I recently had the privilege of speaking to a group of prime time powerhouses at our church. What I was inspired to talk about is something that I think all of us that have graced this earth for a number of years need to hear.
Prime Time
I love the term “Prime Time”. It made me think of Prime Time Television. The best 3 hours on television, where it is understood, you will reach the largest, most diverse audience of any time during the day. In our time zone it is the hours of 7pm to 10pm and if you are a producer your desire is to get your show in that time slot.
This applies to each of us in this season. We have access to the largest, most diverse audience because our kids are grown, we are in the back end of our career and the seasons of life we have been through, carry some weight. I also believe this was God’s plan for us. Sure we can talk and share and serve when we are young, but we lack the wisdom of the years.
God’s Word
Psalm 71:14–18 ESV
But I will hope continually
and will praise you yet more and more.
My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
of your deeds of salvation all the day,
for their number is past my knowledge.
With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;
I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.
O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
So even to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.
You see in this season, you/we are needed more than ever. This generation seems hell bent on erasing the parts of history that are uncomfortable or painful. It is a well known fact that a society that does not learn from history, is doomed to repeat the same. If monuments are destroyed, and history books changed, the only link to the past lies within our testimony to our living it.
Giants in the Land
I have had many mentors and examples in my life that gave of their time and devotion to speak into me and prepare me for life, to teach me about the mistakes and accomplishments of their life.
My Grandfather or “Dadda” as I called him was a master craftsman who taught me about crafting, building and how to be a loving, generous man. My fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Eason was the first outside my own family to invite me to church, and into her home to show me the love of Christ. Then there was Bro. Bill Mayo, who under his ministry, led me to Christ and taught me how to be a minister. How to lead the youth of our town while being a young man myself. I could go on, there have been so many in my life that gave of their time and talents to make me the man I am today.
Sir Isaac Newton said this: “If I have seen further than others, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants”. In every instance in history, that is the case. And it is generally not the extravagant or the special, but the simple, fundamental things of life that make the difference. There is a saying attributed to Robert Shuller that goes something like this. “Any one can count the number of seeds in an apple, but only God can count the number of apples in a seed”. You just never know the impact of single seed, a single life invested in another.”
Revealed; the “Apples in a Seed”
I want to introduce you to a man named Edward Kimball. He was a Sunday School teacher with a class full of roudy, rambunctious teenage boys. Edward was an older gentlemen who cared so much for these boys that he was determined to personally lead each one of them to Saving faith in Jesus. There was one boy in particular that seemed resistant, who didn’t seem to grasp the gospel. One Saturday, Edward decided to visit the young man at the shoe store where he worked. Edward poured out his heart and the Gospel to this young man. In the stockroom of that shoe store, Dwight L Moody gave his heart and life to Jesus. We know that Moody would go on to touch two Continents for Christ, but there is more.
Another Seed
Under Moody, a young man named Wilbur Chapman submitted to Christ and Moody discipled him for Christ. He began his own evangelistic efforts and was holding a street revival outside of a mission in Chicago. A professional baseball player named Billy Sunday happened to be walking by and stopped to hear the message. This man who was given to drinking and various other sins, gave his heart to the Lord. Billy gave up baseball to follow Jesus and began evangelizing across the US.
Yet Another Seed
At one of his revivals, a young traveling salesman named Mordecai Ham submitted to Christ. He too began to evangelize and share the gospel. in 1934, he was conducting a revival in Charlotte NC. A young man named William Frank was in high school and had vowed that he was not going to attend. Through God’s providence, he wound up attending and God got a hold on him. We know William Frank as Billy Graham. An estimated 2.2 billion people heard the gospel message directly from his mouth.
Finale
A decision in the late 1700s by a Sunday School teacher to give of his time on a Saturday, led to a move of God this world had not seen before. What might He do with this generation? The answer to that may lie in your willingness to make ourselves available for this generation. You see I have long believed that the only ability God needs from any of us, is our “AVAILABILITY”. Only God can know the impact of a single life on another. I have a feeling that in heaven, the Father will take great joy in revealing the impact you had on countless lives.
Thanks for playing along, remember all of life is ministry.
Ricky Banks
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