According to Professor Howard Hendricks of Dallas Theological Seminary, there are 100 or so leaders in the Bible, two-thirds of whom did not finish well.

When King David fell, he brought shame to his entire house and his kingdom. His son Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, squandered Israel's future on foreign wives who introduced their gods to the culture. If Dr. Hendricks is right, if 2/3rds of Biblical leaders did not finish well, then Paul's statement "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;" takes on greater significance he was one of the elite of the faith.

Why was Paul able to finish well? For one thing, he didn't take the finish line for granted. Paul knew his frailties, he said, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." (1 Tim. 1:15 KJV) Paul knew he was a sinner and he waged a constant battle against the flesh. In Romans 7:15-19 (KJV) he wrote, "For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. [16] If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. [17] Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. [18] For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. [19] For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do."

Can't we all relate to Paul's words here? Don't we all struggle with the power of sin in our lives? To finish the race, we have to lay aside habitual sin. In Hebrews 12:1 the writer of Hebrews said, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us," Look at the phrase "the sin which doth so easily beset us." That phrase is referring to habitual sin a type of sin that reoccurs in our lives. We cannot finish the race unless we lay aside every weight, including habitual sin.

2 Tim. 4:6-8 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. [7] I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; [8] in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

In his book, Future Church: Ministry in a Post-Seeker Age, Jim Wilson describes what churches around the Country are doing to reach young adults. One of the churches he featured was Graceland in Santa Cruz, California where Dan Kimball pastors—a church that may be reaching young adults, but also values older adults. In one section of the book, Wilson describes a set of pictures hanging on Kimball’s wall. He writes, “Hanging on his office wall are the pictures of three elderly men, placed side-by-side and mounted in a single frame. On the left is Stuart Allen, the 83-year-old pastor in England that gave Dan his introduction into church life; in the middle is 90-year old Dr. Mitchell, the founder of Multnomah who met with Dan every week while Dan attended seminary; and on the right is his 80-year old father-in-law, Rod Clendenen, who met with Dan every Wednesday night in a mentoring role when Dan first starting attending SCBC.

‘These are guys who made it through their entire lives,’ Kimball says. ‘They finished well. We need to be honoring people with gray hair more. We're so into just promoting the young, but what about people that walked with God their whole lives?’”

—Future Church: Ministry in a Post-Seeker Age, p. 75-76 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

For more information on Future Church, go to www.thefuturechurch.com/order.html and for information on Dan Kimball’s new book, The Emerging Church, go to http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0310245648/fm082-20

In his book, Go the Distance, Ed Rowell emphasizes the importance of finishing well by telling the story of how Robby Gordon finish at the 83rd running of the Indianapolis 500. With just one lap to go, Robby Gordon knew that he didn't have enough gas to finish.

While the other lead drivers had taken a pit stop when the yellow caution flag went up following a crash by Mark Dismore, Gordon gambled that he could finished the final 37 laps on one tank of fuel. With just a lap to go he had to pull in for a "splash" of methanol. The stop caused him to finish in fourth place.

In a guest column in SpeedNet (5/30/99), Gordon shared Rule Number One in racing: "you must first finish before you finish first." Gordon learned that lesson the hard way. The fuel gauge in his car had been warning him for some time and he chose to postpone the solution. The stakes in our lives are much higher. As soon as the warning light goes off in one critical area of life, that is the time to make adjustments or course corrections. Otherwise, a poor finish could be our legacy.

2 Tim. 4:7 NASB "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;"

In his book, Go the Distance, Ed Rowell, Teaching Pastor at the People's Church in Franklin Tennessee explains "21 Habits & Attitudes for Winning at Life." Throughout the book, he emphasizes the importance of finishing the race and finishing well, one particular story that grabbed my attention was his personal struggle during a marathon race.

In many ways, Ed is a Renaissance man. He describes himself as having "attention surplus disorder"-everything interests him. In his younger years, he was a bull rider, an Elk hunting guide and a Marathon runner.

Personally, I don't get it. I don't know why anyone would want to run for 26.2 miles, but then again, I don't know why anyone would strap themselves onto a bull and go for a ride either.

Ed had already completed four Marathons-he wasn't concerned with whether he could finish the race, he was concerned with improving his time. His ultimate running goal was to compete in the Boston Marathon, to do that, he needed to get his time under three hours and ten minutes, nine minutes faster than his personal best.

He was in great shape. For the past three months he got up religiously every morning and ran. He ran through fatigue and pushed himself into Marathon condition. At the starting line, Ed was cold. But he knew that the 50 degree weather and light drizzle would actually benefit him once he got moving.

When the gun sounded that early October morning in 1983 in Kansas City, Missouri, Ed had no idea how much that race was going to impact his life. He started well, but as he did a self assessment early into the race, he was surprised at how much he was laboring. Using mind over matter, he purposed himself to go on. Not only had he been training his body, he had practiced mental conditioning techniques to help him push through the wall-the mental barrier that tells a runner they can't take another step. But by mile 12, his will had evaporated. He stopped running and started walking. After a hundred yards, he ran again. But it didn't last. Like a jerking clutch, he walked a while and ran a while, then it happened.

