My 12 year old daughter has been at youth camp for the past five (5) day at my spiritual Father’s church. Well, yesterday was the last day so I went to the church to pick her up. Before I did, I spend a few minutes with my spiritual father. I call him bishop, but his real name is Forrest. He told me a few awesome things that happened in my daughter’s life during the five days she spent there. How the Lord touched her the night before and watched streams of tears flow down her cheeks. He reminded me of the very same picture of me in 1992, a picture he kept in his mind and will never forget. A picture of me at an all night prayer meeting, just like my little girl, with streams of tears flowing down my cheeks. I thought about for a while and have not been able to shake the thought of the impact he has had on my life and now my daughter’s. Talk about affecting generations! What if he had not answered to call to be a missionary? I am still thinking about where I would be.

Anyways, since it was the last day of camp, he had all the kids sit at the altar and he began to give a few words of encouragement. Let me share the five points he gave them. He was talking to kids in junior high and high school, so the speech was pretty basic, but oh so much deeper and profound.

He told them the camp was over but they didn’t have to end what God had begun to do in their lives. To keep the fire burning, they needed to persevere in the following:

Pray Everyday.
He told the story of how 48 years ago a pastor made an altar call at the church he attended and said prophetically that God was raising up 300 people who would pray for about an hour everyday. He stood up and said yes to the Lord, after wrestling with the Lord about it for a while. Since that day, it’s been more than 48 years now, he has spent an hour in prayer everyday. He told them – pray everyday, it will keep you going!

Go to Church Every time the doors are opened
He told them he was there for choir practice, bible study, youth meetings, discipleship, sunday school, Sunday morning and Sunday evening. Whenever those doors were opened, he was there. All his life, he went o church, never got bored. Today, it is still his most favorite place to go. He told them – go to church ever time the door is opened, it will keep you going.

Read your bible Everyday
One tradition he has carried on for all these many years, and still does is – reading through the bible every year. He gets a new one year bible every year and goes through it everyday. He told them read your bible everyday – it will keep you going.

Live holy everyday
There were some young evangelist and youth pastor there yesterday. He look at them and said – “guys, don’t follow those other young evangelists and pastor in today’s so-called hipster churches, who think they ca cuss, smoke, drink, fornicate and think they can still get up and preach and God will use them – don’t be like them. They are here today, but they will all be gone in a few years. Live holy for God!” The Bishop than told a true story. He said, that he graduated with one-hundred and nine (109) other pastors from seminary, but today only two from that group are still in the ministry. He told them – live holy everyday, it will keep you going.

Finally, he told them to get up and get back to serving the Lord and doing the four things above if they ever fall short. To never let the enemy keep them from getting up if they ever fell. Five simple steps. Five simple words of wisdom. Did you know that these simple things Are the very things that keep the Bishops and mighty men of God in the race. Yes indeed, God is not a respecter of persons. These are God’s solution to spiritual laziness, lukewarmness, church dropout, spiritual shipwreck. This is the recipe for a successful and long Christian life and ministry.