Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Thursday February 25, 2010

In an effort to increase the knowledge of many of my Daily constituents, some of whom have the letters read to them, I resort to what the Great Blonde calls, "High brow sophisticates," her word for philosophers. Such is the case today as I attempt to become more successful. Jennifer Cooper sent the following to me:

"In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure."

This pearl of wisdom is given to us via the mind of Temple University grad, Bill Cosby. Yes sir, that Bill Cosby. No relation to Bob, but a wise man nonetheless.

I have been chewing on Bill's words of wisdom for a few days and they contain the fire, the fire than can set your mind on fire, your feet to moving toward a goal which in other times would be likened to "following the gleam."

I often wonder "how many people have lived out their days never venturing out of the familiar and thus died with their song unsung, mainly because they, as Twain used to say, were afeard?"

On Sunday evening at our church I am skimming through the Acts of the Apostles, by this I mean I am hitting the highlights. To prepare my mind and heart, organs which are numb and cold, I have been reading through the book in its entirety each morning. One thing that stands out is the raw, bold courage of the principles in the account. Certainly the ancient world took note of the courage resulting from their close experience with Jesus. One group accused Peter and John of being ignorant and unlearned, but complimented their courage.

The current generation of Christians is the most educated, well orbed and well heeled group in history. And yet. And yet, we in large measure are bereft of the courage of the earlier times. We do not have the inner steel to launch out into the deep, the deep challenges of life and as we sit around thinking higher and nobler thoughts than any previous generation, the ground gained by men and women who in many ways were considered inferior, is being lost due to our lack of vision and courage to stand against the evil of our day.

To become a Christian means to be born again. To be courageous means to be filled with the zeal of Christ for the Father's great work. It is impossible to be filled with the Spirit and lack courage in the things of the Spirit.

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2010 Use with credit

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