I’m writing this note at the end of a very exciting day at the Keep Believing board retreat in McHenry, Illinois. This morning Peter Faulkner led us in a brain-stretching exercise that started with a discussion of intentionality and ended up with the walls covered with erasable sheets of thin while plastic filled with ideas, concepts, dreams, lists, outlines, all of it relating to the big picture of where we believe God is leading us in the next five years. After lunch we met to work through details of the Book Depot (and the brand-new and yet-to-be-introduced E-Depot) and how we will handle speaking requests in the future. That led to a further discussion of podcasting and something called a V-Blog. All day long–in the sessions and informally between sessions, we have jumped from one topic to another. Tonight Steve Wilson walked us through the brand-new Keep Believing website that is still under construction. We plan to launch it soon and refine it on the fly, so to speak. Steve reminded us that a good website is always a work in progress–it’s never really finished because technology constantly moves forward and the needs of the ministry constantly change. Dave Hoy showed a new Keep Believing Power Point presentation that led to a further discussion of what we’re all about. Finally we talked about China and discovered that we have more connections there than we realized. We’re thinking and praying about our role in assisting the growing Christian movement there.
Along the way we came to a statement that led to a spirited discussion that leads me to ask you, the readers of this weblog, a question. In thinking about the challenges of being a Christian in the 21st-century, and in thinking about the New Testament verses that call us to persevere in our faith, I made the statement that “it’s hard to keep believing.” I don’t think I had ever said those exact words before, but when I did, every head turned in my direction. We had a lively and humorous exchange on the topic. I don’t want to say that it’s hard for everyone to keep believing, but I do think it’s hard for many people.
I would like to know what you think. Is it hard to keep believing? Never? Sometimes? Always? Your thoughts are most appreciated. Click here to offer your comments.
You can reach the author at ray@keepbelieving.com. Click here to sign up for the free weekly email sermon.