Hypothermia began to sit in. The constant drizzle and the low temperature are to a runner's advantage, because it alleviates the problem of dehydration that hot weather runners face. But it isn't to the advantage of a walker. Because he wasn't generating sufficient body heat to offset the environment.

The race organizers had vans circling the course looking for runners who were injured or ill prepared for the race. Twice, one of those vehicles stopped to see if Ed wanted to ride to the finish line, twice he ignored them and started to jog.

The third time they came by, Ed was shivering uncontrollably, but he still shook his head "no" when the van stopped to pick him up. "We've got warm blankets and hot chocolate" the young woman said. Ed got into the van and immediately began sobbing.

Later, he was ashamed when he met up with his friends who finished the race and had to tell them what happened. Why did it happen? I'm not sure. I'm not even sure if Ed knows himself. But I do have an idea. I think it happened because Ed took finishing the race for granted. He was concentrating on a time, not the finish line.

In the book “ Confronting Powerless Christianity,” Charles Kraft says his son Rick has run in eighteen full marathons, 26.2 miles each. Kraft says he has watched his son punish his body in the races and training. His son averages running 5 to 6 miles each day to stay in shape. He even made himself run every day for more than a year just to prove he could do it.

Kraft once asked his son about his goal in running marathons. Rick responded that his goal was not necessarily to win. Kraft’s son said, “ I never hope to win a marathon. I just want to finish.”

Kraft says once his wife and he went to a marathon, with his son’s family. They provided water and offered Rick encouragement in the race. Though he was spent, Rick managed to cross the finish line. His time was not what he hoped to be, Rick’s legs were stiff and it took him a few days to recuperate, but he finished the race.

Kraft says his son tells him that a major encouragement is that his wife is always waiting at the finish line of each race. Rick added that usually fans are cheering at the starting point and the finish. This tempts a runner to exert himself too much at the start, responding to the cheering but using too much energy. The hardest part of the race is the middle where few fans cheer and the runner is nearly overwhelmed by the awareness of how tired his body is.

—Confronting Powerless Christianity, Evangelicals and the Missing Dimension, Pg 234-235, 2002 Chosen Books. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

As we run each day, we find encouragement knowing that Jesus is waiting at the finish line, and that all along the race, we have witnesses urging us keep going and finish the race.

Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. [2] Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

For more information on Confronting Powerless Christianity, go to http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0800793145/fm082-20

Mickey Spillane says, “The most important part of a story is the ending. No one reads a book to get to the middle.”

The ending is the context for everything that precedes it. Without a strong ending, the value of our lives is cheapened and the potential of our influence is diminished. Our faithfulness must be for a lifetime. We must finish well.

2 Tim. 4:7 NASB “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;”

At the all-star break, Oakland A's Tim Hudson's career record was 21-4. A great start! Juan Guzman is the only active player to post the same numbers. Kirk Rueter, Scott Erickson and Jason Bere all got close with 18 or 19 wins.

But starting well does not necessarily translate into finishing well. Even after their great start, collectively, the other four players are four games under .500.

—USA TODAY BASEBALL WEEKLY, July 6-12, 2000, p. 4 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.

In a guest column in SpeedNet (5/30/99), race car driver Robby Gordon shared Rule Number One in racing: "you must first finish before you finish first." Gordon learned that lesson the hard way.

At the 83rd running of the Indianapolis 500, Robbie Gordon with just one lap to go, didn't have enough gas to finish.

While the other lead drivers had taken a pit stop when the yellow caution flag went up following a crash by Mark Dismore, Gordon gambled that he could finish the final 37 laps on one tank of fuel. With just a lap to go he had to pull in for a "splash" of methanol. The stop caused him to finish in fourth place.

Will we have what it takes to say, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7).

When she sentenced a 81-year-old Priest, John Skehan for the crime of grand theft over $100,000.00, Judge Krista Marx said, "No matter how many good works you have performed in your many years as a priest, your legacy will always be one of thievery and deceit,"

--http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/life/2009-03/27/content_7624814.htm Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

I don’t know what good works Skehen had done, perhaps they were many, but I do know the judge was right—this sin is his legacy.

Proverbs 20:6-7 (NASB77) “Many a man proclaims his own loyalty, But who can find a trustworthy man? A righteous man who walks in his integrity— How blessed are his sons after him.”

District Attorney in Pasco County in Florida charged Curtis Reeves, 71, a retired Tampa police officer with a second-degree murder after he shot and killed Chad Oulson in a movie theater. According to the report, Reeves was angry because the victim was using his phone to send a text.

Reeve’s personnel files from the police department show he led other agencies in gun safety training and received numerous letters of commendation for his leadership. Sheriff Christ Nocco said, “It didn’t matter what he had done previously in his life. You don’t shoot someone over a texting incident.”

http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/closer-look-at-curtis-reeves-shows-theater-shooters-two-sides/2161618

Endings matter. Like Reeve who gained numerous commendations during his career, yet “failed” at the end. Judgment, rather than reward awaits him. —Jim L. Wilson and Larry Tong

2 Timothy 4:7-8 (NRSV) I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (8) From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.