Ordinary Hero
Theme of the Week: Stalled? Or Growing?
John Ensor
Friday, August 17, 2007
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: Live in a way that pleases God … You are doing this already … do so more and more (1 Thessalonians 4:1).Bonus Reading: 1 Thess. 4:11-12
Nothing about Gene is going to grab your attention. He's Mr. Average. Yet, by his quiet and God-honoring life, Gene has demonstrated the power of living under the influence of God's grace.
By the time he reached his twenties, Gene was alienated from his family, society, and God. He was drinking and drugging himself into oblivion. Then Gene gave his life to Christ, threw away his bottles, and filled his life with God.
He worked as a taxi driver for several years, then started painting houses. He went to church every Sunday, attended Bible studies, and began to serve people wherever he saw a need. A few years later he fell in love with a woman in my church and gently pursued her for three years. I took them through premarital counseling and conducted their wedding. Meanwhile, Gene went to school for computer-assisted design (CAD). Soon he had a design job. After two years of marriage they bought their first house. When Gene was 40, they had their first baby. Gene knows his neighbors. He works with the homeless in Boston. He gives monthly support to a variety of ministries. All this change happened slowly but steadily over a 15-year period.
—John Ensor in The Great Work of the Gospel
My Response: Why is consistent growth more significant than a dramatic turn-around?
Thought to Apply: Full-grown oaks are not produced in three years, neither are servants of God.—DOUGLAS RUMFORD (California pastor & author)
Adapted from The Great Work of the Gospel (Crossway, 2006) by permission.
Copyright © 2007 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
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Don't let me plateau in my spiritual development, Lord. Keep me growing and make me fruitful.
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