A.S.Q.

My father was a WWII veteran, having served with the Royal Air Force for the whole six years of that conflict. So inevitably I guess, having been born in 1950 I grew up on war stories and Winston Churchill quotes.

One of his favorite sayings from Britain's wartime Prime Minister was Give us the tools and we will finish the job. The words were a plea contained in a speech to Parliament for President Roosevelt to bring the might of the United States forces alongside his own in the fight against tyranny that had been going on unaided for almost one and a half years.

I love that whole segment of this February 1941 classic -
We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire. Neither the sudden shock of battle nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools and we will finish the job.

Sixty six years after that and living to enjoy the benefits of the commitment of both British and U.S. forces, I'm proud to lead an outstanding church that has no doubt what is the task at hand and who themselves will not weaken or tire. That's why it's such a blessing to do what Mr. Churchill said and give them the tools.

We've been doing that over the past few weeks as we've been reading Bill Hybel's book, Just Walk Across The Room, studying his small group material mid-week and taking Sundays to bring it all together so that we are all better equipped to lead others to faith.

Sunday we're going to start handing out some more tools as we look at some of the tough questions that sometimes stump people when they're discussing God or their own faith with those who don't know Jesus yet.

We'll be passing on some Answers to Serious Questions and I'm looking forward to teaching this series to so many people who are ready to just go for it. This is a year for taking great strides in plundering hell to populate heaven, the best yet in our brief history and to quote the man himself again -

Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'

This is our finest hour!