The Secret To Winning | CORE Discipleship

Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning is a habit and so is losing.”

God has a prosperous future for His children and each of us are to run the race set before us. The problem is that most of us don’t know or we forget that we’re in a race. The Apostle Paul tells us: “You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally. I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.” (1 Cor. 9:24-27, The Message)

The Secret To Winning

Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning is a habit and so is losing.”

God has a prosperous future for His children and each of us are to run the race set before us. The problem is that most of us don’t know or we forget that we’re in a race. The Apostle Paul tells us: “You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally. I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.” (1 Cor. 9:24-27, The Message)

It’s not luck – no such thing for those on the journey. The person who consistently does the right thing will eventually win. Winners have a better attitude than losers. A bad attitude is a choice. For instance, my day may not be going any better than yours. My debts may be greater than yours. But I can choose to have a positive outlook based on God’s redemptive nature (God can redeem our failures and mistakes). God truly wants nothing but the best for you.

Crisis In The Church: Biblical Illiteracy And Discipleship

Crisis In The Church: Biblical Illiteracy And Discipleship

Remember the frog that landed in a pan of water and stayed until it boiled? Had the pan been hot, the frog would have noticed and hopped out. But the water felt cool at first, and the frog sensed no danger. It simply relaxed and conformed to the gradual change. Subdued by the rising heat, it grew too sluggish to act. By the time the water boiled, the frog was dead.

I want to share the burden of my heart with you concerning the alarming trend of Biblical illiteracy and state of discipleship in today’s church. I want to encourage you by saying that with every problem there is an opportunity and to envision the church as the Lord sees it. The following statistics reveal a crisis in the church.

Regarding Biblical illiteracy and discipleship, Christian researcher and author George Barna reports:
* Fewer than half of all adults can name the four gospels.
* Many professing Christians cannot identify more than two or three of the disciples.
* 60 percent of Americans cannot name even five of the Ten Commandments.
* 82 percent of Americans believe “God helps those who help themselves” is a Bible verse.
* 12 percent of adults believe that Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife.
* A survey of graduating high school seniors revealed that over 50 percent thought that Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife.