 4 years, I wore these shoes almost everyday in my Soccette Sports Ministry that took me throughout the USA, Morocco, Egypt, Israel, Greece, Jordan, Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Thailand. By the year of our Lord 2001, these "everlasting shoes" had earned the respect of everyone in my family because they had taken a multitudinous multiplicity of lickings and yet they kept on ticking...and still looked great to boot! The soles were still in great shape, the stitching was in tact, and they still looked cool! My wife could not believe how many times I replaced the shoe strings in these shoes. Generation after generation of shoe strings arose and fell during the public ministry of these "everlasting" shoes.

Then the crowning moment of glory came to honor these humble shoes. In May of 2004, I made an Evangelistic Outreach trip to Israel. Immediately after preaching at a very crowded youth meeting in a small apartment for a church in Haifa, I was looking down at the floor trying to navigate my feet through the jam-packed crowd, toward the much-longed-for snack table at the other end of the room. To my amazement as I looked down at the floor in front of me, I saw a pair of feet with the very same style and brand of Nike low cut hiking shoes as mine! I looked up to see whose blessed face belonged to these illustrious shoes. My eyes locked with a young Israeli man who smiled at me as I informed him that we were both wearing the very same type of shoes (BTW, our faces were so close that I could have told you what flavor gum he was chewing:) With a strong Hebrew accent and broken English, he said something like this, "Yes, we are! And these shoes are so durable! They seem to never wear out!" I burst into uncontrolled laughter and joy as I recounted to him the same testimony of my own "everlasting" shoes. He went on to profusely brag about the battles that his shoes had endured without wearing out. Back and forth we went, swapping stories and smiling as we enjoyed the fellowship of being the proud owners of these "like-precious, everlasting" shoes!

Beloved fellow evangelist, here is my point in sharing this light-hearted illustration, God has made YOU to victoriously endure hardships. He is your Maker, and He will never, never forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). "ENDURE hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry" (II Timothy 4:5). "Let us run with ENDURANCE the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith" (Hebrews 12:1,2). "Let us not lose heart in doing good (preaching the gospel), for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary" (Galatians 6:9).

Beloved, my shoes were made by skilled craftsmen from very durable materials...but they are just the work of men. They lasted nine amazing years under very adverse circumstances, but you my fellow evangelist, you have been made by God and set apart for the gospel. The Lord will carry you all the way to the finish line for His glory. You have been called to endure, to overcome and to win this long, hard marathon for lost souls (see I Corinthians 9:24-27). Don't give up! "Run to Win" by "Running with Endurance" in the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8).

Grace be with you,

Rob